The purpose of this quantitative comparative quasi-experimental study was to compare the perceptions of work-life balance and turnover intentions of four-day and five-day rural Oklahoma classroom teachers. Four-day school districts have become increasingly popular across the United States as a way to reduce operational expenses, with 92 four-day…

Mental illness is an epidemic sweeping the nation and, more specifically, the world of education (Salerno, 2016). According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] (2020b), approximately 4.4 million children 3-17 years old in the United States have been diagnosed with anxiety, and approximately 1.9 million diagnosed with depression.…

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to examine at-risk students in a small rural high school and school district, and the implementation of a response to intervention program at the high school called CAT Time. CAT Time is approximately 40 mins long and occurs four times per week. Teachers can request a student participate in the CAT Time…

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many schools had to make the difficult shift from face-to-face instruction to distance learning, which was especially difficult for schools in rural areas with limited resources and services. The purpose of the exploratory case study was to investigate the perceptions and experiences of general and special educators…

The scarcity of teachers worldwide has led to educators teaching multiple subjects outside their area of expertise. This challenge of teaching out-of-field or multi-subject instruction raises the need for (re)constructing the identity of multi-subject generalist teachers (M-SGTs). However, the matter has received little attention in current…

This interpretive phenomenological study explored the lived experience of rural high school principals in New York State and developed an understanding of why they choose to remain in their role as school leaders. The study answered two research questions: "What role, if any, does self-efficacy play in the sustainability of rural high school…

Nearly 1 in 5 U.S. students attend rural schools. Researchers report that at least half of public schools are rural in 12 states (i.e., Montana, South Dakota, Vermont, North Dakota, Maine, Alaska, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Wyoming, New Hampshire, Iowa, and Mississippi) (Showalter et al., 2019). Providing quality education to all rural students is a…

Mississippi has made significant gains in education over the past ten years. Yet, teacher attrition rates are still low impacting student achievement. This study was conducted to investigate if there is a significant difference in the sense of self-efficacy for teachers from suburban and rural, elementary and middle schools of Mississippi. Teacher…

The federal government has made increasing post-secondary attainment a priority, and though much research has been done on the topic, many of these studies have focused on urban schools and students. This qualitative case study, utilizing social capital and organizational brokerage frameworks, will explore how one rural school district in…

This mixed methods study sought to identify the incorporation of support for implementing evidence-based instructional practices within an MTSS framework among teachers and the impact on student growth outcomes in three K-2 schools. The study also determined teacher perceptions regarding how support in adult behavior change, which is the…

The objective of this project was to learn what elements of a systemic-focused implementation guide are key to facilitating the involvement of families and faculty in rural southeastern North Carolina elementary schools as an intervention to reduce the use of exclusionary discipline for children's externalized behavior in school. Guided by the…

For more than three decades, educational professionals and researchers have warned about the impending teacher shortage in America's public school system. As we are currently in the midst of the shortage, school districts are facing the reality of fewer qualified teachers and filling the teaching gaps. This is especially evident in high-poverty…

Classroom dynamics including interactions among peers and with teachers is a key component of students' STEM experiences, strongly influencing students' motivation to engage in the learning activities. Classroom dynamics and dialogue have been predominantly studied through longitudinal ethnographic observations of the classroom while the…

This research highlights the experiences of one rural educator in a Midwestern elementary school. Initially grounded in Swanson's middle range theory of caring (1991, 1993), the author sought to make meaning of how the participant worked with immigrant students, specifically undocumented Latinx students, through an ethic of care. As tensions…

This article examines the link between secondary school context and both college completion and timely college completion. A quantitative methodology is applied to study the cohort of Chilean students who began postsecondary studies in 2008. Specifically, multilevel logistic regression models were considered. The results show that students who…