Kindergarten teachers in one large district in Arkansas are inconsistently implementing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)-integrated lessons into their curriculum despite a systemic plan for increasing equitable access to high-quality STEM-focused education for all students by the state department of education. While…

Over time, education has become increasingly more legalistic and litigious. The danger of litigation is an imminent threat for agricultural educators due to the potential financial and professional ramifications. In many cases, agricultural educators may be at higher risk for a lawsuit than teachers of other subjects due to the increased liability…

Traditional grading methods have faced criticism for potentially exacerbating educational disparities, leading to the proposal of grading equity practices as a remedy (Feldman, 2019). We conducted an analysis with survey data from 506 Arkansas public school teachers, utilizing an Ordinary Least Squares (OSL) regression. Our findings illuminate key…

The problem addressed in this study is the decline in the number of teachers in the field of education due to teacher attrition in the first five years of teaching. Teacher attrition can be caused by several factors. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe the perceptions regarding overall preparedness of novice teachers in…

This study was guided by the central research question: "What are the lived experiences and perceptions of former African American teachers and students that endured segregation, desegregation, and integration in Arkansas' Delta?" The phenomenological study used eight former African American teachers and student participants. Of the…

Teacher professional development (PD) is seen as best ways to ensure teacher quality and guarantee positive student achievement outcomes; however, there is a lack of appropriate and effective PD. This quantitative study examined teachers' preferences in PD content and delivery. Teachers from a K-12 public school district in Northwest Arkansas were…

Almost seven decades after the Supreme Court's "1954 Brown v Board of Education" decision, African American/Black men are still vastly underrepresented in the K-12 public education profession. For this qualitative, phenomenological research study, a small sample of this demographic of educators, who chose to enter and remain in the…

In their research- and narrative-filled article, Dr. Beverly Boals Gilbert and Dr. Cathy Grace call for action in providing resources to people living in the rural Mississippi Delta. Dr. Grace draws from personal stories growing up and teaching in rural Arkansas, describing the moment she recognized her own learning gaps, the impact of the…

The Teacher Compensation Survey (TCS) was a research and development effort by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) to explore the possibility of developing an administrative records survey that would compile compensation and demographic data on all public school teachers in the nation. A pilot survey in 2007 collected data from…

This technical appendix provides additional information about the sample, data, and estimation strategy used for a series of American Educator Panels (AEP) Data Notes published by the RAND Corporation in 2019. The Data Note series is intended to provide brief but incisive analyses of teacher and school leader survey results that may be of…

As teachers search for ways to improve their craft through reflection, critical friendships have proven to be effective at improving preservice and inservice teachers' reflective behaviors. This qualitative study sought to understand the experiences of agricultural education preservice teachers participating in critical friendships with other…

A leadership shortage has been documented across professions. Emotional intelligence skills, traits, and abilities have received much attention as a tool for business leaders in the past decade as a way to increase leadership skill, meet organizational goals, and enhance profits. The study sought to determine whether public school superintendents…

Research showing adolescents' ever-increasing use of digital devices, combined with calls from governmental officials to incorporate more technology into classroom activities, prompted this survey of Arkansas scholastic journalism advisers. The goal was to determine how they used digital communication devices in their teaching. Results showed lack…

The highly qualified provision of the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act promoted licensure exams on a national level. The present study is an effort to explore the most commonly used Praxis licensure exams and their passing scores. Hypothesized was that passing scores are set at such a minimal level that they are ineffectual in identifying highly…

Using a unique dataset, this dissertation analyzes the relationship between observable teacher characteristics and teacher effectiveness. Effectiveness is measured as a teacher's ability to improve student achievement on a standardized test. This analysis focuses on teachers of math and science at the elementary and middle school levels, as well…