Researchers use data from the RAND American Mathematics Educator Study surveys of public school principals and teachers to investigate three school structures--referred to as "school opportunity structures" throughout this report--that may affect kindergarten through 8th grade (K-8) students' mathematics learning. These structures are…

Leaders in education must focus on improving teacher attrition because teacher turnover contributes to lower student academic achievements by disrupting the learning environment for both students and teachers (Carver-Thomas & Darling-Hammond, 2017). This study took place in a North Florida School district where school and district leaders are…

This study seeks to share teachers' and principals' voices from middle schools in the Southeastern United States who are attempting to help their students achieve academic success. Obtaining a snapshot of middle schools in the Southeastern United States provides opportunities to recognize trends and identify challenges about the current…

We examined the effectiveness of the "Say Something Anonymous Reporting System" (SS-ARS) program in improving school safety in a cluster randomized control trial among over 700 students in 19 middle schools in the Miami-Dade County Public Schools. The SS-ARS is a program that emphasizes youth engagement and trains youth to recognize…

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the Marzano Focused School Leader and Teacher Evaluation Models impacted school leader and teacher effectiveness to increase student proficiency and growth. This quantitative, non-experimental study was conducted using preexisting data in all middle schools in the School District of Palm Beach…

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the Marzano Focused School Leader and Teacher Evaluation Models impacted school leader and teacher effectiveness to increase student proficiency and growth. This quantitative, non-experimental study was conducted using existing data in all middle schools in a large suburban school district in…

The purpose of this technical assistance paper is to assist education leaders and administrators in the consistent implementation of the Florida Career and Professional Education (CAPE) Act in Section 1003.491, Florida Statutes (F.S.). This technical assistance paper addresses questions on recent legislation, funding, and data reporting. [For the…

For more than 100 years, education communities have debated how best to educate the young adolescent. Proponents of both the junior high school model and the current middle school model have advocated for a specialized approach to educating adolescents that emphasizes the developmental needs of students. To accomplish this, various organizational…

Parental involvement has been found by many researchers to be important in student academic success. However, many school leaders are challenged to get many parents actively involved in their child's education. At the research site, for example, the researcher observed that many parents do not get actively involved in their child's education, and…

School violence is a problem that affects students, families, teachers, staff, and administration (Crews, 2019). Restorative justice is a proactive, alternative method to penal discipline (Payne & Welch, 2018). My study sought to understand the perceptions of administrators, teachers, and students with a restorative justice program at Happy…

Choosing a specialty school involves huge challenges for families. This research aims to understand the behavioral process that leads families to choose among various specialty school programs. Discrete choice models, based on revealed preferences data from middle school applications in a large school district in Florida, are estimated using both,…

The School District of Osceola County, Florida, invests heavily in the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program, and as such, an evaluation of effects was conducted with a sample of 10 middle schools (12,325 students) and 7 high schools (18,886 students). Propensity matching was used to determine practical effects. Providing…

The purpose of this technical assistance paper is to assist education leaders and administrators in the consistent implementation of the Florida Career and Professional Education (CAPE) Act in Section 1003.491, Florida Statutes (F.S.). This technical assistance paper addresses questions on the legislation, funding, and data reporting.

The purpose of this study was to examine the performance trends of middle school, junior/senior high school, and high school ensembles at District Florida Bandmasters Association (FBA) Jazz Band Music Performance Assessments (MPAs) from 2012 to 2017. More specifically, this study investigated the pieces, composers, and arrangers most frequently…

Past research has highlighted some differences in how sarcasm is interpreted by different groups of individuals as well as biases in individuals' expectations regarding who is more likely to use it (e.g., occupation, gender). However, examinations of patterns of sarcasm production have been much less frequent. The current research extends past…