The aim of this qualitative research study is to understand the decision-making process of Hispanic adults who have lived in the United States at least 15 years, have English as a second language, have less education than other recent immigrant waves, and have become citizens within the past four years. Narrative inquiry and photovoice were the…

In 2007, every district in North Carolina received access to EVAAS (Education Valued-Added Assessment System), a statistical tool designed to give principals a resource to make strong instructional decisions for their schools. The use of EVAAS has now worked its way into state law and its use is mandated in teacher evaluation. However, EVAAS is…

Strong and stable school leadership is critical for success in schools across the nation. The duties of the principal are many and varied. Principals, for example, can oversee instruction, purchase curricular materials and supplies, and provide professional learning and supports for teachers. Carrying out these duties effectively makes a…

The current study examines the professional well-being of teachers, the classroom emotional support, and the emotional experiences of toddlers in their care. Professional well-being of teachers is conceptualized to include teacher feelings about their work, autonomy in decision-making, actual wages, and perceptions of fairness of wages within the…

The authors report on a study of eight inclusive STEM high schools that are designed to increase the numbers of students in demographic groups underrepresented in STEM. As STEM schools, they have had broader and deeper STEM coursework (taken by all students) than required by their respective states and school districts; they also had outcome…

The purpose of this research study was to determine if trial and error learning was an effective, practical, and efficient learning method for Technology, Engineering, and Design Education students at the post-secondary level. A mixed methods explanatory research design was used to measure the viability of the learning source. The study sample was…

The purpose of this study was to investigate how faculty, administrators, and staff perceived the climate for shared governance at 36 member institutions of the Appalachian College Association (ACA), based on standards for sound shared governance in higher education as outlined by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP). Numerous…

Based on the recommendations of the K-3 Assessment Think Tank, an assessment design team consisting of current and former educators and early childhood education scholars developed a kindergarten entry formative assessment (KEA) which was piloted in 193 classrooms during the first 60 instructional days of the 2014-2015 academic year. North…

The primary purpose of the 2016-2017 North Carolina (NC) Pre-Kindergarten (NC Pre-K) Evaluation study was to examine variability in enrollment practices within the statewide Pre-K Program. Four major categories of enrollment practices were examined: recruitment, application, placement, and waitlist. The study involved all 91 local NC Pre-K Program…

History labs invite students to examine primary and secondary source documents related to an essential question. The sources used in a history lab should represent multiple perspectives so that students are aware of the varying accounts of and opinions about historic events. By being exposed to multiple perspectives, students also learn about…

Performance-based funding (PBF) models intend to increase efficiency and productivity of the institution, thereby influencing organizational change. This change may be structural, programmatic, or procedural, and it may affect institutional practice and/or policy. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to understand the organizational…

State education policy changes have contributed to a reduced interest in teaching and a decreased enrollment in education degree programs in North Carolina, USA. Pressure to cut budgets and generate revenue has added to a climate of academic capitalism influencing the ways in which deans lead schools of education. The purpose of this mixed-methods…

Because data access may be perceived by principals as overwhelming or irrelevant rather than helpful (Wayman, Spikes, & Volonnino, 2013), data access does not guarantee effective data use. The data-based decision making literature has largely focused on teacher use of data, considering less often data-based organizational improvements for the…

To understand the potential public health and social justice implications of criminal background screening on college admissions, we examined postsecondary institutions' reasons for collecting or not collecting applicants' criminal justice information. We invited heads of admissions from 300 randomly sampled postsecondary institutions to complete…

Signed into Law on January 8, 2002, the 1,180 page No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) shifted the course of public education in America. For the first time accountability was firmly placed at the center of school operations by requiring a systematic approach to achieving reform and improving all areas of school life (Wanker & Christie, 2005). As…