Empathy plays a vital role in improving student engagement and supporting organizational change in schools. In fact, empathy is widely recognized as an essential skill for integration during such efforts. In collaboration with Battelle for Kids, the Cumberland Valley School District in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, launched a vision for school…

The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine if providing targeted professional development (AIM Pathways to Proficient Reading) in foundational literacy skills based on the science of reading and Structured Literacy can lead to a difference in teacher knowledge and to determine a relationship between teacher knowledge and student…

This study examines implementation of college-and-career-ready (CCR) education standards across five school districts in Ohio, Texas, California, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts. Drawing on the policy attributes theory, we found that the specificity of districts' approaches to two long-recognized policy levers, curriculum and professional…

Background: School settings offer an opportunity to impact student health and wellness. Quality wellness policies are important in establishing strong wellness environments, but current resources to support policy development, maintenance, and dissemination are lacking. The Building Healthy Schools Program aimed to develop capacity of school…

This qualitative research study explored how principal efficacy influences the implementation of Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS). At the time of this study, the majority of literature focused on efficacy in MTSS focused on the teacher and minimal literature focused on the principal efficacy. Research has explored in-depth the principal as…

This study has been conducted to explore and understand whether the social nature of the mentoring experience impacts the novice teachers' and mentors' decisions to remain in the teaching profession. Large school districts often deal with teacher attrition since novice teachers are not secure in their position or confident in the role of educator.…

This qualitative phenomenological study delved into the factors influencing the retention of special education teachers in rural Luzerne County, Pennsylvania school districts. The focus was on understanding why these educators chose to continue in their positions despite facing significant challenges such as limited resources, administrative…

COVID-19 changed the educational landscape all overnight. After the initial shock and corresponding shut down, school districts and teachers were left scrambling to try and provide a remote educational environment for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year. As summer came, the realization that COVID-19 was still going to have an impact on the…

Facing teacher shortages, urban teacher frustration, and a lack of BIPOC representation in the teacher workforce, two urban institutions, a school district, and a university partnered to design, develop and implement a year-long clinical teacher residency program. Throughout the pilot and one subsequent year, data was collected through observation…

Although Employers and colleges want candidates who are motivated and adaptable, are able to work well in teams and communicate effectively, have a strong work ethic, have solid interpersonal skills, and are strategic in their planning skills. Schools need to place a greater emphasis on social and emotional skills for students to prepare them for…

Although varying among and within the states, the percentage of students with 504 plans is steadily and significantly increasing as a national average. Although the professional literature addresses the legal standards for eligibility for 504 plans, it has not provided up-to-date information to practitioners as to the legal standard for the…

Microcredentials create opportunities for continuing growth of all teachers based on specific needs. They provide ways for teachers to lead their own learning while allowing administrators to identify and address teachers' needs as well as the expertise teachers have to share with their colleagues. Microcredentials are different from traditional…

Teachers are leaving the teaching profession before reaching the age of retirement at increasingly high numbers, many citing increased stress as a factor in their decision to quit, contributing to a national teacher shortage. This qualitative study investigated the stressors experienced by eight K-12 teachers in a rural Pennsylvania school…

The purpose of this quantitative non-experimental correlational study was to investigate how professional development, specifically the PIL professional development initiative, influenced principals' and assistant principals' self-perceived leadership behaviors. A purposive sampling of public school principals and assistant principals located in…

The number of deaths caused by the use of heroin or prescription pain killers nationwide has increased annually over the past decade with some of the most rapid growth occurring in the nation's most rural areas. This qualitative study examines the responses of districts and superintendents to this growing health crisis in twelve rural school…