With the rise of online courses taught at the post-secondary level, instructors must make decisions on what resources and tools they implement since this can directly impact student learning (Ascough, 2011; Means et al, 2010; Simonson, 2011). Moreover, instructors have access to thousands of free resources and tool though a click of a mouse as…

Systemic gaps across educational opportunities for students of color and students from economically marginalized communities continue to exist in educational contexts. As Gorski (2018) stated, public education is supposed to be the great equalizer. Yet, we can see that our meritocratic system is creating further divides between those who have…

A hopeful path to furthering social justice in America is to support all young children to develop the habits of mind necessary for guiding, and fully living, their own lives. Unfortunately, much of what is known from brain research, psychology, and the learning sciences regarding the contextual and relational ways young children learn is not…

The national K-12 science standards were reformed in April 2013. On March 8, 2017, the state of Louisiana's Board of Elementary and Secondary Education approved the rewrite of the science standards to align with these national standards, and they were implemented in the middle school science classes. In March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic began and…

The purpose of this study was to provide a greater understanding of the broader characteristics of the lowest performing elementary and middle schools in Illinois, as little analysis of this data had been conducted. Furthermore, little to no research has explored the vertical and horizontal alignment of math curricula and its correlation to…

The purpose of this qualitative study is to investigate the significance of how pre-K and kindergarten teachers' perception and implementation of instruction prepares children for literacy in both grade levels. Three research questions guided the study: Are pre-K and kindergarten curricula aligned with implementing emergent literacy skills in…

This study explores to what extent principals perceive "instructional program coherence" (IPC) and vertical collaboration occur in high schools and their mid-level feeder schools. It also measures IPC and its five components' association with different measures of student achievement. The study took place in the state of Missouri, and…

Novice teachers are faced with challenges when starting a new career, including using knowledge they have gained during their teacher preparation program to put effective instructional strategies into practice. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to explore the perceptions of self-efficacy for novice teachers on their competencies related…

Understanding how Illinois school district leaders craft acceleration policy and procedures in compliance with the Accelerated Placement Act has not been studied yet. The Accelerated Placement Act was adopted into law by former Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner on August 25, 2017. The Accelerated Placement Act had a mandatory implementation date for…

The increased numbers of emergent bilinguals (EBs) in mainstream classrooms demand that teachers employ high leverage practices for all students. One powerful teaching practice that holds promise for supporting all students is formative assessment. However, little attention has been given to the connection between teachers' assessment expertise,…

The problem this study addressed was educators of students with severe and profound disabilities face barriers to teaching a functional curriculum due to the lack of training and targeted curriculum. The purpose of this qualitative single exploratory case study was to examine the benefits and barriers faced by teachers of students with severe and…

Following a massive wave of school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic, educators found the need to be hyper-critical of how they spend their instructional time with students. Almost all students are expected to return nearly a full grade-level behind and would likely have to learn to navigate a completely new school environment. As a result,…

This study aimed to examine administrator perceptions and practices related to the relationship between curriculum alignment and teacher autonomy. Further, this study examined the ways in which different administrative structures impact how administrators and teachers view this relationship. The researcher chose two case-study districts on Long…

The purpose of this case study was to examine student experiences within an established guided pathways model program that integrated a system of student support to increase on-time graduation rates. Four research questions guided the investigation: (1) How did the participants describe the college's approach to helping students enter an academic…

Within institutions of higher education, shared governance is an essential component to a healthy functionality. Among the many stakeholders at these institutions, students are the largest in number and hold primacy. Participation in student governance establishes a sense of shared ownership over their communities while also providing a unique…