Makerspaces are fertile grounds for students to develop innovative products infused with STEAM principles and cross disciplinary content knowledge; build technological fluency; and support positive developmental growth. Yet, rarely do Makerspaces prioritize these outcomes. Rather, they tend to revolve around the creation of novel objects using…

Youth-led participatory action research (YPAR) has been documented to increase youth's social, emotional, and cognitive outcomes, foster critical thinking and academic success, and encourage civic participation. YPAR allows for young to develop their voices, direct their own learning and act as change agents as they take steps to influence their…

The grim actualities of modern societies have shifted the attention of human beings from civil wars and beggary to environmental issues such as pollution and climate change. The subtle shifts in environmental balance that are observable from global warming, water scarcity, and poor harvest resulting from erratic rainfall distributions across…

Teacher leaders represent change agents within a school and they have formal and informal roles to improve teaching and learning. This study focuses on one of the formal roles of teacher leadership which is instructional coaching. There is a thin body of research which focuses on instructional coaching; therefore, this study will contribute to an…

Practitioner knowledge, as the center for change in teacher education, is the heart of The Carnegie Project of the Educational Doctorate (CPED) program. Margaret Lata and Susan Wunder explain a key principal of CPED is to grow practitioners as change agents, through the development of a Problem of Practice. In their article, Investing in the…

This dissertation addresses the dynamic interaction between policies aimed at urban education reform and teachers' role in advancing policy objectives. It examines teacher agency in the context of proposed community and school change by focusing on teacher involvement with policy implementation. It investigates teacher views of their individual…

This study examined student, parent, and faculty perceptions of academic development needs and related comprehensive school counseling program services from four urban middle and high schools. Participants (n = 1,032) completed a survey designed to assist schools in planning and evaluating their career and college readiness programs, and exploring…