There is a paucity of research on the experiences of rural school counselors' advocacy for and with marginalized students. Specifically, rural school counselors' advocacy experiences for and with students who identify as LGBTQ+ are not well known. The advocacy experiences of rural school counselors for all marginalized students are exigent, yet…

Indigenous Australian students generally attain poorer educational outcomes compared to non-Indigenous students. However, some remote schools are challenging the status quo by providing schooling experiences where Indigenous students thrive. Using an Indigenous research paradigm and a comparative case study methodology, we conducted interviews…

An increasingly large number of students are experiencing test anxiety in the school setting. Cognitive Interruption Theory (CIT) can explain why students who experience test anxiety can lose their prior knowledge while in a testing setting. Schools often use traditional identification strategies to address test anxiety; unfortunately, these…

Students with disabilities are at an increased risk of experiencing poorer quality peer relationships than those without disabilities. Previous school-based efforts to promote positive peer interactions among students with and without disabilities have included individual skill development and broader initiatives such as inclusive school…

Stereotype threat effect (STE) is a psychosocial phenomenon that can cause performance decrements on standardized tests. The purpose of this quantitative study was to explore standardized test construct through the lens of intelligence theories as a potential mediator for STE for low socioeconomic status (LSES) students in rural Arkansas schools.…

Service learning has been established as a promising method of teaching and learning that engages youth as change agents in their schools and communities. But service learning has not been widely implemented or studied in rural K-12 schools. This study explores the case of a service learning curriculum, the Working Together Project (WTP), in a…

The intention of this dissertation in practice is to provide structure to a peer-to-peer mentoring program to improve the academic success of students, while building students' engagement and social emotional skills through connections and relationships within the school district. This study is situated in a rural school community with an…

When a school district in North Dakota began having hard conversations about its struggling status, a simple, yet crucial, contributor to academic success became abundantly clear: student attendance. That conversation laid the groundwork for a districtwide project, enacted in partnership with the Region 11 Comprehensive Center (R11CC), North…

Higher education students face various challenges that often negatively impact their retention rates. Combining multiple challenges leads some students to focus less on academic priorities and their potential retention. Some students begin using drugs and/or alcohol to cope with the stresses, sometimes negatively affecting retention. The negative…

The number of emergent bilingual students in the United States increased by over half a million students between 2010 and 2020, and Texas' school counselor ratios do not reflect the minimum ratio recommended nationally, nor do they reflect the recommended ratio by The Texas Counseling Association, Texas Association of Secondary School Principals,…

From the beginning of American history, disparity and inequity have existed in American society. This applies especially in the realm of education. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic surfaced in America. Adding to the already existing history of systemic educational oppression, the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on the many underserved and…

The purpose of this qualitative case study is to discover the parents' perceptions of the impact of their parental engagement for at-risk middle school African American males on their academic success. The problem being addressed was the lack of parental involvement for middle school African American male students in a rural school district in a…

Project ENGAGE was an Education Innovation and Research federal grant awarded to the Osage County Interlocal Cooperative in October of 2017. This study addressed the effect of a combination of literacy and behavioral supports on the academic outcomes of elementary students in rural public schools. The five-year multi-element study included a…

This study examined minoritized student perceptions of connectedness through relationships, involvement, and environment in relation to their non-minoritized peers in rural Pennsylvania high schools. The study also examined academic and health risk behaviors of minoritized and non-minoritized students. A nonexperimental quantitative research…

In the past ten years, chronic absenteeism has attracted increasing attention. Research correlates chronic absenteeism with lower standardized test scores and grade point averages. Chronic absenteeism also correlates with higher rates of grade retention and dropping out (UEPC, 2012). Being present in school is a necessary precondition to receiving…