Over the last century, the expected role of the classroom teacher has shifted dramatically. We have begun to move away from someone whose main purpose is to provide rote instruction to students, to a shift that educators are facilitators of learning that work to meet the needs of the whole child and not just their academic growth. An increased…

The purpose of the study was to observe the understanding and motivation of second-grade Tier III students' achievement in skip-counting patterns by implementing music and non-music learning activities. The case study was performed using a qualitative design. A pretest-posttest and repeated measures design was used to analyze and triangulate the…

The purpose of this study is to determine how parents of Ascension Public School students, grades pre-kindergarten through fifth, view the lunches provided by the school district. A review of United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National School Lunch Program (NSLP) policies yielded ten major regulations with the greatest impact on…

Academic performance is a growing concern for students in kindergarten through Grade 3 (K-3) in the United States, especially those students with a high number of unauthorized absences (i.e., a high truancy rate). When students are absent from school, they may have a lower chance of succeeding academically compared to students with better…

With federal gender equity mandates in place, some may assume that schools are now havens were children are protected from discrimination based on failure to conform to stereotypical notions of masculinity and femininity. Yet, research suggests that the school literacy curriculum serves as a site that privileges gender performances consistent with…

A critical aspect of reading fluently is the ability to respond to sight words quickly and accurately. Current interventions for sight word fluency include flashcards and taped words (TW). While effective, these interventions require extensive personnel resources and one-on-one implementation. This study evaluates a group-wide intervention, the…

This quantitative study investigates instructors' perceptions of the factors influencing technology integration in their instruction, spanning the years 2019-2023, encompassing the transition from virtual to in-person learning after COVID-19. It examines technology integration barriers and supports experienced by instructors in the Midwestern…

The purpose of this explanatory sequential mixed-methods study was to assess the impact of the STEM integration program on third through fifth grade students' achievement scores in mathematics and science in an urban northeastern Georgia school district. In Phase 1, a quantitative research design was used to examine and compare student achievement…

The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to increase grit, growth mindset, and self-efficacy in pre-adolescent students attending a K-5 public elementary school in Northwest New Mexico by implementing intervention activities in which students were given opportunities to learn and develop grit and growth mindset, thus resulting in improved…

When it comes to education, motivation and access have always contributed to the success or failure of young people in this country. Individuals' mindsets were correlated with their academic attainment. It is possible that a person's openness of mind is the gatekeeper of their success. The purpose of this ex post facto study was to determine if…

This dissertation presents a qualitative study that utilized Design-Based Research (Reinking & Watkins, 1996) to understand how an interdisciplinary unit using project-based learning unit on diverse family structures and experiences can shift children's preconceptions about families. In this study, I addressed two research questions: 1. In…

K-3 teachers face challenges in meeting the learning needs of their emergent bilingual (EB) students in rural southeastern schools in the United States. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore K-3 teacher perspectives on challenges to meet the English language learning needs of their EB students and to identify what K-3 teachers…

Much research has been conducted on teacher retention, student absences, and suspensions. The results of this research have been shaping the education of primary students. Through standardized or achievement tests, instructional leaders determine each student's level of intellectual knowledge. This knowledge is determined through reading, math,…

There is currently limited research detailing the effects of teacher greetings on increasing on-task behavior at a class-wide level in the general education setting. Teacher greetings are used as a feasible and effective classroom management strategy to improve rapport between students and teachers, increase on-task behavior, and reduce disruptive…

This quantitative study examines the Lexile level, estimated volume, and genre of fourth- and fifth-grade texts used in four popular core reading series to analyze the programs' possible effects on instruction and comprehension. The four series include Houghton Mifflin Harcourt's Into Reading, Lucy Calkins' Units of Study for Teaching Reading,…