This qualitative study examined how elementary school leaders from K-5 schools in eastern New York addressed contextual factors in implementing and sustaining professional learning communities (PLCs). Senge (1990) posited structures need to be in place to create and facilitate collaborative communities. A complementary position presents…

Believe and Prepare is a teacher preparation reform implemented by the Louisiana Department of Education in collaboration with school systems and teacher preparation programs across the state. It was piloted in the 2014/15 school year and became mandatory in July 2018 for incoming teacher candidates in all 18 institutions of higher education that…

The academic success and language proficiency in Arabic of bilingual Arabic learners (BAL) in immersion programs have been limited by a lack of effective policies and practices that address the Arabic population's inclusive and equitable educational environment. This qualitative case study aims to provide insight into how academic leaders can…

Reports in recent years have demonstrated math teacher shortages in hard-to-staff school contexts due to high rates of teacher turnover. In this paper, I evaluate the impact of exposure to new, new-to-school, and emergency/unlicensed teachers on student math achievement on one recent cohort of Indiana students in 3rd through 8th grade. I find that…

Amargosa Valley School in Nevada could be considered representative of almost any preK-8 school that serves a large proportion of socioeconomically disadvantaged students and is focused on turning around persistently low achievement. Like other schools supported by federal School Improvement Grants, Amargosa is beginning to implement a reform plan…

Staffing problems are pervasive in certain subject areas, such as secondary math and science and special education, where the combination of training requirements and relatively high alternative wages makes it difficult to attract and retain high-quality teachers. This project evaluated the impacts of the Florida Critical Teacher Shortage Program…

This exploratory study examined the relationships between five predictor variables identified by the literature (age, years of special education teaching experience, level of emotional behavioral disorders (EBD) preparation, principal support, and principal feedback) and two higher order terms (age and years of special education teaching…