Low graduation rates in many Tennessee high schools present a significant problem. Many students are not prepared to graduate. Parent involvement advocates contend that the more involved parents are in their children's education, from preschool through the secondary schooling levels, the better the probability their children will graduate from…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the experiences of teachers relative to: (a) the processes and strategies used to implement the various components of a teacher effectiveness model used by teachers participating in four focus group sessions. The research explored the teachers' experiences with which components were most and…

As a mandate of No Child Left Behind, school administrators are responsible for increasing student academics and state assessment scores. Therefore, administrators must identify problematic areas within the school and creatively implement a resolution plan. Statistics from the Tennessee Department of Education's (TDOE) District Report Card show…

The purpose of this study was to understand how resources in the community impact rural single mothers' access, participation, and success in higher education. In particular, this study focused on how rural single mothers' community ties impact their social capital resources and perception of agency and achievement in pursuing higher education.…

The researchers conducted a qualitative study involving two rural public school districts in Tennessee. The purpose of this study was to discover classroom strategies and behaviors that enable regular classroom teachers to facilitate continued scholastic growth of fourth and fifth grade students who had experienced notable academic gains in their…

If schools are to succeed, children must be provided with more support than a school can accomplish alone (Barbour et al., 2001). The need to involve community in the educational process to offer services that make students successful and to have these services within the school building are all critical aspects of the community school model…

The purpose of this qualitative collective case study was to understand how first-career skills were utilized by highly effective second-career elementary school teachers in northeast Tennessee. The guiding research question for the study was: How do the skills acquired in a first career affect second-career elementary school teachers? The…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the instructional practices implemented by Tennessee elementary teachers in response to Common Core Standardized Testing. This research study utilized a basic qualitative method that included a purposive and convenient sampling. This qualitative study focused on face-to-face interviews, phone…

This qualitative study uses Latino Critical Race Theory (LatCrit) to explore factors that influence Latinos in public higher education in the state of Tennessee. The themes that emerged from this study included participant sentiments of connection, disconnection, identity, and opportunities. The participants in this study revealed various levels…

The Complete College Tennessee Act of 2010 (CCTA) changed the funding formula from enrollment-based to outcomes-based in order to increase the number of college graduates in Tennessee and as a result altered the landscape of public higher education in the state. The purpose of this qualitative study was to ascertain the impact of the CCTA on…

In 2013, the Tennessee Board of Education adopted Response to Intervention and mandated that districts begin implementing the framework by the summer of 2014. With only a year to begin the model, no state funds to help with implementation, and limited research on implementing school-wide Response to Intervention in poor rural districts and…

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine perceptions of East Tennessee State University (ETSU) cohort members on the experience of redesigning the leadership preparation program requirements. Particularly, cohort participants in the "Greene-King" cohort were chosen by an admission process to participate in a grant…

The purpose of the study was to determine if the eight steps of the Continuous Improvement Model (CIM) provided a framework to raise achievement and to focus educators in identifying high-yield literacy strategies. This study sought to determine if an examination of the assessment data in reading revealed differences among schools that fully,…

The purpose of the study was to determine if the eight steps of the Continuous Improvement Model (CIM) provided a framework to raise achievement and to focus educators in identifying high-yield literacy strategies. This study sought to determine if an examination of the assessment data in reading revealed differences among schools that fully,…

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the motives, practices, attitudes, and barriers of parental involvement as recognized by administrators and teachers in southwest Tennessee in order to improve the school-home and community relationship in southwest Tennessee. This study investigated the benefits of parental involvement and…