This study aimed to investigate and identify the strategies and best practices employed by elementary school leaders through the teacher's lens to ensure their success. Additionally, the research sought to view school leadership behaviors and practices through the teacher's lens. This approach created collaboration and communication between the…

Prior literature discusses how conflicting beliefs regarding assessment, competing workloads, and a lack of formal assessment resources may contribute to faculty reluctance to engage with formal assessment processes. There is a gap in research on exploring assessment leader-faculty relationships through the lens of Leader-Member Exchange Theory…

This qualitative study framed in Albert Bandura's Self-Efficacy theory involved 6 teachers from Chaffey Joint Union high School District and 8 teacher education professionals from teacher education programs in southern and central California. It examined reported pedagogical strategies in responding to specific dimensions of classroom diversity:…

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological research study was to investigate the factors that influence mathematical instruction of upper elementary teachers in school districts within Southern California. More specifically, this research study examined teaching strategies of upper elementary teachers' experiences and perceptions regarding…

Background: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, students and teachers have transitioned to online learning. The transition required changes in teaching practices to accommodate for an online learning environment. However, there are no studies characterizing physical educators' and school health experts' perspectives on physical education via distance…

Classrooms nationwide welcome a diverse group of learners. A goal, and an achievable one, is to recognize this unique diversity on a whole child spectrum and to strive to customize learning to meet individual needs. Critical to this process is for teachers to have at hand research that connects factors of learning in a holistic way. It is equally…

The researchers piloted an observational protocol to examine the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles and checkpoint strategies used during daily instruction with a small sample of general and special education teachers. Observational research on UDL has been recommended within the literature. Researchers used the high-leverage practice…

The stakes are incredibly high in California to provide access to a high-quality education in a safe environment for all students. As districts across the state resumed full-time instruction and began the task of pandemic recovery, members of the California Collaborative on District Reform convened three times in 2021-22 to continue and deepen…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore teacher leadership practice in an effort to understand how the behaviors of teacher leaders, and interactions among them, contribute to teacher and collective efficacy for the purposes of increasing student achievement and closing student achievement gaps. Methodology: A grounded theory approach to…

Background: In the United States, students' experiences are shaped by racioethnic, socioeconomic, and linguistic segregation. School choice, and especially charter schools, generally exacerbate existing levels of school segregation. Counter to this trend, hundreds of intentionally diverse charter schools (IDCS), with a mission to promote school…

Data suggest that teachers lack confidence in teaching English language learners (ELLs). Teachers' perceived shortcomings have been identified but little is known about why these perceptions exist or how they might be associated with broader measures of efficacy. We surveyed 578 Californian teachers of ELLs to explore the relations among teachers'…

The primary purpose of this study was to analyze the professional development program at one transitional kindergarten through eighth grade school undergoing a system-wide, major programmatic change. Specifically, how the school organized its professional development opportunities, the frequency in which teachers implemented new learning from the…

This document includes two technical appendices that accompany the full report, "English as a Second Language in California's Community Colleges." The two appendixes include: (1) Key terms, data and methods; and (2) Figures and tables. [These appendices were written with research support from Sergio Sanchez and Stephanie Pulles. For the…

The pendulum is shifting from teacher-directed approaches in childhood education towards child-directed learning where developmentally appropriate practices (DAP) inform curriculum and instruction. This study explored the perspectives of teachers and administrators towards the supports and barriers of DAP and play in Transitional Kindergarten (TK)…

Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative study is to understand and describe the strategies and practices that exemplary teachers use to address the educational needs of Latino male students from kindergarten through third grade. Methodology: The researcher selected a qualitative research design to describe and understand the instructional…