This study was designed to aid in determining the curricular direction which will be taken for the program in the preschool educational facility where the study took place. The target population for participation in this study was Black, four-year-old children who met the preschool facility’s operational definition for being disadvantaged. The study took place over a period of one school year with the primary aim being to determine curriculum components which are effective with the target population. The study utilized an experimental design and implemented an experimental curriculum with 30 children who were participants in the control group. A pre-test, teach, then post-test method was used. At the conclusion of the study, a statistical analysis of the collected data was made by using t-test computations. The findings show that, even though both the experimental group and the control group made significant gains in the areas assessed, the experimental group made gains that were significantly greater than those made by the control group.

<p> This quantitative research study investigated if there is a relationship between middle school principals&rsquo; leadership style in high-performing and low-performing schools in New York City. To address the problem and to answer the research question, a survey instrument adapted by Tomal (2007) was used to determine the principal&rsquo;s leadership style. The New York City Department of Accountability RPSG Research Data Department provided the student achievement data. Ten middle school principals, three from high-performing schools and seven from low-performing schools participated in the study. High-performing schools achieved Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for two consecutive years and low-performing schools did not make AYP for two consecutive years. Principals completed a 30-question leadership survey to determine their preferred style: abdicator, collaborator, compromiser, enforcer, and supporter. The principals&rsquo; leadership style was then matched to the school&rsquo;s Performance Index (PI) from the 2015 New York State English Language Arts and Mathematics assessment. An independent <i>t</i>-test was used to analyze the principal&rsquo;s response to the leadership survey. The data indicated that principals from high-performing and low-performing schools differ on 5 out of 30 statements on the leadership survey. However, due to the small sample size, the results are not statistically significant.</p>

<p> The high stakes accountability environment in which schools currently operate demands leadership behaviors that produce enhanced student outcomes. However, school principals are often caught in a complex web of competing stakeholder demands within large bureaucratic systems. Specifically, principals must fulfill high stakes accountability mandates while also cultivating an environment that enhances stakeholder morale while maintaining the health, safety and well-being of students and faculty. This study explores the influence of transformational, transactional, and servant leadership behaviors on collective faculty trust within a high-stakes mandated testing environment using the theoretical framework of Self-Determination Theory. Additionally, this study will explore the relationship between principal leadership behavior and collective faculty trust in colleagues and collective faculty trust in the principal to gain a better understanding of leadership behavior outcomes.</p>

<p> Reform is a common tool used by policymakers to increase student achievement. Unfortunately, reform efforts are not always successful. However, researchers have demonstrated that school culture and climate both impact student achievement (Cavanaugh &amp; Dellar, 1997; Cohen, Fege, &amp; Pickeral, 2009; D&rsquo; Alessandro &amp; Sadh, 1998; MacNeil, Prater, &amp; Busch, 2009; National School Climate Council, 2007; Peterson &amp; Deal, 2009; Stolp, 1994; University-Community Partnerships, Michigan State University, 2004). The overarching question explores the relationships among school culture, school climate, teacher efficacy, and collective efficacy and their impact on reform movements. Secondary questions are: what is similar and contrasting among the constructs; how are the constructs interrelated; and in what ways can these constructs impact school reform efforts? For the purposes of this study, school climate is viewed as a manifestation of school culture, with teacher and collective efficacy as part of the cycle that impacts reform efforts.</p>

<p> African American students continued to underachieve in STEM academics and remained underrepresented among college students majoring in STEM fields and the STEM workforce. This underperformance had negative consequences in that these students likely did not have adequate STEM subject knowledge and skills, especially in mathematics, to compete in the 21st-century workforce. Hence, African American parents and teachers may need to collaborate more frequently to facilitate African America students&rsquo; engagement and learning in mathematics. The collaboration between parents and teachers had been documented as a strong predictor of African American student academic achievement, including African American achievement in STEM subject areas. The purpose of this qualitative, case study was to explore and to describe why African American parents and high school teachers did not frequently collaborate to facilitate student engagement to learn mathematics. Two semi-structured interview guides designed for parents and teachers were used to ensure that the interviews were focused and covered the same questions for each participant. The participants for this case study were two math supervisors, six ninth-grade mathematics teachers, and three parents of African American students in a large northern New Jersey school district. It was found that ninth-grade math teacher participants (100%) perceived that they fostered parent-teacher collaboration to facilitate African American students&rsquo; engagement to learn mathematics. African American parent participants (100%) perceived that they involved in their children education at home, but the conflict between their work schedule and the district scheduled parent-teacher conferences prevented them from collaborating frequently with teachers. African American parent participants (100%) believed that caring teachers contributed to develop their willingness to collaborate with teachers to motivate their children to be engaged to learn mathematics. Recommendations for future research include investigating how caring teachers contributed to develop the willingness of African American parents to collaborate with teachers.</p>

