The American education system has consistently produced disparate outcomes for Black students in terms of graduation rates and college readiness. A deep exploration of this problem reveals that Black students are oftentimes placed in less rigorous courses with less qualified educators who lack the skills to manage student behavior and provide…

Teacher leadership is an important pillar in building school capacity. Using an interpretive qualitative research design, the theoretical lens of Mezirow's (1978) transformative learning theory and Spillane's (2005) distributed leadership theory were used to inform the research questions in this study. With shifts in education reform, student…

In October 2021, California passed Assembly Bill No. 101, making it the first state in the nation to add ethnic studies as a high school graduation requirement. Ethnic studies programs provide students with a comprehensive understanding of diverse cultures, histories, and perspectives, while fostering inclusive learning environments and empowering…

In January 2022, music teacher shortages accounted for eight percent of all vacancies in U.S. school systems. After emerging from COVID-19 lockdowns, many education stakeholders began to reconsider the ways in which teaching and learning have shifted. By committing to a strong understanding of teacher self-efficacy and empowerment, administrators…

The purpose of this study was to determine if COVID-19 has shifted what teachers perceive they want from a principal. In addition, the researchers sought to find what post-COVID-19 teachers want from a principal for them to succeed. Success is defined as feeling supported emotionally, having the proper resources, and maintaining a desire to stay…

The purpose of this study was to determine if COVID-19 has shifted what teachers perceive they want from a principal. In addition, the researchers sought to find what post-COVID-19 teachers want from a principal for them to succeed. Success is defined as feeling supported emotionally, having the proper resources, and maintaining a desire to stay…

Student indiscipline takes valuable time away from teaching and learning. Students display disruptive behaviors for different reasons: not knowing what is expected of them, unaware of their unacceptable behavior, seeking attention, or avoiding assigned work. The fictitious name is the Central Junior High School, which is the focus of this project.…

Providing differentiated learning experiences for every student is one of the goals behind teacher collaboration (Reeves, 2003; Byrd, 2020). The problem examined in this study was that collaborative planning has been used as a solution to improve instructional quality in low-resourced schools, without assessing the effectiveness of that solution…

This applied action research with program evaluation aimed to determine if teacher-led professional development and empowerment initiatives such as the Teacher Leader Collaborative (TLC) contributed to a group of teachers' efficacy and professional growth to reduce teacher turnover of English Language Arts (ELA) teachers at Bernard Williams Middle…

Differentiated Instruction (DI) is the process where educators modify instruction to play to the students' strengths and learning preferences while meeting their individual needs rather than teaching all students in the same manner. DI allows the educator to change how they deliver content, what content is provided, the learning environment, and…

This qualitative exploratory study investigated how leaders establish trust among their faculty to reduce higher turnover and increased stress. The study was motivated by the observed leadership problem and its failure to foster trust within public elementary schools, leading to detrimental outcomes for faculty and students alike. Guided by the…

High Impact Practices are defined as teaching and learning strategies designed to benefit college students through challenging yet confidence-building coursework, and through establishing connections to faculty, peers, and community, among other positive impacts. The ten High Impact Practices recognized by the American Association of Colleges and…

The Lead Teacher Program (LTP) is organized by Beyond Benign, an institution that promotes green chemistry principles and sustainability in education. LTP trains K-12 teachers to run workshops in their own communities across the US and Canada. This research project aimed to study the culture among K-12 science teachers in LTP and how they share…

This dissertation explored how middle school Social Studies educators utilize their self-agency to support students' cultural narrative identity citizenship at various societal levels--community, state, national, and global. Through a qualitative method employing narrative inquiry design, the study investigated the experiences and insights of…

Teacher leadership reflects leadership in schools that is distributed across the organization; is collaborative in nature; and is enacted through a process of influence. Although teacher leadership is important not only in effective school leadership but also in the development, autonomy, and well-being of teachers, existing elementary school…