The work of school principals is complex; however, little research has examined how they navigate this complexity outside of traditional settings and times. This specific line of inquiry is important, because principals' time allocation is related to various desirable student outcomes, and how many hours principals work (and when) is associated…

A core responsibility of the local education agencies (LEAs) that operate kindergarten-through-12th grade (K-12) schools across the United States is creating safe and secure environments that support effective teaching and learning. To help them meet this obligation, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's (DHS's) Cybersecurity and…

Online and distance education strategies offer a path for closing opportunity gaps for students with disabilities because of digital technologies' flexibility and capacity for differentiation, but fully online schooling does always guarantee an inclusive education. The COVID-19-induced shift to remote learning highlighted the need for more insight…

This dissertation investigated the extent to which five dependent variables were included in the first-grade reading curriculum and whether district size played a role in their inclusion. This study's mixed-methods approach incorporated descriptive statistics, histograms, confidence intervals, and chi-squared analyses to assess curriculum patterns…

Over the past 30 years, numerous policies have focused on closing the achievement gap in the United States. Despite this emphasis on mastery and proficiency, students continue to perform below expectations. We use standardized math test performance to explore whether schools have been able to eliminate the achievement gap across middle-level…

Background: The Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act (HHFKA) of 2010 supported implementation of school gardens for promoting fruit and vegetable consumption. We examined school garden prevalence over time by school-level factors during the period before and after the implementation of HHFKA. Methods: Using data from the New Jersey Child Health Study,…

While the importance of the period from birth to age three as the most promising and possibly consequential stage of human development has gained attention over the last quarter century, public investments in children's early learning opportunities have remained inadequate. The nation, as well as the state of New Jersey, invests the fewest public…

This doctoral dissertation investigates the effects of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) policy on educational equity in New Jersey, focusing on three primary research questions. Firstly, the study examines whether the implementation of NCLB mandates led to the closure of achievement gaps between black and white students, as evidenced by disparities…

This dissertation is comprised of three essays, each examining a different topic in labor economics. In Chapter 1, I examine the productivity and selection effects of K-12 teacher tenure by leveraging variation from New Jersey's TEACHNJ Act. This law extended the pre-tenure period from three to four years and allowed districts to dismiss…

Response to Intervention (RTI) has become the gateway to identification for many students with specific learning disabilities. Those include students in the 17 states that require RTI as the source of eligibility data as well as many students in the 33 states that allow districts to choose RTI among other options (e.g., discrepancy). There is…

This paper examines current practices in implementing a Response to Intervention (RtI) in diagnosing specific learning disabilities. The use of the aptitude achievement discrepancy model, RtI model or a combination is reviewed. A survey of special education administrators in New Jersey compares methods of identification and consistency of…

The present study is an initial investigation of the concurrent validity of a new assessment, the Classroom Strategies Scale (CSS version 2.0) for Elementary School--Observer Form. The CSS assesses teachers' use of instructional and behavioral management strategies. In the present study, the CSS is compared to the Classroom Assessment Scoring…

This study examined the success of five elementary schools in their implementation of the 2011 New Jersey Harassment, Intimidation, and Bullying law (NJ HIB law). It also explored stakeholders' perceptions of school climate since the law went into effect. Fourth and fifth grade parents, students, teachers, and counselors in the district's five…

Purpose/Objectives: The Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004 required all school districts participating in federally funded child nutrition programs to adopt and implement a school wellness policy by the beginning of the 2006-2007 school year. One drawback of this federal mandate was that it did not provide funding to assist with…

This dissertation captures the 10-year contemporary history of implementing the facilities element of New Jersey's historic Abbott v. Burke decision. New Jersey's Legislature and Governor took this Supreme Court decision and created legislation responding to multiple constituencies and lobbyists while shaping a school construction program to be…