Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify and describe the most important factors that motivate or deter teachers in deciding to take on the informal or formal role of teacher-leader in Riverside County elementary school districts. Methodology: Endemic of a Delphi method, the instruments used within this study collected data…

Common sense suggests that romantic partners tend to be interdependent in their well-being and self-esteem. The authors tested the degree to which codevelopment in romantic partners (i.e., development in similar directions) is due to mutual influence between partners or due to the effects of shared environment, using longitudinal data from 5…

While empirical studies on rural education have defined many of the socioeconomic factors associated with rural students nationally, there is a lack of definitive and comprehensive research defining the benefit or value of career technical education for rural California high school students. Consequently, this lack of research may in turn…

This study examines survey and transcript data for a stratified random sample of over 4,000 students enrolled in the nine campuses of the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) and found that several campuses predict small but statistically significant differences in "unit completion ratio" (defined as the ratio of units [or…

Telecommunication offers a cost-saving alternative to face-to-face vocational rehabilitation (VR) service delivery, yet little is known about the current use. This article describes findings from an exploratory survey of 1,187 counselors, representing 13 VR agencies across the United States. The online survey explored agency, counselor, and client…

Community colleges enroll a substantial proportion of both traditional and nontraditional students pursuing various academic goals. Consequently, these types of students have different characteristics that influence their success in community colleges. The purpose of this study was to analyze the contributing factors in traditional and…

Community colleges are experiencing many challenges that stem from political and fiscal uncertainties and these challenges are often exacerbated by high turnover in executive leadership positions (Floyd et al., 2010), which has implications for longterm strategic planning. The magnitude of the problems associated with high turnover rates for…

The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) documents dimensions of quality in undergraduate education and provides information and assistance to colleges, universities, and other organizations to improve student learning. Its primary activity is annually surveying college students to assess the extent to which they engage in educational…

The educational outcomes of low-income and racial/ethnic minority students suggest that there is a fundamental disconnect between contemporary schooling and the needs of students in urban schools. Most attempts to address these problems in K-12 schools have focused on increasing students' mastery of content knowledge and skills. While the evidence…

Problem: The purpose of the study was to determine whether teachers' mathematics confidence influenced their choice of grade level. The study also examined whether there was a difference in teachers' mathematics confidence based on their age or gender. Method: A 6-item Mathematics Survey was distributed to 83 single-and multiple-subject preservice…

California's system of school finance is highly regulated and prescriptive. A large share of state funding is allocated through categorical programs, that is, programs whose funding is contingent upon districts using the money in a particular way or for a particular purpose. In 2008-09, the strings were taken off 40 of those programs, collectively…

The purpose of this research study was to examine factors that influence the identification of elementary African American students for gifted programs and to discover why these students are not equally represented. Concerns over recruiting and retaining Black students in gifted education programs have continued for several decades. This study was…

Substance use among adolescents is a complex problem and an ongoing concern. Literature has identified a critical need to understand the role that schools can play in preventing adolescent substance use. Adopting an ecological perspective, we used multigroup logistic regression to determine the influence of school support and school meaningful…

Attracting and retaining strong faculty members in dental schools have long been challenges in the United States. Faced with an emerging crisis in the availability and quality of dental educators, many researchers have focused on analyzing data and trends related to this subject. Even though there are substantial studies that provide a picture of…

This study examines factors contributing to the poor academic performance of tenth grade high school students. Throughout my eight years teaching experience at this grade-level, the one constant from class to class and year-to year is the academic decline. This decline typically starts at the end of ninth grade, becomes obvious and serious in…