The problem addressed in this study was the high attrition rates of teachers in elementary school districts and the unknown role of human, social, structural, and psychological capital determinants needed to retain teachers. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive case study was to describe the experiences of veteran K-6 teachers in the South…

Elementary school students face developmental challenges resulting in decreased social and emotional learning and academic success. These challenges include outbursts in class, physical confrontations, or low motivation that will cause students to lose focus and fail academically. This research explored teachers' perceptions about the efficacy of…

Classrooms nationwide welcome a diverse group of learners. A goal, and an achievable one, is to recognize this unique diversity on a whole child spectrum and to strive to customize learning to meet individual needs. Critical to this process is for teachers to have at hand research that connects factors of learning in a holistic way. It is equally…

The COVID-19 pandemic has propelled educational communities across the world into emergency remote models of instruction. This study documented the perceptions of 11 teachers from the State of Illinois regarding the quality of online instruction in their schools and their unexpected challenges from March of 2019-2020 academic year. Three points of…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the degree to which John Dewey's experiential theories were embedded in leadership preparation curricula in departments of leadership and college student personnel administration at universities in the Midwestern United States. John Dewey, who is considered to be America's greatest philosopher, defined…

This article presents a research project that challenges the skills-based approach to classroom management in teacher education, particularly in the domain of responding to student misbehaviors. In 90-minute narrative-based interviews, 16 first-year Chicago Public School (CPS) teachers were prompted for narratives of their experiences responding…

Many have labeled the youth residing in detention homes as the forgotten children of society. Education in a detention home can be a catalyst for restoring troubled youth to the right track. However, most detention home education programs and educators are isolated, unregulated, and operated with minimal guidance from either the state or local…

Social studies education is designed to provide a foundation for civic society. In this study we consider immigrant optimism theory within the context of U.S. secondary social studies to examine the civic potential of immigrant youth. Using a mixed-methods approach, we complement analyses of teacher and immigrant young adult interviews with…

This article traces the reflections of the author as she remembers her time in Illinois as a graduate student and American Educational Research Association (AERA) postdoctoral research fellow. She remembers herself as a strong, independent, outspoken woman from a large east coast city who was attempting to fit into academic life while trying to…

Given recent increased attention to teacher evaluation, it is imperative to understand the expertise teachers need to educate students with severe disabilities. In this grounded theory study, the authors interviewed nine special education faculty who specialize in severe disabilities about the job-related skills and qualities exhibited by expert…

In the spring of 2014, John Bragelman accepted an administrative position at a community college in Chicago. He struggled with the decision because it meant leaving the mathematics classroom, a space he calls home. As a critical educator, he had the opportunity to watch his students become critical participators in their communities, readers and…

This study was concerned with an examination of the heteropatriarchy as it was performed by six self-identified heterosexual male English teachers and two high school administrators in the United States and Canada. These educators explained their efforts regarding their own thinking about identity and curriculum and their attempts to teach a…

Starting in 2012-13, researchers have worked in partnership with Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) to study implementation of Chicago's new teacher evaluation system: Recognizing Educators Advancing Chicago's Students (REACH). This paper presents findings as well as experiences from the collaboration with CPS and…

This research explored the conceptual compatibility of Transformative Learning Theory in accounts of Christian spiritual renewal at Wheaton College in 1995. The literature review examined two domains: Transformative Learning Theory (TLT) and renewal of spiritual life in American students. TLT was applied as quadrants of experience, critical…

This paper reports findings of a qualitative study exploring the changes in secondary teachers' learning orientation through the use of literacy coaching. The study took place within a large suburban district in the Chicagoland area and explores the question from the perspective of participants sampled across three departments and two campuses in…