The purpose of this study was to gather and investigate the perceptions of K-12 public school music teachers who have used portfolio-based evaluations in Tennessee. Research questions included: (1) What are the perceptions of music teachers in Tennessee who have used the Tennessee Fine Arts Portfolio Model? (2) Do differences in music teacher…

In the United States, the student body is increasingly more diverse in ethnicity, family structure, and race; yet oftentimes libraries are not representative of these students. This dissertation aims to develop and provide a framework to help educators select books that reflect the lives of diverse students. In addition to diverse literature…

In this essay, we explore the concept of path dependence through the example of the long-standing issue of racialized exclusionary school discipline. We argue that historians of education can reduce policy makers' tendency to continue down existing policy paths (especially unhelpful ones), a phenomenon known as "path dependence." We use…

In this paper, I ask: How can thinking with posthuman theories of affect in gender and education enable us to trouble current book banning efforts that work to reassert the gender order, namely by aligning heterosexuality with the notion of a 'core national culture'? And how do post[left right arrow]feminisms, as more-than-human political…

Primary Objective: This study examines student reaction to a unit of instruction teaching war through a more critical lens focusing on anti-war movements and how student sense of civic agency was impacted. Research Design: A design study that centered student voice on activism and experiences of a unit of instruction of the USA at war. Design…

The study conducted a 10-year (2011-2021) content analysis of K-12 Black student mental health literature. The analysis aimed to review school counseling literature concerning mental health support for Black youth. Findings revealed that the majority of the qualifying studies had Black students as the sample focus, and most frequently examined…

"Always a Lesson: Teacher Essentials for Classroom and Career Success" is the book that can turn every good teacher into a great teacher. The art and science of teaching can be difficult to navigate. There are moving pieces that change how teachers should approach instruction, like unique student needs year after year, curriculum…

Workplace bullying within K-12 education settings has become an increasingly recognized concern, with potentially profound implications for educators' well-being. This quantitative research study aims to explore the phenomenon of workplace bullying among teachers and administrators in K-12 educational institutions. Findings from this study will…

While restorative practices (RP) is hailed as one of the oldest criminal justice models in the world, the official advent of RP in education did not occur until the 1990s. Mirroring the reemergence of RP into legal systems, educators began experimenting with the application of RP in the educational setting. Today, restorative work in schools has…

New teachers enter the classroom with high hopes and expectations, only to feel defeated by the end of their first few years of teaching. There can be many variables that affect a teacher's self-efficacy. This study aimed to determine if the teachers' self-efficacy correlates with new teachers' emotional competency. This quantitative study…

Systemic equity challenges in K-12 STEM education place students from minoritized groups on an uneven footing, restricting access and opportunity for the diverse students who make up the majority population in US public schools. Teachers play a key role in advocating for equity and justice in STEM education. In positioning themselves as agents of…

School counselors often experience burnout in their multifaceted roles. Extant literature has identified the relationship between school counselors' self-efficacy and burnout, but there is a paucity of literature regarding the relevance of mindfulness to school counselors' occupational self-efficacy and burnout. Through multiple regression, we…

A school's schedule can be as important to education outcomes as its budget or strategic plan. The secret to making the schedule a tool for school improvement is to approach schedule design not as a technical task, centered on making everything fit like Tetris blocks, but as a strategic one. In this book, informed by research and their work with…

Equity initiatives and critical race theory (CRT) have recently emerged as an urgent agenda for K-12 schools. Jung-ah Choi argues that CRT is a useful framework but that teaching CRT principles to young children may have deleterious effects. In particular, it could undermine two bedrock notions: educational equality and meritocracy. It is not…

Book banning and censorship is appearing again in states and school districts. The history of book banning goes back as far as recorded time. Columnist Jonathan E. Collins discusses the U.S. court system's history support of the First Amendment and against censorship. He outlines the implications of the most recent book banning incidents and the…