Leave No Trace (LNT) principles help reduce outdoor recreation users' impacts on the natural and social environment. Rock climbers and climbing organizations have recently embraced LNT principles yet, there is a distinct dearth of research associated with LNT practices and rock climbers' adherence to LNT principles in their self-reported…

Although popular discourse around environmental issues - including environmental education (EE) - is often dominated by the idea that politically progressive places are pro-environment and politically conservative places resist environmental protection, the reality is more complex. This research, which is grounded in interviews with 31…

The decline in funding to state-supported institutions of higher education (IHEs) in Kentucky has compelled these universities to secure alternate forms of revenue to support their capacity to meet public expectations. These other funding streams include enrollment, philanthropic support, and acquiring sponsored funding for research projects and…

Purpose: We sought to identify codes and themes in the mission statements of Kentucky's school districts and examine the relationship between district characteristics and the mission statements. Design/methodology/approach: We undertook a mixed methods design, specifically, a sequential transformative strategy with a theoretical lens overlaying…

This study explored factors impacting the decision for gifted females to pursue a career in computer science. The study used a phenomenological approach to delve into the experiences of ten gifted alumnae of The Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science (Gatton), a residential STEM program, aiming to reveal nuanced insights into factors shaping…

The roles of technology and education were at the forefront throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. This mixed-methods study examines the role of the three levels of the digital divide (i.e., access, capability, and outcomes) during the COVID-19 pandemic in Kentucky. We create and analyze a new multifaceted measure of district-level digital capacity to…

In 2017, the state of Kentucky distributed the Teaching, Empowerment, Leading, and Learning (TELL) survey to gain an understating of the learning environments in Kentucky schools. Many of the items on the TELL survey addressed key components of the School to Watch criteria and rubric. Researchers were interested in the teaching and learning…

For more than 100 years, education communities have debated how best to educate the young adolescent. Proponents of both the junior high school model and the current middle school model have advocated for a specialized approach to educating adolescents that emphasizes the developmental needs of students. To accomplish this, various organizational…

The reasons a student may choose to enroll and matriculate at a particular postsecondary institution are many. Yet a sense of belonging and a strong emotional connection often supply all the incentive students need. Campus environments play a central role in the college choice process as the ecology, climate, and culture of an institution…

School climate has been connected to many important school and student-level outcomes: student achievement, teacher retention, and more. However, the understanding of the extent to which school climate and educator well-being are connected is less robust. This paper explores the extent to which school climate predicts educators' perceptions of…

In this qualitative case study, we explored student and teachers' experiences with the implementation of personalized learning in a rural Kentucky school district. Students revealed differences among teachers implementing personalized learning. Student engagement depended on their teachers' willingness to adapt their instruction and learning…

Hip-hop began in the 1970s as an artistic response to social, political, and economic oppression within African American communities in the United States. This artivist movement allowed community members to convey social inequities through music. Decades later, educators have begun using hip-hop as an educational tool. Our study examined whether…

Writers must learn to control factors that influence the ability to focus, especially in what some call a culture of distraction. In our efforts to promote metacognition and flexible writing processes, writing teachers need to engage students in study and discussion of factors in our temporal, social, media, social media, and attentional…

Objective: Develop and test an online survey to assess campus readiness to adopt smoke- and tobacco-free (SF/TF) policies. Participants: Key informants (N = 18) at four campuses in Kentucky without a SF/TF policy recruited April 2015. Methods: Cross-sectional design. The survey assessed six dimensions: knowledge about SF/TF policies; leadership…

Understanding factors that foster resilience and buffer against the negative psychological impact of COVID-19 is critical to inform efforts to promote adjustment, reduce risk, and improve care, particularly for adolescents with neurodevelopmental disorders. This prospective longitudinal study addresses this gap by investigating the impact of the…