Since the implementation of No Child Left Behind in 2001, high-stakes testing has become a mandatory practice across all 50 states. High-stakes testing is currently being used as a way to hold teachers and schools accountable for student success. In order to enforce these policies, the federal government has created sanctions that have serious…

Background: Although many interventions have empirical support in improving the outcomes of students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), schools struggle with implementation of these interventions. Method and materials: We conducted 13 focus groups with 69 participants who included parents, educators, and administrators across three states to…

Research indicates that reflective practice has the potential to create a culture of continuous improvement and lead to lasting school change when it becomes the collective cultural norm in a school. However, few studies have examined how elementary principals strategically promote and sustain reflective practices from the individual level to…

The public school systems in the United States are facing a major teacher shortage in the near future due to the fact that teachers are leaving the profession by the thousands each year. It is imperative that this trend is stopped and reversed to ensure that quality teachers remain in schools. The current study employed a causal-comparative design…

This paper reports preliminary results from a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of a multi-component nurturing program designed to increase gifted identification among minority students. In 2014-15, the Wake County Public School System (WCPSS), in partnership with Duke University, implemented "Nurturing for a Bright Tomorrow"…

The purpose of this quantitative descriptive research study was to examine the possibility of a correlation between peer mentoring programs and successful progression of K-12 teachers. The study encompassed teachers who had been in the profession five or fewer years and worked in a K-12 school district located in the southwestern region of the…

Trusting relationships play a crucial role in all aspects of school life. This study builds on this understanding by exploring the role gender and race/ethnicity plays in establishing trust between teachers and principals. Utilizing statewide working conditions survey administered in North Carolina, we employ both descriptive and analytic methods…

The purpose of this qualitative exploratory case study was to garner knowledge on how teachers perceive the effects of gamification on students' academic performance on mathematics standardized examination. Gamification is a developing pedagogy with limited studies exploring its effectiveness in the discipline of mathematics. The 2 research…

Frequent absences in the primary grades are associated with school disengagement, academic failure, and eventual dropout. The Early Truancy Prevention Project (ETPP) was designed to improve attendance of primary grade children by facilitating communication between teachers and parents and giving the teachers the lead role in intervening with…

If there ever was a time for educators to understand the experiences of Latino students, that time is now. Increases in anti-immigration expressions and sentiments and the very real rollback of federal protections have created an unsafe and unsettling environment in this nation and in its schools. One of the greatest resources to help educators…

The purpose of this study was to examine how teacher instructional practices aligned with digital learning environments. The following four research questions guided this investigation: How do teachers demonstrate leadership in digital learning? How do teachers model and teach digital citizenship? How do teachers use digital content and resources…

Does having a teacher of the same race make it more or less likely that students are subject to exclusionary school discipline? In this study, the authors analyze a unique set of student and teacher demographic and discipline data from North Carolina elementary schools to examine whether being matched to a same-race teacher affects the rate at…

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of Invitational Leadership behaviors on school teacher satisfaction, teacher perceptions of the school principal's performance, and to identify if there was a difference between the levels of inviting behaviors of principals at high-achieving and low-achieving rural schools in North Carolina. The…

Because schools often do not begin formal processes to identify students with gifts and talents until the third grade, many kindergarten through second-grade teachers face challenges in identifying and meeting the needs of these learners. We examined gifted education plans from a sample of seven districts in and around the Charlotte, North…

The purpose of this mixed-method study was to determine if specific interpersonal skills (trustworthiness, communication, empathy, and problem-solving) possessed by principals, as perceived by teachers, are important characteristics in creating and maintaining a positive school climate, increasing student learning, and retaining teachers in the…