COVID-19, social distasting, and synchronous versus asynchronous learning have continued to widen gaps in students' knowledge. Teachers have largely been responsible for closing those gaps with little to no additional resources, except for what new state mandates have in place such as House Bill 4545 in Texas. Previous research has shown that new…

This qualitative study delved into how educators, administrators, and counselors at a North Texas middle school perceived the impact of a school anti-bullying initiative on student behavior and school climate, guided by Bronfenbrenner's socioecological theory. Two main questions were explored: How do these educators, administrators, and counselors…

Digital math assessments with bilingual accommodations allow multilingual learners to use their entire linguistic repertoire to showcase their knowledge and skills. The bilingual accommodations, which include tools like language translation and audio prompts in both English and Spanish, are designed to be adaptable, giving multilingual learners…

The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to examine the relationship between teacher's perceptions of school climate and student achievement of middle school students. Two hundred twenty middle school teachers, from a large urban school district located in the Southwestern region of the US, participated in the "New Jersey School Climate…

Equity between racial/ethnic groups has become an important factor in education, and scholar-practitioners have focused on closing the equity gap in both student academics and discipline. Research has shown the inequity in student discipline dating back to the 1950s when schools began to integrate and Black students were allowed to attend the same…

The purpose of this case study was to explore administrator, teacher, and parent perceptions about the resources needed to increase parental involvement. Leveraging three theoretical frameworks of Epstein's overlapping spheres of influence, the Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler model, and Vygotsky's sociocultural theory, this study utilized qualitative…

Science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education programs focus on growing the STEM workforce. The problem is many middle and high school students in Texas require support from the STEM teacher to comprehend complex science texts. Research shows interest in science begins to decline in adolescence leading to a shortage of employees to…

The purpose of this non-experimental quantitative study is to obtain middle school teachers' perceptions of their principals' leadership attributes and analyze how their perceptions of those leadership attributes relate to their sense of self-efficacy. Teacher participants from five middle schools in a lower Rio Grande Valley (RGV) school district…

The purpose of this study was to identify teachers' digital skills proficiency gaps in order to determine preparedness for teaching in the digital age. Using a survey research design helped identify teachers' digital skills self-confidence, attitudes towards the use of technology in the classroom, and current uses of technology for instructional…

This qualitative phenomenological inquiry addressed the research problem of teachers' unfamiliarity with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and its impact on students' educational opportunities. The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of selected middle school teachers in East Texas regarding their training to…

Military-connected students experience behavioral, emotional, and academic concerns during their parents' deployments to other states or countries for training or defense of the United States of America. These military deployment cycles affect students with disabilities who struggle to learn at the same rate as their peers. The problem addressed…

The unintended academic and social consequences for students experiencing the transition from elementary to middle school have been well documented. A mixed method study was conducted to examine the perceptions and attitudes of 6th grade students, parents, and teachers from four middle schools in a large suburban school district in Southeastern…

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many Texas students stayed home and learned virtually for portions or the entirety of the 2020-2021 school year. TEA (2021b) reports indicated virtual learners scored lower than students who returned face-to-face on many assessments. Research question one asked what are the perceived factors that affected 8th-grade…

Student learning is substantially impacted by the choice of curriculum, and a significant predictor of achievement gain is the level of implementation. The purpose of this qualitative instrumental case study was to explore implementation experiences of primary and middle school teachers of English Language Arts (ELAR) curriculum at a rural school…

This study examined student readiness to learn and teacher effectiveness in order to determine their impact on middle grades mathematics achievement. Survey data were collected from 964 middle grades students and 93 mathematics teachers in Texas. This study is the first to use this particular collective efficacy short form with middle grade…