The Private School Universe Survey (PSS) is conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education to collect basic information on American private elementary and secondary schools. PSS is currently designed to generate biennial data on the total number of private schools, teachers, and…

Professional development is a main strategy that schools use to change educator practice (Darling-Hammond et al., 2017; Desimone, 2009), which has increasingly become a focus because of community pressure to ensure educational equity (Ahebee, 2020; Graves, 2020; Miller, 2022; Vegas & Winthrop, 2020). Yet there is little consensus about how to…

The purpose of this non-experimental study was to examine doctoral graduates' satisfaction with the mentoring provided by their dissertation chairs. The relationships between doctoral students and their dissertation chairs can positively or negatively influence a doctoral student's dissertation journey. The researcher developed and validated a…

The problem in this study was students failing to meet state-mandated mathematics proficiency. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to examine teachers' experiences using formative assessment practices (FAP) in teaching mathematics in Grades 6 through 8. A gap in the literature related to teachers' use of FAP to increase mathematics…

This study explored the Professional Quality of Life in behavioral intervention team members at community colleges through the subcategories of compassion satisfaction and compassion fatigue. Although major tragedies are rare at colleges and universities, the emotional toll that behavioral intervention team members experience through listening to…

Novice teachers face various challenges in their profession. As a result, 18% leave the profession due to challenges such as inadequate support and intolerable expectations from the school administration. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore how novice teachers perceive school principals' and school leaders'…

This essay explores the broader implications for education of the COVID-19 pandemic. It asks: What can COVID teach us? The case is made that COVID is inviting us to consider a relational universe, and what a pedagogy of presence would look like. It takes a futures perspective and is therefore, unabashedly speculative. It draws on the author's many…

Differential item functioning (DIF) analysis refers to procedures that evaluate whether an item's characteristic differs for different groups of persons after controlling for overall differences in performance. DIF is routinely evaluated as a screening step to ensure items behavior the same across groups. Currently, the majority DIF studies focus…

Objective: Self-care behaviors aimed at maintaining physical and mental health are often recommended during stressful contexts. We tested emotional predictors of self-care behaviors (healthy eating, exercise, engaging in a hobby, relaxation/meditation, time spent with a supportive person, talking online with friends/family) during the COVID-19…

Twice-exceptional students are dually identified as academically gifted and talented and learning or medically disabled. These students face greater challenges to success in school and often have social and emotional issues that require accommodations and supports beyond those available in the general classroom. These students may not be receiving…

In recent years, the number of English learners (ELs) in U.S. public schools has rapidly grown, with Hispanic children accounting for more than half of Texas public school students, including pre-kindergarten and early childhood education. ELs continue to demonstrate lower reading achievement in comparison to their native English-speaking peers.…

Critics of the neoliberal university argue that grading undermines student learning. In this article, I survey the literature in order to ascertain whether such critiques are supported by pedagogical research. Investigating the relationship between grading and motivation, feedback, and autonomy, respectively, I conclude that grades most often do…

This dissertation aimed to advance the field of biology education in several ways. First, we aimed to demonstrate if, and to what extent, student-generated conceptual models can be used on summative assessments to accurately assess student understanding of gene expression. Next, we described patterns of changes students make to conceptual models…

Coaching between educators is one of the best ways to improve outcomes for all learners--but coaches rarely get formal preparation for mastering this important role. Give coaches the expert support they need with this essential new resource, a comprehensive guide to "what effective coaching looks like across the PreK-12 grade span and how to…

There is immense pressure on school leaders as they grapple with their responsibilities to show constant evidence of school improvement. School improvement describes a process that identifies school changes needed to improve student outcomes and shows how and when the level of student outcomes will be made. There are essential considerations when…