<p> There is extensive research in elementary education on effective practices that support academic success for students with mild to moderate disabilities in general education; however there is a dearth of research on high school inclusion practices. A survey examined the current inclusionary practices at a Central Coast High School. California State Standardized Assessment scores of 11^th grade English Language Art and Math classes were also analyzed by groups. Overall, findings indicated that inclusionary practices were implemented to different degrees, but none were <i>fully in place </i> i.e., <i>practices building relationships</i> was rated the highest and instructional practices was rated lowest. In addition, findings indicated that students with disabilities exceeded the state SBAC scores in the area of English but not math. Longitudinal research is needed to further identify secondary practices that impact Math scores for students with disabilities along with continued examination of inclusive high school practices.</p><p>

<p> Research reveals that for American secondary teachers, mere participation, or the desire to participate, in professional development is not a matter of concern, as many in the educational community have assumed. Yet, there is a void in the literature regarding American, lower secondary educators of literacy and their overall perceptions of professional learning. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand the perceptions of lower secondary English language arts (ELA)/literacy teachers, specifically in regard to what motivates these educators to participate in professional development, what they value in professional learning opportunities, the challenges that keep them from participating, and their overall professional development needs. </p><p> This qualitative study draws on two theoretical frameworks, constructivism and adult learning theory, as there are varied philosophies that contribute to the understanding of a teacher&rsquo;s perception of professional learning. A non-experimental, phenomenological methodology was chosen, aiming to better understand participant&rsquo;s individual experiences through their comprehensive, self-reported descriptions. The population of this study consisted of experienced, lower secondary ELA/literacy teachers employed in southern California public schools. Purposive, criterion sampling was used for this research, collecting data from a total of 13 semi-structured interviews of participants from two school districts. </p><p> The findings from this study resulted in five thematic categories that present the essential drivers and impediments to the participants&rsquo; involvement in professional learning opportunities: (a) teachers desire to improve their professional practice, (b) professional learning should be immediately applicable to professional practice, (c) teachers prefer to learn from other experienced teachers, (d) the culture of the school district and or site influences teacher learning, and (e) a teacher&rsquo;s learning is influenced by their perception of themselves and previous experiences. Six conclusions were drawn from the thematic findings of this study. They rely upon the literature and findings to argue how teachers&rsquo; motivation, personal values, and aspirations for participation in professional learning opportunities is centered on personal and organizational factors along with the historical and current culture of American K-12 public schools.</p><p>

<p> This is a qualitative case study using youth-based participatory action research as a model. The author views the youth-based participatory action research through both a social justice and multicultural lens. The prevalence of Eurocentric ideals in society and in the classroom are addressed and solutions on how to remedy these ideals to foster a greater sense of awareness to discrimination, encourage positive ethnic identity, and increase self-esteem are some of the issues addressed in this research. Instead of approaching the research individually, the researcher joined ranks with middle school students to help research these issues as she felt they were important in improving her practice as an educator as well as empowering the students who participated in conducting the research. Both researcher and participants worked together to inform each other and broaden awareness of issues. Some outcomes of this study included empowerment of female adolescents, awareness of when to speak up for oneself, adolescents collaborating with teachers and administration, and teachers implementing instructional strategies based on student feedback.</p><p>

<p> The college education gap between Latinas/os and whites has grown to 29 percentage points (Kolodner, 2017). I am a product of this gap. As a high school principal, I believe the solution to this problem lies within the creative minds of school principals/leaders. When a resource was not available to address the college readiness gap at my campus, I created one. The resource I created is <i>College Ready-the Game</i>. You can create one too! </p><p> The purpose of this qualitative study is to discover the experiences of middle and high school AVID students who played <i>College Ready-the Game</i>. John Dewey&rsquo;s theory of pragmatism guided the study. The intent behind the development of <i>College Ready-the Game</i> was to create a vocabulary resource that students can <i>learn by doing</i>. </p><p> The methodological framework was based upon tenets of Action Research. Patterns of experiences from participants of the same social group (students in the AVID program) that had played the college-ready game were observed through an interpretivist lens. Data from interviews were unitized and sorted into categories. </p><p> Secondary AVID classrooms who most widely use the game were chosen for the selection of participants. The classrooms are located in Title I and Non-Title I campuses to help ensure diversity of the participants. </p><p> The emergent patterns of responses conclude the following: &bull; Game-play of <i>College Ready-the Game</i> sparked conversations that developed college-ready vocabulary. &bull; <i>Physical movement, competition, and repetition</i> of <i>game-play</i> motivated students to learn college-ready vocabulary. &bull; <i>Community of inquiry</i> and a <i>college-going culture</i> were established through game-play. &bull; <i>Bank of college-ready vocabulary</i> empowered students to participate in <i>college-talk</i> and earn <i>social and cultural capital</i>. &bull; The <i>social and cultural capital </i> led the students to the critical <i>predisposition</i> stage to pursue college with their counselors, peers and parents. </p><p> While the study adds to the literature of college readiness, future qualitative studies are recommended to uncover the experiences from a variety of student and parent populations, such as speakers of other languages. Longitudinal quantitative studies are recommended to discover the effects of students who play <i>College Ready-the Game</i> throughout their school years. </p><p>

