The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to interpret the lived experiences of K-12 special education teachers (N = 16) from large, suburban districts in Illinois who have persisted in their positions beyond four years. Understanding factors that contribute to the longevity of special education teachers is not only vital for…

Leading school communities during the pandemic impacted elementary and middle school principals and brought about reflection of their leadership practices. School principals were forced to reassess leadership priorities like those set forth by the National Policy Board for Educational Administration (NPBEA) in 2015. This study looks at information…

The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of female superintendents and their educational career experiences and personal life experiences prior to the attainment of the school superintendency. In order to achieve this overall objective, the following research questions framed this qualitative methods study: 1. How have previous…

This qualitative research study investigates teachers' perceptions of school safety and their adherence to specific safety procedures in a small, pre-K-eighth-grade school district in a small, suburban school district in Illinois. Data were collected through anonymous open-ended surveys distributed to teachers with varying experience levels. The…

The importance of establishing positive relationships is a common theme in educational philosophies and recommended practice. Educators inherently believe this to be true. It is assumed relationships are the key to academic and behavioral success, as well as students' social emotional well-being. Furthermore, relationships may even be the key to…

Suburbs across the US are experiencing demographic shifts with consequences for suburban schools. While scholars have expressed concern about rising segregation among suburban public schools, we extend this work by examining changes in racial/ethnic school segregation across a typology of suburban municipalities in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin…

The study aimed to identify significant disparities in the reading growth of English learners (ELs) enrolled in either push-in or pull-out EL services, as measured by the ACCESS and MAP assessments. Conducted at a middle school in southwestern Illinois, the research focused on the impact of different EL programming types on the reading performance…

The problem addressed in this study was the high attrition rates of teachers in elementary school districts and the unknown role of human, social, structural, and psychological capital determinants needed to retain teachers. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive case study was to describe the experiences of veteran K-6 teachers in the South…

The problem addressed by this study was many educators do not practice Culturally Responsive Pedagogy (CRP) in U.S. public schools instead they tend toward a traditional Eurocentric model, which has been found to devalue, make invisible, and even disparage multicultural students, affecting their academic achievement. The purpose of this…

The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of the READ 180 literacy intervention on a public high school district. This study compared the SRI test scores of two campuses. One campus had students engage in the READ 180 literacy intervention for one hour daily and the other campus had students engage in the READ 180 literacy…

Due to the growing number of students enrolling as homeless in American public schools, a quantitative design was applied to determine if students in an Illinois suburban, kindergarten through eighth grade school district (District A), who are enrolled under the McKinney-Vento Act and are receiving resources of food, shelter, clothing, and…

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of COVID-19 on youth's social emotional competencies. Specifically, this study examined whether there was a significant difference in social emotional competency proficiency levels of self-management, social awareness, and emotion regulation as measured by the "Panorama SEL Survey"…

This research was conducted as a qualitative study of African American college students' racialized and academic experiences while completing the teacher preparation program at their respective universities. This study was carried out at three predominantly White institutions (PWIs) of varying sizes in rural, urban, and suburban cities in the…

The purpose of this dissertation was to evaluate the impact that large-scale crisis had on educator motivation as measured by flow experiences. COVID-19 prompted many changes in education in a very short amount of time. This rapid shift left educators scrabbling to meet the educational and social-emotional needs of their students while also…

Students from low socioeconomic (SES) backgrounds often have extenuating circumstances that impede their academic achievement. While many of the factors affecting these students have been concentrated in urban cities, in recent decades, the nation's suburbs have become home to more low-income residents than at any other time in American history…