Missouri is struggling with teacher shortages. In its public schools, which serve nearly 900,000 students, shortages have typically been concentrated in urban and rural areas, and in content areas of special education, math, and science. Recently, however, shortages have begun broadly impacting more schools in more parts of the state and more…

Teacher surveys of principal leadership are a common component of school improvement efforts. The usefulness of teacher feedback surveys is dependent on teachers' interpretation of survey items. The current study explores evidence regarding the validity and reliability of teacher surveys for evaluating principals and explores their alignment to…

This quantitative study was conducted to determine if a relationship exists between former Missouri Career and Technical Education (CTE) concentrators' Technical Skills Assessment (TSA) performance and attaining related placement after high school, specifically analyzing for differences among racial/ethnic and socioeconomic status (SES) groups.…

We examined the perceived adequacy and effectiveness of BIO 0475, Advanced Human Dissection, in preparing undergraduate students for the transition into gross anatomy (or equivalent) during their first year of professional school. A 16-item, electronic survey was distributed to course graduates (n=18) that evaluated (1) the importance of BIO 0475…

This 20-year follow-up study examined elementary special educators' use of curriculum-based measurement. Elementary special educators (N = 1,077) in four Midwest states participated in the survey. Results indicated that the overall use of CBM was much higher than 20 years ago with reading CBM as the most prevalent area of monitoring with data used…

The focus of this case study approach was to better understand the perceptions of the practicing administrators and their evaluation of science classes. Six practicing principals were asked at least ten questions which led to conversations about their role and comfort level with evaluating science teaching. The administrators varied in their…

Preparing to become a music teacher educator is a complex process and one component of this process should be learning to model, demonstrate, and teach assessment practices to preservice music educators. The purpose of this exploratory qualitative study was to discover how, and to what extent, music teacher educators (MTEs) are educated about…

This multi-case study explored how local policy actors in rural school districts interpreted new teacher evaluation policies and how state-level policy actors influenced local policy responses. In the first phase of the study, teachers and administrators in four rural school districts in two U.S. states were interviewed about new state teacher…

Understandings of teacher expertise in the US have transformed over the past 40 years, arguably being "narrowed" and "numericized" due to high-stakes accountability and neoliberal education reform movements. While this trend has been thoroughly studied under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and Race to the Top regimes, less…

In response to rising college tuition and student debt over the past three decades, some institutions, localities, and states have implemented a range of tuition-free promise programs to promote college access and success. Programs vary widely in their design features, including eligibility stipulations and award structure. I explore the growing…

Purpose: This study sought to determine the feasibility of using phonetic complexity manipulations as a way to systematically assess articulatory deficits in talkers with progressive dysarthria due to Parkinson's disease (PD). Method: Articulatory kinematics were recorded using three-dimensional electromagnetic articulography from 15 talkers with…

Teacher evaluation systems often include classroom observations in which raters use rating scales to evaluate teachers' effectiveness. Recently, researchers have promoted the use of multifaceted approaches to investigating reliability using Generalizability theory, instead of rater reliability statistics. Generalizability theory allows analysts to…

In 2016, Missouri State University (MSU) received a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to provide scholarships in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (S-STEM) for academically talented students with financial need. The MSU S-STEM program provided two years of financial and academic assistance, supporting students who began their…

The goal for this paper was to discuss the efforts a school district has taken to utilize elementary principal supervisors to build and develop principals' leadership capacities. The question considered was: (1) how are principals supervised and evaluated in one district? Attempting to answer this question is an important step in operationalizing…

It has been said that one of the greatest failures in the education system has been a longstanding problem of public and private school educators failing to recognize victims of child abuse and neglect in their classrooms (Jennings, 1989). The maltreatment of children is a prevalent problem as we know that the number of child maltreatment cases…