Cyberbullying remains a significant issue in school environments, impacting students of diverse backgrounds. The problem addressed by this study was that despite the proven effectiveness of traditional bullying interventions within the school environment, the ability of teachers to identify incidents of cyberbullying and apply intervention methods…

The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to examine the relationship between teacher's perceptions of school climate and student achievement of middle school students. Two hundred twenty middle school teachers, from a large urban school district located in the Southwestern region of the US, participated in the "New Jersey School Climate…

In today's ever-changing educational climate, educators are challenged now more than ever to be effective in the education of our young people. School districts across the United States face teacher shortages due to the unyielding demands of education. These demands can be a strain on the overall well-being of a teacher. In addition, workplace…

Purpose: This qualitative case study sought to understand and examine school social workers' perspectives on their role within California's TK-12 public school system. Theoretical Framework: Bronfenbrenner and Morris's (2007) bioecological systems theory and Frey et al.'s (2013) national school social work practice model were employed as the…

This Urban Texas School District Restorative Discipline Practice (RDP) initiative was founded and funded on the description that RDP is designed to proactively build relationships, improve school climate, and reduce suspensions of African American (AA) males. This RDP phenomenon was reactively implemented in a Reset Center where suspended students…

This evaluative case study focused on how organizational changes--specifically a new directional system--affected staff culture in a rural Midwestern school district. This work was theoretically grounded in Owens and Valesky's school climate model. Through observations, interviews, and a review of documents, I determined that the new directional…

The recent global pandemic triggered by the spread of COVID-19 left the majority of school systems across the United States moving quickly toward remote learning and hybrid models of education. As school buildings closed, many K-12 school systems adopted a form of whole-school distance learning, leaving students to learn from home and families to…

The severe teacher shortage in Alabama's rural districts negatively impacts student outcome and educational quality. The purpose of this study was to assess the challenges and coping strategies related to recruiting and retaining teachers in rural Alabama schools. The study's theoretical frameworks are Ryan and Deci's intrinsic motivation and…

Research has indicated that there is a direct link between student academic achievement and school quality. Research has also indicated that the leadership style of school principals influence teacher attributes, from adeptness and job contentment to academic focus and engagement levels. Even though the research on professional learning…

This study is a language policy ethnography of the families of four Latina fifth-grade students at a TWBE elementary school as they transition to middle school. Parents and their children jointly acted as policy agents as they navigated the school district's open enrollment system and, through their choices, co-created policy. Situated within…

This study is aimed at understanding the circumstances that contribute to teacher retention and attrition in urban schools in the Southwestern United States. Harris et al. (2019) reported that at the national level, 16% of all teachers attrit yearly. Attrition contributes to the increasing teacher shortage problem that many districts face. The…

This third of six briefs analyzing data from the U.S. Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC), covering the 2020-21 school year, explores the educational settings where students with disabilities spend their time. As was the case in the analysis of the previous CRDC covering the 2018-19 school year, students with disabilities spend more time in…

School disciplinary practices affect student academic and life outcomes. Many schools have recently shifted towards the prevention of behavioral disorders rather than the punishment of such disorders, but disciplinary actions are still disproportionately meted out to Black students. We took advantage of a natural experiment in a large school…

Minority students continue to be disproportionately recommended for special education services in the United States. The problem addressed by this study is Black and Latino male middle school students are disproportionately placed in special education programs, which can have negative academic and social impacts. This problem impacts Black and…

Despite their proliferation in schools across the U.S., the impact of lockdown drills on students remains largely understudied. Despite their goal of preparing students -- along with teachers and school staff -- for situations like the 2018 shooting in Parkland, FL, questions have been raised in both the public and academic discourses about…