This three-manuscript dissertation used a rapid PDSA to improve teacher efficacy concerning designing and teaching an unleveled 9th grade science class. Leveling and tracking can lead to inequitable outcomes and experiences for minoritized students. However, designing and implementing effective heterogeneous, unleveled classes that meet the needs…

In this study, I explored how (a) a team-based instructional method rather than a one-teacher-one-classroom, traditional teaching model and (b) an inquiry-based learning approach affected teachers attitudes and self-efficacy for teaching and students attitudes, self-efficacy, engagement, and connections to school. The study was conducted within…

The purpose of this study was to identify factors that have contributed to the drastic rise in student behavior referrals for ninth grade students in three high schools in Western New York when returning to in-person instruction after school closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic. From an equity lens, each of our schools' data showed that there was…

The purpose of this study was to identify factors that have contributed to the drastic rise in student behavior referrals for ninth grade students in three high schools in Western New York when returning to in-person instruction after school closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic. From an equity lens, each of our schools' data showed that there was…

The purpose of this study was to identify factors that have contributed to the drastic rise in student behavior referrals for ninth grade students in three high schools in Western New York when returning to in-person instruction after school closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic. From an equity lens, each of our schools' data showed that there was…

This dissertation is a case study of a school district in the Pacific Northwest that developed three-year high school science curricula using a Physics First course sequence (Physics, Chemistry, Biology), with the crosscutting concept "Patterns" as the central theme of the courses. The purpose of the study was to examine the impact of…

In this study, we examine the short-term effects of an intervention aimed at developing teachers' responsive pedagogy in mathematics. The study analyses how an emphasis on responsive pedagogy in 9th grade classrooms over a period of seven months might strengthen students' feedback, self-regulated learning, self-efficacy and achievement in…

This article reports the results of a randomized control trial of a semester-long intervention designed to promote ninth-grade science students' use of text-based investigation to create explanatory models of biological phenomena. The main research question was whether the student participants in the intervention outperformed the students in the…

Purpose: The purpose of this two-year study was to assess the impact of the CORE program, a model that integrates technology and active learning modules in high schools by providing multi-disciplinary teams of teachers and administrators with professional development and resources to support the development of students' non-cognitive skills and…

This case study research reports on elementary (grade 8) and secondary school (grade 9) teachers' participation in job-embedded, professional learning and engagement in collaborative inquiry. Teachers constructed an inquiry-oriented media literacy unit following the collaborative inquiry model. The current study sought to investigate how…

Background/Context: Billions of dollars are spent annually on professional development (PD) for educators, yet few randomized controlled trials (RCT) have demonstrated the ultimate impact PD has on student learning. Further, while policymakers and others speak to the role schools should play in developing students' civic awareness, RCTs of PD…

Changes in teacher efficacy and attitudes toward teaching were examined throughout a teacher education program as teachers worked to integrate new skills into their science curriculum. Correlation coefficients were calculated for the changes. Positive correlation was observed between changes in attitude and self-efficacy. Negative correlation was…

Informed by an amalgam of notions drawn from constructivist, socio-cultural, metacognitive and self-regulation theory, the discourse created to describe assessment to enhance learning has gone through a number of iterations or discursive shifts. As a result, the current discourse is both ambitious and complex with the roles and responsibilities…