The sentiment that creativity is the most important skill needed to solve the problems that we face is repeated by different business and industry leaders around the world (Bronson & Merryman, 2010; NEA, n.d.; Nussbaum et al., 2005; Sammio, 2017). The call for creativity has been amplified in response to the problems and obstacles caused by…

Good writing instruction can give students power over their lives. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore teacher perception of culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students' funds of identity (FoI) and how reflecting on this information influenced the writing classroom. The purpose of this study was to answer these…

The purpose of the qualitative exploratory case study was to explore third through fifth-grade teachers' perceptions of how being provided with curriculum-based professional development could influence instructional techniques and skills in the classroom. Two research questions guided the study. The questions focused on third to fifth-grade…

This dissertation explores the dynamics of a formal classroom and an informal nature-based learning environment, focusing on their impact on student subjectification and knowledge authority. The study, conducted with a cohort of 27 fifth-grade students and their teacher, employs a comparative case study methodology to analyze how teaching…

The problem that was the focus of this study was that only 30% of fourth grade students in the United States read at or above grade-level proficiency. Lack of reading proficiency affects fourth-grade students' ability to master content presented in subjects across the curriculum and may limit their educational attainment. The purpose of this basic…

Research on mathematics classroom learning opportunities shows that student's experiences with mathematics affects not only what they learn, but also how they view themselves as learners and doers of mathematics (Boaler, 1997, 2016; Jackson, 2009; Langer-Osuna, 2016). High-stakes testing policies have implications for the kinds of mathematics…

This qualitative semi-structured interview study investigated how the opportunity to learn with productive struggle emerges in a teacher's beliefs, anticipation, planning, teaching, and response to struggle in learning mathematics. In this study, the experiences of student struggle in the teaching and learning of fractions was investigated through…

This research is based on the idea that general education teachers have the role and responsibility of providing inclusive classroom instruction for all students. Federal laws and the push for inclusion in general education classrooms contribute to the need for general education teachers to be effective and knowledgeable about meeting the needs of…

The purpose of this qualitative, descriptive, single-case study was to explore educators' perceptions and uses of strategies to support 5th-grade middle school students' basic psychological needs for relatedness in the Southeastern region of the United States, because it was not known how educators perceived and used strategies to support…

Participants in this study, representing grades 6-12 practitioners in two schools with persistently lower scholar achievement and graduation rates, shared their experiences through open-ended surveys, semi-structured interviews, and reflexive journaling. The study employed an inductive coding process and triangulation of data sources to identify…

This action research study aimed to determine the effects of culturally relevant art integrated math lessons on African American students' engagement. The study took place in a fourth grade classroom at an urban elementary school in Northern California. In response to the study's research question: What impact does culturally relevant…

This study examined the relationship between Situational Leadership Theory and empathy as practiced by elementary school teachers in western Kentucky. Teachers from five public school districts in west Kentucky were surveyed to determine their affinity to Situational Leadership Theory and empathy with the added component of helping father-absent…

In the realm of elementary education, the influence of teacher empathy on Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) remains a critical yet nuanced aspect. This qualitative study explores the integral role of teacher empathy in shaping SEL environments in K-5 classrooms. Teacher empathy, defined as the capacity to perceive situations from students'…

Historical data showed evidence of repeated poor performance on end-of-year (EOY) state tests (South Carolina Department of Education [SCDE], 2017, 2018, 2019). For this study, 12 fifth-grade students read expository text, employed reciprocal teaching strategies, collaborated face to face and online using a Web 2.0 tool during the reading…

This qualitative, single case study of linguistically diverse sixth-grade students to understand how these students explored and experienced their English literacy development (ELD) by using Retrospective Miscue Analysis (RMA) and Collaborative Retrospective Miscue Analysis (CRMA). In addition, the study explored the roles that families and…