Despite existing research in popular music education, a gap exists in the literature concerning popular music education for rural East Tennessee high school band programs. The purpose of this qualitative research was to address the history of societal acceptance of popular music styles as well as changes within the field of music education…

The intention of this dissertation in practice is to provide structure to a peer-to-peer mentoring program to improve the academic success of students, while building students' engagement and social emotional skills through connections and relationships within the school district. This study is situated in a rural school community with an…

This research examined school personnel's strategies and practices responsible for increasing student science proficiency at a certified rural high school STEM program. In the United States, difficulties have developed in adequately preparing students for careers in STEM sectors, especially in secondary education. This trend has led to increased…

Special education administrators wear many hats as they traverse through a myriad of responsibilities and challenges that they face in their current positions. Increased accountability coupled with rapidly changing legislation adds to the complexity of their job duties. This study examined whether differences existed in special education…

The current state of U.S. sexual consent education among adolescents is inadequate. Despite known benefits of receiving accurate, comprehensive information and skills regarding effective consent communication during one's teenage years, adolescents are not receiving this education from their main sources of sexual information. Thus, scholars have…

This Executive Position Paper is a one-to-one laptop implementation plan for Pittsgrove Township Schools that can be used as a template for other districts with similar interests. Each of the three chapters fulfills a major purpose. In Chapter One the paper is designed to substantiate the need for the Pittsgrove Township School District to…

A substantial number of research studies indicate that the community colleges will continue to experience shortages of leadership talent due to excessive retirements and a lack of prepared incumbents. Without appropriate leadership talent, the ability of community colleges to fulfill the ever-increasing demands of their mission and constituents…

A critical psychology perspective (Prilleltensky and Nelson, 2002) advocates for research that focuses on social change, the mutual participation of community stakeholders, and the empowerment of those served. The current study applies this critical psychology perspective to career education programming in a multiculturally diverse rural high…

The concepts of professional learning communities and organizational disciplines support staff development and leadership that lead to sustainable systems. Little research has examined the ability of rural schools to achieve sustainable systems. This quantitative design study considered the relationships between predictor variables of…

In many rural school districts in a midwestern U.S. state, special education service implementation conflicts with initiatives to improve and maintain an effective school-wide educational environment. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to investigate how differences in levels of teacher training in special education affected the…

The decisions rural elementary school principals make related to special education programming at their building sites are influenced by a variety of factors. This study employed a qualitative research methodology to investigate the perspectives of four rural elementary school principals concerning the decision-making processes they use as they…