This dissertation showcases collective sensemaking in action. The study was situated in a larger North Carolina project, in which educators took a systems approach to update the state's instructional guidance infrastructure during content standards reform. Specifically, I investigated how K-5 educators from multiple stakeholder groups--teachers,…

Online education has been permanently established in secondary education. Multiple sets of quality standards provide a guide for quality online course design and online instruction. While the standards are based on educational research, there is little research to substantiate the implementation and effectiveness of the standards in promoting…

Social and emotional learning has been recognized for positively impacting students' social, emotional, behavioral, and academic outcomes (Durlak et al., 2011; Dusenbury & Weissberg, 2017; Taylor et al., 2017). State departments of education have taken this research and implemented statewide social and emotional learning standards for…

Recent data regarding the faith of young adults in America continues to reveal that young people are disaffiliating from the Church at faster rates and in greater numbers. In light of this, the Church has consistently called for a New Evangelization, beginning with Pope Saint John Paul II and reaffirmed by Pope Francis. As a ministry of the…

Recent data regarding the faith of young adults in America continues to reveal that young people are disaffiliating from the Church at faster rates and in greater numbers. In light of this, the Church has consistently called for a New Evangelization, beginning with Pope Saint John Paul II and reaffirmed by Pope Francis. As a ministry of the…

In this qualitative study, I examined teachers' perceptions of the influence of high stakes testing on instructional practices and student learning and engagement in middle schools in rural Southwest Virginia. Fourteen middle school teachers from three middle schools completed questionnaires, and seven teachers submitted lesson plans as part of…

This study addressed the problem of whether elementary school teachers are consistently implementing the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) standards in their pedagogical practices of teaching science. It was evident that half of all teachers in the United States do not consistently implement technology into their…

State-wide tests are designed to measure student overall ability on grade-level standards. School leaders want fine-grained information on student performance to inform curriculum and instruction. One currently used target scoring method, which compares student scores to expected values is currently used to give this feedback to schools, but there…

The authors demonstrate how teachers can scaffold instruction that invites students into the learning process by presenting engaging, relevant material. Employing five steps, the authors describe how to curate and sequence text sets: access learners' funds of knowledge, begin with the end in mind, consult the curriculum to determine areas that…

The purpose of this article was to evaluate the quality of research studies and the evidence base for algebra instruction for secondary students with learning disabilities (LD) from 2000 to 2020. We evaluated the quality of methodological rigor of a total of eight single subject and three group design research studies using the 2014 Council for…

Purpose: This paper aims to contribute to the existing conceptualizations of counseling ethics competency and to develop a counseling ethics competency scale. This paper also argues that spirituality and self-efficacy influence counseling ethics competency. Design/methodology/approach: A series of studies were performed to develop hypotheses and a…

When a new community forms, whether it is an elementary school class or a teacher inquiry group, co-constructing norms or community expectations is often one of the members' first tasks. The authors advocate that norms should be given to (rather than created by) a newly formed community to elevate the different needs, goals, and perspectives of…

Recruiting, retaining, and maintaining sufficient numbers of cybersecurity professionals in the workplace is a constant battle, not only for the technical side of cybersecurity, but also for the overlooked area of non-technical, managerial-related jobs in the cyber sector. The problem is the lack of cybersecurity skills in the European labour…

At first sight, discussing the relevance of innovation, professionalisation and evaluation for higher education quality management seems to be redundant. Universities can legitimately be expected to be innovation-friendly, to pursue professionalism in their approaches to teaching and to be appreciative towards an evidence-supported management…

Using a nationally representative sample of U.S. public school districts, we explored the current landscape of social, emotional, and behavioral (SEB) approaches and their impact on behavioral outcomes. Data suggest SEB screening is the exception rather than the rule, with most districts reporting that students are referred to an internal support…