The COVID-19 pandemic caused unprecedented disruptions to teaching and learning. In March 2020, COVID-19 pandemic was recognized as a life-threatening virus, therefore, schools across the United States of America had an induced lockdown, which prevented the continuation of in-person learning. Adjustments, quickly, were made to the learning…

While both citizen science engagements and computational thinking practices can mutually support student ownership in the science classroom, both face similar challenges to adoption in that they require teachers to openly position themselves as learners alongside their students. This dual role--as a teacher and as a learner--poses self-efficacy…

The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly impacted education systems worldwide, exacerbating longstanding educational disparities, particularly concerning technology access and utilization. This qualitative study explores amplified technology inequities in rural New Mexico education, capturing students' experiences through the lens of teachers. Using a…

This research study examined the impact of negative behavioral consequences on the academic achievement of 9th-grade students from three rural high schools in South Carolina before and after COVID-19 and by gender. The researcher used a comparative research design to examine achieved data of different genders, incidents at school, actions taken by…

The era of accountability and a rise in standardized testing during recent years have emerged from policy reform initiatives designed to increase student performance. While the goal was to increase learning standards, it has not yielded the dramatic improvements expected. This study explored if there was a statistically significant difference in…

Biology education is crucial for living in a volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous, disruptive, and diverse environment. Moreover, most literature suggested developing learning activities for students based on the knowledge, attitudes, and skills competency gaps. Thus, this study assessed the academic performance in terms of their examination…

This quasi-experimental research study examines whether the use of Assessment and Learning in Knowledge Spaces (ALEKS), an ITS, shows a statistically significant improvement in students' mathematics achievement than traditional teacher-led instructions. This non-randomized research study measured the efficacy of ALEKS on ''underachieving students'…

Historically, students who are identified with a learning disability have struggled with the acquisition of new material. Co-teaching is a model of instruction in which a certified special education teacher works alongside a content teacher to deliver instruction within an inclusion classroom. This research project used a qualitative methodology…

This study uses a naturalistic inquiry approach to investigate how rural educators navigate the affordances and barriers of implementing an out-of-school program to identify and develop middle school STEM talent in rural communities. At the time of this study, the STEM program was in its fourth year of implementation. Participants included 34…

The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine if the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) READ 180 program was effective in helping to bridge the gap in reading achievement between African American and White students in three middle schools within one school district. The study took place in a rural public school district in the southeastern…

Rural schools and communities across the United States are increasingly diverse--linguistically, racially, and culturally. As rural schools experience this diversity, the need for well-prepared educators (teachers, leaders, counselors, and coaches) has continued to grow. This three-year study consisted of a place-conscious educator professional…

Exploring students' systems thinking (ST) is essential in enhancing science learning, but existing studies have failed to understand students' ST fully as it relates to ecological issues. This study aimed to fill the aforementioned literature gap by exploring lower-secondary school students' ST regarding ecological issues. The Systems Thinking…

This study examined whether the intensive reading intervention affects annual reading level growth in middle school students to mitigate reading loss from the COVID19 school closures. Participants included struggling middle school readers (N = 101) from a rural district in east Texas. Student participant Measures of Academic Progress (MAP)…

Rural schools are unique in the challenges they face; therefore, it follows that the policies to address the challenges should also be unique and not adhere to the "one size fits all" mentality. This research uses a qualitative approach and takes the bold step to seek the input of teachers who work in rural schools for suggestions on how…

Objectives: In an attempt to reduce tobacco use among adolescents in the USA, some health educators have created school-based tobacco education programmes. However, none currently exist for middle and high school educators. The current study sought to determine if middle and high school educators' knowledge about combustible cigarettes and…