A-F school letter grade systems, currently used in 13 states across the United States (U.S.), are one popular version of the systems required by federal policy to help states define, rate, and label school quality every year. In this study, we explored the extent to which such grades assigned to schools, as based on objective measures including…

The Accountability Plan is an annual report that is closely aligned with the Board of Governors' 2025 System Strategic Plan. This report enhances the System's commitment to accountability and strategic planning by fostering greater coordination between institutional administrators, University Boards of Trustees and the Board of Governors regarding…

Postsecondary education in the US--all formal learning experiences beyond high school, including two- and four-year degree programs and occupational and credential programs--is experiencing a momentous transformation in response to changing conditions and the demands of students, employers, and the economy. Yet public trust in higher education has…

The literature review reveals a gap in secondary English Language Arts (ELA) teachers' perception of students' moral intelligence (MI). While many character education studies examine the student perspective, this study contributes to the limited research on secondary ELA teachers' perceptions of students' moral intelligence and how it can be…

The Prevention and Intervention Programs for Children and Youth Who Are Neglected, Delinquent, or At-Risk, is authorized by Title I, Part D of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) and was most recently amended in 2015 by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). This guidance is intended to be used in conjunction with the…

Quality education is of major public and private interest and, understandably, considerable effort is paid to the quality of schools and improvement of the level of education in society. Many governments recognize the limitations of centralized policy in motivating school improvement and turn to 'network governance' to coordinate school systems.…

Creating a "classroom contract" is an activity for teachers to increase learner engagement and students' accountability for their own learning from the very first class. The contract is a set of rules and expected behavior, negotiated by the teacher and the students. Student engagement can be an issue in many classrooms, and any practice…

Broadly, this dissertation is an investigation of writing center reporting practices. Using Rhetorical Genres Studies, I surveyed writing center administrators and examined twelve writing center reports to understand the reports' social action, or what reports accomplished for their users and audiences. My findings showed that reports primarily…

The field of special education is recognized for conducting research designed to improve the quality of life for the children and families we serve. However, our field has been criticized for empirical approaches that are inconsistent with the values and beliefs we articulate as central to our scientific practice. As such, a shift in our research…

We conducted an inductive analysis of 166 interviews from a longitudinal study of 26 Chicago Public School principals. Test-based accountability pressures played a visible role in principals' views of and relations with parents. Some principals reported banning parents from classrooms based on the need to protect instructional time to raise test…

Community engagement in higher education has been promoted as critical to fulfilling higher education's responsibility to the public good through teaching, learning, and knowledge generation. Reciprocity and mutual benefit are key principles of community engagement that connote a two-way exchange of knowledge and outcomes. However, it is not clear…

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) reverses a trend toward centralization of education policy and instead provides greater authority to the states. This study explores states' interpretation and early implementation of ESSA's equity-related provisions. Using a qualitative case study approach, we find wide variation in the design and…

It is clear that young people bore the brunt of the pandemic's impact. Disrupted learning, sometimes stretching for two years, forced many students off track and behind academically. Leaders are now faced an unprecedented need to make smart investments with federal relief funds in efforts that accelerate student learning. District leaders should…

Even though K-12 educators must assess student learning and adjust instruction based on learning data, many teachers lack confidence in their ability to assess. Because low confidence levels may be due to inadequate teacher preparation, this study invokes the pivotal SoTL project, Transparency in Learning and Teaching (TILT), as it examines TILT's…

Trusting and supportive relationships with school counsellors can help first-generation college students access college despite barriers. In this narrative inquiry, 11 first-generation college students in the United States shared stories of their positive relationships with their former high school counsellors. After an iterative and…