Teacher turnover has been an unsolved problem for decades and the pipeline of new entrants into the teaching profession is lower than ever before. The Millennial generation is the major source of new talent today. Employers in other sectors have studied this generational cohort's workplace needs to discover how to retain the most mobile…

Minority retention and graduation, specifically concerning first-generation Latino college students, is one of the current challenges facing higher education institutions in the 21st century. Research indicates that Latino students are not graduating or obtaining success at the same rates as other ethnic student groups although these students'…

As the demand for qualified science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and business college-degreed workers increases, underrepresented minorities, females, first-generation college students, and students who are economically disadvantaged remain as four high-risk STEM populations. A majority of undergraduate STEM and business…

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore transformational leadership practices in principals through the eyes of special education teachers, and their effect on teacher commitment. The conceptual framework of this study was based on Bass' (1985) transformational leadership model guided by Kouzes and Posner's (1987) five exemplary…

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore how mothers who were nontraditional students enrolled in a four-year college described their experiences with performance, persistence, and college degree completion. The theoretical foundation was Tinto's (1975) student departure theory. The two research questions were (1) How do…

To develop and support an effective, diverse educator workforce, education leaders in California are encouraged to coordinate, or braid, state funds, federal funds, and specialized grants. By braiding funds, education leaders can adapt to the ebb and flow of annual budgets to better meet local needs that can improve outcomes for students. This…

In post-secondary education, degree attainment for first-generation college students (FGCS) is essential. The purpose of this explanatory sequential mixed-methods study is to explore the first-generation college student's persistence from their first year to the second year at a private or public post-secondary institution. The second purpose is…

The problem investigated in this study was the low completion rates of students in mandated developmental education courses at a local community college in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. The purpose of this study was to examine factors that may contribute to the persistence of community college students who have completed mandated…

Educators are increasingly pressured to include experiences for students which will help develop noncognitive skills. Noncognitive skills lie outside of the physiological ability to process information and encompass adjacent concepts including soft-skills, 21st century skills, or employability skills. Grit, optimism, and self-efficacy are three…

Background: Identifying high-quality teachers at the point of hire can reduce later costs in the form of teacher attrition and minimize the attrition impact on school organizations and student learning. There have been many studies paying attention to the topic of improving the system for selecting and hiring teachers (Bruno & Strunk, 2019;…

In alignment with strengths-based role strain adaptation models (Bowman, 2013), my dissertation investigates how social psychological strengths that Black and Latinx students bring to predominantly White higher education environments influence their perceptions and behavior in college. Strength-based models (SBM) highlight the importance of…

The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of international-student English language learners (ELLs), situated on a language learning plateau (L2P), who have been exposed to a Growth Mindset Pedagogy with Deliberate Practice. The researcher used a qualitative research design, to document the experiences of five adult English language…

We explore the dynamics of competitive search in the K-12 public education sector. Using data from Boston Public Schools, we document how teacher labor supply varies substantially by position types, schools, and the timing of job postings. We find that early-posted positions are more likely to be filled and end up securing new hires that are…

Successful student transition into higher education is fundamental for student retention and future success. We have previously adapted a freely available online induction course to meet the needs of incoming Medicine (MBChB) students. This case study outlines the process of further developing this course in response to student feedback and…

News stories from the past year highlight an "exodus of teachers" from Providence schools following the state takeover in 2019 and the two subsequent years of pandemic schooling. At the national level, though, reports of teachers fleeing the profession are increasingly being replaced by a more complex story, where teachers are feeling…