The purpose of this dissertation is to better understand the formative import of the relationships between adults and the young in their corresponding roles as teachers and students between the first year of kindergarten and the last grade of high school (K-12 education). My approach to this issue is twofold: First, I argue that it is imperative…

This non-experimental quantitative research study examined K-12 rural Alabama teachers' perceptions of teacher leadership, focusing on the four factors of the Teacher Leadership Inventory and the potential differences in perceptions based on teachers' gender, educational degree, years of experience, and job position. I used a survey research…

Many industries implement online learning for training and professional development to enhance the student experience. The specific problem addressed in this study was school staff do not have adequate knowledge of mitigating violence, such as school shootings, with ineffective current professional development. This design and development model…

Scholars Leonard & Woodland (2022) suggest schools and districts face a crucial challenge. Are schools and districts ensuring their personnel are prepared to engage in critical practices to affirm, include, and support all students, families, peers, and communities? Or are schools and districts just haphazardly committing to diversity, equity,…

This study explored the perceptions of educators and staff about the ways dialogue and self-reflection promoted thinking about being equitable and becoming more culturally responsive in their work. Education leaders and practitioners have desired to develop and support more culturally responsive educators and staff. In my role as Chief Diversity…

As schools adapt curriculum and learning environments to better prepare students for entry into an increasingly globalized society, cultivating intercultural competencies in K-12 in-service educators is of heightened importance. The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a new instrument designed to assess these competencies called the…

Care theory began as an ethical framework focused on the creation of classrooms and schools that treat students and communities in more empathetic and meaningful ways. Over thirty years after its application to the field, there is broad agreement that students need caring classrooms and teachers have come to be the primary providers of this care.…

Parental involvement is an integral variable that bears a significant value in the overall academic achievement and learning process of a student's educational journey. Therefore, all parents should play a major role in their children's academic success from elementary through middle and high school. The prime focus of this research was to examine…

The Coronavirus pandemic forced educators to leave the comfort of their classrooms and transition to an online teaching platform. During the beginning of the pandemic teachers were lost and experienced feelings of anxiety, fear, and depression. K-12 teachers had no plan or training to pivot to remote learning. Physical distancing lead teachers and…

The study delves into the utilization of ESSER III funds, revealing three central themes: top-down decision-making in fund application, varied experiences among educators and administrators in fund usage, and distinct roles of educators and administrators in the process. It emphasizes strategic resource allocation, collaborative decision-making,…

The Internet, and more specifically, social media applications, have been incorporated into the daily lives of many people in society. This transition has implications for what can be learned, what kind of learning is happening, and what in-person actions digital learning can lead to. This qualitative study reframed digital learning in an informal…

The demand for virtual learning environments in K-12 educational systems has grown exponentially in the past twenty years. The need for model K-12 learning environments became evident when the Covid-19 global pandemic caused an unparalleled closure to in-person learning environments that sent traditional school settings on a tailspin trying to…

Asking the question, "Am I racist?" is a hard thought to process, one that can even be offensive to some, unthinkable to others. However, considering recent events like the #SayHerName movement and other demonstrations that bring racial justice and implicit bias to center stage again, more than 150 years after the Emancipation…

Students with visual impairments deserve equal access to educational materials and have a legal right to accessible materials. This study explored the critical role and proficiencies of teachers of students with visual impairments (TVIs) in acquiring digital accessible instructional materials (AIM). The Cultural-Historical Activity Theory,…

STEM education awareness, advocacy and literacy are paramount to the nation's global competitiveness, innovation, and security. Technology will be the vanguard of the 21st century and the effectiveness of STEM education will determine if we can solve real-world problems such as maintaining national defense, protecting the environment, medicine,…