Leading change is one of the most daunting tasks for K-12 site leaders. It is well established that the site leaders' influence on student learning is profound, and the importance of implementing changes to improve practice is paramount. This action research study aimed to examine how a research-based professional development and coaching program…

School-based mental health programs are a powerful mechanism for increasing access to mental health care for the estimated 50% of children who do not receive needed interventions. However, services provided in schools rarely follow evidence-based practice (EBP). Identifying determinants of provider attitudes would illuminate strategies for…

Learning another language is considered a key 21st century subject, something that all students should begin in elementary school. However, most school districts in Illinois do not offer students the opportunity to learn another language in elementary school. There are effective and high quality programs available to learn another language that…

For decades, the achievement gap has remained a critical issue in education that educational leaders have attempted to address. Recent research studies have indicated that collective teacher efficacy is three times more effective in increasing student achievement than other factors. Research also suggests that strong instructional leadership…

The specific problem examined by this study was that it is unknown if and to what extent there is a relationship between mathematics teachers' attitudes towards inclusion of students with learning disabilities in math and teachers' attitudes towards using evidence-based practices to improve mathematics achievement for this population. Therefore,…

A concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury that can have a serious effect on a young, developing brain. Following a concussion, it is common for children and adolescents to experience difficulties in the school setting. Schools may be the ideal setting to address some of the problems children experience as schools employ some personnel with…

Teachers often receive little formal training in how to effectively intervene when a student is behaving in a non-productive manner. Research shows that punitive consequences are usually not effective and are connected to negative outcomes for students. This study aimed to provide teachers with a working knowledge of Scott and Colvin's…

The purpose of this dissertation is to identify factors that are associated with evidence-based practice (EBP) implementation. This research is an important step toward finding reasons why many EBP implementation efforts have failed. As a result, this study can provide better ways to improve EBP adoption rates. Particularly, this dissertation…

This was a qualitative case study design that used a questionnaire with semi-structured open-ended questions regarding the use of evidence-based strategies in co-taught settings with students who have high-incidence disabilities. The purpose of this study was to determine what strategies were being used by co-teachers in science and social science…

The present study provides a "breadth" and "depth" perspective of the current landscape for school suicide prevention (SSP). Despite an increase in SSP programming, practices, and policy, there remains a gap in understanding of how widely these activities are disseminated and implemented. Additionally, there is a lack of…

Literacy researchers have found that using evidence-based intervention strategies with students receiving response to intervention Tier 2 services impacted the support they receive. The problem was that researchers had not examined how elementary reading intervention teachers decided how to use effective evidence-based, culturally responsive…

The quality of a person's life, their success in school, and their options after they exit school for employment, recreation, and independence are impacted by the person's ability to read; therefore, it is of paramount importance that all students receive reading instruction from a teacher who feels prepared to teach reading. Access to equitable…

The current position statement on evidence-based practice (EBP) published by the American Speech-Language and Hearing Association (ASHA), the national certifying organization for the profession of speech-language pathology states that it is the expectation for those who hold the Certificate of Clinical Competency (CCC) in SLP that they incorporate…

I conducted a single instrumental case study to address the problem of practice in which approximately one-third of students entering the ninth grade for the 2019-2020 school year in the study school district were reading below grade level proficiency. I chose an instrumental case study method because it allows for an in-depth examination of a…

In this randomized multiple baseline across participants single-case design study, pre-service special education teachers received a modified Talk Aloud Problem Solving (TAPS) intervention to improve their use of problem-solving verbal behavior and reasoning skills when making instructional decisions. Special education teacher candidates may have…