This descriptive correlational study examined the predictive relationships between ACT composite scores, high school GPA, ACT testing attempts, and gender with teacher candidate's overall performance on the edTPA and each of the three edTPA instructional tasks (Task 1, Task 2, and Task 3). The edTPA is a portfolio-based subject-specific teaching…

Improving the skill set of new teachers is a potentially important policy lever to increase student achievement. There are, however, doubts about the extent to which teacher education programs contribute to the development of teachers' skills. In this paper, we describe findings from an experiment designed to test whether one aspect of teacher…

Many states require prospective principals to pass a licensure exam to obtain an administrative license, but we know little about the potential effects of principal licensure exams on the pool of available principals or whether scores predict later job performance. We investigate the most commonly used exam, the School Leaders Licensure Assessment…

The primary aim of this study is to use the survey items from the TELL Tennessee Survey (2013) using the Competing Values Framework (CVF) to determine whether teachers' observations about a set of topically organized school climate dimensions and performance levels are associated with teacher satisfaction. Specifically, the study sets out to…

Numerous well-validated academic progress monitoring tools are used in schools, but there are fewer behavioral progress monitoring measures available. Some brief behavior rating scales have been shown to be effective in monitoring students' progress, but most focus only on students' social skills and do not address critical academic-related…

Numerous well validated academic progress monitoring tools are used in schools, but there are fewer behavioral progress monitoring measures available. Some brief behavior rating scales have been shown to be effective in monitoring students' progress, but most focus only on students' social skills and do not address critical academic-related…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between three predictor variables (Fall R-CBM, Winter R-CBM, and Spring R-CBM) and the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program third grade reading and language arts assessment. The population selected for this study included all third grade students from an East Tennessee school…

This article examines prevalence of non-medical use of prescription drugs (NMUPD) in a sample of elementary and high school students in an Appalachian Tennessee county. We found that lifetime prevalence of NMUPD (35%) was higher than prevalence of cigarette use (28%) and marijuana use (17%), but lower than lifetime prevalence of alcohol use (46%).…

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of the number of transitions by students from school to school on their mathematics achievement. Transition is defined as the number of times a student has changed schools from Kindergarten to the current school year. This study also looked at the relationship between the students' perceived…

Students in the United States change schools often, and frequent changes are associated with poor outcomes along numerous dimensions. These moves occur for many reasons, including both promotional transitions between educational levels and nonpromotional moves. Promotional student mobility is less likely than nonpromotional mobility to suffer from…

Using data from a survey of superintendents in four states, this study explored how contextual factors and the real and perceived stringency of accountability measures influence the attention superintendents pay to the different roles comprising their work. A major concern was the extent to which stringent accountability was associated with…

The relationships among scores on the National Teacher Examinations (NTE) and the Pre-Professional Skills Test (PPST) and scores achieved on objectively scored observation instruments were studied in 100 graduates of teacher preparation programs at Tennessee Technological University (Cookeville). Of these, 62 had completed the NTE and 27 had taken…