Enrollment in traditional special education teacher preparation programs has declined while enrollment in alternative preparation programs has increased in Georgia (Georgia Insights, 2024). Since alternative preparation programs have become the viable recruitment vein for rural schools challenged to fill special education teaching vacancies,…

Career Technical Education (CTE), including Career Technical Agricultural Education (CTAE) in Georgia, are experiencing difficulty retaining quality teachers. This problem is exacerbated in rural communities, which have a smaller workforce pool and fewer nearby colleges to certify CTE/CTAE teachers (Morton, 2021). A potential solution to offset…

Special education teachers are few in Georgia public schools, and the numbers are decreasing each year. Policy makers and administrators are busy making policies to assist special education teachers. Therefore, this research included the special education teachers' voice in advising policymakers and administrators about the challenges they…

High teacher turnover disrupts instruction continuity, hinders student learning experiences, and leads to financial and logistical burdens on schools and districts. The problem is teacher retention is a complex, critical issue affecting the education sector's stability and quality. A gap in the existing literature reveals the need for a focused…

High teacher turnover disrupts instruction continuity, hinders student learning experiences, and leads to financial and logistical burdens on schools and districts. The problem is teacher retention is a complex, critical issue affecting the education sector's stability and quality. A gap in the existing literature reveals the need for a focused…

The purpose of this study was to present, compare, and contrast data collected from rural Georgia educators concerning their beliefs and knowledge of the benefits of student retention. The researcher identified the most common areas of agreement and disagreement among educators concerning grade-level retention. Additionally, the researcher…

The purpose of this research study was to explore secondary education teachers' perceptions of why they may be underprepared to support English language learners (ELLs) in the mainstream classroom. With the increasing number of ELLs in public schools across the United States, teachers with the background, training, and/or knowledge of how to…

This qualitative case study involved addressing rates of general education elementary school teachers with 0 to 5 years of teaching experience who referred students with disabilities to the office for their behavior, which were twice as often as nondisabled students. Based on the conceptual framework of Weiner's Attribution Theory, teacher's lack…

In a rural Georgia school district, the multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS) framework has been formally implemented and facilitated by system-level coordinators for a 4-year period. As the 2021-2022 school year started, the district began the process of transitioning the leadership of the MTSS process to individual school-level teams and…

Georgia adopted science standards encouraging teachers to use inquiry-based instruction in science instruction in 2016 to improve science exam scores. The problem was a lack of improvement in science exam scores in middle school and high school students in a small rural school district in South Georgia since inquiry-based standards have been put…

Students with disabilities face challenges with low parental engagement and low student achievement in a rural Georgia school district. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine educators' perceptions of parental engagement and student achievement for students with special needs. The problem addressed the low parental engagement…

The aim of this quantitative, causal-comparative study was to examine differences in teachers' perceptions of cooperative learning and factors influencing their implementation in the classroom. In order to assess teacher perceptions and current use of cooperative learning, the Cooperative Learning Implementation Questionnaire (CLIQ) developed by…

Rural student diversity in North Georgia is increasing, while the cultural identity of rural teachers remains stagnant (Showalter et al., 2019; US Census Bureau, 2022). Teachers can become culturally responsive by building cultural awareness, creating learning partnerships, affirming and valuing cultural identity, and strengthening the home-school…

High school mathematics achievement is crucial to the success of students as they advance through their education and prepare for careers, but most Georgia high school students are not high-achievers on state mandated mathematics assessments (GaDOE, 2019; Yu & Singh, 2018). The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the life and…

The problem addressed in the study is the significant numbers of elementary school students who fail to demonstrate proficiency in reading/language arts as determined by the Georgia Milestones English Language Arts Test. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to investigate teachers' perceptions of effective research-based parental…