Purpose: This mixed-methods study examined the association between the degree to which principal evaluation systems include intrinsic and extrinsic sources of motivation and principals' perceptions of whether their district's evaluation system promotes leadership change and improvement. We also investigated how principals experience intrinsic…

This quantitative, correlational study aims to determine if a predictive relationship exists between teacher perceptions of Tennessee's teacher evaluation and the linear combination of teacher gender, years of experience, and school-level taught (elementary, middle, high). Although teachers have recognized the current teacher evaluation system,…

The utility of teacher evaluation depends on meaningful teacher engagement with evaluation processes. However, critics of traditional tenure policies suggest that tenure nullifies teacher engagement with practices to improve performance. This study investigates whether tenured teachers exhibit perceptions that reflect disengagement with evaluation…

Purpose: Multiple-measure principal evaluation systems have become commonplace in the past decade, but we do not know how principals perceive their evaluations under these regimes. This study analyzes how principals perceive evaluation in a state that was an early adopter of such a system. It describes how attitudes are explained by individual and…

Purpose: Multiple-measure principal evaluation systems have become commonplace in the last decade, but we do not know how principals perceive their evaluations under these regimes. This study analyzes how principals perceive evaluation in a state that was an early adopter of such a system. It describes how attitudes are explained by individual and…

Teacher perceptions after 5 years of implementing evaluation protocols that were initiated under Race to the Top revealed attitudes about the evaluation instrument used and the nature of their relationship with the evaluator. This study surveyed middle and high school teachers in nine Eastern Tennessee school districts. Data indicated unintended…

When employees expect evaluation and performance incentives will continue (or begin) in the future, the potential future rewards create an incentive to invest in relevant skills today. Because skills benefit job performance, the effects of evaluation can persist after the rewards end or even anticipate the start of rewards. I provide empirical…

Virtual instruction and blended learning are two of the fastest growing learning modalities in K-12 education. Blended learning is a formal education program in which students learn at least in part through online learning with some element of student control over time, place, path or pace and at least in part at a supervised brick and mortar…

The purpose of this study was to learn from the experiences of teachers who have had at least five Black middle school students (Grades 5-8) meet or exceed their performance level expectations on the English Language Arts TNReady assessment by identifying the factors that contributed to teachers' sense of efficacy related to their experience.…

We investigated environmental supports, an understudied aspect of Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT), with rural Appalachian youth, an understudied population. We developed a new measure of proximal influences that bolster the pursuit of postsecondary education, the Assessment of Postsecondary Supports (APSS). Across 3 studies, we develop and…

The federal Race to the Top initiative signified a shift in American education policy whereby accountability efforts moved from the school to the teacher level. Using administrative data from Tennessee, we explore whether evaluation reforms differentially influenced mobility patterns for teachers of varying effectiveness. We find that the rollout…

The purpose of this ethnographic study was to examine the relationship between focused keyboarding instruction and the required standardized assessments mandated by Federal and State authorities. Initial mandates required that the first assessment to be administered online would be the Writing Assessment by year 2014. The assessment given in…

With more than two decades of on-the-ground experience impacting 300,000 educators and 3 million students, NIET's success is grounded in research. The success of NIET's work is evident in the positive findings from evaluations of impact. In NIET's 2022-23 Research Summary, we summarize findings from five new studies and highlight selected findings…

Beginning in the 1970s, educational legislation and mandates changed the way students with disabilities received an education in the United States and increased the number of students with disabilities in general education classrooms. The increased numbers of students with disabilities in general education classrooms created the need for general…

The primary purpose of this study was to compare K-12 West Tennessee teachers' perceptions of their teacher preparation programs regarding the factors of planning, engaging, and assessing student learning based on whether they attended HBCUs or PWUs. This quantitative study examined 103 certified West Tennessee elementary, middle, and high school…