A lack of access to a sequence of introductory to top-level curricula in rural schools has widened the achievement disparity between rural and urban students and influenced the number of college degree holders in rural areas. Recently, surging diversity and differentiation in income levels across nonurbanized areas can serve as determinants of the…

This study aimed to analyze leadership styles to discover which leadership style had the most significant positive and negative impact on student academic achievement in rural high schools in Alabama. This study attempted to reveal if a significant difference in student academic achievement existed based on the school leader's leadership style,…

With the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) known as No Child Left Behind, Every Student Succeeds Act, and other school reforms, rigorous demands are placed upon administrators and educators when students do not make Adequate Yearly Progress. In trying to follow state goals to enhance students' academic…

Rural school leaders are faced with challenges to close the achievement gap between subgroups, mainly general and special education. Schools and school systems face several barriers to move forward with positive trends in the data provided by the Alabama State Department of Education. The purpose of this study was to examine teachers' perceptions…

The purpose of this case study was to understand non-mastery for students in the mBolden Academic Model at Piedmont City Middle School (PCMS). The following research questions guided this study: How does the mBolden Academic Model influence student success at Piedmont City Middle School? Furthermore, this study has answered the following…

The use of blended learning is fast becoming a practice used in public schools to address 21st century learning challenges. However, despite the growing use of instructional delivery models that blend online learning platforms with traditional instruction in brick and mortar classrooms, little is known about teachers' experiences with the…

A+ Education Partnership is a statewide, non-partisan, non-profit organization that works to shape policy, improve teaching and learning, and engage communities in ongoing conversations about the best ways to create great schools for every child and build a bright future for Alabama. "Alabama Public Education at a Glance" provides in…

The purpose of this study was to associate Astin's (1999) theory of student involvement and Tinto's (1993) theory of student departure as a framework for assessing and understanding the relationships among student involvements, academic performances, rates of retention, and rates of departure for African-American students enrolled at 3 rural…

For a school improvement initiative to succeed, education leaders must do more than adopt a new program and train staff. This issue of "SEDL Insights" explores steps that leaders can take to ensure the successful implementation of a new program or practice.

The purpose of this study was to compare Alabama's rural school districts with its city, suburban, and town districts. Descriptive statistics were used for this population study, with effect sizes calculated using Cohen's d. Findings indicated Alabama's rural school districts serve slightly less affluent student populations, with a lower…

The teaching of mathematics, which arguably is so abstract as to transcend place and community and even culture (according at least to a Platonic view of mathematics), will seem to some observers particularly ill-suited to instruction in place- or community- or culture-based approaches. Nevertheless, current thinking in mathematics education,…

Examines family-school connections and sense of place in rural Alabama, observing that rural communities and schools often have many attributes related to strong identification with place (e.g., shared norms and values). However, many other attributes of place closely connected with school-success-related elements of social capital may be present…

In 2002-2003, 27% (12.5 million) of public school students attended school in communities of fewer than 25,000 and 19% (8.8 million) attended school in smaller communities of fewer than 2,500. In this report, the authors focus on the schools in those smaller communities, the most rural schools in America. They frame the report around 22…

The purpose of this experimental study was to determine the behavioral effects of Yoshukai karate on four dependent variables: (1) student behavior as related to classroom discipline; (2) teacher attitudes toward at-risk students; (3) students' self-concepts; and (4) academic achievement as determined by scores on a standardized diagnostic test.…

In order to investigate the relationship between 7 school system characteristics and student achievement test scores in the 45 metropolitan and 82 nonmetropolitan Alabama school systems, 1979 California Achievement Test combined battery scores for 8th and 12th grade students attending each system in the state were analyzed. For both metropolitan…