The purpose of this quantitative method, causal-comparative study was to explore the impact of gender, socioeconomic status, school climate, and parental involvement on reading ability and intrinsic motivation. This study focused on a group of 113 9th grade students from a rural Tennessee high school. Data were collected and analyzed to determine…

During the school closures associated with COVID-19, researchers found student engagement decreased, partially due to the concurrent increase in the number of adolescents diagnosed with problematic internet use and internet addiction. At the time of this study, there was limited research related to student engagement after students returned to…

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…

In this paper, TNTP reveals five interconnected factors of mobility that young people need in order to thrive: a strong academic foundation, career-connected learning, opportunities to build social capital, personal support in their lives, and civic engagement in their community. These five factors do not work in isolation. Instead, they must be…

This study investigated if correlations existed between teachers' perceptions of elements of a safe and supportive school climate/working environment in regards to teachers' intrinsic motivation and self-efficacy beliefs. Additionally, it examined the degree of significance when teachers feel safe and supported versus those that do not. Finally,…

For more than 100 years, education communities have debated how best to educate the young adolescent. Proponents of both the junior high school model and the current middle school model have advocated for a specialized approach to educating adolescents that emphasizes the developmental needs of students. To accomplish this, various organizational…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine middle and high school principal roles prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic to gain a better understanding about how leadership responsibilities adapted or changed. Data collection strategies included one-on-one interviews with nine middle and high school principals in East Tennessee. To…

The purpose of the study was to measure the relationship between a beginning teacher's scores on the Environment portion of the Tennessee Educator Acceleration Model (TEAM) rubric, the number of discipline referrals generated by the teacher, and their students' growth indicated by the Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System (TVAAS). This…

This correlational and mixed method study was conducted to explore the relationship between teachers' perception of a principal's leadership practices, teacher morale, and school climate among teachers, staff members, and problems surrounding a teacher's retention a Title I school. Thirty-eight Likert scale questions and eight interview questions…

The purpose of the present study was to determine if transitioning from elementary to middle school has an effect on value added scores of sixth graders as compared to scores of students in K-8 schools with no transition. Multivariate analysis of variance was used to analyze achievement data from students in 442 Tennessee public schools for the…

The researchers wanted to continue in their university's previous study of nature awareness and science achievement, specifically examining the effects of nature in the achievement of seventh-grade students. This further study offered valuable insight to the inconclusive findings of previous researchers of nature awareness and science achievement.…

Researchers have long recognized the potential benefits of open-ended computer- based learning environments (OELEs) to help students develop self-regulated learning (SRL) behaviours. However, measuring self-regulation in these environments is a difficult task. In this paper, we present our work in developing and evaluating "coherence…

Across Tennessee, student test scores have risen steadily in every subject since tests were revised in 2009-10, so that nearly 91,000 additional students are performing at grade level in math and nearly 52,000 additional students are performing at grade level in science. This report focuses on some of the schools that are making this possible.…

This study investigated the relationship between academic achievement scores for Hispanic and all students within Tennessee. The study compared the measurement of achievement scores by the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) on standardized Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) evaluations for 5th-grade students and Gateway exams…

Research shows the effectiveness of encouraging safe and supportive learning environments for all students. Unfortunately, many of today's classrooms fail to positively implement these learning environments, especially within middle schools. The assumption for students struggling with reading has often been associated with low teacher…