Third-grade students in a small rural school district in North Carolina are not meeting reading benchmarks on End-of-Grade Tests. Parents and educators have concerns regarding the service delivery plan for students with disabilities who have deficits in reading. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the roles and responsibilities of special education and general education teachers in relation to Common Core Reading Standards instruction for students with disabilities. Vygotsky's theory of social constructivism and concept of the zone of proximal development formed the conceptual framework for the exploration of how students' academic needs are met with appropriate support in the learning environment. The study's research questions addressed the perceptions of 4 special education teachers and 5 general education teachers as they considered placement, monitored students' reading progress, and implemented instructional strategies. Purposeful sampling was used to select the 9 participants to participate in the interview. Data were analyzed inductively using categories and themes. Eight themes emerged from the special education teachers and 6 themes developed from the general education teachers. The common themes that developed from both teachers were: progress monitoring, time/scheduling, and communication. The most important finding is the need for professional development to improve collaboration. This case study may promote social change by documenting the process that coteachers engage in to support disabled students' reading progress. This is significant because it offers evidence that general and special education teachers can use reading instruction strategies in inclusion settings to address students' reading deficit.

Current administrators at a Northeast metropolitan area Catholic school have not formally identified the needs that support leadership development for their future and novice administrators. Compounding this problem, an increasing number of Catholic school lay administrators are taking on leadership roles traditionally held by members of religious communities whose membership is steadily declining within the United States. This case study examined the experiences of current administrators to identify leadership development needs for novice and future administrators at a Catholic secondary school. The study's framework was derived from the concepts of leadership succession planning and mentoring. A purposeful sample of 10 current lay administrators at a Catholic secondary school was used to provide interview data in response to standardized questions designed to elicit their perceptions. An inductive approach was used to analyze the data through the identification and coding of common themes that emerged from the range of participant responses. The findings demonstrated that active leadership planning, purposeful mentoring, and prioritizing the continuity of religious identity were critical needs for the development of novice and future administrators at the particular metropolitan Catholic school in question. The findings may be used to codify the leadership development process at the research site and to provide a model for other Catholic secondary schools to develop administrator preparation programs that address common leadership requirements for the future.

An urban middle school in the northeastern United States was having a problem with low performance on state annual reading tests on the part of students with learning disabilities. Consequently, the middle school was not meeting the reading academic targets that were set by the Department of Education in the northeastern United States. The purpose of this exploratory qualitative case study was to explore special education teachers' experiences and perceptions about how teaching reading to students with learning disabilities was affecting special education teachers' pedagogy. Glasser's choice theory, which theorizes that an individual's behavior is chosen, formed the conceptual framework.- Research questions guiding this study focused on special education teachers' perceptions and experiences teaching learning-disabled students to read and how experiences and perceptions affected pedagogical practice. The qualitative methodology included a purposeful sample of 5 special education teachers who provided reading instruction to learning-disabled students who participated in semistructured interviews. Typological analysis of data followed an open coding process to identify categories and themes. The findings indicated special education teachers' experiences led them to feel underprepared to adequately instruct due to a lack of a specified special education curriculum and materials. The resulting project included a professional development series for secondary education teachers to enhance reading instructional practices and locate special education resources. The findings may lead to improved pedagogical practice for special education reading instruction, resulting in positive social change through increased reading achievement for students with learning disabilities.

Universities are exploring the use of e-books in order to mitigate the high cost of textbooks. The study university was providing both delivery modes to students but was considering adapting to using e-books exclusively. An investigation of users' perceptions on textbook delivery modes had not been conducted at the local site. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the perceptions of students about using e-books and the experiences of textbook directors in the decision-making processes regarding the use of e-books versus textbooks. The Davis' Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) served as the conceptual framework for the study and was used to establish an interview guide. A sample of 12 participants was recruited from the local university in Michigan and was comprised of 5 undergraduate students, 5 graduate students, and 2 textbook directors. For maximum variation, participants were recruited from a variety of courses, while textbook directors were recruited and interviewed based on their roles as university textbook buyers. Individual interviews were conducted and the transcribed data were open coded and analyzed thematically. Results of the data analysis indicated that 6 out of 10 students favored using hard copy textbooks versus e-books for a variety of reasons, while both textbook directors favored providing students with an assortment of delivery modes based on their experiences with student textbook preferences. Implications for positive social change include providing the administration at the local site with data on the perceptions of students regarding the mode of textbook delivery and textbook directors' recommendations for providing both e-books and hard copy texts. Being responsive to students' preferences for learning materials allows for the possibility of improved learning outcomes.

The process of identifying talented and gifted (TAG) students in one local northeastern middle school was generally inconsistent with the state and local school district identification policies. The result was that qualified students were not always identified for this program, and this practice became a rationale to conduct a modified policy analysis of the TAG program placement procedures. The local school district policies on TAG are based on the gifted program standards of the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC). Using the NAGC standards as the conceptual framework, the implementation of district policies on identification of students into the TAG program were explored in this case study of one school. The purpose was to clarify the implementation of the TAG program processes in accordance with NAGC standards and state policy. Data were collected from multiple sources through interviews with guidance counselors, teachers, the data coach, and local middle school administrators who were involved in placement of TAG students, and from review of policy documents and archived data. Data from interviews and document review were analyzed using typological analysis model in alignment with the NAGC standards from which themes formed a policy compliance/noncompliance basis for a white paper. In this white paper, recommendations were made to the local district that included screening consistency for all students, using multiple measures for qualification, and assuring certification of testing personnel. Social change implications include the potential to improve TAG identification policy for those responsible in this district and other similar districts for placement consistent with state and NAGC standards.

