The purpose of this sequential mixed methods study was to examine the relationship between classroom climate and student achievement of middle school students. A purposeful sample of 428 middle school students (6th-8th grade) from a large southeastern Texas school district were administered the "Learning Environment Inventory" (LEI) to…

Neurodiverse individuals often struggle to successfully transition into young adulthood. The social, cognitive, and organizational requirements of college, employment, and independent living can be challenging for these adolescents as they strive to adapt to new environments. Their diversity presents unique abilities to see the world differently…

Dual enrollment (DE)--where students earn college credits during high school--is expanding rapidly. To facilitate DE, institutional actors across K-12 schools and colleges must build or repurpose structures across separate organizations to determine course offerings, assignments, modality, and composition. Yet the organization and implications of…

Teacher turnover has been an unsolved problem for decades and the pipeline of new entrants into the teaching profession is lower than ever before. The Millennial generation is the major source of new talent today. Employers in other sectors have studied this generational cohort's workplace needs to discover how to retain the most mobile…

This study examines the relationships between childhood participation in appreciative, consumptive, and abusive types of outdoor activities and the connection to nature, environmental attitudes, and four types of pro-environmental behaviors in high school students. A questionnaire was given to 140 racially mixed, suburban, largely college-bound…

Job stress and burnout negatively impact school counselors and the school communities in which they serve. This study explores variables previously indicated by the literature as potentially contributing to school counselor job stress or burnout. These include size of caseload, location of school (urban, suburban, rural), grade level served…

The incorporation of social and emotional learning (SEL) in schools has been shown to improve academic and psychological health of students. Research has been limited regarding implementation of SEL programs in rural communities, where student needs are heightened. The current study examined factors that could impact teachers' intentions to be…

The purpose of this quantitative simple linear regression study was to examine the degree to which the level of spirituality predicted the level of occupational stress among 105 middle school teachers. Specifically, this study examined the influence of spirituality, as measured by the Daily Spiritual Experience Scale on occupational stress as…

This study explored the relationship between perceived leadership style and the organizational climate of elementary schools above and beyond the effect of teacher level, principal level and school level predictor variables. Five schools within Pharr-San Juan-Alamo ISD were sampled. A total of 176 teachers participated in the study by rating the…

Accountability policies in education play a significant role for the principals tasked with facilitating the implementation of these reforms at the school-level. While these policies are most often intended to improve student outcomes, this is not always the case. In some instances, these policies can prove detrimental to schools, yet principals…

Background: Although use of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) is increasingly prevalent among young adults, little is known about predictors of ENDS initiation among this population. Aims: We examined the roles of the social environment (i.e., peer ENDS use and household ENDS use), normative beliefs (i.e., social acceptability of ENDS…

Guided by self-determination theory, this study investigated the extent to which factors of teachers' school-work environments predict their self-efficacy and intrinsic value for teaching. Participants were 217 mathematics teachers working in Texas public schools. Results indicated that principals' autonomy support positively predicted teachers'…

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the type of grade configuration and racial climate of a school on the academic performance and discipline of middle school aged students. Specifically, this study was concerned with the predictive power of the type of grade configuration (stand-alone middle school vs. non-transition…

Using state-representative teacher surveys in three states--Texas, Ohio, and Kentucky--we examine teachers' implementation of college- and career-readiness (CCR) standards. What do teachers report about the specificity, authority, consistency, power, and stability of their standards environment? How does their policy environment predict…

Using state-representative teacher surveys in three states--Texas, Ohio, and Kentucky--we examine teachers' implementation of college- and career-readiness (CCR) standards. What do teachers report about the specificity, authority, consistency, power, and stability of their standards environment? How does their policy environment predict…