The purpose of this study was to present, compare, and contrast data collected from rural Georgia educators concerning their beliefs and knowledge of the benefits of student retention. The researcher identified the most common areas of agreement and disagreement among educators concerning grade-level retention. Additionally, the researcher…

The authors illustrate how using design thinking allows learners to empathize with the perspectives of others, engage in collaborative problem-solving, practice communicating effectively, and respond to struggle or failure throughout the process.

The purpose of this qualitative, interpretive study was to investigate general education K-12 teachers' perceptions of instructional practices and professional development for teaching Spanish as a first language English Language Learners. Specifically, I investigated the instructional practices and professional development experiences of K-12…

Students needed to be able to read in elementary school to be successful in school and in life. Meanwhile, teachers graduated from teacher preparation colleges and not able to teach reading once they were in their own classrooms. Teachers who developed self-efficacy in the teaching of reading were the best teachers to teach reading. The purpose of…

Several school districts in Georgia use two teacher-administered diagnostic assessments of student knowledge of mathematics as part of their multi-tiered system of support in grades K-8: the Global Strategy Stage (GloSS; New Zealand Ministry of Education, 2012) and the Individual Knowledge Assessment of Number (IKAN; New Zealand Ministry of…

This document are the appendixes for the report, "The Reliability and Consequential Validity of Two Teacher-Administered Student Mathematics Diagnostic Assessments." Rather than relying on occasional testimonials from the field, decisions about using diagnostic assessments across the state should be based on psychometric data from an…

Teachers need to assess their students' current level of mathematical understanding to provide appropriate interventions for students who are struggling. Several school districts in Georgia currently use two assessments for this purpose--the Global Strategy Stage (GloSS) and the Individual Knowledge Assessment of Number (IKAN). The IKAN is…

The problem addressed in the study is the significant numbers of elementary school students who fail to demonstrate proficiency in reading/language arts as determined by the Georgia Milestones English Language Arts Test. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to investigate teachers' perceptions of effective research-based parental…

K-2 Educators in public schools encountered several difficulties when trying to acquire and integrate the new technologies needed to use blended learning methods during the COVID-19 epidemic. The problem was that educators of K-2 students in public schools serving low-income communities were unprepared to acquire and use blended learning…

The COVID-19 pandemic caused a disruption in the educational world where schools across the nation had to shift to online learning very quickly with a lack of instructional strategies and how to differentiate instruction in an online learning environment. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive case study was to explore the perceptions of…

Even though small group instruction is a research-based intervention and has many benefits, researchers have shown that many students are reading below grade level and struggle with mastering reading skills, and this may be due to the ineffectiveness of small-group reading instruction. The problem that was addressed in this study was teachers'…

This case study investigated elementary teachers' experiences and perceptions during a trial year of departmentalized instruction in a rural south Georgia elementary school. To inform their decision about whole-school departmentalization for the future, school administrators appointed twelve first through third grade teachers to pilot the…

Students with disabilities in Grades 3-5 in a Georgia school are not meeting state academic standards. The No Child Left Behind Act requires schools to ensure that all students meet these standards; those schools that do not make gains enter into School Improvement status. This study was conducted to determine if staff development that focused on…

Today's mathematics standards require teachers to use concrete math manipulatives (CMM) to increase the proficiency of students, but many upper elementary teachers fail to use these resources. The effects of this resource disuse may decrease student learning potential and impede successful standardized test results. This case study allows leaders…

This study is part of the core research agenda of the five-year, Goal 3 grant funded by the Institute of Education Sciences, U. S. Department of Education "Improving the Teaching and Learning of English Language Learners: The Instructional Conversation Model." In video review of teaching, bias in evaluation or rating is evident in many…