The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between academic achievement and attendance. Reading proficiency is foundational to overall academic success. In this study, reading proficiency served as the operational definition for the level of student academic success. Out-of-school suspension is a disciplinary consequence as a result…

Prosocial and Active Learning (PAL) Classrooms is a year-long teacher professional development program designed to increase students' prosocial behavior and engagement in 5th grade mathematics and science classrooms that use active, team-based lessons by altering the way that teachers interact with students using research-based strategies. The…

The purpose of this guide is to illuminate best practices for meaningful engagement of youth in Community Schools and to recognize youth voice as a community asset that can help advance more equitable school systems. Youth voice plays an important role in redesigning how public education functions. The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted education and…

This study examines Mexican-origin first-generation college students' (FGCS) transformational impetus within the sociopolitical context of the Nuevo South. Authors investigate transformational impetus through students' perceptions of knowledge and tools for advocating for equity and social justice in their communities. Results suggest a greater…

Due to COVID-19 lockdowns, Arkansas had to implement virtual instruction into a face-to-face education system for the first time in the 2020-2021 school year. This unique situation is the setting for this dissertation. It explores how adding virtual education to face-to-face education affected student engagement as measured by student attendance.…

Background and Context: Historically, women have been underrepresented in computer science. To address this gender gap, researchers advocate for high-quality computer science programs for early childhood. Objectives: This study examines gender differences in coding performance before and after implementing a 24-lesson visual programming curriculum…

Archived student reading achievement data and teacher perceptions of a one-to-one technology implementation were studied at a small, rural public school in northwest Arkansas. This study looked at data collected prior to and during an unprecedented time in education, the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this study was to determine if a one-to-one…

In 2019, a coronavirus strand, SARS-CoV-2, caused a global pandemic of respiratory illness, also referred to as the coronavirus (COVID-19). The U.S. government implemented massive school closures as a non-pharmaceutical intervention to mitigate the spread of the virus. The abrupt pivot to the asynchronous learning model resulted in low levels of…

The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to analyze if a significant relationship exists between teacher efficacy in student engagement, instructional strategies, classroom management, and student achievement in mathematics at middle and high school levels in Eastern Arkansas. Using Bandura's self-efficacy theory as the theoretical…

Regular attendance is essential to providing students with opportunities to learn. State and local education agencies (SEAs and LEAs) play a crucial role in tracking, measuring, and addressing student attendance. The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic affected the way that many SEAs and LEAs collect attendance data. This resource highlights…

This mixed-methods study investigated the pandemic's impact on gifted identification among Arkansas's demographic groups and gifted services. The provision of gifted services during the pandemic varied, leading to differences in instructional practices and technology access. Nomination and identification processes were disrupted, hindering the…

The increasing trend of Black and minority students being channeled from classrooms into the juvenile and criminal justice systems, known as the school-to-prison pipeline, presents a pressing concern in the U.S. educational landscape. This study sought to address the gap in understanding the perceptions of teachers and administrators regarding…

This study examines Arkansas school districts' response to COVID-19, specifically focusing on the type of distance/remote learning methods school districts switched to toward the end of the spring 2020 semester. The instruction methods range from online teacher-student instruction through platforms such as Zoom and Google Classroom to alternative…