Missouri Schoolwide Positive Behavior Support (MO SW-PBS), with support from the Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS), has provided training and support to build local capacity and positively impact student outcomes. Numerous years of descriptive data and a recent peer-reviewed research article both show the effects of…

Project Lead the Way (PLTW) is an applied STEM program first introduced nearly three decades ago to enhance the STEM content of Career Technical Education (CTE). Currently, more than 12,000 US high schools offer the program. Using data from three cohorts of public high school freshmen in Missouri, we investigate the impact of PLTW program offer…

The negative outcomes of exclusionary discipline practices on children and youth are well established. Fortunately, for the past two decades, research has demonstrated that pro-active instructional approaches and building supportive class and school environments can effectively promote student social, emotional, and behavioral well-being,…

This case study explores professional academic advisors' perceived usefulness of a fully implemented academic early alert technology at a four-year, public, flagship university in the Midwest. Academic early alert technology has increasingly become more common at colleges and universities during the past two decades, followed by an increasing…

Previously there was limited information comparing urban and rural and elementary and secondary public schools' implementation of the PBIS program. This study sought to fill a gap in the research as to if there is a statistical difference not addressed previously in the peer-reviewed literature. This study offers insight and data to school leaders…

Human anatomy and physiology are challenging courses for many undergraduate students often leading to low rates of academic success and persistence. Implementation of growth mindset strategies has shown promise in improving academic success in challenging courses; however, few studies have focused specifically on anatomy and physiology courses. To…

Prosocial and Active Learning (PAL) Classrooms is a year-long teacher professional development program designed to increase students' prosocial behavior and engagement in 5th grade mathematics and science classrooms that use active, team-based lessons by altering the way that teachers interact with students using research-based strategies. The…

Considered one of the nation's most comprehensive statewide principal development initiatives, the primary purpose of the Missouri Leadership Development System (MLDS) is to develop and support effective school leaders. R12CC employed a mixed-methods design for this evaluation by collecting both quantitative and qualitative data to address…

Background/Context: The U.S has experienced years of lost progress in math because of the COVID-19 pandemic (NAEP, n.d.a). Fraction understanding is widely characterized as the gatekeeper to algebra (Booth et al., 2012; National Mathematics Advisory Panel, 2008) and can support success in middle and high school math (Bailey et al., 2012; Booth et…

In March 2020, emergency school closings as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic initiated a sudden widespread use of virtual learning and brought new challenges that affected teaching and learning across multiple contexts. The complex change caused school district leaders to make plans to reinvent and reimagine schools and created a need for teacher…

Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) offer parents a publicly funded, government-authorized savings account they can draw on for certain K-12 educational expenses. As these programs have expanded in recent years, they have become a flashpoint in education policy debates. For some, ESAs are an extension of existing private school choice programs'…

In the United States, people often feel like they need to choose between pursuing a conventional four-year college degree or working, leaving millions of people with no opportunity to achieve the professional and economic advancement that comes with a bachelor's degree. What if this is a false choice? Apprenticeship Degrees offer a hybrid option…

The Leader in Me is a school transformation process that focuses on teaching and embedding Stephen Covey's (2004) seven habits into the school day. The seven habits are a framework and process for transforming school culture but are not taught as a scripted curriculum (Covey et al., 2014). This mixed-methods study was designed to analyze the…

The Charter Schools Program (CSP) is the nation's only source of dedicated federal funding to support the creation, expansion, and replication of public charter schools. Since FY2019, the CSP has been flat funded at $440 million. The CSP amounts to less than 1% of federal spending on K-12 education, however, it has a substantial impact on the…

School districts across the United States are increasingly adopting the four-day school week, often in the hope of addressing teacher staffing challenges. We examine the effects of the four-day week on teacher recruitment and retention in Missouri, where three in ten districts currently use it. After presenting qualitative data showing that school…