This dissertation examines the connection between the English Language Arts Professional Learning Community, data analysis, and research-based instructional strategies to improve students reading levels, as measured by the Pennsylvania Literature Keystone Exam at an Urban High School. It is a mixed-method study. Data were collected from 9th -12th…

Purpose: This study examines the local and institutional factors that shape how educators and educational leaders in western Pennsylvania have understood and responded to rapid growth in opioid misuse and drug overdose within their communities. We examine how educational leaders and educators in two rural school districts in western Pennsylvania…

On July 14, 2021, the Pennsylvania State Universities Board of Governors collectively approved a proposal to merge six Pennsylvania state universities. The three institutions in the West were California, Clarion, and Edinboro. Bloomsburg, Lock Haven, and Mansfield were consolidated in the Northeast. The board then hosted a publicly available…

This study aims to understand better how undergraduate students become civically engaged graduates. Three Pennsylvania-based institutions were identified to be the focus of this research. These institutions each have less than 5,000 undergraduate students, are part of a small city with under 100,000 residents, and have a civic-engagement component…

This qualitative phenomenological study delved into the factors influencing the retention of special education teachers in rural Luzerne County, Pennsylvania school districts. The focus was on understanding why these educators chose to continue in their positions despite facing significant challenges such as limited resources, administrative…

The number of English Language Learners (ELLs) in rural public schools has been steadily increasing in recent years. These rural schools are often underfunded and ill-prepared to manage this new demographic of students, which often leads to the students being neglected and falling behind in their studies. This Action Research Study consisted of…

Since the 1980s, postsecondary institutions have seen a steady increase in student population, particularly from students with learning disabilities (LDs) (NCES, 2019; Clark, 2017). Previous research had shown that more specifically, students from this population opted for 2-year institutions (community colleges) as opposed to 4-year institutions…

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the perception and lived experiences of general education teachers and special education teachers in a co-taught classroom. The study looks at the effects of targeted professional development and teachers' attitudes in co-taught classrooms at the high school level in…

Environmental educators exchange ideas in social networks, which may in turn impact their practices. This study uses social network analysis, surveys, correlation analysis and interviews to examine the relationship between network and practice change in three professional development programs. In the first program that used face-to-face…

Penn State Hazleton sits at the very edge of town, on the top of a large hill, literally, as far removed from Hazleton as it possibly can be. Only a handful of professors actually live in Hazleton, and nearly all students return home for the weekend. Compared with the main campus, the student population at Penn State Hazleton is quite diverse.…

Microcredentials create opportunities for continuing growth of all teachers based on specific needs. They provide ways for teachers to lead their own learning while allowing administrators to identify and address teachers' needs as well as the expertise teachers have to share with their colleagues. Microcredentials are different from traditional…

Professional development programs provide an opportunity for environmental educators to develop networks to exchange ideas and practices in professional learning communities. This study investigated how diverse educators develop professional networks for exchanging information through online and face-to-face professional development activities. We…

In the spring of 2020, as COVID-19 forced the suspension of most U.S. education abroad programs, study abroad students returned home, summer programs were canceled, and international educators pondered the unlikelihood of resuming fall 2020 study abroad; larger questions about the future of international education and global learning with limited…

This paper examines the feasibility of developing a new Master Volunteer training program to help communities adapt to and mitigate the impacts of climate change. Traditional models of volunteer training programs, such as the Cooperative Extension Master Volunteer peer-to-peer learning model, are based in part on Diffusion Theory. The existing…

Innovations associated with gas and oil drilling technology, including new hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling techniques, have recently led to dramatic boomtown development in many rural areas that have endured extended periods of economic decline. The Marcellus Shale play, one of the world's largest gas-bearing shale formations, lies…