In the local school district under study, there has been a lack of professional development (PD) in classroom management, and challenging student behaviors in the classroom are increasing, eroding teachers' self-efficacy. The purpose of this correlational study, guided by a constructivist theoretical framework, was to examine the relationship between teachers' self-efficacy in the classroom when addressing challenging student behaviors and the amount of PD that the teachers have had in classroom management. The convenience sample comprised 99 teachers from 8 elementary schools; this total was based upon a response rate of 45%. The instrument, the Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES), was administered via SurveyMonkey-®. Although the Pearson product-moment correlation showed that PD in classroom management and teachers' self-efficacy were not significantly related, the descriptive TSES results indicated that teachers needed specific guidance in addressing challenging students, as evidenced by the lowest score on the TSES for the question asking teachers how well they are able to educate the most difficult students. Instead of planning another series of broad PD sessions for teachers, a behavior management manual was designed to simultaneously help teachers manage challenging student behaviors and increase their self-efficacy in the classroom when addressing challenging student behaviors. The goal is to provide teachers with a manual that they can reference to find resources to address challenging student behaviors and allow them to focus on academic achievement. This behavior management manual for teachers has implications for positive social change in that it can educate teachers on how to manage challenging student behaviors and potentially improve academic performance.

Standardized tests are designed to show what students have learned and retained in a classroom setting. The study examined principals' perspectives related to the impact standardized testing has on teaching and learning in Grades K-12. In addition, the correlation between principals' perceived effects of standardized tests on students' performances and principals' characteristics was investigated. Vygotsky's theory was used as theoretical framework of the study, as the theory suggested nonstandardized assessment approaches are more effective. Research questions focused on principals' perspectives on the effect of standardized testing on teaching and learning within the school district in North Carolina and the extent that principals' experience, type of schools, gender, and academic degree are correlated to their perceived effects of standardized tests on student performance. A quantitative method with descriptive and correlation design was used to answer the research questions. A purposeful sample of 31 participants completed the online Likert survey. Data were analyzed using means, standard deviations, and correlation tests. Findings indicated that principals perceived that standardized testing hinder students' perfromaces. There was not a significant relationship between principals' perception related to the impact standardized testing has on teaching and learning in grades K-12 and their years of experience, type of school, gender, and academic degree. A positive social change implication includes informing educators about principals' views related to standardized testing as a feasible tool to enhance curriculum content delivery and student achievement.

Researchers in educational leadership have identified a need to improve principal preparation programs to meet today's educational demands. According to school administrators in the local area, not all leadership preparation programs used the same pedagogies to prepare future leaders, and principals were critical of existing leadership practices. School districts, students, parents, and community stakeholders would benefit from well-prepared administrators who can apply the most effective habits of principalship. The conceptual framework of the study was derived from J. Davis and Jazzar's 7 habits of an effective principal preparation program. For this qualitative case study, 16 principals were interviewed to find out which components of a principal preparation program they thought were the most important or had best prepared them for their positions. Analysis involved open coding, and resulting themes revealed that principals perceived the most important components to be a multisituational internship and extensive experience with school budget/finance. A professional development session was created to share interview responses with policymakers. Principal preparation programs that involve an in-depth internship and practice with school budget and finance could be used to assist policy makers in developing leadership training programs for future principals to improve student and school performance for school districts. This project study could foster social change with greater school success for students, resulting from improvement in leadership preparation programs.

Incivility disrupts the learning environment for nursing students and faculty, and contributes to the national nursing shortage since many nursing faculty reportedly leave academia because of disruptive student behaviors. Academic leaders at a midwestern college of nursing are concerned by the increasing number of students engaging in uncivil behaviors and are seeking solutions. Using Clark's conceptual model, which holds that incivility can be mitigated with effective communication and engagement, this qualitative case study was designed to understand what faculty perceive as the cause of student incivility, and what actions they believe would decrease these uncivil behaviors. Data were collected from semi-structured interviews with 10 purposefully selected faculty members who met the established criteria for participation. The data were transcribed, member checked, and coded for emerging themes. Coding was completed using an open and axial coding process. Nursing faculty communicated a lack of knowledge regarding how to address student incivility, and expressed not feeling properly skilled to defuse uncivil encounters. Five major themes emerged, as follows: classroom expectations, caring culture, organizational support, orientation, and student entitlement. A 3-day professional development workshop on managing student disruptive behaviors and promoting civility within the learning environment was developed as the project outcome. Addressing incivility by learning effective ways to respond, manage, and diminish disruptive behaviors has the potential to positively impact the nursing profession, the patients in nurses' care, and the healthcare system.

Many children in U.S. K-12 schools struggle with childhood obesity. A healthy lifestyle taught in a child's early years is essential for student learning, and it can set the pace for healthy choices to be made in adulthood. The purpose of this exploratory case study was to explore the experiences of parents in Montgomery County, Ohio, who successfully improved their children's health and academic grades. The transtheoretical model of behavior change grounded this study to evaluate the willingness of children and adults to take action on new health and wellness behaviors that can lead them through the stages of change to action and maintenance. The study was guided by 1 overarching research question: What are the experiences of the parents who guided their children through lifestyle changes using local community health and wellness resources, and reported improved health and improved academics? Specifically, the research subquestions asked about the successes, challenges, and strategies applied. This case study targeted 6 parents who guided their 6th grade children for at least 6 months on changing their health and wellness habits. Qualitative data were gathered and coded from structured interviews listing noteworthy statements and identifying patterns. The data were analyzed using data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing. According to the study's findings, children who ate healthy, got proper rest each night, and engaged in daily physical activity lost weight, felt better, and performed better in school. This study contributes to positive social change by providing parents with strategies to improve health and wellness and academics in their overweight children.