Federal special education and accountability policies requires that educators individualize instruction for students with disabilities, while simultaneously ensuring that the vast majority of these students meet age-based grade-level standards and assessment targets. In this paper, we examine this dynamic interplay between policies through…

Educators have long operated under the assumption that principals have a significant effect on schools as well as the teachers who work there. These claims have been supported through a number of recent studies. According to these studies, principals have the potential to influence conditions within schools, and their influence can reach as far as…

Serious social and economic consequences affect the local and national levels when students drop out of school. Research has shown that collaboration among schools, families, and communities in the academic progression of students can decrease their drop out probability. The author presents findings related to a qualitative study conducted in…

In this theoretical dissertation my aim is to research the academic literature in the field of second language acquisition (SLA), compare it to the life experiences of past and/or present students, colleagues, children and myself to reflect and summarize my learning in the form of a conceptual framework that I have named, "Framework for…