<p> This is a quantitative non-random experimental study involving two ninth grade Art I classes at a California charter high school. One class is the control group while the other class is the experimental group. The control group will be taught an Everyday Aesthetics unit (EAU) of instruction focusing on traditional art vocabulary and themes. The experimental group will be taught the Environmental Significance of Everyday Aesthetics (ESOEA) using elements of a critical pedagogical teaching approach. </p><p> This initial experimental study includes three hypotheses. Hypothesis 1 is an experimental group of high school Art I students participating in the ESOEA unit and hypothesized to demonstrate a significant increase in environmental consciousness between pretest and posttest. Hypothesis 2 is a control group of high school Art I students exposed to the EAU and is predicted to demonstrate no significant increase between pretest and posttest in environmental consciousness. Hypothesis 3 is the experimental group participating in the ESOEA and hypothesized to demonstrate a significant increase between pretest and posttest regarding environmental consciousness in comparison to the control group of students taught with the EAU of instruction.</p><p>

<p> This research evaluates the effectiveness of Project ReCharge, an energy efficiency, STEM curriculum designed for middle and high school students. The project includes a five-unit curriculum, and monthly professional development spanning a year. The project was implemented in ten schools over three years. Four areas were explored in the study including (1) changes to student content knowledge, (2) changes to student attitudes towards STEM subjects and careers, (3) changes to teacher self-efficacy and beliefs, and (4) changes to teacher content knowledge. A content test for teachers and students, the STEM Semantics Survey, and STEBI-A were used to collect data on 4123 students and 47 teachers. Data were collected in a quasi-experimental design utilizing parametric and nonparametric techniques. Analyses suggest student content knowledge increased significantly from pretest to posttest for all years (Pretest: <i>M</i> = 11.38, <i>SD</i> = 4.97, Posttest: <i>M</i> = 16.67, <i> SD</i> = 5.83, <i>t</i> = 45.05, <i>p</i> &lt; 0.001, <i> d</i> = 0.98). Increases to student attitudes in STEM varied by year and grade, but overall increases were found in science (<i>N</i> = 2362, <i>z</i> = &ndash;2.618, <i>p</i> = 0.030, &eta;² = 0.002), and math attitudes (<i>N</i> = 2348, <i> z</i> = &ndash;2.280, <i>p</i> = 0.023, &eta;² = 0.002). High school students tended to show more increased attitudes in more subject areas than middle school students. No changes to teacher self-efficacy and beliefs were found, and increases to teacher content knowledge only occurred in the third year (<i>N</i> = 22, <i>x</i>² = 5.158; <i>p</i> = 0.076, &eta;² = 0.319).</p><p>

<p> Disability is often perceived as a rare phenomenon that only affects a small number of people (Dewsbury, Clarke, Randall, Rouncefield, &amp; Sommerville, 2004), despite the fact that 12% of the U.S. public schools student population receives special education services (National Center for Education Statistics, 2016) that remove them from the general education setting. This state of affairs contradicts the mandates of IDEA (Ginsburg &amp; Rapp, 2013) and perpetuates the idea that it is acceptable to ostracize those who are born different (Waldschmidt, 2015). This qualitative study reported the findings from 16 interviews with secondary educators from Southern California regarding the inclusion of students who are disabled in the general education setting. An analysis of these interviews showed that the participants&rsquo; views of disability adhered to either the medical or social model of disability, and influenced what they perceived as barriers to, or facilitators of, inclusion. The findings also showed that the participants felt three major components were necessary for the successful implementation of inclusion: (positive) teacher perspectives, a campus culture that fosters inclusion, and administrative leadership. Implications for this study include: (a) the use of a disability studies framework throughout administration and teacher training programs; and (b) the hiring of employees who reflect the student population, such as people with disabilities.</p><p>

