The aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic increased the demands of the already challenging teaching profession. This study sought to investigate if correlations existed among the perceptions of teachers' regarding job satisfaction, principal leadership behaviors and school climate using pre- and post-surveys. Survey data was collected from a target…

This quantitative study aims to determine if there is a relationship between schools that had one-to-one technology programs pre-pandemic, and achievement test score outcomes. The study focused on the twenty-three school districts that had one-to-one programs pre-pandemic in Mississippi, and compared their performance with test scores from…

This transcendental phenomenological study focused on determining the factors contributing to teacher exits from Mississippi schools during and since the global COVID-19 pandemic. Developing a more robust understanding of the teacher labor market and teacher exits is vital to ensuring that students can access a high-quality education. Participants…

This study examines the lived experiences of K-12 Instructional Technology Leaders in rural schools and school districts throughout Mississippi. It sought to explore the challenges that were encountered, the strategies they were employed, and the lessons that were learned during the COVID-19 pandemic, as traditional classroom teaching and learning…

In the Spring of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic changed not only the way in which our daily lives were carried out, but it also drastically effected the way schools operated. Many if not all school districts in the state of Mississippi began operating in some type of remote fashion during the spring of 2020. Some school districts switched to an…

COVID-19 changed the course of education. There had to be a way to adequately provide educational services to students in a safe and effective manner. Most school districts chose blended learning, to be referred to in this study as BL, as the best solution. This qualitative study was framed Siemens and Downes' learning theory of connectivism…

Teacher retention in the rural setting is a topic of concern. Teachers are choosing to leave the profession for a variety of reasons. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to identify factors teachers in a rural school district in Mississippi perceived as promoting teacher retention. Additionally, this study examined teachers' perceptions…

This research discusses the impact of environmental and social crisis events, how these events affect schools, and how administrators can make informed decision in response to those events. The qualitative phenomenological study explored the lived experiences of K-12 administrators in Mississippi Public Schools and how their perceptions of…

The shift to online learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic has brought about significant changes in the way education is delivered. The online environment provides a new avenue for physical therapy education. With a majority of undergraduate students taking at least one course online, their perceptions of online learning are critical in the…

The purpose of this applied research study with a program evaluation was to answer fundamental questions about the effectiveness of an extended professional development program. The program sought to promote quality mathematics instruction by increasing teachers' knowledge of and supporting the implementation of effective mathematics teaching…

Because states typically fund districts based on student counts, districts reporting shrinking enrollment worry about shrinking dollars as well. The seemingly obvious quick fix is for states to hold districts financially harmless for some or all of their enrollment loss. But states have many factors to weigh when deciding whether or how to go down…

The Mississippi IDeA Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) supported by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (Grant P20GM103476) launched the new Mississippi INBRE Outreach Scholars (MIOS) summer research program in 2019. The program was designed to offer students community outreach and research experiences related to…

Statement of Purpose and Method of Study: The purpose of this study is two-fold. One purpose is to examine whether there is a correlation between Mississippi community college instructors' self-reported recollections of their coping self-efficacy and burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic. The second purpose is to explore Mississippi community…

Historically, high levels of self-reported stress, anxiety, and depression are quite common among STEM students. Unfortunately, after multiple semesters of disrupted education due to COVID-19, these mental struggles among students, especially first-year (freshmen) undergraduate engineering students, have only been exacerbated. To mitigate these…

Chemistry simulations using interactive graphic user interfaces (GUIs) represent uniquely effective and safe tools to support multidimensional learning. Computer literacy and coding skills have become increasingly important in the chemical sciences. In response to both of these facts, a series of Jupyter notebooks hosted on Google Colaboratory…