BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has had drastic effects on K-12 teachers. Researchers partnered with a teacher advisory board to identify factors associated with K-12 teachers' consideration of leaving teaching during Fall 2020. METHODS: A web-based survey focused on teachers' working experiences was emailed to school union membership listservs…

As states legalize medical cannabis, school nurses face increased parent questions about administration at school. Although school nurses frequently collaborate on the development and implementation of medication administration policies, their perceptions of barriers to school-based medical cannabis administration are not well-documented. To…

This paper employed the Rasch rating scale model to examine the measurement properties of a newly developed scale measuring parents' awareness and perspectives on school choice. A conceptual framework and an item matrix were utilized to incorporate theoretical considerations relevant to the items for the scale. A pilot study collected responses…

We examined the characteristics of 77 high school participants from four school districts who participated in the Teaching and Learning Career Pathway (TLCP) at the University of Louisville during the 2018-2019 school year. The program seeks to support the recruitment of a diverse and effective educator workforce by recruiting high school students…

In this brief, we examine an important but obscure form of state spending on K-12 education-state subsidies of school district pension costs. In 2018, this exceeded $19 billion across 23 states. To put that amount into perspective, 2018 federal spending on Title I programs was $15.8 billion. This revenue stream is often ignored in analyses of…

Students in Appalachia have a heritage of problem-solving. We explore how computational thinking (CT) relates to and complements this heritage by analyzing 34 local ingenuity stories, and perspectives from 35 community members about the relevance of CT. We found the two problem-solving approaches are meaningfully different, but can be used in…

Homestead exemptions for senior and disabled homeowners disproportionally erode rural tax bases but may still stimulate local educational spending. This article examines one such exemption in Kentucky. Two-stage generalized method of moments is used to estimate the demand for local education spending, then spending in the absence of the exemption…

This study identified perceptions of education by low performing and college track African American males in a rural town in Southern Kentucky. Through the lens of Critical Race Theory and Symbolic Interactionism, the researchers explored how 16 young men value a secondary and postsecondary education. Selected by their administrator at two high…

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…

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) reverses a trend toward centralization of education policy and instead provides greater authority to the states. This study explores states' interpretation and early implementation of ESSA's equity-related provisions. Using a qualitative case study approach, we find wide variation in the design and…

Recently there has been increasing emphasis on co-teaching experiences for teacher candidates. Despite the significance of collaboration between cooperating teachers and student teachers, limited empirical attention has focused on student teachers' co-teaching experiences. The following study utilized survey data to ascertain if student teachers'…

Through the lens of transformative learning theory, this qualitative study examines how pre-service teachers (PSTs) in a teacher education program in rural Appalachia shared their perspectives on their preparation to work with diverse students. It examines how their lived experiences and their teacher education program impacted their approach to…

Pushback against the perceived federal overreach into educational reform has led to renewed calls for a return to local control of schools. In contrast to this general trend, there has continued to be a strong national role for English learner (EL) accountability policies related to EL identification, monitoring and reclassification processes. In…

This is the first of two reports exploring the relationship between coal activity and funding for elementary and secondary education in the Appalachian Region. In this first report, patterns in funding for elementary and secondary education are explored using annual data from 1995 to 2016. Counties that had some level of coal employment over this…

Salaries are one of the most powerful policy levers states and school districts can use to attract qualified, effective, and diverse teachers. What role do states play in supporting strategic use of salaries? This report examines the state teacher compensation policies that influence districts' potential strategic use of teacher pay. It analyzes…