Business analytics has become a critical tool in today's data-driven world, enabling organizations to extract insights, optimize decisions, and gain competitive advantages. As the demand for skilled professionals in business analytics grows, higher education institutions are increasingly focused on equipping students with the necessary knowledge…

Vertical scales are frequently developed using common item nonequivalent group linking. In this design, one can use upper-grade, lower-grade, or mixed-grade common items to estimate the linking constants that underlie the absolute measurement of growth. Using the Rasch model and a dataset from Curriculum Associates' i-Ready Diagnostic in math in…

This dissertation explores the relationship between teacher experience, defined by years of service and grade span, and trust levels in educational leadership and among stakeholders within the school community. Trust is critical in fostering positive educational environments, enhancing collaboration, and ensuring the successful implementation of…

Purpose: Graphotactic regularities are statistical regularities governing orthographic systems that children are sensitive to from the start of their literacy learning. The current study observed changes in children's sensitivity to a set of graphotactic patterns across different grades in elementary school and measured the contribution of skills…

Motivation plays a crucial role in mathematical competence, with motivated students tending to perform better than those who lack motivation. Given that teachers can play a significant role in fostering student motivation, the aim of this study was to investigate teachers' influence on students' motivation to learn mathematics. Alongside the…

We examined how often teachers' targeted interventions fail in stopping bullying and to what extent this varies between schools vs. between students involved. In addition, we investigated which student-level factors were associated with intervention failure. Data were collected annually in 2011-2016 via online questionnaires and included responses…

Although behavioral threat assessment and management (often shortened to "threat assessment") has become widely used in US schools, no studies have systematically examined how frequently schools conduct threat assessments and how threat assessment rates vary as a function of student and school demographics. Of particular concern is that…

This study explored private school principals' career outlooks because of their critical role in shaping academic environments essential for student success. Principals face multiple challenges that can affect career decisions. Employing an electronic survey, this quantitative study included 65 current private school principals, collecting data…

In education, assessment helps shape teaching practices and student outcomes, as it influences how teachers perceive their roles, approach instruction, and engage with students. This study investigated 3rd-8th grade English Language Arts and mathematics teachers' conceptions of the NWEA MAP Growth assessment, focusing on four key factors: (1)…

Educators must balance the needs of students who start the school year behind grade level with their obligation to teach grade-appropriate content to all students. Educational software could help educators strike this balance by targeting content to students' differing levels of mastery. Using a regression discontinuity design and detailed…

Student absenteeism, which skyrocketed during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, has negative consequences for student engagement and achievement. This study examines the impact of the High-Impact Tutoring (HIT) Initiative, implemented by the Office of the State Superintendent of Education in Washington DC, on reducing absenteeism. The HIT…

The COVID-19 pandemic and related school closures led to unprecedented academic setbacks for all American students. In this third State of the American Student report, attention is turned to how the pandemic impacted--and continues to impact--special or unique populations of students, such as those with learning differences, English language…

Educators continue to examine how to increase Black student representation in STEM fields in higher education and there are increased calls to implement collaborative learning in STEM classrooms. However, current implementations do not discuss how collaborative learning can be culturally relevant for Black STEM students, and STEM environments have…

The purpose of this study was to investigate if differences in perceived professional self-efficacy were due to various demographic characteristics for educators in a rural East Texas school district. Participants in this study were full-time teachers within the school district. The district consists of 2 elementary schools, 1 middle school, and 1…

This dissertation explored the unique experiences of general education teachers teaching in an inclusive classroom (which will also be referred to as a "mainstream classroom") with a combination of students with and without autism (which will also be referred to as "autism spectrum disorder" and "ASD"). This was a…