Teachers entered the field of education with varied educational experiences that left many first-year teachers feeling unprepared to lead their classrooms successfully. The quantitative study aimed to determine how and to what extent teachers perceived their preparedness as first-year teachers in classroom management, curriculum and planning, and…

This qualitative historical single-case study examines how a practitioner-directed approach to professional development for teachers resulted in successful technology integration in a newly unified school district in California's Central Valley. The study details the process of creating and implementing a professional development plan for newly…

Teacher collaboration is a topic that, although often studied, understanding teachers' collaborative practices continues to be complex. The study site is no exception. Recent data suggests that while collaboration among teachers is often depicted as "natural" and "easy," fostering rich and authentic collaboration can be…

Professional development is a concept with which all educators are familiar. The research for this dissertation, focusing on suburban high school teachers in Northeast Ohio, aims to show that the professional development needs of teachers vary throughout their educational careers. Additionally, this dissertation aims to help school districts…

The purpose of this study was to investigate Maryland music teacher education program completers' background and transition into the K-12 public school music teacher (N = 700). Using data from the Maryland Longitudinal Data System between 2008 and 2020, I examined characteristics associated with music teacher employment in the public schools, the…

Attempting to balance all the aspects of teaching can be overwhelming and challenging without the appropriate measures for novice teachers. The purpose of the mixed-methods study was to examine the challenges and opportunities in teacher retention of K-12 novice teachers in a rural, south Mississippi school district. Novice teachers may struggle…

Current research indicates that inclusive classrooms with students with disabilities are rising, and schools are challenged with shifting their structures and curriculums towards inclusion. This doctoral dissertation aims to understand pre-service program models and how they prepare teachers for inclusive environments, including their knowledge…

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study is to understand the lived experiences of Mid-Atlantic region public high school teachers participating in onboarding practices, which provides insight into best practices to increase teacher self-efficacy and decrease attrition rates. The theory guiding this study is Albert Bandura's…

While computer science is widely recognized as crucial for all U.S. high school students, challenges persist for teachers' pedagogical, content, and culturally responsive-sustaining education. In this paper, we explore how a co-teaching model with an experienced CS instructor shaped three novice CS teachers' knowledge while implementing Advanced…

The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to explore the impact and perceptions of professional learning and the new teacher training opportunities offered at Bay Area Christian High School (BACHS) on teacher and student outcomes. Using Guskey's (1986) theory of teacher change as a guiding framework with support from Fuller's (1969) theory of…

The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to explore the impact and perceptions of professional learning and the new teacher training opportunities offered at Bay Area Christian High School (BACHS) on teacher and student outcomes. Using Guskey's (1986) theory of teacher change as a guiding framework with support from Fuller's (1969) theory of…

This study explored K-12 teachers' perceptions of using artif icial intelligence (AI) in the classroom, aiming to understand their preparedness for professional development focused on AI integration. This paper presents findings from 141 in-service teachers enrolled in graduate programs at a Southern University, highlighting their views on AI,…

For my dissertation requirement, I conducted two research projects, collaborating with my dissertation advisor on both projects. In my first project, I employed a phenomenology methodology to investigate how teachers' professional needs, practices, and motivations align with the goals of the professional learning community to enhance teacher…

Professional development, typically initiated by administrators to improve student achievement outcomes, is often irrelevant to the needs of early career music teachers. As music teacher educators, we were concerned about issues of importance to early career music teachers as they entered the music teaching profession. We explored conversation as…

This paper examines the impact of increasing teacher salaries on student outcomes by exploiting variation from the "50K The First Day" campaign that established a $50K salary floor for new teachers across New Jersey school districts. Using school-level data from 2003 to 2019, we employ a staggered difference-in-differences (DiD) approach…