A Southeastern school district was in the initial phases of a response to intervention (RtI) model using 3 tiers of intervention prior to students being identified for participation in special education. General education classroom teachers were responsible for all Tier I interventions by differentiating the core curriculum. However, teachers received little to no specific training related to implementation, progress monitoring, and data analysis of these differentiated interventions. This case study examined teachers' perceptions of the current implementation of RtI in one elementary school and their perceptions of professional support needed to implement, assess, and analyze RtI data. This qualitative research project study used constructivism as the theoretical framework. The research questions centered on teacher perceptions of how the implementation of the RtI model impacted teacher efficacy in meeting the needs of students and to what extent teachers at the school felt prepared to implement Tier I interventions as they were intended. The purpose of the study was to identify gaps in practice and teacher perceptions of the effectiveness of Tier I intervention. Data collected from questionnaires and individual interviews were analyzed using open coding. Themes and concepts that emerged related to Tier 1 were the use of data, instruction, support, analysis, and differentiation. These findings led to the development of 3 specific trainings to provide educators with more knowledge about Tier I implementation and data-driven decisions in the RtI process at the school. Because it may strengthen the implementation and effectiveness of Tier I level interventions in the general education classroom, the project has the potential to decrease the number of students referred for special education evaluation and placement.

Teachers and administrators in a Title I elementary school in a southeastern state are concerned that there has been a trend over the past 3 years of declining standardized assessment scores in mathematics for students in Grades 3, 4, and 5. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore teachers' perceptions of practices, and professional development (PD) for differentiating mathematics instruction. This study was grounded in the conceptual framework of Vygotsky's zone of proximal development and Tomlinson's differentiated instruction (DI). Purposeful sampling was used to select 8 teachers and 1 mathematics coach, who worked with students in Grades 3, 4, and 5 at the target school. Data were collected through interviews and classrooms observations with participants. Open coding and thematic analysis were used to identify emergent themes from the data. The key findings were that, while some teachers attempted to differentiate mathematics instruction for struggling students, the participants felt they needed more PD related to specific strategies for differentiation and more planning time to collaborate with other educators in order to implement differentiated instruction effectively for all students. In response to these findings, a PD project was created for teachers in Grades 3, 4, and 5 to involve them in construction of a variety of strategies for planning and implementing differentiated instruction in mathematics. Positive social change might occur when teachers feel supported by the district to schedule ongoing opportunities to collaboratively plan and implement effective differentiated mathematics instruction to advance students' mathematics achievement in the local Title I school.

In an urban Texas school district, teachers and administrators were concerned about students' achievement and the teachers' knowledge and implementation of Response to Intervention (RTI) Tier 2 interventions with fidelity. This study addressed teachers' perceptions of the reliability of the application of Tier 2 interventions at the study site, its influence on student achievement, and the appropriateness of current professional development at the targeted campus. The constructivist concept of how people learn and the implementation theory of scaffolding instruction, meaningful experiences, and active learning provided the framework for this study. The educators provided perspectives of how the quality and frequency of the implementation impact the fidelity of Tier 2 interventions. A total of 15 teachers from Grades 3, 4, and 5, the RTI Coordinator, and administrators at the target campus who each met the criteria of more than 2 years of experience working with the RTI process, RTI training, and progress monitoring were included as participants. Data were gathered from the RTI School Readiness Survey, individual interviews, State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness for math and reading, and the state required campus and district improvement plans. The data were examined using comparative analyses, inductive generalizations, and analytical coding. The results indicated a need for sustained training to improve teacher knowledge of RTI implementation strategies and students' academic performance on grade-level content. This study will promote social change by providing teachers and administrators at the study site information on the RTI process and on the intensive professional development training needed to support student academic success.

