Only 3% of alternatively certified teachers in Florida are retained after receiving certification. When teachers' self-efficacy improves, so does their motivation, mental health, job satisfaction, and student performance. Teacher self-efficacy is unstable and often influenced by situational conditions. A gap in the literature exists regarding how…

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the relationships among personal characteristics (i.e., age, race, marital status, education level, and years of teaching experience), work environment characteristics (i.e., pay, benefits, type of program, age group of children, and class size), job satisfaction, and turnover intention of…

A child's social and emotional development has a powerful impact on every aspect of their life. When a child develops a strong social and emotional foundation, they learn how to express their feelings, empathize with others, and build relationships. All of these skills could influence a child's academic achievement and successful adult life.…

The student demographic in United States public schools is becoming increasingly diverse. Yet, the curriculum used in classrooms throughout the country remains largely Euro-centric. Despite research confirming that the use of culturally relevant literature can increase engagement and academic achievement, most historically marginalized students…

This qualitative case study focused on how school leaders' understandings of (dis)ability were implicated in decision-making and affected student (dis)enrollment in Florida's Voluntary Prekindergarten Program (VPK). More specifically it explored how leaders in private VPK programs invoked conceptions of normality, and subsequently abnormality,…

Self-regulation, an increasingly focus of social-emotional learning curriculums for over twenty years according to Zimmerman (2008), provides students with the ability of "setting goals, selecting strategies, and self-monitoring their effectiveness" as opposed to waiting for others to redirect their behavior (p. 166). Prekindergarten…

The Child Care Apprenticeship Program of Pinellas (CCAP) was created by an advisory committee made up of local childcare facility directors, in 1989, in response to the need for better training in the community. CCAP is a two-year program that emphasizes 4000 hours of on-the-job-training and 288 hours of classroom instruction credentialing working…

Self-directed learning has contributed significantly to adult learners' personal and professional growth. Approximately 70% of adult learning is through a self-directed learning context (Heimstra, 2008). This quantitative correlational study involved an attempt to determine the nature of the relationship between situational, dispositional, and…

Florida has undergone a 27.8% increase of ELL PreK-12 public school students within the last twenty years (www.fldoe/aala). Of the total student population in Florida, 9.4% speak 230 different languages and dialects with the highest percentage in Hispanic speakers. This is followed by Haitian-Creole, Arabic, Vietnamese, Hmong, Chinese, and Korean…

The purpose of the current study was to determine the efficiency of an electronic data collection method compared to a traditional paper-based method in the educational field, in terms of the accuracy of data collected and the time required to do it. In addition, data were collected to assess users' preference and system usability. The study…

Across the spectrum of educational choices, from preschool to college, parents find themselves in a position of making the appropriate school choice for their children. The implications for those choices can be far reaching, not only for the children, but also for the family itself. How do parents select a particular school for their children?…

In 2004, the State of Florida imposed the Voluntary Prekindergarten Program (VPK). This legislation provides free prekindergarten services to all four-year-old children in the State of Florida (Agency for Workforce Innovation [AWI], 2005a). The legislation outlines the requirements of the VPK schools. This outline addresses specifications for…

The purpose of this investigation was to examine the beliefs and skills of community early childhood lead teachers and community child care center administrators participating in Florida's Four Year Old Voluntary Pre-kindergarten (VPK) Program in five rural, north Florida counties hold regarding the inclusion of young children with disabilities…