A significant teacher shortage exists across the United States due to factors ranging from accountability policies for the performance growth of students, the overwhelming workload due to teacher shortages, and the lack of competitive salaries that other professions offer. Consequently, state officials have introduced and implemented changes to…

Most people associate summer with activities that have nothing to do with school, or, if they do, summer school comes to mind -- the remediation variety. Historically, summer school is for struggling students who need to relearn and firm up skills from prior years or for those required to retake a class. But what if it could be reimagined how to…

Civics education continues to gain national importance, especially in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election and with recent debates about the teaching of history that addresses the legacy of racism and discrimination in the United States. Despite the increasing interest in strengthening civics education, states continue to differ in…

As agricultural education propels itself into the 21st century, a focus on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education has been prioritized. While STEM integration has been held in high regard, many employers claim that students lack the necessary STEM-based skills to be successful in an entry-level position. In addition,…

Anecdotal evidence points to the importance of school principals, but the limited existing research has neither provided consistent results nor indicated any set of essential characteristics of effective principals. This paper exploits extensive student-level panel data across six states to investigate both variations in principal performance and…

The problem addressed through this study is the low reading comprehension levels of fifth-grade students with exceptionalities (SwE) (e.g. dyslexia) in a local school district in Georgia. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore fifth-grade teachers' perceptions on their successes, challenges, and suggestions when teaching reading to…

We use administrative panel data from seven states covering nearly 3 million students to document and explore variation in "academic mobility," a term we use to describe the extent to which students' ranks in the distribution of academic performance change during their public schooling careers. On average, we show that student ranks are…

School districts are employing instructional technology coaches more frequently to support teachers in adopting technology in their classroom instruction. However, many school districts still face challenges with technology adoption, raising concerns about the influence of instructional technology coaches on technology adoption. This case study…

There is a teacher shortage in South Georgia school districts inhibiting the hiring of teachers for many subject areas. School districts are partnering with universities to identify teacher candidates who can serve as the teacher of record in their districts during their final semester or year of teacher preparation through the "intern as…

Purpose: Conceptualizing schools as learning organizations provides a potential avenue to meet the pressing challenges of school improvement in the USA. District and school leaders play an important role in creating and sustaining the conditions for a learning organization, yet little is known about how leadership responds to learning-resistant…

In recent years, career and technical education (CTE) programs that include quality work-based learning (WBL) opportunities for students have gained significant traction among educators, policymakers, and stakeholders as an effective way to prepare students for the labor market. However, a lack of data on WBL--which many CTE students participate…

This study examined why schools and districts transitioned from traditional education systems to competency-based, the challenges and benefits school experienced, and characteristics needed in a leader for the shift in education. The study used a quantitative approach informed by survey and correlational research. The participants in this study…

As more K-12 school districts have hired equity officers, questions have arisen about their role and effectiveness. A recent Heritage Foundation report, for example, found that schools with equity officers have the lowest achievement outcomes. Mary Rice-Boothe and Tanji Reed Marshall point out, however, that student achievement is not the only…

Although state-run turnaround districts have grown in prominence as a school improvement strategy with significant equity implications for urban education, little is known about the similarities and differences across states. This article provides a comparative analysis of state-run takeover districts in Louisiana, Tennessee, and Georgia. Although…

School turnaround in the United Stated has been a focus dating back to the mid 1960s with the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act aimed to ensure that children have equal access to excellent educational opportunities. This qualitative study targeted seven Turnaround Principals of…