Effective K-12 leaders remain a central concern for schools and communities of all types. The purpose of this research is to examine critically the literature on issues facing leaders in rural and urban settings and present a synthesis of cross-cutting themes. The authors reviewed the theoretical and empirical literature on K-12 leadership issues…

This longitudinal ethnographic study involved a professional development project, Project Partnerships Achieve Literacy (Project PAL) in South Africa, with eight rural foundation phase teachers who taught Reception (kindergarten) through grade three (R-3). This Project was designed to support teachers in an under-resourced school as they learned…

This research explores the impact of the Reading Education Assistance Dogs (READ) scheme on reading engagement and motivation among Early Years Foundation-Stage children using a case study approach at a primary school in the English Midlands. There is a notable lack of UK-based research into the READ scheme, which offers a potential alternative…

This article presents a survey census study performed in a small, remotely located municipality with four rural schools in the north of Sweden. The study is part of a larger project, Remote Consulting in special needs education between special educators and class teachers, the aim of which is to increase the equivalence between the municipality's…

This article examined the extent to which administrative decisions that affected the implementation fidelity of Direct Instruction programs were related to student achievement. Data from three studies showed that administrative decisions that disregarded recommended protocols regarding teacher training, teacher preparation, and student schedules…

A 5-year model demonstration project designed to improve literacy instruction and special education referrals for English learners (ELs) in grades K-3 in three rural community elementary schools was completed with specific attention to sustainability 1 year after implementation. The model, which was developed and implemented through a…

Evidence suggests that children's expectations for how their teacher responds to students' aggression moderate concurrent links between peer victimization and adjustment. This study extends this work by examining these associations longitudinally. Youth (N=366; 196 girls; M[subscript age]=9.25years) reported on their teacher's use of five…

The research on elementary teachers' implementation of peer collaboration strategies is limited. Yet, the extensive peer collaboration literature that does exist focuses on student outcomes in urban and suburban settings. A problem with most of the current scope of research about peer collaboration is that it has marginalized the voice of teachers…

This paper summarizes themes of rural teaching and rural students' experiences of initial teacher education programs based on focus group data of 25 Canadian northern rural and Indigenous teachers and early childhood educators. Inductive analyses of focus group data identified themes related to living and teaching in northern rural communities. A…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate, over 2 separate school years, the school-district-wide failure rate of kindergartners on a screener of grammatical tense marking--the Rice Wexler Test of Early Grammatical Impairment (TEGI) Screening Test (Rice & Wexler, 2001)--composed of past tense (PT) and third-person singular (3S)…

Historical and current educational perspectives are epistemologically challenging to weave together. The contributors brought together in this book have risen to that challenge and, in the process, have produced a detailed and thorough account of the issues and processes at play. Science, Mathematics, and Technology (SMT) education is recognised…

The present study investigated predictive factors of literacy achievement in third-grade students identified as gifted in rural schools. The sample consisted of 180 identified students in a total of eight districts, three of which were randomly assigned to the treatment condition and five of which were randomly assigned to the control condition.…

Research Findings: This study examined correlates of parents' reported school engagement in an ethnically diverse, rural sample (N = 346) of parents and teachers in kindergarten through Grade 2. Of particular interest were role expectations and family-school relationships in American Indian families, who historically have been marginalized by…

Background: Many South African children attend African language medium of instruction (MOI) schools, learn English as an additional language and switch to English MOI three years later. There is still much to be researched about how a child's first and second language literacy develops over time in South Africa. Aim: This study aims to outline the…

Despite consensus regarding critical design elements for professional development (PD), numerous PD studies have not shown anticipated effects for teachers or students. Mixed methods studies investigating when and why PD is successful are needed. The qualitative study reported here was part of a larger, mixed methods study of PD for self-regulated…