This study investigates the correlation between student expulsions due to the zero-tolerance discipline policy and dropout rates in the East Baton Rouge Parish School System (EBRPSS), focusing on students in grades 9-12 from 2015 to 2022. Additionally, it examines potential disparities in dropout rates between the northern and southern regions of…

High school graduation has long been recognized as an important turning point to young adulthood, opening up the doors for future vocational and economic activities. In Washington State, students with disabilities still drop out at rates that are significantly higher than their peers, hampering their ability to achieve this graduation milestone.…

Students with high incidence disabilities are dropping out of high school at alarming rates. Compared with other demographic groups, students with disabilities have the lowest graduation rates of any group in the nation. The substandard graduation rates have remained stagnant for two decades, indicating that programmatic attempts to address the…

For decades, Black students have been disproportionately disciplined in schools at much higher rates than White students and other student groups. In several Southwest school districts this phenomenon manifests as differential application of disciplinary alternative education program (DAEP) referrals for Black students. Zero tolerance policies and…

The problem addressed in this study was the high dropout rate and the resulting low graduation rate in alternative virtual school settings. This quantitative correlational case study examined the influence of three instructional modalities on students' credit accrual and graduation rates in one alternative education virtual high school. The three…

The problem addressed by this study was the high dropout rate of Latinx students precipitated by academic problems and exacerbated by poor student-teacher relationships. The purpose of this qualitative narrative case study was to understand how student-teacher relationships affected Latinx students' decision to drop out of school. The guiding…

This dissertation is comprised of three essays on the economics of education. The first and third chapters examine marijuana legalization and its effects on students, while the second chapter examines the impact of pension incentives on teacher quality. The first chapter examines the extent to which there are negative spillovers of recreational…

There is a high dropout rate of English language learners (ELLs) compared to non-ELLs at the school under study. Guided by Bass and Burns's transformational leadership conceptual framework, this qualitative study aimed to examine the perceptions of administrators and teachers regarding the influences contributing to the high dropout rate of ELLs.…

At the study site school for this research, the online curriculum in the current blended learning program was not promoting the desired student achievement outcomes. It was unknown if and how research-based best practices associated with blended learning were being implemented. This qualitative case study explored which elements of blended…

Even after significant education turnaround efforts supported by federal and state agencies, achievement gaps between white students and students of color and students not living in poverty and students living in poverty persist (McFarland et al., 2018). Student academic outcomes are often driven by factors unrelated to teaching in classrooms…

In this dissertation, I examine various factors shaping students' trajectories and opportunities later in life. In Chapter 1, I explore the role of grade retention policies. Grade retention as a remedial policy is controversial because the benefits of extra instruction time may not outweigh its costs. Previous research has primarily examined…

This dissertation aims to understand the contribution of schools to reducing bullying behaviors and, in turn, to examine the benefits for students of attending a school that effectively reduces bullying. In doing so, this dissertation contributes to the literature on bullying by (a) locating the school as a key environment in social-ecology of…

Black students are disproportionately represented in special education, especially in categories that are subjectively determined by educators. Also, Black students with disabilities experience disproportionate rates of exclusionary discipline in schools and have disproportionately higher dropout rates and lower graduation rates. Research has…

The dropout rate of minority students, mainly African American male special education students in the public school system, is a grave concern for society for many years. The youth who drop out of high school often ends up unemployed and in legal complications. His higher education chances become non-existence, and the student's situation causes…

The purpose of this study was to investigate relationships between five school productivity measures at 248 Tennessee high schools and educators' perceptions of these institutions' climate for student discipline. Grounded in archived accountability information stored on the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) website, these five productivity…