A qualitative case study explored teachers' perceptions and beliefs about a mandated literacy instruction program at a mid-western rural middle school. This study used the implementation of a mandated reading and writing program as a basis for learning how programs can be sustainable and provide teachers with self-efficacy. This study used…

This qualitative case study of district-level and school-level leaders' roles in implementing new initiatives explored district-level leaders' support of principals' implementation of new school-wide initiatives. The theoretical framework for this study was distributed leadership. Participants included district-level leaders and school principals…

Well-being on the college campus has been a top identified area of priority for college presidents over the past decade, further heightened by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Okanagan Charter was created in 2015 as a framework for Health Promoting Universities and Colleges to embed health and well-being into all aspects of campus life and operations…

This dissertation examines a case of an international development initiative funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in the United States and implemented in North Macedonia. The specific initiative was a youth development program including a substantial career counseling component called the Macedonia Youth…

In the United States, postsecondary educational attainment positively correlates to the probability of a person being employed and the amount of money they earn (U.S. Department of Labor, 2018). Financial aid programs attempt to help students afford, remain in, and finish their postsecondary pursuits, but Levin (1989) asserted some forms of…

School administrators face uncertainties and challenges in implementing nontraditional learning environments that provide high-quality educational experiences during pandemics and crises (Basilaia & Kvavadze, 2020; Tria, 2020). The purpose of the current qualitative exploratory case study was to explore how 11 district-level (superintendents…

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has become pivotal in our daily lives and educational institutions' teaching and interaction between instructors and learners. As a result, universities are restructuring their curriculum and classroom instruction bridging the digital gap between education and learning. However, research seldom…

The issue that this study addresses is the lack of implementation of Social Emotional Learning (SEL) in today's classrooms. To address this problem, the purpose of this study will be exploring the experience of students positively impacted by a teacher coded as using Social Emotional Competence. To gather data, assessment scores of several…

The local problem is that literacy in the target school district continues to rank below the state average and the fidelity of implementation (FOI) of balanced literacy (BL) has not been addressed since BL was initiated in 2014 to address student literacy achievement. Teachers reported limited professional development (PD) and lack of motivation…

In this qualitative study we sought to understand the experiences of K-12 school personnel serving on Comprehensive, Integrated, Three-Tiered (Ci3T) leadership teams. We conducted 22 semi-structured interviews and five focus groups across three states and five school districts to determine team members' perceptions regarding facilitators and…

Service-learning is recognized by colleges and universities for its benefits to students; however, locating partners for course-specific service-learning projects and ways to manage these projects within a class can be a complex challenge for faculty. This challenge is magnified when faculty strive to maintain course-specific objectives while…

Studies investigating the effectiveness of professional development (PD) programs have provided no conclusive findings on what exactly makes a PD effort effective. Using an observation-based coaching PD program, we explore which features in the PD implementation process facilitated or impeded teachers' meaningful engagement in and learning from…

Background: Sexual and gender minority youth (SGMY) are at high risk for adverse health outcomes. Safer schools decrease this risk. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has identified 6 practices that can make schools safer for SGMY, yet few US schools implement them all. We apply a structural competency framework to elucidate factors…

This article contains a review of relevant research concerning the implementation and operation of a professional learning community (PLC). The term "PLC Lite" is defined as the ineffective operation of a team acting under the umbrella of a PLC. Although many schools operate under the term PLC, daily operations do not produce evidence of…

Over the last decade, interest in nature-based educational programs has been growing in Canada, yet there has been little research on the nature of these programs and how they are being implemented. This small-scale study provides baseline information on the characteristics of Canadian Forest Schools, the challenges that educators face in starting…