The importance of establishing positive relationships is a common theme in educational philosophies and recommended practice. Educators inherently believe this to be true. It is assumed relationships are the key to academic and behavioral success, as well as students' social emotional well-being. Furthermore, relationships may even be the key to…

The purpose of this study was to describe student, parent, teacher, and administrator (stakeholder) experiences at one large, suburban high school in South Carolina during the COVID-19 global pandemic from March 2020 to June 2022. To inform the school and district leaders' decision-making process, the researcher applied path-goal theory to frame…

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among collective efficacy factors, as measured by the Illinois 5Essentials Survey, and college readiness scores, as reported by American College Testing (ACT), for high schools in the state of Illinois. The 5Essentials have been considered crucial to school success and therefore used to…

Enacting a vision and surviving as a first-year high school principal in a new suburban school district can be a complex and difficult journey. Secondary-level principals have varied roles, including the improvement of teachers' practice and student achievement, branding (or rebranding) the school, and acting as community leaders. This…

This paper is based on action research to help support an initiative in a NJ suburban high school of about 600 students aiming to improve student achievement. The main problem addressed is a recent trend of low test scores. Rather than look at socio- economic factors, school leaders as well as leaders at the district level are concerned that the…

This article demonstrates how using feedback mechanisms or "loops" as heuristic devices can help ethnographers explain the interior logic, robustness and contradictions within complex educational assemblages. After reviewing the use of feedback mechanisms in the natural and social sciences, particularly practice theory, the article…

The purpose of this quasi-experimental study is to determine the impact a freshman mentoring program will have on student achievement, student discipline and student attendance within a large suburban high school. There does not seem to be much previous research on this topic in particular, therefore much of the research focused on the transition…

In this brief, we describe the distribution of college prep course offerings across Texas and determine which school characteristics are associated with higher and lower numbers of course offerings. We also examine how college prep course offerings are related to student-level college prep course-taking and, in turn, how course-taking behaviors…

This report mainly aims to provide a critical and in-depth analysis of the K-12 Case, "Divided Loyalty" by Holy and Tartar (2004). The case recounts how the manifestation of inadequate leadership skills in a school setting could affect negatively the performance of students.

The purpose of this mixed methods study is to examine the effects of student council involvement on academic performance and on school climate and culture. The quantitative research examines the impact between middle and high school students' involvement in student council and their grade point average. In addition, the quantitative research…

The purpose of this study was to determine the influence, if any; assignment to an inclusive secondary language arts classroom setting has on the academic performance of grade 11 nondisabled general education students in two suburban New Jersey High Schools. Using a sampling process known as Propensity Score Matching (PSM), a statistical technique…

Selective colleges and universities purport to consider students' achievement in the context of the academic opportunities available in their high schools. Thus, students who "maximize" their curricular opportunities should be more likely to gain admission. Using nationally representative data, we examine the effect of "maximizing…

The purpose of this correlational study was to determine if there was a relationship between professional learning community (PLC), personal teacher efficacy (PTE), and student achievement. The study examined teacher perception of PLC implementation and PET as it related to student achievement at the high school level on the Virginia End-of Course…

In the United States a high school diploma offers a pathway to the growing professional occupations creating the American middle class. The continuous influx of minority families into suburban school districts eventually urbanized districts. As a result, multiple districts struggle in the process of educating a shifted population. Studies have…

Using national data from the 2007-08 School and Staffing Survey, we compared the relationships between parental involvement and school outcomes related to adequate yearly progress (AYP) in urban, suburban, and rural schools. Parent-initiated parental involvement demonstrated significantly positive relationships with both making AYP and staying off…