This phenomenological study explored elementary educators' identified needs for effective professional development, focused on the instruction and assessment of English Learners (EL) in schools with low EL incidence. Addressing teacher preparation through effective professional development was guided by Bruner's (1960) constructivist theory and…

Harmful oversights remain in elementary social studies curricula which overlook or misrepresent minoritized communities. This dissertation explores designs for teacher education which address these oversights through community collaborations. This multi-manuscript dissertation is an empirical-conceptual inquiry design (Cochran-Smith & Lytle,…

This study investigated the impact of professional development support structures for enhancing teacher mastery of Response to Intervention (RTI) in an urban elementary school setting. With a focus on effective implementation strategies, the research explored the role of tailored professional development initiatives in equipping educators with the…

Professional development is imperative for gifted and talented teachers' improvement in classrooms. However, many professional development courses are not meaningful for teachers and are not presented effectively. Using effective researched strategies, leaders can create better professional development courses. Professional development leaders…

With an increase of English language learners in public schools across the United States, the importance of addressing the needs of students who require language access in their home language has resulted in an increase in the implementation of dual language programs. This increase continues to challenge educators to provide effective programs…

It is critical to provide inservice elementary teachers the opportunity to advance their science instruction, which in turn can positively impact not only their practice but also their perceptions towards science teaching and learning. Too often, science-specific professional development (PD) programs are scarcely provided as a result of an…

This dissertation in practice seeks to design an approach to inclusive programming based upon a human capabilities approach to supporting struggling learners, including those who are not receiving special education services. The study examines the evolution of special education law and inclusive programming to highlight the ongoing struggle to…

The academic, social, and emotional needs of students are rapidly increasing while staff interest in working in special education programs, serving some of the neediest students, is declining. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore a specialized social-emotional support program across elementary, middle, and high school levels…

School leaders use professional learning practices as a strategy to improve teaching and therefore student learning. As student populations become more ethnically and socioeconomically diverse, teachers need ongoing training to meet the needs of today's students. One successful elementary school in Colorado was the focus of this case study…

The purpose of the study was to examine elementary principal leadership during change by analyzing various strategies used by the principals to create change systems within the context of Common Core State Standards. More specifically the study set out to explore: (1) what planning and program design do elementary principals use during the…

The purpose of this study was to explore the association of NCLB/accountability with educational output and input for New York State, collectively. Focusing on ELA and Math achievement in 4th and 8th grades, this study demonstrated the association of accountability outcomes in three ways: "accountability design, school proficiency level, and…

Bilingual programs continue to expand in school districts across the United States to address the growing numbers of students whose home language is other than English. The Response to Intervention (RTI) framework was used to guide this qualitative study, the purpose of which was to identify the extent to which the five elements of RTI exist in…

Alternative certification programs for primary and secondary school teachers face a difficult challenge: they must develop highly qualified and high quality teachers while adapting to the unique on-the-job training needs of their participants. Research literature indicates that many programs suffer from a lack of cohesion between coursework and…

As school districts integrate evidence-based prevention programs into their daily regime, they may struggle with implementing these programs with fidelity. This is a multi-method, multi-source, retrospective explanatory study of the implementation factors associated with program installation and partial implementation of an evidence-based violence…

To be effective in providing a writing literacy program, regardless of communication approaches, educators should establish program-wide conditions that promote English writing literacy over time. The researcher's purpose for this study was to identify shared characteristics of writing intervention programs in three different communication school…