The purpose of this dissertation-in-practice was to examine the perceptions, attitudes, and beliefs of K-5 elementary school teachers in a suburban Central Texas school on their use of blended learning in the classroom. Before conducting the study, previous research on blended learning was reviewed in the areas of student achievement, student…

This study involved the attitudes towards science of elementary preservice teachers at a large public university in Texas. A version of the Test of Science Related Attitudes (TOSRA) was used to assess teachers' attitudes before and after completing a teaching methods course. The coursework involved an integrated science curriculum and centered on…

This quantitative study examined the relationships between elementary teachers' perceptions of self-efficacy, school culture, and implementation of instructional strategies. The teachers were employed across four schools within one northern Texas school district. The data, collected through three different surveys, garnered teacher perceptions of…

The implementation of high-stakes testing has radically altered mathematics instruction in elementary classrooms. A curriculum that is heavily focused on developing successful test takers has fostered a weakness in our students' ability to solve complex problems. The purpose of this record of study was to examine the impact of a problem-solving…

In the past, literacy was defined as the ability to read and write. According to the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE, 2013), this definition has evolved and expanded to now include the ability to effectively utilize technology, build cross-cultural relationships in order to solve problems, multitask, use multimedia texts in a variety…

This study addressed the in-depth concerns that elementary regular education teachers, elementary special education teachers, and campus administrators in one South Texas school district have for the use or non-use of inclusionary practices as a means of educating students with special needs. These concerns that teachers and campus administrators…

This study examined the strength and direction of the relationship between the STAAR exam's reading and mathematics portions and the FitnessGRAM's cardiovascular portion for fourth grade students located in Region 6 from the state of Texas. Using existing, archival data consisting of 4,215 students from 36 elementary schools, a non-experimental…

This study explores the transformative nature of the National Writing Project (NWP). It employs an interpretive phenomenological analysis approach and self-efficacy theory in order to understand the perceptions of K-12 teachers who attended the NWP in Southeast Texas in the last five years. Using interviews, reflexive journals, and a reflective…

This article shares lessons from committed and inspirational educators from across the country with whom the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) worked in 2020. Their experiences reinforce that nonpartisan teaching about democracy is possible (i.e., not teaching who to vote for, but rather how the system…

The problem addressed through this study was the low levels of reading comprehension of literary and informational texts among fourth-grade students statewide. The reading workshop model and the guided reading approach are two different instructional methods used to teach reading to fourth-grade students at two school districts in Texas. The…

Despite inclusive education mandated policies, deficient levels of inclusive educators' attitudes and teaching efficacy results in unsuccessful inclusive pedagogical practices that enhance poor academic performance outcomes for students with disabilities. This quantitative correlational study aimed to determine if teachers' attitudes and efficacy…

The nature of mathematics teachers' knowledge specific to teaching mathematics is of ongoing concern in mathematics education research (Chapman, 2015). Furthermore, it is well known that teachers have an impact on students' achievement, and for several years mathematics education researchers have been studying teachers' content knowledge…

Movement integration is an interdisciplinary method of teaching that may lead to greater student learning outcomes and long-term knowledge acquisition. The perspectives of classroom teachers and preservice teachers toward the use of integrated movement lessons in the elementary classroom and the impact on student content retention were explored in…

Strengthening teacher supply is a key policy objective for K-12 public education, but understanding of the early teacher pipeline remains limited. In this descriptive analysis, we leverage the universe of applications to a large public university in Texas from 2009 to 2020 to examine the pipeline into teacher education and employment as a K-12…

Background: Little is known about how school breakfast programs are associated with school attendance and academic performance. This study evaluated Dallas Independent School District's (DISD) breakfast after the bell (BATB) program that provides breakfast for both habitually tardy and non-tardy students on (1) academic performance and (2) student…