School personnel were concerned that the disruptive student behaviors at an urban, elementary school in the northeast United States had persisted despite positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) implementation and professional development (PD) for more than 7 years. The purpose of this basic qualitative research study was to explore teacher perceptions regarding the PBIS related to student behavior and socialization issues. Skinner's reinforcement theory and Bronfenbrenner's bioecological systems theory served as the conceptual frameworks for this study. Specifically, this study explored the PBIS framework in reducing students' undesirable behaviors, how the framework prepared teachers to implement PBIS in their school, and how PBIS developed prosocial behaviors in students. The study included interview data from 20 purposefully selected teachers from prekindergarten through Grade 3, and Grade 5 teachers who were known to meet the selection criteria of being an urban elementary school teacher with 2 or more years of experience using the PBIS framework. Data were analyzed using Attride-Stirling's 6 steps of thematic coding. Findings indicated that PBIS is beneficial but selective; more training was needed after implementation; and parental support is necessary for the development of prosocial behaviors. Themes supporting the findings included that the PBIS framework being beneficial, that it was successful with some students but not all, and that it must be implemented properly. Thus, the resulting project provides intervention strategies to supplement the current PBIS framework. The implications for positive social change are dependent on educators to effectively use PBIS in improving students' social behavior in the school district.

Intervention Strategies to Decrease Discipline Issues in an Urban pre-K-8 Public School by Wendy A. Mason MEd, Walden University, 2005 BA, Kean University, 1979 Doctoral Study Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Education Walden University October 2015 The educational problem addressed in this study was the lack of empirically grounded evidence of the intervention strategies an urban school in the northeast region of the United States used to decrease school discipline problems. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to identify, explore, and understand the strategies used by school personnel to decrease discipline problems. The conceptual framework was anchored in social learning and communities of practice theories. The research questions focused on identifying the types of student discipline problems, the strategies developed and deployed to decrease the discipline problems, and the outcomes of the strategies. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 participants: 1 administrator, 10 teachers, and 1 counselor. Archival documents such as incident reports, discipline referral forms, the school's year-end report, and district suspensions reports were also examined for discipline patterns. Data analysis strategies included transcribing interview data, identifying patterns, and data triangulation. Results indicated that disrespect, noncompliant behavior, willful disobedience, fighting, and bullying were major discipline problems at the school. A multiplicity of strategies such as in-school and out-of-school suspension and character education effectively decreased discipline issues. Recommendations include a regular review of prevention strategies to determine which strategies are effective at reducing discipline. Positive social change implications include implementing invention strategies that create safe learning environments for students and staff in which all students can achieve academic success that leads to timely graduation and productive and responsible citizenship in the communities in which students live.

Teachers need interventions to improve at-risk students' self-efficacy, which may improve their academic performance in school. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the perceptions of elementary school teachers at a Texas public middle school as to what research-based interventions they felt would improve the self-efficacy of these students. Bandura's social cognitive theory, which framed the study, indicates that self-efficacy beliefs affect the courses of action that people seek and the choices people make. Many at-risk students who experience a lack of academic success have low self-efficacy, which may affect their school performance. The research questions that guided the study focused on teachers' perceptions of whether a school-based mentoring program, counseling services, or an afterschool program would best help at-risk students improve their self-efficacy. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect data from 6 teacher participants who were purposely selected from different grade levels at the school. The data were transcribed and analyzed using hand-coding procedures to determine categories and themes from the transcripts. The findings revealed that teachers thought that a school-based mentoring program would have the most positive impact in improving the self-efficacy of at-risk students. The results prompted the development of a training program for mentors. Positive social change may result when at-risk students benefit from mentors who are properly trained on ways to meaningfully impact them.

