Curriculum adoption and implementation is not a onetime event for districts and schools. It is a multi-year process involving district leadership in multiple units (e.g., curriculum office, finance office, superintendent office, student services), school leadership, instructional staff, students and their caregivers, and other relevant community…

This study seeks to share teachers' and principals' voices from middle schools in the Southeastern United States who are attempting to help their students achieve academic success. Obtaining a snapshot of middle schools in the Southeastern United States provides opportunities to recognize trends and identify challenges about the current…

This grounded theory study seeks to 1) understand what barriers North Carolina kindergarten teachers experience as they implement a new authentic formative assessment, the North Carolina Early Learning Inventory (NC ELI), and 2) identify factors that increase implementation fidelity with the new measure. Data were collected from 10 teachers, from…

Developmental education field has been going through numerous transformations with the main focus being on an overall student success rate and transfer. The latest legislative decisions resulted in a few new approaches to developmental education being introduced to the teaching faculty in the state of North Carolina (NC), as well as around the…

For decades, education policy has prioritized the need to improve reading and math achievement while science teaching and learning have received far less emphasis. In 2013, schools across the United States began implementing Next Generation Science Standards (or similarly structured, state-adopted science standards). These new science standards…

Creating opportunities for social justice and diversity discourse within the classroom is increasingly becoming a priority for universities, and especially within the business school. While a designated course requirement may be a useful way to introduce students to social justice and diversity in an in-depth manner, cognitive learning theory…

This article describes the Faculty Cooperative Curricular Activities (FCCA) model developed and implemented in the Recreation Management program at Appalachian State University. FCCA's are experiential learning activities or assignments in two or more separate courses where the assignment is shared to build upon a common construct/concept. These…

This study investigated the influence of Engineering Is Elementary (EiE) professional development on teachers' self-efficacy of integrating engineering into the K-5 curriculum in a rural school district in southeastern North Carolina. In fall 2016, the researchers conducted an embedded mixed-method study. The focus of this paper is the…

In 2016, the Wake County Public School System in North Carolina, the nation's 15th-largest school district, confronted two dilemmas common in U.S. education. First, a quality review had revealed weaknesses in its literacy curriculum. Although curriculum can have profound effects on student learning, not all curricula are rigorous and engaging…

The purpose of this study was to investigate how STEM-focused professional development training influence early childhood teachers' knowledge, beliefs, and pedagogies. Four pre-K teachers participated in this study. The data collected was qualitative in nature. Interview data were transcribed, coded and emerging themes were identified. The…

In 2016, Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) senior leadership determined that students were not consistently engaged with content, instruction, or tasks that support the specific instructional shifts in the North Carolina State Standards and 4Cs (communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity). After an internal review…

With the increase in English medium instruction (EMI) in non-Englishspeaking countries, the role of EAP in preparing learners for the academic tasks that they will face is enhanced. Joint-venture universities (JVUs), institutions formed in collaboration between foreign universities and universities in the host country, pose even greater challenges…

In 2009, the North Carolina Community College System (NCCCS) began the process of redesigning developmental mathematics (DMA) courses. The first classes were offered in 2012 with final state implementation in fall 2013. The purpose of this study was to examine the subsequent gateway course success rates achieved by former DMA students in relation…

This study examines teacher response to year one implementation of the A+ Schools Program arts integration model. Twenty-two randomly selected teachers from three school sites were observed over a 12-month period to gather baseline and year one data. Performance results indicated no significant changes in teacher behaviors based on Friedman's test…

This study used structured online interviews with teachers to examine the impact that inquiry-based teaching methods had on their students. The research question was the following: What are the effects on student learning and motivation as a result of teachers using problem-based and project-based learning? Interviews were conducted with 36…