Despite their sizable presence on U.S. college campuses, few institutions have comprehensive programs to support student-mothers' success. However, research suggests that access to even one supportive or encouraging institutional agent can make a difference in a student's college trajectory. Based on interviews with 57 student-mothers at 2- and…

We used a single case concurrent multiple probe across participants design to evaluate the effects of a multi-component intervention package on the number of correct sentences used when writing about a story for three rural elementary students with intellectual or developmental disabilities and extensive support needs. The package was comprised of…

Do education choice programs take money from public school districts, leaving fewer resources for students who remain? The issue at the heart of this question is one of the most powerful arguments offered by skeptics and opponents of such programs. A district's total budget might expand or contract as its student population expands or contracts.…

A considerable gap exists between rural and urban children in their mental health outcomes that has continued to grow during the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the critical role of school counselors in addressing this gap, we tested the effectiveness of a 10-week, expressive arts-based resiliency program, Resilient Warriors, with 46 rural elementary…

Peer tutoring methods were implemented in a 2nd grade classroom using an alternating treatments design with a baseline. In the baseline phase, 18 participants spelled words they had not yet learned. During the treatment phase, teacher-led spelling instruction was alternated each week with peer tutoring for spelling. Peer tutoring for spelling was…

In a small rural school district in the southeast, two high schools have both seen a decline in their enrollment, so the two high schools are merging into one facility until a new school is built. Naturally students have concerns about the proposed organization, with students at one school already having concerns about the current lunch schedule,…

This bounded case study illuminates the planning, delivery, and evaluation of early childhood professional development sessions conducted by the educational experts with a Zimbabwean non-profit organization in response to a need for professional development for early childhood teachers. Ethnographic and grounded theory methods were used by…

This longitudinal study examines elementary teachers' self-efficacy for science teaching in the years after professional development (PD) ended and during a subsequent 3-year period of follow-up support. Self-efficacy is important because teachers make decisions about classroom activities based, in part, on how confident they are in their…

This qualitative exploratory case study delves into the intricate experiences between teacher leadership and school improvement factors, focusing on the unique context of rural areas. School leaders and educators possess a limited comprehension of the potential roles and necessity of teacher leaders in driving school improvement efforts.…

Despite the growing body of research about the experiences of rural students, much of the literature does not address the experiences of this population at the intersection of race and higher education success. More specifically, Black students, particularly Black men, are less represented in the literature. Black men have been explored at the…

The Grow Your Own Teacher (GYOT) program addresses the shortage of qualified teachers by recruiting and training community residents to become qualified teachers. These programs look and feel like community-building strategies instead of teacher pipeline strategies. The GYOT initiative is not new, but the mainstream absorption of the GYOT…

Rural school districts face a unique set of challenges. This dissertation focuses on two rural counties in three school districts in southeastern Ohio and examines the difficulties special education teachers and administrators in rural communities often face. Two special education teachers, a general education teacher, two principals, a special…

The study aimed to build the capacity of assistant principals to identify and support teachers in using equitable classroom practices. The Participatory Action Research (PAR) study in a rural North Carolina school district included a team of the principal and two assistant principals as co-practitioner researchers (CPR) to study how the principal…

The purpose and goal of this quantitative method, causal-comparative study was to explore the impact of a year-long mentorship program on the self-efficacy, collective efficacy, perceived support, retention plans, and effectiveness of novice (i.e., 1st-3rd year) teachers in a rural, public school district in Mississippi. The mentorship program…

Student input is usually limited to expression, while collaboration and leadership increase student engagement and investment. This study sought to collect and elevate the voices of students from a small school for girls in rural East India. Participants included staff and former students. During multiple cycles of data collection, participants…