The problem that prompted this qualitative case study was a continuous below proficiency level performance of the kindergarten through second-grade students in a U.S. Southern state in reading, despite response to intervention (RTI) being implemented since 2011. The purpose of the study was to explore K-2 teachers' perceptions regarding the…

International organizations operating in China face difficult cultural, political, and regulatory issues that challenge their ability to operate successfully in the region. However, leaders who employ effective emotional labor strategies have been found to be more effective at building confident, optimistic, and resilient teams equipped to…

This Educational Leadership Portfolio (ELP) focuses on identifying, implementing, and collecting data on the structures of a new residency program at the University of Delaware. This portfolio is unique because I did not make improvements to a program that was already in place. Rather, this ELP documents some of the work I participated in which…

We propose a framework designed to guide the development of automated writing practice and formative evaluation and feedback for young children (K-5 th grade) -- the early Automated Writing Evaluation (early-AWE) Framework. e-AWE is grounded on the fundamental assumption that e-AWE is needed for young developing readers, but must incorporate…

Item factor analysis (IFA), also known as Multidimensional Item Response Theory (MIRT), is a general framework for specifying the functional relationship between a respondent's multiple latent traits and their response to assessment items. The key element in MIRT is the relationship between the items and the latent traits, so-called item factor…

The purpose of this exploratory study was to gain insight into the perceived importance of emotional awareness with pre-service teachers (PSTs) participating in a mixed reality simulator (MRS), as well as the impact of emotional awareness exercises in a MRS on adaptiveness in coping and empathy. Emotional awareness includes the cognitive skills of…

Tennessee educational leaders initially implemented Response to Instruction and Intervention for the same reason other states across the nation adopted the framework; to identify students with specific learning disability. In 2014, Tennessee restructured the Response to Instruction and Intervention model to move from the traditional three-tiered…

Student instructional assistants (IAs) are an integral part of most students' college experience in higher education. When properly trained, IAs can improve students' grades, engagement with course content, persistence, and retention. Recently, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the transition of nearly all instructional practices online. At the…

We propose a framework designed to guide the development of automated writing practice and formative evaluation and feedback for young children (K-5th grade) -- the early Automated Writing Evaluation (early-AWE) Framework. e-AWE is grounded on the fundamental assumption that e-AWE is needed for young developing readers, but must incorporate…

In educational tests, a group of questions related to a shared stimulus is called a testlet (e.g., a reading passage with multiple related questions). Use of testlets is very common in educational tests. Additionally, computerized adaptive testing (CAT) is a mode of testing where the test forms are created in real time tailoring to the test…

This quantitative study examined the impact of the use of Response to Intervention (RTI) on student performance at a small rural high school. The strength of RTI is the identification of student need and the weakness is the lack of consistent application of interventions. The problem this study addressed was low student performance as defined by…

This case study offers insight toward the impact of the general-dispositional, internal structures on a planned organizational change in the field of education. The process used and the findings of this may be applicable to a variety of fields. Stones' strong structuration (2005) served as the theoretical framework guiding this study, though…

The underperformance of gifted students is a concern facing all educators. Having students who do not work up to their potential, who make grades lower than test scores show they could, and who choose to focus on other interests instead of academics are issues that occur in many schools. This study sought to learn the perceptions of educational…

Background: Emotional intelligence and spiritual intelligence are accompaniment to each other for refining human life. Spiritual intelligence builds up moral value, spiritual values and a strong belief system whereas emotional intelligence helps to develop personal relationships with one's own self, social relationships with others and to manage…

This study examined whether engaging in physical exercise during a university class would have beneficial effect on students' learning motivation. One hundred and forty-nine participants took part in a psychology class over nine weeks (one lesson per week); for each lesson, participants engaged in a three-minute physical activity (low-intensity…