What does it mean for a school to be failing? Too often, answers to this question do not include insights from students of colour, their families, or teachers. In fact, schools, especially those that serve poor communities of colour, lack systemic opportunities for educators to hear directly from students. This qualitative case study yielded…

This qualitative study seeks to explore teacher and administrator perceptions of teacher recruitment, retention and support within a Californian turnaround high school run since 2007 by a charter management organization referred to here as New Schools. Upon the basis of previous research that has documented statistically significant improvements…

As an informal teacher-leader at my elementary school, I set out to investigate the prevailing attitudes and beliefs about family involvement and engagement among stakeholders at Phoenix Charter School (PCS). I came away with three major findings: 1) There is no collective definition of family involvement, but almost all agreed that families must…

The COVID-19 pandemic has placed significant demands on teachers. The current study uses needs assessment data gathered from 454 New Orleans charter school teachers (81% women; 55% Black; 73% regular education) during the first months of the pandemic. On average, teachers experienced seven stressors (out of 18 surveyed) and four protective factors…

In this brief, we set out to understand how unionization may or may not shape practices central to charter schools' ability to serve students. The study, an exploratory one, includes 29 interviews across eight schools that unionized four to six years ago. Our results point to areas of concern, optimism, and future research. We found: (1)…

Adolescent mental health is a significant concern for school social workers. School social workers bridge mental health needs and available resources with school professionals. The purpose of this mixed-methods participatory action research was to examine how a charter school with limited resources and a part-time social worker addressed students'…

This qualitative study is designed to illuminate the factors that drive motivation and academic confidence in adult learners and how these factors influence their desire to persist in Adult Basic Education programs. Specifically, it interrogates the classroom environment and identifies teacher behaviors and other elements that may influence…

This qualitative case study explores with 15 millennial educators, the factors that influenced their decision to stay and progress as leaders within the context of a high-attrition environment. The following assumptions held to be true: (1) the generation-specific retention needs of Millennials are applicable to educators across generations.; (2)…

Texas teachers now have a plethora of options when making employment decisions. School administrators must be knowledgeable of those options and how they differ from one another. There are numerous types of traditional public schools, a large variety of private schools, and a growing number of public charter schools, including university charters…

In Florida, civic illiteracy among middle and high school students is a pressing concern despite state initiatives to increase civic competence (Florida House of Representatives, 2019; FLDOE, 2023b; Florida Department of State, 2023). Recent scores on state civics and social studies standardized assessments reveal a disheartening fact--an average…

In August, the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) released the grimmest "Nation's Report Card" in 20 years. Between 2020 and 2022, America's students dropped five points in reading and seven points in math. At a time when there is empirical evidence that America's students are struggling -- the NAEP scores are just one…

Despite the importance placed on reading in the classroom, an unacceptable number of students lack the literacy skills essential to succeed in today's knowledge-based economy, putting them at greater risk of persistent unemployment and other forms of economic hardship. The problem is that public charter elementary (K-4) school intervention…

The failure of Positive Behavior Interventions & Supports® (PBIS) to resolve behavior issues among primary grade students at a single charter elementary school in the southeastern United States was the problem that guided this study. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore how primary teachers and administrators identified…

Previous research has suggested that emotional and social developmental domains configure most prominently for adolescents in the classroom. In this qualitative study, we first aimed to explore teachers' perspectives of students' needs, then to explore the ways that teachers came to understand those needs, and how that understanding informed their…

Teacher leaders are a population to consider when observing instructional leadership or the instructional leadership behaviors of the school principal. A voice rarely illuminated within research, teacher leaders should have the ability to perceive and speak to the instructional leadership behaviors of the school principal. It is through the…