When focusing on the teacher as the key variable in the classroom, professional dispositions are the greatest factor impacting student achievement (Diez & Raths, 2007; Haberman; 2004; Marzano; 2001). The intent of this study was to answer three questions: What professional dispositions impact student success in the learning environment as…

Workers learn on the job from both repetition and peers. Less understood is how "specific" types of experience and peer characteristics affect on-the-job learning. This likely differs by context (e.g., occupation, tasks, or roles). Absent such knowledge, it is unclear how to optimally assign workers to tasks and peers. We examine…

Educator sexual misconduct continues to present a problem in U.S. K-12 schools. As mandatory reporters, K-12 educators must report any suspicion of educator sexual misconduct, but despite state and federal laws regarding reporting, educator sexual misconduct often goes unreported. The purpose of this exploratory phenomenological study was to learn…

The purpose of this study is to determine if teachers perceive evaluation as providing the motivation and feedback to change classroom practices in a context where teacher evaluation carries varied stakes for tenured versus untenured teachers. This mixed methods case study of four high schools in a single district in North Carolina uses survey and…

The purpose of the study was to examine the extent to which participants built meaningful culturally and linguistically responsive (CLR) relationships with students and to what extent those same participants engaged in cognitively demanding academic discourse with their students. The participatory action research (PAR) study took place in a rural…

Black students' experiences in math and science courses in urban high schools were investigated. A critical race theoretical framing of qualitative data revealed teacher characteristics that encouraged and discouraged students. Teacher characteristics that encouraged students' interests included (1) shared racial/cultural background with students,…

Self-directed student learning begins with self-directed educators. Teachers in Greenville, North Carolina, are training in the Habits of Mind, a series of thinking behaviors that support self-directed learning by helping students successfully tackle complex problems. The authors outline key instructional strategies that have grown from these…

This integrative review examined correlates, mechanisms, and consequences of teacher bias experienced in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade in primary and secondary schools in the United States. Education Resource and Information Center, Sociological Abstracts, and Applied Social Science Index & Abstracts were searched to identify…

This case centers on two early career educators: a principal and teacher struggling to address issues of diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (DEIJ) in their school in the current political context of legislative attacks on critical race theory (CRT) and the simultaneous national Black Lives Matter movement. A talented teacher is reluctantly…

This study investigates how teacher-student relationships develop. If a teacher is able to foster high-quality relationships with all students, will students work harder in the classroom? An understanding of how teacher-student relationships develop is critical to answering that question. In this investigation, the authors follow a holistic case…

While a growing body of literature has documented the negative impacts of exclusionary punishments, such as suspensions, on academic outcomes, less is known about how teachers vary in disciplinary behaviors and the attendant impacts on students. We use administrative data from North Carolina elementary schools to examine the extent to which…

The growing emphasis on teacher leadership has been recognized in scholarly literature as well as in professional teaching standards. A survey of 493 public school teachers throughout North Carolina was distributed to identify leadership behaviors across settings and situations (Von Dohlen, 2012). Teacher leadership behaviors were grouped…

Our study examined the relationship between improved personal health behaviors of Head Start teachers and the promotion of positive health behaviors in their classrooms. Thirty-three Head Start teachers across seven centers received six 30-min nutrition education lessons. Dietary intake, physical activity, and self-efficacy for promoting positive…

The sexual misconduct of school employees has become a more common issue in the United States, and there has been very little empirical research conducted to provide context or understanding of the prevalence of this problem. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the reasons for license revocation and surrender in North Carolina…

This mixed methods study examined initially licensed teachers' culturally responsive teaching self-efficacy (CRTSE) using the CRTSE survey and conducting interviews with initially licensed teachers scoring above the mean on one or more CRTSE constructs. It extended upon previous work conducted by Siwatu (2011) that explored the CRTSE experiences…