Self-efficacy in school leaders is critical: Without a strong sense of purpose and focus, school leaders will fail at performing the difficult task that it takes to ensure student success and school performance. Competence without confidence may lead to school leaders who are hesitant, full of self-doubt, and inconsistent with their decisions. For…

High parental involvement has consistently been shown to enhance academic achievement among Latino youth. Still, some youth continue to thrive academically despite low parental involvement. The Theory of Rationality suggests that the impact of even potentially negative behaviors depends on how the behavior is interpreted. To test the application…

Though many Information Assurance (IA) educators agree that hands-on exercises and case studies improve student learning, hands-on exercises and case studies are not widely adopted due to the time needed to develop them and integrate them into curricula. Under the support of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Scholarship for Service program, we…

This report presents the findings from a rigorous national survey of charter school authorizers conducted in 2011 by the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA). This is the fourth time NACSA has conducted this type of national survey. As in years past, the vast majority of authorizers (90 percent) are school districts and they…

The purpose of this study was to better understand sport management students within departments of parks, recreation, and tourism, and to address the often uneasy fit faculty experience when trying to educate sport and recreation students in the same classes. Researchers sent a 16-item online questionnaire to 1,337 undergraduate sport management…

Despite innovations being routinely introduced in schools to support the mental health of students, few are successfully maintained over time. This study explores the role of innovation characteristics, individual attitudes and skills, and organizational factors in school providers' decisions to continue use of "Centervention," a…

This study examines state- and county-level data on population, age, race and ethnicity, housing occupancy and housing tenure, education, labor force, employment and unemployment, income and poverty, health insurance coverage, disability status, migration patterns, and veteran status from the 2011-2015 American Community Survey (ACS) for the 13…

This qualitative exploratory case study focused on the achievement gap in mathematics that exists in one urban North Carolina middle school and the strategies used by school personnel to narrow this gap. The goal of this research was to determine effective instructional strategies and best practices used to engage students in learning that will…

Across focus groups consisting of current and former community college students in four states (Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, and Texas), a consistent message resounded: Students want to be more connected to their colleges, from the moment they enter until the day they complete their studies. They want to feel more connected to faculty, staff,…

This study analyzes the effectiveness of implementing four information literacy sessions within two different English classes in a community college setting. The study found significant improvement in the comfort level of students starting, researching, and writing papers. Additionally, students showed an increased understanding in areas of…

Higher education and teacher education in particular are entering a time of transformation. With major forces like shifting demographics, new technologies, and the move from an industrial to an information society, teacher educators need not only to prepare teachers for new ways of teaching, but also must adopt and model best practices for these…

In spite of policy bans and recommendations against spit tobacco (ST) use, baseball athletes have demonstrated ST prevalence rates ranging from 34% to 50% in high school, 42% in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and 50% in the professional ranks. To evaluate enforcement of ST bans, high school baseball coaches in North Carolina…

In this article, the authors introduce a pedagogical innovation that is designed to enhance students' understanding of fiscal policy in general, and the national debt and deficit in particular. The innovation leverages the educational advantages offered through a competitive environment by pitting teams of students against one another with the…

In 2017, the U.S. Department of Labor reported a record-high 6.2 million job openings. Yet many employers report they cannot find the well-prepared candidates they need in the South and across the country. The problem is students' lack of preparation for college and career training. Also in 2017, the ACT college admissions test examined the…

This qualitative study used survey research to examine a blended co-taught model of instruction designed for students enrolled in an Occupational Course of Study via the North Carolina Virtual Public School. While blended learning has successfully served the needs of students with disabilities, face-to-face and virtual teachers identify the need…