This dissertation applies cognitive load theory to teacher working conditions in New York City. To connect small-scale cognitive processes with perennial organization-level effects, the theoretical components of this paper develop a novel framework. Load reduction leadership (LRL) illuminates how day-to-day school operations impact staff members'…

Sadly, teacher job satisfaction has been recently depicted as a "portrait of broad teacher discontent" (Phi Delta Kappa, 2019, p. k3), negatively impacting teachers' well-being and retention. This study employed a mixed-methodological approach, composed of: (1) an exploratory factor analysis of participant responses to the Teacher Job…

Objectives: Despite suggestions of strengths and abilities of autistic people, it has been an underexplored area in autism research, the primary focus of which has been on examining differences and atypicalities as deficits rather than strengths. Understanding the self-reported impediments via first-person accounts of autistic adults for…

Young children bring rich social, cultural, and political knowledge to school, cultivated in their homes and communities. This knowledge, ranging from household skills to multilingual practices, is often marginalized in schools that value different norms. Drawing from ethnographic studies in Illinois and New York kindergarten classrooms, this…

School improvement and accountability pressures heightened at the turn of the 21st century, with the enactment of the No Child Left Behind Act in 2002 and with the Every Student Succeeds Act in 2015. These actions spurred research to facilitate school improvement and meet state standards. Researchers identified a strong correlation between a…

Scholarship underscores the experiences of Appalachian students who must confront a social reality that consistently expects less from them because of their circumstances and the narratives surrounding their social context (Collins, 2020; Piene et al., 2020). Traditionally, the Appalachian people have been viewed by educators from a deficit…

The problem addressed by this study was the high rates of burnout experienced by special education teachers. Teacher burnout is seen as a problem for districts, schools, and students with disabilities. The purpose of this qualitative explanatory case study was to explore the perceptions of special education teachers in New York State regarding the…

This quantitative research study explored the relationship between teachers' perceptions of how their school leaders navigate change and teachers' self-reported readiness for change using a survey tool developed initially for corporate change management. The Organizational Change Questionnaire -- Climate of Change, Processes, and Readiness (OCQ)…

While progressive education has been practiced in formal learning settings for over a century, there is a relatively limited amount of contemporary scholarship on such schools. Acknowledging the nebulous nature of this genre, my study was undertaken to identify the philosophies and practices of a contemporary progressive school. From the…

This collective case study explores the tensions between Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports enacted at the district level and antiracist pedagogy in a medium sized school district in upstate New York. Four self-described antiracist elementary teachers participated in individual interviews and two focus groups to discuss their experiences…

Faculty preparedness is a crucial parameter that influences students with learning disabilities' success. With limited research on faculty preparedness to teach students with learning disabilities in community colleges, this qualitative study took on a crucial and often overlooked area of inclusive education. The study focused on faculty…

The goal of safely and sustainably reopening K-12 school buildings for in-person learning is widely recognized as critical to minimizing the impact of academic, social, emotional, and mental strains brought forth by the COVID-19 pandemic. In order for in-person learning to succeed on an ongoing basis, schools must be able to offer safe…

Since the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted in-person learning, fears about children's learning loss remain a primary concern for parents, teachers, and policymakers. These concerns, combined with longstanding issues of inequity regarding children's access to learning opportunities have sparked widespread discussion about how to reimagine education.…

The purpose of this narrative study was to explore secondary ELA teachers' perceptions of teaching and learning in a technology-rich educational environment. This study was conducted in a central high school district in New York state across four school buildings. Though the central high school district provides uniform guidance and material for…

This study uses qualitative case study analysis to explore the lived experience of teachers in one school building in a New York urban school district, and examines how they perceive the effects of school building conditions on the teaching and learning process. This study found that teachers are not able to make teaching and learning a priority…