Considering the significance of integrating students with disabilities into general education classes in Mississippi, it is critical to identify the methods by which co-teachers report working together, whether they have obtained the needed professional development, and which teaching model they employ in the inclusion classroom. This data can…

The lesson study methodology allows Extension educators to reflect on instructional practices and gather formative data that can be used to refine curricula. We trained Extension educators and formed a community of practice (CoP) of agents who used the lesson study method to inform improvements of a 4-H coding curriculum. The CoP planned and set…

This study investigated teachers' perceptions of the nature of support, or lack thereof, while teaching deaf students with additional disabilities (DSAD). A total of forty teachers, from five schools in four states in the United States, participated in the study. A content analysis of written responses to four open-ended questions, using a…

Literacy is a key component to success in school and in life. Literacy has been a focus of education since 1965 when President Jimmy Carter announced a "war on poverty." Since then, history has shown that educators should place an emphasis on literacy within schools. Because literacy is so important, I set out to explore how…

Since 2004, the National Institute for School Leadership (NISL) has offered the Executive Development Program (EDP), a leadership program for sitting school principals that is typically delivered in two-day workshops once per month over 12 months. From its inception through 2018, 15,000 principals across 23 states have participated in the EDP.…

Skill sets have been identified as the abilities needed by an individual to perform a job or task. In this mixed methods study, an online survey was developed to collect data identifying those skill sets and the barriers to effective inclusion in rural schools in the Black Belt region of Alabama and Mississippi. For rural administrators, this…

Foreign language (FL) and English as a Second Language (ESL) teaching present considerable challenges in the rural U.S. South. Local language ideologies, budgetary considerations, and challenges in other curricular areas (e.g., math and science) lead to marginalizing both FL and ESL in schools. This article examines the personal and professional…

Leadership and school culture are two factors that have a great impact in schools today. Much research has focused on leaders, but more is needed on the culture of schools. Improving both elements of leadership and school culture may also increase other challenges that schools face such as student achievement. The purpose of this study was to…