This research project explores how awareness and participation in Christian spiritual disciplines increased among adults involved in Sunday school revitalization at Temple Baptist Church in Gainesville, Texas. The first two chapters include a biblical and theological basis for the spiritual disciplines and a brief historical sketch of Christian…

The purpose of this study is to examine the perceptions of kindergarten teachers concerning the skills that demonstrate the five components of readiness as organized by the National Education Goals Panel (NEGP) and to identify which skills kindergarten teachers believe are most important for students to be successful. In November 2023, 136…

A small university in rural Texas explored developing a criminal justice bachelor's degree curriculum through the lens of perspective transformation focusing on humanity courses, resulting in a paradigm shift away from a traditional criminal justice baccalaureate degree curriculum. This article addresses the university's journey in developing the…

Career-connected learning is an educational strategy that combines high-quality academic instruction, skill-based learning, and real-world experiences to prepare students with the knowledge and skills that they need to pursue their career goals. Career-connected learning is especially important for an often-overlooked group of students including…

As community colleges strive to prepare students for an increasingly interconnected world, this study investigated the challenges and opportunities in internationalizing history curriculum at these institutions. The research addressed the limited understanding of community college history faculty's perceptions and experiences regarding…

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the experiences and perceptions of instructional coaches and teachers using the Results Coaching Global Framework with respect to outcomes of working together. The intent of an instructional coach is to collaborate with teachers one-on-one to build their instructional teaching skills. The…

Focusing on asylum seeker and refugee students attending a school with the stated mission to cater to recent immigrants, asylees, and refugees in Texas, we explored the school experiences of asylum-seeking and refugee middle schoolers and how they see their education. Having obtained political asylum in the United States, they are hiding from…

Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative study was to bring together teachers from different academic disciplines to engage them in lesson study (LS) cycles with a focus on literacy. Design/methodology/approach: This research employed a qualitative case study and occurred in one secondary school along the Texas (USA) and Mexico border. Ten…

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore assistant principals' leadership readiness levels and the relationship between a district-provided administrator development program (ADP) and those levels. The study took place in Lovely Independent School District, which is in southeast Texas. Research questions focused on perceptions of…

The United States is experiencing a teacher shortage crisis that is even more pronounced in rural communities. Teachers may be driven away from the profession if they feel inadequately trained or under-supported to address students' mental health needs. As such, an important teacher retention strategy is to ensure schools have enough mental health…

The path to becoming a school principal is characterized by a variety of trajectories that reflect the diverse experiences and backgrounds of aspiring leaders. While ideally the road to the principalship would result in a proportional and representative body of principals, research has shown this is rarely the case. To gain a better understanding…

This qualitative descriptive study aims to explore how secondary teachers describe how the course influenced their teacher efficacy and how their teacher efficacy influenced student performance. There is a problem space in the literature on the effectiveness of technology-supported learning in transforming teachers' behaviors and practices. A…

The purpose of this dissertation-in-practice was to explore the dimensions of support for assistant principals in one southeast Texas mid-sized suburban public school district in conjunction with improving the overall efficacy of campus leaders while also bolstering the organizational leadership pipeline. Sixteen current or former assistant…

With the 84th Legislature's House Bill 505 expansion of dual credit in Texas in fall 2015, students became eligible to begin coursework as early as ninth grade. Allowing students to begin college earlier in their high school journey triggered questions about their college and career readiness during transition to postsecondary coursework, which…

Assistant principals are essential to the campus leadership team as instructional leaders. However, many assistant principals spend most of their day participating in noninstructional leadership duties and responsibilities. This can drastically reduce the assistant principal's ability to fulfill instructional leadership duties, thus negatively…