This quantitative study aimed to determine the growth of students who did and did not attend a state-funded pre-kindergarten program based on Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) reading achievement. The study occurred in a rural school district in the southeastern United States. The sample population consisted of one treatment group (n = 97) and…

The availability of early childhood education to students in poverty continues to grow across the United States. Pre-kindergarten programs provide intervention for four-year-old students to close early learning gaps and prepare students for kindergarten. Little research exists to show if pre-kindergarten programs in Texas achieve this goal. This…

For many years schools located within concentrated areas of poverty in an urban school county in south Florida have experienced alarmingly high teacher turnover rates and alarmingly low academic performance scores. In 2015, in a lauded expose printed by the "Tampa Bay Times," five schools, all of which would go on to become part of the…

The goal of this quantitative study is to determine if there is a significant difference in the reading proficiency rates for students with disabilities in districts utilizing the State Systemic Improvement Plan (SSIP) as evident by the scores from the English Language Arts portion of the Mississippi Academic Assessment Program (MAAP). This study…

This mixed methods study of explanatory sequential design researching two elementary and two middle school campuses will present information on the amount of instructional time allotted to social studies in Texas schools and whether integrating social studies instruction with another subject, is feasible and produces positive assessment results.…

The number of children attending state-funded early childhood education (ECE) programs, centers, or school-based preschool programs has increased over the last two decades and continues to rise steadily. These ECE programs use play as the main learning tool for their young students. Research illustrates the many benefits of using play as a…

For the past decade, the number of homeless youth in the United States has drastically increased, with public schools now consistently serving over one million homeless students each year. Research spanning three decades has linked youth homelessness and poorer academic achievement. In addition to decreased academic achievement, homeless and…

Many individuals have attempted to ascertain the potential benefits of early childhood education. A majority of the educational research points to the fact that children who attend early childhood programs not only perform better in school but also have a more productive adult life. This study was designed to provide clarity on the potential…

Despite growing up in a world that is permeated by mathematics, students graduating from US schools are woefully unprepared for the mathematical challenges that await them in the workplace or in higher educational pursuits. Mathematical competencies underpin not only success in college but also increase job opportunities for students after…

Automated writing evaluation (AWE) is a cutting-edge technology-based intervention designed to help teachers meet their challenges in writing classrooms and improve students' writing proficiency. The fast development of AWE systems, along with the encouragement of technology use in the U.S. K-12 education system by the Common Core State Standards…

The effectiveness of the Instructional Partnership Network (IPN), a collaborative initiative that provides professional development to school principals, has not been previously measured. An investigation of the impact of this state initiative on teacher efficacy, teacher trust in colleagues and teacher trust in the principal was conducted. The…

In this dissertation, I examine how two major social programs in Kentucky--state-funded preK and Family Resource and Youth Service Centers--impact children's outcomes across the state, including racial, ethnic, and economic equity through elementary school. In each chapter, I will analyze how early childhood opportunities relate to outcomes…

This dissertation explored the roles schools can play in the successful outcomes of large carnivore or keystone reintroduction projects. Schools are more than centers for knowledge acquisition--they connect their community and disseminate information quickly to a wide audience. This study took place in California's Eastern Sierra Nevada, a…

This study investigated how students in two states, one with and one without a state-wide one-to-one laptop program, performed on measures of online research and learning in science. The study replicated and extended the findings of a recent study using more current and more extensive data. In general, this study adds to the body of research…

Accountability standards challenge schools to provide quality education for all students and to ensure that all students are on grade level by the end of the school year. If schools fall short of this challenge failing to make at least one year of progress, schools are at risk of being identified as low performing. In this age of accountability,…