The purpose of this study was to determine if having a parent, a grandparent, or both a parent and grandparent who were educators was a contributing factor for teachers in not only choosing education but also remaining in the profession long term. I constructed a theoretical framework explaining the phenomenon. A review of the literature provided a basis for classifying motivations teachers have for entering the profession, possible reasons for leaving, satisfiers, and dissatisfiers. There were 18 participants in this grounded-theory research. The participants were identified using the snowball method. My study was conducted in a rural county in East Tennessee in 1 of 2 school systems present there. The analysis of the data presented several themes and subsequent findings. The impact of the participants' families was definitely present. Although many participants reported that their parents did not overtly encourage them to become teachers, having witnessed their parents as teachers seemed to have made their transition to teaching easier. Each of the participants had extremely positive childhood experiences with education. The participants also noted that being children of teachers made them more aware of the various types of responsibilities and activities that were required of teachers. The participants also noted that having children of their own made the schedules of teachers more appealing, as well as their intense desire to see children learn. I found through the research conducted with the participants of my study that their parents did not push or force them to become teachers; however, the experiences they had as children of teachers seemed to better prepare them for all of the duties, experiences, and expectations teachers face on a regular basis.

Research shows that having an excellent reading teacher in the classroom is key to preventing reading difficulties. However, teachers often feel unprepared to work with students experiencing reading difficulties. This can be problematic in a school that uses a multi-tiered system of support for students in which the classroom teacher is responsible for core instruction and early reading interventions. This qualitative study examined the influences on elementary teachers' instructional and assessment decisions when teaching reading to students who are experiencing reading difficulties. Data were collected through both survey and interviews and were analyzed using thematic analysis. Five themes were identified that suggest teachers' literacy instructional decisions are influenced by administrators, their knowledge of reading instruction, professional development, their beliefs about using data for instruction, and collaboration. Findings from this study provide evidence that teacher decisions are more heavily influenced by forces when teachers lack a deep understanding of their students or of effective literacy instruction. When this happens, teachers' efficacy is also affected, which research shows can affect student outcomes. Teacher decision-making is supported through professional development on effective literacy instruction and use of data for planning. Teacher efficacy improves with opportunities to work with and learn from colleagues and from having administrators who work alongside them when making literacy decisions. Recommendations for administrators, teacher educators, and teachers are included as well as suggestions for future research.