Since zero-tolerance policies were put into effect, suspension rates have risen dramatically in the United States (Ayers et al., 2001). This fact is unsettling because research shows that suspension has a negative impact on both academic achievement and poor life outcomes (Rausch & Skiba, 2005). The goal of this quantitative study was to…

This qualitative case study served to investigate teachers' and students' experiences implementing BASE Education, an electronic learning (e-learning) platform for social and emotional learning (SEL), in an urban charter middle school in Paterson, New Jersey. Convenient purposeful sampling was used to recruit seven students and three…

There has been extensive research done on varying leadership styles as well as how school leaders employ these styles in order to improve students' academic achievement. However, little literature exists that discusses how leadership style affects a principal or assistant principal's approach to managing student discipline. The purpose of this…

This study evaluated the relationship between social-emotional learning (SEL) and peer perceptions of youth leadership in a group of 203 students (38.9% Hispanic; 28.6% Black; 21.2% White; 10.3% Asian; 1.0% Others) in Grades 6th-8th from two diverse urban middle schools in New Jersey. Results indicated that SEL had a significant and positive…

Some states require physical education (PE) to be in a school's curriculum. Some people feel that it is a time to play and it is not an important subject in a school's curriculum. This study aims to shed light on the potential effects of PE on students' performance in language arts as subject matter. The purpose of this study was to examine the…

In response to the adoption of the Common Core State Standards for Language Arts Literacy by the New Jersey Department of Education, Chesterport K-8 Public School District implemented a district-wide program to promote reading skills across all academic subjects called the Close Read Initiative (CRI). This study reviews and analyzes the Stanton…

As caseloads for special education teachers continue to rise and as more students with disabilities enter the regular education setting (U.S. Department of Education, 2016), the need for co-teaching, in which a special education teacher and regular education teacher work together in one classroom to meet all students' needs, is significant.…

Adolescents in the urban public school system experience childhood trauma that sometimes makes it difficult to focus on learning. Even more so, sometimes trauma experienced by youth manifests in disruptive behaviors in the school setting. Traditionally, urban public schools have focused on teaching and learning academics, generally neglecting the…

The purpose of this study was to determine if teachers are currently providing screencast video feedback for students as a means of formative assessment while they develop digital content. If this approach was already in place, the benefits of the practice were explored to support existing research on the method. If they did not use the…

The purpose of this non-experimental, cross-sectional, correlational study was to examine the influence, if any, of mathematical-instructional minutes on academic achievement as measured by the 2014 New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge (NJ ASK) 6, 7, and 8 mathematics scores. Additionally, the study accounted for other factors that…

This dissertation analyzes data in order to answer the research question, "Do eighth grade students who have participated regularly in their school band programs for four consecutive years achieve higher scores in New Jersey's Grade Eight PARCC Assessment than students of similar ability who do not play a musical instrument?" Data was…

The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of Uncommon Schools in a turnaround setting. Uncommon was awarded a 2016 grant from the U.S. Department of Education's Investing in Innovation Fund (i3) to support TurnNJ, a project intended to support Uncommon's whole-school turnaround efforts in Camden and Newark, New Jersey. The study…

Over the past 30 years, numerous policies have focused on closing the achievement gap in the United States. Despite this emphasis on mastery and proficiency, students continue to perform below expectations. We use standardized math test performance to explore whether schools have been able to eliminate the achievement gap across middle-level…

This article reviews the development of a qualitative summative assessment based on the National Theater Standards to evaluate theater education classes. The authors examine the current state of the field of theater education; the use of the assessment; an overview of the results of an arts integration U.S. Department of Education project; and a…

The academic achievement gap is a persistent and pernicious educational challenge confounded with race and socioeconomic status. The achievement gap persists despite over three decades of interventions and federal, state, and local policies and initiatives meant to close it. We examine the achievement gap in one of the most diverse states in the…