Teacher retention in high-poverty middle schools is a topic of concern. Teachers make the decision to leave the profession for a variety of reasons. Induction programs are put in place to for support with the goal of helping new teachers remain in the profession. The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to identify critical components of…

The problem addressed in this qualitative descriptive study was that despite the evidence illustrating the significance of STEAM curriculum in students' academic and career success, there was still a considerable degree of uncertainty regarding what challenges were faced by P-8 schoolteachers and what support may be required to facilitate the…

Annual goals are an essential component of Individual Educational Programs (IEP), which are developed for students with disabilities, and which are informed by data. However, the methods and practices that special educators use to make sense of data to inform the annual IEP goals represent a gap in research literature. This qualitative study was…

The topic of trauma and the effect it has on an individual has recently been in the forefront of educational research. It is indicated that students who have experienced some form of trauma in their lives will have repercussions that may express themselves in their academic achievement (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2021). This…

The current teacher attrition rate for teachers with 5 years or less of experience is reported to be about 8% within the 1st year and an additional 16% more leaving within the first 5 years (Carver-Thomas & Darling-Hammond, 2017). Furthermore, middle school is one of the most difficult to staff levels in education. This mixed-methods study…

The purpose of this qualitative exploratory single-embedded case study was to explore novice teachers' perceptions of unprofessional school culture, school performance, and teacher retention. The study focused on six licensed middle school novice teachers employed with school districts located in the southeastern region of the United States. This…

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore general education teachers' descriptions of their self-efficacy and its influence on their ability to support the inclusion of students with disabilities in Kansas. Bandura's (1994) theory of self-efficacy served as the theoretical framework for the research questions based on…

The purpose of this study was to assess the perceptions of middle school math teachers, as captured by survey ratings, of the frequency and quality of professional development programs. The study further examined the relationship of these perceptions to the degree to which professional development increased self-efficacy and social connections.…

This study aims to examine the impact of self-esteem on teacher leadership beliefs in Türkiye through both correlational and experimental analyses since self-esteem is considered to be a crucial antecedent of leadership. The author conducts three separate studies with a sample size of 808. The first study (n = 237) uses correlational analyses…

School personnel across the United States are developing additional teacher leadership roles to improve professional learning and retain effective teachers. More information is needed concerning how middle school principals are guiding the development of teacher leaders in their schools. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore…

Nationally, teachers are leaving at heightened levels, and school culture has been identified as one possible root cause. Research has identified environments that are conducive to a positive school culture and ways to positively impact teacher retention. Furthermore, research highlights national initiatives that have been created to retain…

Middle school classrooms are increasingly more diverse, and students are often disconnected and disengaged from the learning. Research has demonstrated that arts integration instructional frameworks hold promise to engage students and to improve student outcomes. The purpose of this program evaluation was to assess if implementation and use of…

The purpose of the Dissertation in Practice was to explore the experiences and perceptions of a group of middle school teachers and administrators that were implementing a Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) program. The setting for this case study was an urban, Title I middle school located in Florida. Interviews were conducted…

This study explores how seven middle and secondary teachers understood and developed ambitious pedagogies within the context of their own classroom. Although there has been an emphasis on preparing preservice teachers for utilizing ambitious pedagogies, these practices are often not observed in practicing teachers' classrooms. The purpose of this…

A large body of research has studied the role and potential of inquiry to increase the quality of teaching in science education. While much of this existing research is based on international large-scale assessment studies, we still lack a clear understanding of the factors that influence the quality of inquiry-based science teaching in actual…