Instructional leadership has become the dominant paradigm in principal preparation and professional learning. In parallel, teacher evaluation has risen in prominence. Using interviews from 84 principals in 23 districts and three states, we asked how teacher evaluation influenced principals' reported priorities and conceptions of instructional…

Principals can affect several consequential schooling processes and outcomes. However, their effectiveness varies substantially and is distributed across schools inequitably, underscoring the importance of effective principal professional development (PPD), which begins by using needs assessments to inform PPD content. A researcher-practitioner…

Despite increasing recognition of the importance of high-quality school leadership, we know remarkably little about principal skill development. Using administrative data from Tennessee, Oregon, and New York City, we estimate the returns to principal experience as measured by student outcomes, teacher hiring and retention patterns, and teacher and…

Tennessee school instructional leaders experienced a teacher shortage and relied upon alternatively licensed second career teachers to fill vacant teaching positions, especially in math and science. The purpose of this qualitative interpretive study was to understand alternatively licensed math and science second career teachers' perceptions of…

Employee absence can arise in any organization or institution; however, in education, teacher absenteeism place burdens on schools and hinders the ability of schools to provide quality and consistent instruction to students. Teacher absenteeism has been a topic of discussion in the West Tennessee study school district for many years. School and…

This study aimed to investigate the correlation between teacher morale in relation to job satisfaction in a K-12 rural school district in West Tennessee using a quantitative correlational design. Data collection of 90 certified teachers included teacher survey results from the Purdue Teacher Opinionaire and the Basic Needs Satisfaction at Work…

The problem addressed in this qualitative study is the rise in teacher job dissatisfaction and low rates of retention, which has resulted in a significant increase in teacher vacancies in school districts across the United States. The purpose of this study was to describe and understand the lived experiences of early-career secondary teachers with…

While teachers are provided with professional development, they do not always use the best practices, which can negatively impact their students' learning. This study addressed the problem of teachers not using the best, research-based instructional practices to instruct students in rural areas of Middle Tennessee. The purpose of this qualitative…

This narrative qualitative research study delved into the perspectives of Black teachers regarding the accessibility of school leadership and the barriers encountered by school leaders during their transition into school leadership roles. Its objective was to highlight the underrepresentation of Black educators, particularly Black administrators.…

In the 1970s, educational policies excluded children with disabilities from general education classrooms. Children with disabilities, such as autism spectrum disorder, were educated in separate environments from their non-disabled peers with minimum attention to the curriculum. The number of students with autism spectrum disorder increased over…

This non-experimental, mixed methods study examined the relationships between school culture dimensions, compassion fatigue, and compassion satisfaction within Tennessee K-12 public schools. The research identified if differences existed in perceived school culture dimensions and professional quality of life between teachers and administrators.…

While high-stakes testing has influenced music teacher evaluation, evidence of music teacher agency influencing the policy process has been scarce. One notable exception is the Tennessee Fine Arts Portfolio Model (TNFAPM), designed by music teachers in Tennessee as an alternative to music teacher evaluations that have been based, at least in part,…

The COVID-19 pandemic rapidly changed the context of higher education during the Spring 2020 semester. As the virus began to spread across the United States, colleges and universities canceled inperson classes and activities, closed campus, and moved all operations online. Within the communication discipline, introductory communication course…

K-12 principals are held increasingly accountable for school success, yet their direct impact on students is negligible. Principals must thus work to positively impact teachers in order to indirectly impact student achievement. Transformational leaders are able to utilize intellectual stimulation in order to impact those who work under them. The…

Tennessee state law (Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-5-5619(b)(2)) charges the Tennessee Department of Education (the department) with producing an annual report on the levels of effectiveness of educators endorsed to teach in grades Kindergarten through third (K-3) for the most recent three school years. This is the first annual report and establishes…