The purpose of this study was to describe the perceptions middle school students had about agriculture and gardening as part of the GrOW (Gardening and Overall Wellness) Program. This included multiple constructs, including students' gardening efficacy, perceptions of those who had already completed the GrOW Program, perceptions of those who had…

Middle school offers an entryway onto the path of college readiness. However, many practitioners and researchers have focused their efforts on high school students. Remaining is a population of potential college-going students, whose opportunities to prepare for college at an earlier stage are overlooked because middle school is not viewed as the…

Adolescence is a critical time period when it comes to fostering lifelong interest and practices in reading, yet a decreasing number of middle school students are performing at Proficient and Advanced levels in reading. The purpose of this study was to examine whether providing middle school students with an increased level of choice in their…

Both educators and researchers alike have a shared understanding that the mathematical identities, and perceptions of those identities, 6th and 7th grade students hold can influence their attitudes about their abilities as mathematics learners and doers. However, while identity work has gained popularity as a focus, researchers have yet to…

The purpose of this study was to analyze the impact of Flipgrid-based discussion activities with student-selected nonfiction texts on middle school students' motivation to read. The study investigated how teacher training affected teachers' comfort and confidence in using Flipgrid. While various discussion-based activities have been used with…

The purpose of this convergent parallel design, mixed methods case study, was to discover the perception of students and teachers of the effectiveness of using school-wide restorative practices for students at the middle school level, grades six through eight, at one middle school site. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs was the Theoretical Framework…

This study tests the effects of performing daily kind acts over a 4-week period on upper elementary students' subjective well-being (happiness) and academic engagement. It also tests the correlation between increases in both measures. Upper elementary students often experience a decrease in academic engagement due to increased difficulty and…

This dissertation examines how children make sense of the boundaries of technology and nature through a case study of thirty students in the sixth through seventh grade, attending a public charter school in the Ohio River Valley region of the United States of America (US). Using data collected via a range of ethnographic methods including…

Recent research on second language and subject-matter learning calls for moving away from hegemonic monolingual education in U.S. schools and instead making "translanguaging" the norm by supporting bi/multilingual students to use their full linguistic repertoires as they participate in classroom learning (Garcia, Johnson, & Seltzer,…

While previous research has focused on how positive psychology treatments relate to outcomes, it is also essential to evaluate the therapeutic process of these treatments. The therapeutic process consists of elements like the therapeutic alliance and the efforts the clinicians and the client put into the process (Bordin, 1979). Positive psychology…

This dissertation study investigated the comparability of reading comprehension of narrative and persuasive text by applying a convergent parallel mixed method design. Participants were middle school students (Grades 6 - 8, N=6). The purpose of the study was to address a gap in reading comprehension research about how students comprehend narrative…

The purpose of this action research was to explore how incorporating choice boards as a tool for personalized learning in social studies influenced sixth-grade students to engage in the classroom. Engagement in the classroom is necessary for students to meet educational goals. In order to remain engaged in their learning, students need intrinsic…

Students need academic tools and digital skills for proper social interactions in a digital society. Researchers Ribble and Park (2019) designed the S3 Framework which stresses the importance of developing safe, savvy, and social digital citizens. Using this framework, a series of interventions were developed for students and staff to increase the…

National and local data show that many female students lose interest in STEM at an early age, female students that remain interested in STEM show partiality for life sciences. This results in gender stratification in STEM subject areas and is evident in high school enrollments in elective courses. This three-manuscript dissertation investigates…

The No Child Left Behind Act, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and the Race to the Top Initiative increased pressure to support academically below grade level students. Schools with large academically below grade-level students often have large Response to Intervention (RTI) groups. Large group sizes present challenges for high-quality…