<p> The central focus of this quantitative, correlational study is to examine the relationship between happiness found in the work place and employees&rsquo; engagement that leads to organizational success. Employee engagement has been touted as the next frontier that will help organizations to achieve success. This is because passionate employees will ensure that they are productive in the work place. Happiness has been argued to be one of the factors that enhance employee engagement. The collected data shows a positive correlation between happiness and engagement of the employee. This is an important finding as it can be used by organizations to fast track their development by ensuring that employees are happy. The establishment of a positive correlation between these two aspects ensures that an organization can benefit greatly when it enhances employee happiness. In addition, measures can be put in place to ensure that employee happiness is enhanced, a move that would lead to a more productive organization and faster growth. Although the concept of employee engagement and its relationship to happiness has been around, this study goes further to confirm that happy employees are more engaged and this leads to organizational success. Organizational culture and environment affects the performance and approach of employees. Leadership in the organization is a vital aspect as it ensures that employees are provided with the right environment to carry out tasks and be content with the work. With this new knowledge, leaders can take measures to improve employee happiness, which will lead to employee engagement and, consequently, improve the prospects of organizational success.</p>

<p> Although many studies have shown good effectiveness of student-centered instruction in a variety of educational settings, relatively few have focused on alternative learning environment (ALE) programs. This research study compared the learning outcomes of ALE students in a one rural Arkansas delta school sequentially utilizing a teacher-centered and a student-centered learning environment. Additionally, this research addressed how each environment nurtured independence skills, leadership, and social growth. Significant differences were observed in academic achievement, and student views about the classroom environment were well documented. A Mixed-Methods design was incorporated for quantitative and qualitative measures to compare learning outcomes in both student-centered and teacher-centered classroom environments. Quantitative measures included a student survey designed to measure student views and perceptions of both environments and that of academic grades. Qualitative measures included classroom observations, semi-structured interviews, student-focus groups, and journal entries. Research participants&rsquo; were alternative learning environment students and one primary investigator. The primary investigator was the teacher of the ALE classroom where implementation of student-centered and teacher-centered learning that included 25 student participants took place. Student-centered methods were based on democratic (Dewey, 1938), and constructivist (Vygotsky, 1978) principles. Teacher-centered methods were based on (Skinner, 1953) and (Lynch, 2010) ideologies and their incorporation of student lecture as the means for effective instruction. Data findings of this study indicate ALE teachers can incorporate a student-centered classroom environment that engage students, promote independence and leadership skills and promote higher academic achievement.</p>

<p> The main purpose of this study was to gain insight into the recruitment and retention strategies popularized due to the need to meet high-quality teacher demands. Additionally, recruitment and retention strategies identified by administrators and tenured teachers working in rural public schools of Missouri as effective were collected through a survey. Administrators, as well as tenured teachers currently on staff in rural public school districts of Missouri, were the population of this study. Among 286 administrators, 95 administrative participants and 33 tenured teachers completed the survey. The survey responses were compared to determine if the administrative point-of-view was similar to that of the teachers involved in the study. The results of the survey indicated commonalities between the strategies administrators and tenured teachers found effective. The top-three mentioned strategies by both administrators and tenured teachers were school culture/climate, administrative support, and small class size. Teachers also indicated the community, skilled coworkers, access to technology, and adequate facilities were important factors in the determination of where they work; all of these factors were deemed of marginal importance or not mentioned by administrators. Those involved in the hiring process should be aware of the factors most important to teachers and shift focus if possible. The community near schools could also be used as a strategy to attract quality teachers and retain them long-term. </p>

<p> Native Hawaiian children have been facing challenges in multiple areas and multiple settings comparing to their non-Hawaiian peers. Many of Native Hawaiian children are academically struggling in the schools and have high dropout rates. This qualitative study explores the perceptions of a group of Native Hawaiian high school graduates on the Island of Oahu in regards to how project-based learning impacted their learning to determine whether or not project-based learning is an effective instructional strategy to motivate Native Hawaiian learners. Project-based learning intergrades the learning and psychological theories of intrinsic motivation, experimental, constructive and social learning. This narrative inquiry study confirmed that project-based learning had positively impacted on most of participants&rsquo; learning in the areas of interest of learning, engagement, self- challenged, attitudes towards learning, social and communication skill, learning skills, life skills, Hawaiian culture connection, technology, and curiosity. The importance of teacher-student relationship was identified as a key to achieve a successful PBL. Hands-on projects, community involvement and teamwork were the areas were also considered essential. The implications from this qualitative study were beyond determining whether or not PBL was a motivational tool for Native Hawaiian learners, but some of the causes for lacking of motivation. The participants of this study called for being connected to their cultures, community, place, and school through PBL. The narrative study discovered that Native Hawaiian learners require people who work with them understand Hawaiian culture and establish culture competency in PBL. Successful implementation of PBL can connect Native Hawaiian learners to learning, school, culture, their own identity, and Aloha spirit so that they are motivated to learn.</p>

<p> The following mixed method study examines the servant leadership practices of teacher leaders and their impact on school climate and instructional planning. The researcher sought out the perceptions of both formal and informal teacher leaders as well as their district supervisors in a suburban high school setting. The research uncovered teacher leaders&rsquo; practice of empathy and listening had a significant impact on school climate. Commitment to individual development and empathy were identified by teacher leaders as important influences on instructional planning. The research confirmed servant leadership characteristics are practiced by teacher leaders, and the findings were reinforced by district supervisors&rsquo; observations. This research may aid in providing educational organizations a framework to empower teacher leaders and their utilization of servant leadership. Furthermore, the research may serve as a catalyst for additional inquiry into the effect of servant leadership and teacher leadership on school climate and instructional planning.</p>