<p> Professional learning environments and professional development practices among educators throughout the United States have experienced a great deal of attention in the need for changes toward collaborative learning models and professional learning opportunities that engage in hands-on work focused on student learning and the growth of teachers&rsquo; practice to help students develop their ability to think critically. This qualitative phenomenological study explored middle and high school teachers&rsquo; and administrators&rsquo; previous professional learning experiences through the practice of School-Based Instructional Rounds and Student Shadowing. The research focused on exploring the impact, if any, on transforming teaching strategies that provide deeper learning experiences for students in college and career readiness. A transformative framework under the theory of Mezirow&rsquo;s transformative learning theory and Knowles&rsquo;s adult learning theory using a constructivist paradigm and grounded theory approach informed the exploration of worldviews from the data of this research study. </p><p> The participants who took part in School-Based Instructional Rounds included 8 high school and middle teachers and administrators in 3 school districts representing 4 Southern California schools. In-person interviews support the research findings in this study. The participants represented in the Shadow a Student Challenge consisted of school leaders and a teacher who work in public and private middle and high school districts in the states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Rhode Island. Document analysis and personal interviews support the research findings of this study. Professional learning experiences of School-Based Instructional Rounds and Student Shadowing were explored within the lived experiences of teachers and administrators professional learning practices. Perceptions of deeper learning opportunities in middle and high school classrooms were examined, connecting professional development and the transformation of deeper learning instructional practices. This study will contribute to the body of literature on the value of implementing School-Based Instructional Rounds and the Shadow a Student Challenge as hands-on professional learning practices for teachers and administrators toward supporting the adoption of engaging, meaningful, and relevant strategies for 21st-century learning skills in middle and high school classrooms.</p><p>

<p> Stagnant growth on national standardized tests in mathematics and reading and a focus on disciplinary literacy in the Common Core State Standards in ELA, history/social studies, science, and technical subjects has prompted a resurgence in utilizing literacy strategies in the content areas in high school. While literacy standards in mathematics are not explicitly identified in the Common Core State Standards, there may be a place for the use of literacy strategies in high school mathematics. This study explored the relationships between students&rsquo; mathematics and reading achievement scores at a small, suburban high school and the implementation of a school wide literacy program to inform curriculum development and instructional strategies. </p><p> The reading and mathematics achievement of students in ninth through eleventh grade was retroactively analyzed to identify changes in student achievement over a two-year period. In the first year, the ninth grade cohort showed statistically significant improvement on both measures of mathematics achievement. Within this ninth grade cohort, students who qualified for free lunches also saw statistically significant improvement in mathematics. None of the other groups showed improvement on both measures of mathematics achievement or reading achievement. In the second year, both the ninth and tenth grade cohorts showed statistically significant increases on both mathematics and reading achievement. Within each of these grade level cohorts, females and white students also saw statistically significant increases in both mathematics and reading. The eleventh grade cohort did not have any significant increases on either measure. On the state top-to-bottom ranking, this high school has moved from the 4^th percentile to the 25^th percentile during the implementation of the school wide literacy program. </p><p> While national standardized tests have shown little to no improvement over the last several administrations, this small, suburban high school has seen continued growth over the last several years. Though the results of this study cannot be used to determine a causal relationship between the implementation of literacy strategies and the academic achievement of students in either mathematics or reading, it does provide a case for further investigation into such a relationship.</p><p>

<p> African American high school students are underrepresented in study abroad programs, and their lack of intercultural skills and international understanding can impede their personal and professional development, and limit their career opportunities. The purpose of this descriptive qualitative case study was to explore the influence of intercultural experiences through study abroad and immersion programs on African American high school students&rsquo; intercultural competence. The conceptual framework drew on 2 theories: Bennett&rsquo;s development model of intercultural sensitivity and Kolb&rsquo;s experiential learning. Data from interviews and focus groups with 13 African American high school students, 2 parents, and 2 teachers as well as documents and field notes from a Northeast United States urban high school addressed the research questions pertaining to how students perceived travel abroad that fostered intercultural competence skills as well as how teachers and parents perceived students&rsquo; personal development. Findings resulted from provisional codes used to identify pattern of codes, and central themes that indicated predeparture seminars and reflective practices enhanced intercultural skills. The portfolios suggested that most students became more reflective and accepting of cultural differences after their sojourn abroad. Recommendations based on the findings suggest increasing homestay experiences and planning and predeparture trainings. Future research is needed on how to attract more male African American students to such programs. The findings may contribute to positive social change by encouraging investment in homestay study abroad and immersion programs with adequate preparation and planning at inner city high schools that might foster intercultural competence skills.</p><p>