Long Creek Elementary School is a small, rural school with approximately 292 students in Sallis, Mississippi. Long Creek Elementary School has historically struggled with stronger parent involvement in their children's school life. To address this concern, the administration, faculty, and staff at Long Creek Elementary School targeted barriers to…

Play-based learning has been proven to be an effective method of learning in early childhood education, particularly kindergarten; Nevertheless, increasing emphasis on academics and assessments has had a detrimental effect on students' social-emotional learning (SEL) and learning development (LD).The problem addressed in this study was that play…

Attempting to balance all the aspects of teaching can be overwhelming and challenging without the appropriate measures for novice teachers. The purpose of the mixed-methods study was to examine the challenges and opportunities in teacher retention of K-12 novice teachers in a rural, south Mississippi school district. Novice teachers may struggle…

Educators rely on a conglomeration of assessment instruments to appraise, measure, monitor, and document evidence of students' academic readiness, learning progressions, acquisition of interdisciplinary knowledge, and extensive educational needs. The Mississippi Academic Assessment Program for Mathematics (MAAP-M) and the i-Ready Assessment…

Co-teaching is the instructional practice in which general education teachers and special education teachers work together to provide instruction to students with and without disabilities in the general education classroom. The purpose of this study was to identify the barriers that co-teachers in Grades K-12 face in implementing effective…

In rural Mississippi, addressing the issue of reading nonproficiency for third-grade students has posed a significant challenge. To tackle the issue's complexity, the Mississippi legislature implemented the Literacy-Based Promotion Act (LBPA), also known as the 'no social promotion grade-level retention gateway" (Barrett-Tatum et al., 2019).…

Mississippi has made significant gains in education over the past ten years. Yet, teacher attrition rates are still low impacting student achievement. This study was conducted to investigate if there is a significant difference in the sense of self-efficacy for teachers from suburban and rural, elementary and middle schools of Mississippi. Teacher…

Grading practices have been around for years. Yet, grading is still a never-ending debate. One cause of this debate is the use of traditional grading. Although there is a need for change in traditional grading practices, one understands the deeply rooted traditions behind traditional grading. Grading is subjective based on each individual…

Language educators were unprepared for emergency remote language teaching (ERLT) due to lack of training in online pedagogy and negative perceptions of online instruction, and the rural community of language educators have been challenged in unique ways. Using the intersections of content (language teaching), space (rurality), and context…

Nearly 1 in 5 U.S. students attend rural schools. Researchers report that at least half of public schools are rural in 12 states (i.e., Montana, South Dakota, Vermont, North Dakota, Maine, Alaska, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Wyoming, New Hampshire, Iowa, and Mississippi) (Showalter et al., 2019). Providing quality education to all rural students is a…

This applied research study aimed to improve literacy rates for students identified as having dyslexic tendencies in the Lynn County School District. The need to improve literacy rates of students with dyslexia in the Reaching Reading Success Program was identified through Mississippi K-3 Assessment Support System data. Using the two elements…

Fruit and vegetable intake for children in the United States is low, which puts them at risk for poor health in the future. The National School Lunch Program meal pattern and nutrition standards for participating schools include increased fruits and vegetables, compared to previous standards. Using a pretest-posttest design, this study examined…

In 2020, COVID-19 disrupted schooling disproportionately affecting economically disadvantaged learners, students of color, and those living in rural spaces. Nearly three years following its initial onset, the world has entered a "post-pandemic" era. Consequently, all teachers need continued professional support and training related to…

The purpose of this study was to examine student perception of parental involvement. Parental involvement has been a key factor in academic performance and student success. Parenting, communicating, volunteering, learning at home, decision making and collaborating with the community are all components of parental involvement and interaction.…

Purpose/Objectives: To describe: 1) the implementation of a fruit and vegetable education program developed to improve produce intake among youth and their families in a rural Mississippi school district; and 2) satisfaction data for the program. Methods: A six-week produce education program was implemented in the cafeterias of three (two control…