Attrition among new teachers with fewer than 5 years of experience was high in an urban high school in Texas. The high attrition rate is a problem for students, because high teacher turnover can result in teachers with low expertise. In this study, the conceptual framework used was Hord's professional learning community (PLC) model, which…

Persistence and graduation rates of African American students have become discussion topics of national, state, and educational leaders (U.S. Department of Education, 2012). Many African American students enroll in postsecondary education but do not persist to graduation (Harris, 2016). The purpose of this study was to explore African American…

This longitudinal study explores how one university's practice-based teacher preparation program prepared literacy teachers to develop practical knowledge for teaching and how that knowledge was tested and adapted in the first years of teaching. To understand change, we identified and analyzed points of tension, challenge, or dissonance in the…

The role of student affairs educators is to ensure that students not only obtain an educational experience, but also that out-of-classroom experiences contribute to holistic development. In particular, student affairs professionals often coordinate residential living, student activities, and advising programs. These programmatic offerings need to…

This qualitative study focused on high school social studies teachers' understandings of and perspectives about vocabulary acquisition and instruction. The research questions were the following: (1) What do high school social studies teachers understand about vocabulary instruction? and (2) How do high school social studies teachers support…

Failure to adequately prepare teachers of emergent bilingual (EB) students could have devastating consequences for student achievement, EB reclassification, and eventually, high school and college completion. To enhance the policy discourse, we explore how teacher certification requirements relate to both EB student achievement and teacher…

The purpose of this qualitative research study was to explore the perceptions of RTI implementation among administrators in rural Texas elementary schools. Qualitative research was needed to provide administrators with a comprehensive understanding of the demands of RTI implementation (Benjamin, 2011). The researcher conducted a qualitative study…

Non-traditional college students benefit from unconventional teaching methods. Hispanic students now attend colleges and universities in growing numbers, and still this demographic is the least likely to earn a postsecondary credential. Due to the projected growth of the nation's Hispanic population, efforts to support the success of…

Contrary to the model minority myth that portrays Asian Americans as academic all-stars overrepresented in elite 4-year institutions, nearly half of all Asian American college students do, in fact, attend community colleges, and many experience myriad challenges. This exploratory study utilized a qualitative analysis and investigated how model…

The purpose of this case study was to describe the experiences of rural school district leaders who implemented and have sustained a one-to-one technology program at the secondary level so to provide school districts considering one-to-one implementation knowledge of best practices. This study was a qualitative, bounded case study that used a…

This case study focused on transitional bilingual class and explored connections between the literacy practices co-constructed in this figured world and one student's developing identity. Yanet, a newcomer student from Cuba, was encouraged to draw on community cultural wealth to support her own and her classmates' language, literacy and identity…

This qualitative phenomenological research study investigated Texas high school seniors who failed the initial administration of the End of Course (EOC) exams required for graduation but succeeded upon subsequent test administration. The four questions that guided the research explored the experienced regarding the EOC exams by identifying which…

Objective: Problems with credit mobility, or the transfer of credits from a sending to a receiving institution, may be one reason why community college transfer students have low rates of bachelor's degree completion. This study investigates different policy approaches to credit mobility and how college staff and students experience transfer at…

Twenty-first century learners in post-secondary educational environments find themselves involved in online learning. Acquiring graduate degrees, especially for working professionals, has precipitated the need for effective, rigorous, relevant, and timely coursework online. Utilizing the qualitative research method of auto-ethnographic reporting,…

In the undergraduate biology laboratory, many freshmen are apathetic towards the content of the course. Curriculum based reader's theater (CRBT) is an instructional method that can increase interest the students in the content of the course while improving student communication, collaboration and understanding. This research is an examination of…