Educators involved in the teaching, learning, and assessment of social and emotional learning (SEL) competencies face challenges on how to integrate these competencies into instruction. Limited research has been conducted about how to integrate such SEL competencies into instructional practices, particularly in the context of a summer enrichment program. The purpose of this single case study was to explore how teachers and counselors at a summer enrichment program for preK-4 students integrated SEL competencies into instructional activities. The conceptual framework was based on core competencies and standards for quality program design that the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) developed. Participants included 2 teachers and 2 camp counselors at a summer enrichment program located in a western state. Data were collected from individual interviews with participants, observations of activities that integrated these SEL competencies into instruction, and documents related to the summer program. Data analysis included coding and categorizing of interviews and observations and content analysis of documents to identify themes and discrepant data. Key findings were that the 5 core competencies were intentionally and systematically integrated into the instructional activities of the summer enrichment program as evidenced by program planning, curricular development, implementation of a variety of instructional strategies, and informal teacher and parent assessments. This study contributes to positive social change because students who have mastered these competencies may demonstrate fewer behavioral issues and form more positive interpersonal relationships, which may lead to improved academic achievement.

The challenges of implementing the Common Core State Standards at the classroom level resulted in political pushback to the reform initiative after the local media covered poor implementation decisions. This study explored how elementary school teachers and instructional leaders described teachers' progress along the implementation continuum for the standards. The concerns-based adoption model served as the conceptual framework for this study. This multicase study design consisted of 16 interviews of teachers and instructional leaders from 4 schools. Data were analyzed through a process that began with open coding followed by axial coding to identify themes. Teacher collaboration driving implementation progress emerged as a theme. The following needs also emerged: (a) training to make the required instructional shifts, (b) common processes to monitor implementation progress, and (c) aligned resources. The results led to a semester-long professional development project pairing a quality improvement process popular in other fields with the existing professional learning community structure to address the problem. This project built on the implementation progress made through working collaboratively to meet the training needs of the teachers; the project also included mechanisms for monitoring teachers' progress in implementing the standards. The project study provides insight and specific steps for teachers and leaders working to implement the standards. Students will be the ultimate beneficiaries of this project study through improvements in their teachers' instructional practice.

Many teachers in a low socioeconomic school district in Florida struggle with differentiating instruction for the large at-risk population; however, one school has been identified as a high functioning school. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to investigate how classroom teachers at the high functioning school are differentiating instruction and how their reading coaches are supporting the teachers in designing instructional interventions. Guided by the concepts of Vygotsky's zone of proximal development and Tomlinson's differentiated instruction, this study examined the connection between these 2 concepts and explored approaches to the creation of an instructional model to support at-risk students. The research questions focused on the perceptions of teachers and reading coaches about instructional interventions and differentiated instruction. The participants were classroom teachers and reading coaches with 2 or more years of teaching experience in grades 3-5. A case study design was used to capture the insights of 7 participants through interviews and school district public artifacts. Emergent themes were identified from the data through open coding and findings were developed and validated. The findings indicated that at-risk students benefit from (a) dedicated, caring teachers; (b) strong stakeholder support; (c) on-going professional development; (d) opportunities for teacher collaboration; and (e) effective differentiated instructional strategies. Implications for social change include increased instructional effectiveness for teachers that improve academic performance of at-risk students.

Atlantic Avenue Elementary School (AAES) experienced reading achievement gaps between high-performing students and below-basic students within the school reading curriculum and balanced literacy framework. Vygotsky's theories of scaffolding and zone of proximal development served as the framework guiding this project, which used a qualitative case study design to explore reading teachers' perceptions of the ways in which they were addressing this reading achievement gap. Individual interviews, classroom observations, and lesson plans were the sources of the qualitative data collected from 6 reading teachers. The data were coded manually using emerging and constant-comparative strategies to identify common themes. The themes that emerged from the findings were the need for (a) balanced literacy instruction, (b) reading instruction to be taught at individual ability levels, (c) enrichment of students' background knowledge, (d) meaningful reading assessments to drive instruction, and (e) sustainable and informative professional development (PD). A teacher-informed PD plan was developed in the form of a professional learning community. The potential positive social impact of success of this PD at AAES could benefit similar schools in the district, state, and nation.