The return to in-person schooling post-COVID-19 pandemic has brought increased pressure on educators to ensure academic success for students. This study examines the school climate of 40 elementary and middle schools in California's Central Valley and its impact on academic performance and attendance, comparing pre-pandemic (2018-2019) with…

Teachers' mathematics pedagogical content knowledge (MPCK) is a necessary component for mathematics achievement. Despite the importance of this component, some teachers demonstrate limited knowledge of how best to facilitate mathematics instruction. The problem addressed through this study was the consistently low mathematics achievement of Grade…

The purpose of this study was to develop and explore the factor structure of the Student Engagement in Social-Emotional Learning Skills (SE-SELS) survey, a newly designed assessment that assesses students' knowledge and use of five social-emotional learning skills (self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills and…

For many decades, traditional public schools were the dominant public schools available for educating students, including those with disabilities. However, in the current climate of school choice, parents can now choose from a variety of educational options for their children. This study sought to explore the reasons parents of students with…

The United States educational system has historically struggled to improve the student outcomes for African American and economically disadvantaged students (Meatto, 2019). This doctoral study analyzed the underlying factors that affected schools' performances in a central Louisiana school system over a five year period. Specifically, this study…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the impact of participating in a school garden-based project on the sense of social connectedness of urban elementary school students and university service-learning students within the urban community. The study found that the sixth-grade participants experienced improvements in their sense…

This study details the quantitative impact of educator leadership on student achievement outcomes for over 9,200 students in 398 fourth, fifth, and sixth grade classrooms within the Chula Vista Elementary School District, across 44 schools. Although the phenomenon of teacher leadership has been the subject of qualitative research for many decades,…

In this study, a comparative analysis was conducted to explore how students' learning outcomes were potentially influenced by student engagement during different modes of instruction. The study compared the final mean grade point averages (GPAs) of a sample (N = 600) of middle school students during in-person, online, and hybrid modes of…

Students classified as English learners (EL) are a protected class of students with core legal rights. There are clear opportunities to strengthen education policies and practices to improve opportunities and outcomes for EL-classified students. This dissertation is comprised of three studies examining key issues in EL education with the goal of…

Standardized assessment is the government measurement of academic success in Texas. Currently, students in Grades 3-11 participate in the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) as a measure of their comprehension of the state standards. In high school, students are required to pass the high school STAAR End of Course test in…

The use of alternative classroom seating has recently become a topic of interest in education. Many teachers have redesigned their classrooms to include many forms of classroom seating aside from traditional student desks. These forms of seating include but are not limited to: therapy balls, therapy cushions, and beanbag chairs. While this…

This study was designed to test the relationships between the level of implementation for instructional rounds and various instructional outcomes in grades 3-6 in a large suburban Texas school district. From the population of teachers in the district, a random sample of teachers ( n= 200) who taught in grades 3-6 were invited to participate in the…

This dissertation explored the roles schools can play in the successful outcomes of large carnivore or keystone reintroduction projects. Schools are more than centers for knowledge acquisition--they connect their community and disseminate information quickly to a wide audience. This study took place in California's Eastern Sierra Nevada, a…

The purpose of this two-group descriptive efficacy study was to explore the relationship between school configuration and academic and non-academic outcomes of sixth grade elementary students compared to academic and non-academic outcomes of sixth grade middle school students. The independent variable is the school configuration. Group 1 includes…

Recent estimates show nearly 90% of school districts nationwide offer some form of online credit recovery. Additionally, credit recovery services have become one of the fastest growing areas of educational software. Despite the widespread adoption of these programs, there is a lack of scholarly research on the effectiveness, rigor, and suitability…