Background: High academic aspirations relate to higher achievement and better mental health, but less is known about how these aspirations are formed in relation to the educational context. Objective: This study aims to investigate the relationship between overall school climate, with particular concern for the dimensions of school level…

This dissertation explores the perceived readiness of potential violin majors (PVMs) in the United States for university-level violin study. The purpose of this study was to explore violin professors' expectations of PVMs in the United States, their perceptions of how these expectations are being met, and how PVMs can be prepared to meet these…

Through employing critical race theory, seen-invisibility, and circuits of dispossession as theoretical frames, this article complicates discourses around equity and Black student achievement by examining the underexplored experiences of high-achieving Black Canadian students in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). Drawing on focus group data with four…

This study explores the effects of teachers' implicit ethnic expectations and burnout on their evaluation of student performance. Ethnic minority students frequently encounter disadvantages in education, which may be partly attributed to these factors related to teachers. During the academic year of 2021/2022, 55 teachers from a central region of…

This study examined the development of self-efficacy among third-grade girls in a low-achieving school setting. Self-efficacy is defined as an individual's belief in their capabilities to attain desired outcomes, as described by Schillinger et al. (2021). This belief plays a significant role in influencing academic performance, social…

The prolonged COVID-19 pandemic has placed postsecondary institutions in unfamiliar territory. Undoubtedly, postsecondary education must adapt to the realities of the pandemic, finding new ways to define academic expectations and rigor. Currently, COVID-19-related conversations among educators often default to focusing on students' race and…

Research has suggested that the relationship between previous academic achievement and student variables is mediated by parent and teacher expectations of the child's ability and future success. The goal of this study was to analyze the mediating role of teachers' expectations and teachers' perceptions of parents' expectations between previous…

Teacher professional development aims to bolster effective instructional practices that enhance student learning. The development of the Sustained Investment and Teacher Engagement Scale for Professional Development (SITES-PD) grew out of a need to understand how teachers respond to opportunities for professional learning in ways that contribute…

Frustrated by the ineffectiveness of externally mandated reforms to positively influence the academic performances and attitudes of their students who came from families with limited economic resources (>98%), two fourth-grade teachers used their teaching visions to redesign daily instructional activities. Consistent with their visions and a…

Responding to student errors is a complex practice that connects teachers' vision and goals around students, mathematics, and teaching. We explore teacher candidates' (TCs) reflections on responding to errors during rehearsals of whole-class discussion to gain insight into the vision and goals that might influence their thinking. We discuss five…

Understanding how teachers' implicit beliefs promote and inhibit students' creativity has important implications for fostering creativity in the classroom. This study investigated whether the effect of teachers' fixed creative mindset on their self-efficacy for teaching creativity was mediated by their perceptions of students' potential and the…

The learning crisis in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is significantly marked by a high degree of heterogeneity in student learning outcomes. Such variations, extending across student abilities, backgrounds, and learning speeds, are believed to be partly a result of teachers failing to devote sufficient attention to students who are…

Grade-level proficiency for secondary literacy classrooms remains an area to probe for improved student achievement. Tools to measure effectiveness of classroom practices also do not exist in large quantities. Based on the findings of The Opportunity Myth (2018), equity in the literacy classroom can be identified as: (1) grade level appropriate…

COVID-19 helped to shift the traditional educational learning platforms. Higher learning institutions have been engaged with online learning for decades, but online learning was prevalent in elementary schools. This phenomenon catapulted elementary schools to adjust their tactics and learn the best instructional practices to engage online…

Disparities between the educational outcomes of students of color and their White peers have persisted across decades. Multicultural consultee-centered consultation has the potential to mitigate negative outcomes for students of color by improving the knowledge and skills of teachers. However, more empirical research is needed to understand the…