Background: Strategies used by wellness teams (WTs) to foster local wellness policy (LWP) implementation have been documented, yet there remains a need to better understand how WTs respond to district-level LWP requirements, particularly when bundled with additional health-related policies. This study's goal was to explore how WTs implement…

Purpose: Many US school districts currently face teacher-retention issues, raising questions about which new teachers might remain long term in district schools. Positing that a teacher's local ties matter, this quantitative analysis was designed to compare the long-term retention of community-based teachers to community outsiders in the school…

As parents, communities, educators, and policymakers continue to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on student learning in America, many have turned to recently released results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). NAEP measures what students know and what they can do in several tested subjects, including reading,…

This study investigates the correlation between an educational leader's perception of the importance of providing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) professional development to the teaching staff and the depth of the professional development in K-8 school districts. The survey consisted of 34 multiple-choice questions and 26 questions on a…

Despite multiple creative approaches to integrating Minnesota's segregated urban public schools, students of color in these schools remain the majority. The state's progressive, anti-racist sentiment toward education has not evolved into action on the part of White families, which leaves under-resourced urban districts struggling beneath a mere…

This study builds on an initial coaching study that found a strong focus on logistics and a lack of depth in coach-teacher talk during modeling and coteaching cycles in one midsize urban school district. The current study explores how administrative policies and expectations may have shaped these coach-teacher interactions. Data sources include 27…

This qualitative narrative research study was conducted to gain first-hand knowledge on Black women narrating their experiences in educational leadership positions within an urban school district. Although visible shackles are no longer apparent on Black women, their muted voices are a reminder that this sub-group is still portrayed by others…

This study examined the Technological, Pedagogical, and Content Knowledge (TPACK) professional development needs of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Teachers. EFL teachers participated in semi-structured interviews from seven primary schools in a middle-sized urban school district in the east part of China. Content analysis with frequency…

This research examines teachers' perceptions of cultural diversity training in a suburban school district. While there is an impressive amount of research on how large urban school districts deal with culture and equity in their schools, there is room for more research on how the smaller suburban school districts handle it. This study will add to…

With the expansion of performance-based incentives, there is growing interest in understanding how they affect leadership quality and composition. This paper studies a reform in a large urban public school district that ties principal compensation to their performance. Using a regression discontinuity design, I investigate the effect of…

This research investigated the teaching experiences of alternative route special education teachers working in urban Title I schools with a high population of students from a culturally and linguistically diverse background. Five alternative route special education teachers along with five school-based administrators who supervise ARL special…

It is imperative that our educational system develops students to have a strong identity in mathematics. Students leaving the K-12 system should possess the skills, the confidence, and the ability to select advanced coursework and math-related careers. In order to create a positive identity, high quality math instruction is essential at the…

We investigated the impact of a subsidized, needs-based preschool program (Study 1; N = 1,894) and California's universal but age-restricted transitional kindergarten (TK) program (Study 2; N = 1,093) on school readiness. We applied Mahalanobis matching--a quasi-experimental data analysis method used to create equivalent groups--to data from three…

The teacher shortage currently plaguing the United States is exacerbated in the urban context. One particular model being adopted in urban school districts to address the teacher shortage and issues of educational equity is the urban teacher residency (UTR) model. The UTR model employs a collaboration between institutions of higher education…

This qualitative study used Purkey and Novack's (1988) Invitational Education as a conceptual framework to understand how 30 educational leaders created intentionally inviting school cultures during the COVID-19 pandemic. The sample consisted of 30 school leaders in Ohio's urban and suburban districts. Findings indicated that leaders altered their…