Past research has shown that suicide rates for males and females are higher in rural than in urban areas. Because of the high incidence of suicide attempts and completion of youth in rural areas, it is critical that they receive mental health support within schools. Consequently, the current mixed-methods study surveyed school psychologists in…

School board governance matters. Past research has demonstrated that effective school boards are associated with higher student achievement. However, this research has been less clear about what those agreed upon effective practices are. The current study set out to identify effective school board governance practices and to determine the extent…

Self-efficacy is a perceived judgment that one has the ability to execute a course of action that brings about a desired result. Principal self-efficacy describes a set of beliefs that enable a principal to enact policies and procedures that promote the effectiveness of a school. Principal self-efficacy beliefs are also important because they…

Published children's literature in the United States overrepresents some identities while underrepresenting others, such as people of color, LGBT people, people with disabilities, people who live below the poverty line (Crisp et al., 2016), and more. Thus, some children may not encounter text representative of their identities. As literature can…

Written communication and computer programming are foundational components of an undergraduate degree in the mathematical sciences. All lower-division mathematics courses at our institution are paired with computer-based writing, coding, and problem-solving activities. In multivariable calculus we utilize MATLAB and LATEX to have students explore…

Objective: This phenomenology explored the experiences of those involved in a campus-based Ambassador program that enforced a tobacco-free policy at a public university in Montana. Participants: During the program's initial implementation (spring 2014), researchers observed and interviewed 21 Ambassadors and 19 policy violators. Methods:…

In this content analysis of state U.S. History and Civics standards, we compared the treatment of immigration across three types of states with differing immigration demographics. Analyzing standards from 18 states from a critical race methodology perspective, our findings indicated three sets of tensions: a unified American story versus local…

This report examines common strategies used by six Montana schools that had high student passing rates in online credit recovery courses offered by the Montana Digital Academy (MTDA) in the 2013/14 school year. The study is based on analysis of interviews conducted with school-based facilitators who oversee the implementation of the online MTDA…

Most U.S. school districts (88 percent) offer credit recovery courses or programs for students. In rural states such as Montana, online credit recovery options are especially popular because they allow schools to serve students in remote areas throughout the year, across a range of subjects, and with few additional resources (Carver & Lewis,…

American Indian students who have attended tribal colleges have expressed gratitude, appreciation and pride in their educational and cultural experiences at these institutions. Most of the 37 tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) in the US and Canada currently offer two-year degree and certificate programs. Many American Indian students who wish…

Many children today spend little time outdoors exploring the natural world and a great deal of time inside viewing the television or playing video games. This new condition of childhood has many negative ramifications, such as poor social development, childhood obesity, and a lack of feeling connected to the environment. One instructional tool…

This study investigated a federal comprehensive community initiative, the Promise Neighborhood initiative, in order to understand higher education community engagement in an embedded context. Promise Neighborhood programs aim to create a place-based system of family and education services that can support youth from early childhood through college…

With the dramatic rise of diversity in American schools, the need to prepare teachers to work with this population, and the increasing popularity of online instruction, teacher educators and researchers need to pay greater attention to the effects of online instruction. This study examines and compares the impact of a critical multicultural…

As teacher educators search for ways to prepare future educators for the challenges of assessment implementation, we suggest that authentic practice by preservice teachers in an informal learning environment promotes assessment implementation. The analysis of 28 volunteer assessment students' reflections revealed that practicing assessment…

This embedded multiple-case study addressed the lack of qualitative research on the contributions of principal leadership behaviors and organizational routines in Montana's distinguished Title I schools. This study was guided by the research question, "How do principal leadership behaviors and organizational routines contribute to the high…