This study aims to describe the culture and climate of selected middle and high schools in Alabama's River Region. Teachers and administrators from nine middle and eleven high schools in the four-county region of Central Alabama completed two electronic surveys: (a) the School Culture Survey (SCS) developed by Steve Gruenert and Jerry Valentine…

This study sought to examine factors that contribute to ongoing career identity among secondary choral teachers, identify whether or not a relationship exists between career identity and job satisfaction, and determine what relationship--if any--exists between professed career identity and professional practices of secondary choral teachers. For…

The purpose of this dissertation research was to identify a clear connection between teacher reflection, instructional coaching, and improved secondary reading instruction. During this case study, teachers explain and describe their understanding of the impact that two elements, instructional coaching and video reflection, have on secondary…

The current research study looked at secondary teachers' (grades 6-12) perceptions of their preparedness to implement the Common Core State Standards as well as their feelings about the training they have or have not received related to implementing the standards. The problem: Many conflicting views exist among teachers, parents, and others…

The purpose of this research was to examine how secondary teachers teach about disaster using the media during periods of declared natural disaster and post-disaster in their local communities. Issues of preparedness, pre and post disaster, were examined as well. Secondary teachers were queried in one public school system in the Southeastern…

The purpose of this study was to identify and describe factors that are related to agricultural educator career retention and to explore the relationships between work engagement, work-life balance, occupational commitment, and personal and career factors as related to the decision to remain in the teaching profession. The target population for…

Reading is an essential skill in education and the current technologically-driven workforce, yet it is a skill that is not mastered by all. Secondary students in a school district in central Alabama have demonstrated a low mastery rate on the reading portion of a standardized test. This quantitative research study used a non-experimental…

Do "out" lesbian and gay faculty influence the inclusion of sexual orientation as a form of diversity in their teacher preparation programmes? Data gathered from 142 teacher preparation programmes across the USA (representing the preparation of 23,000-30,000 new teachers annually) suggest they do not. Likewise, the priority placed upon…

The purposes of this study were to determine whether variables reported in previous research on teacher turnover could be reduced to a number of factors, and to determine how those resulting factors affected career longevity in band directors. Career longevity was defined as the total number of years teaching. Literature on teacher turnover was…

This study examined the coverage of sexual orientation topics within 77 public university secondary teacher preparation programs across seven US states, and represented programs preparing 8,300-11,500 teachers annually. Findings indicated that 40% of programs did not address sexual orientation as a diversity topic. Further, even programs that did…

The level of agreement among principals and teachers concerning the certification competencies needed by beginning teachers was studied, and an effort was made to determine the level of preparation or experience at which the competencies are mastered. Twenty-seven principals, 27 elementary school teachers, and 5 secondary school teachers from…