In this three-article dissertation, I explore three aspects of the Next Education Workforce initiative (NEW), an education reform effort hailing from Arizona State University's Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College. Through the initiative, NEW seeks to change schools and schooling, breaking down the physical and metaphorical walls of the predominant…

In this paper we put forth a model for physics course reform that uniquely uses proven, research-based active-learning strategies to help students improve their physics knowledge and problem-solving skills. In this study, we compared the exam performance of students in two sections of the same introductory physics course. One section (the…

Teacher occupational burnout has been a long-standing problem for K-12 educators. COVID-19 further exacerbated this dilemma as school districts nationwide tried to solve the crisis and provide quality education to students nationally. The international health scare created an atmosphere of stress, confusion, and emotional and physical trauma…

The purpose of the qualitative narrative inquiry was to re-story the lived experiences of emergency preparedness of public elementary schoolteachers during the COVID-19 pandemic to drive change within the field of education to increase elementary schoolteachers' preparedness for implementing emergency plans. The problem is the unexpected and…

Researchers seek to measure the extent to which faculty increased their student-centered practices in response to COVID-19 by analyzing course syllabi across three semesters. Faculty were randomly selected from two campuses of a STEM-focused institution (n = 110), each of whom had taught the same course during Fall 2019, Fall 2020, and Fall 2022.…

The move to online instruction and service delivery has created both a critical need and a unique opportunity to investigate the innovative uses of technologies and practices. In the fall of 2020, NASPA launched the Virtual Innovation Awards: Excellence in Delivering Virtual Student Services. Over 100 submissions were vetted by an advising…

Most colleges of education employ a standalone technology integration course as a part of their teacher preparation programs. But in a 2016 higher education brief associated with the National Educational Technology Plan, the U.S. Department of Education suggested this approach is limiting for teacher candidates and charged teacher educators to…

Educators, researchers, and policy makers concerned about college under-enrollment among underserved groups of students have traditionally focused reform efforts at the high school level. Over the last several decades, however, there has been a growing interest in improving college readiness beginning at the elementary level. Recently, the…

During the spring of 2020, school districts across the United States were required to shift to distance learning modalities due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic forced schools to close their doors to face-to-face instruction and quickly shift to an online format. While online education is prevalent in the United States, it only serves about…

In 2011, the Association of American Universities (AAU) embarked on an ambitious effort to improve the instructional quality and effectiveness of undergraduate introductory Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) courses. The primary focus was on sustainable implementation of evidence-based methods of instruction in courses that…

In 2006, Arizona ELL Task Force implemented Structured English Immersion (SEI) within its public schools to educate emergent bilingual (EB) students. Although prior research has demonstrated limitations of SEI, we investigate whether institutionalization has improved its implementation and outcomes using coordinators' and teachers' responses from…

Research has shown principal support to be a critical variable for implementing and sustaining evidence-based practices. However, there remains little understanding of the factors that may influence a principal's personal decision to support a practice. The purpose of the current study was to examine events that influenced principals' support for…

Research has shown principal support to be a critical variable for implementing and sustaining evidence-based practices. However, there remains little understanding of the factors that may influence a principal's personal decision to support a practice. The purpose of the current study was to examine events that influenced principals' support for…

Teachers need to be able to design and implement problem-based learning (PBL) experiences to help students master the content and the processes in new mathematics and science education standards. Due to the changed population of learners within schools, it is also critically important that teachers in the elementary grades have the abilities to…

The United States is in an era of high-stakes evaluation of educators (i.e., teachers and principals), the results of which are used to inform human capital decision making (i.e., recruitment, hiring, retention, and dismissal), which in turn impacts school capacity and student learning. The present article describes the School System Improvement…