The South Carolina Department of Education and the South Carolina Education Oversight Committee developed an accountability system that informs the public of the status of public schools while meeting the mandate of state and federal law (Robinson, 2018). Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) is a U.S. Law that passed in December 2015 that governs the…

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore how secondary teachers describe the role that the elements of the community of inquiry framework (social, cognitive, and teaching presence) play in a virtual learning environment in a rural school district in South Carolina. The community of inquiry framework was used to guide the…

The purpose of this comparative quantitative study was to test adherence to the accountability theory by comparing perceptions of South Carolina public school principals without procedural due process rights as administrators with public school principals in New Jersey that have procedural due process rights through tenure regarding the tools used…

The impact of school locale, size and poverty levels (SES) on student achievement has been of great interest in school research for more than the last five decades. The increasing public demand to hold schools accountable for their effects on student outcomes lends urgency to the task of exploring variables related to student achievement that are…

This study investigated selected elementary school teachers' perceptions of principals' leadership. Ten South Carolina schools were selected based on the criterion of 50% or higher poverty index. Five schools included the feature of recognition by the state for academic success for one year or more over the 2003-2006 timeframe. One hundred three…

Our nation's schools are faced with numerous critical challenges and problems; meeting federal and state mandates, state standards, elevating academic achievement, increasing parental involvement, and violence in the schools (Gould, 2011; Kowalski & Cangemi, 2011; Simpson, LaCava, & Graner, 2004). Violence in many U.S. schools continues to…

The purpose of this study was to examine the factors impacting teacher attrition in high-performing and low-performing elementary rural schools in South Carolina. Several factors were identified that interfered with teachers returning to the teaching profession. School districts in rural areas need to be better informed of the factors that affect…

This qualitative case study examined causes of low graduation rates for young adults. The purpose of this study was to evaluate students participating in an after-school program and reflect on their perceptions of that program a year after they graduated. The theoretical framework for this study reflected upon an open social system. The research…

The purpose of this study was to examine principal leadership styles and their influence on school performance as measured by adequate yearly progress at selected Title I schools in South Carolina. The main focus of the research study was to complete descriptive statistics on principal leadership styles in schools that met or did not meet adequate…

This study examined behavior modification programs in schools designed to focus on discipline and that aim to reform disruptive behavior in students, usually over a limited period of time. This was a comparative case study of two type II alternative schools in the Upstate of South Carolina. The findings contributed to the research base regarding…

The academic progress of South Carolina student subgroups are tracked by leaders in the South Carolina Department of Education (SDE) and by South Carolina Education Oversight Committee (EOC) leaders to assure the public that South Carolina public schools are making academic progress as outlined in the Education Accountability Act of 1998 (EAA) as…

In the era of school accountability, school boards are under scrutiny for their effectiveness in improving student achievement. It has become more than obvious that school boards play an important role in the effectiveness, ineffectiveness, successes and failures of school districts. However, to what degree of importance was the premise for this…

Forty-six percent of the nation's teachers are expected to leave the profession by their fifth year in the classroom. This alarming statistic has grabbed the attention of federal, state, and local leaders. In South Carolina alone, 28,500 teachers left the profession in the last five years, or an average of 5,700 per year. This translates to a…

This study included an analysis of the trend of performance indicators for the technical college sector of higher education in South Carolina. In response to demands for accountability and transparency in higher education, the state of South Carolina developed sector specific performance indicators to measure various educational outcomes for each…

In light of continuing educational reform and the increased focus on student achievement, school districts, states, and other constituents involved in preparing K-12 public school teachers have increasingly come under scrutiny as to how they have been and are continuing to prepare future educators. One area that has garnered increased attention is…