<p> The Arab Spring marked a milestone in the political, social, and economic struggle of the Arab populations. Tunisian youth, like the rest of the Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) youth, dream of a corruption-free Tunisia, better and stronger educational system, and a fair access to suitable employment opportunities in a rapidly evolving and competitive world where students who are well-prepared academically and master the English language have a clear advantage to land good jobs and enjoy a brighter professional and social future compared to those who lack adequate professional skills and mastery of English language. This study specifically focused on examining the perceptions of Tunisian K&ndash;12 and university educators (i.e., teachers and educational leaders) of the effects of the Arab Spring on Tunisia&rsquo;s educational policies and reforms related to corruption, job preparation, and English language. Historically, Tunisia&rsquo;s 1956&ndash;2010 official educational policy has addressed important issues but not the corruption or job preparation issue. Only the mid-1990&rsquo;s reform addressed the English language teaching in Tunisian schools. Furthermore, the researcher used the convergent parallel design strategy to answer this study&rsquo;s empirical research questions (i.e., 2nd and 3rd). Results indicated that 51.9% of Tunisian educators (n = 52) believe that the Arab Spring has set the environment to develop educational policies and reforms related to corruption, 50 % believe that the Arab Spring has set the environment to develop educational policies and reforms related to job preparation, but less than a third (28.8%) believe that the Arab Spring has set the environment to develop educational policies and reforms related to English language. Furthermore, the majority of participants do not believe that Tunisia&rsquo;s post-Arab Spring educational policies and reforms related to corruption (80.7%), job preparation (76.9%), and English language (65.4%) were effective. Additionally, 96.2% of the participants are convinced that post-Arab Spring Tunisia urgently needs new and effective educational policies and reforms to mitigate corruption, close the education-job market gap, and improve and increase English language teaching in Tunisian schools. There was no discrepancy between statistical and qualitative results in the study. </p><p>

<p> The significance of this study was to examine if adolescents in a juvenile detention center in St. Louis City could self-adjust, cope, or adapt to their levels of stress. There was a great deal of literature available supporting the notion of utilizing affective tactics in combating stress levels among various age groups. However, there was very little information provided on at-risk adolescents in a juvenile detention center confronted with dangerous levels of stress. The importance of understanding how these detained adolescents, between the ages of 12 and 17, approached dealing with their stress was not just beneficial to them, but also to the institution responsible for providing adequate care. It further provided a unique view into the mindset of detained adolescents&rsquo; resiliency under such adverse conditions, which could encourage future research on the matter. </p><p> Therefore, this study analyzed adolescents&rsquo; prior stress levels before detainment and once admitted, determining if there was any potential statistical correlation among the 32 participants&rsquo; views of their own stress levels and their stress management activities. The participants were equally surveyed on a range of topics to determine their initial approach used in addressing stress while in detention and what methods appeared to provide a greater level of success. The survey also measured the significance of programming and if institutional recreational activities provided substantial amounts of relief or decrease in adolescents&rsquo; stress levels. <u></u>The results outlined what adolescents found to be beneficial and helpful, not an indicator of the operational functions of the institutional programs. Furthermore, one of the initial goals of this study, in collaboration with the participants and the institution, was to gain insightful information, which could potentially serve as an interventional tool or resource for adolescents under stress. The results categorized the importance of self-adjusting opportunities or methods applied in dealing with stress among detained adolescents. In addition, the institutional benefits involved a greater recognition and well-conceived opportunities for adolescents to have options in confronting their stress, from an individual or group atmosphere, which could minimize future conflicts. Therefore, the gravity of this research implies how significant it is in finding resourceful tools for all, directly in contact with some of the most difficult and challenging groups; further, encouraging and enhancing adolescents with the ability to successfully adjust to their levels of stress.</p><p>

<p> Researching ethical decision-making, within an educational setting, shed light on the importance of how each decision may influence an individual leader across generations. &ldquo;A leader&rsquo;s system of values, or deeply held beliefs, is the ethical framework from which a leader develops a vision, defines and shapes the change process and takes action to make his or her vision a reality&rdquo; (Vogel, 2012, p. 1). The researcher sought to investigate the how and why of each decision to explore a possible gap between one leader to another, based on age, experience, education, gender and/or race. When an educational leader experienced a turbulent situation with a decision, these situations &ldquo;tap both the ethics of justice, critique, care, and the profession, as well as &hellip; the emotional context for [each] decision&hellip;by focusing on The Turbulence Theory&rdquo; (Shapiro &amp; Gross, 2013, p. xi). Shapiro and Gross (2013) established a similar study based on the Multiple Ethical Paradigms: ethic of care, ethic of critique, ethic of justice, and ethic of profession, which formed the foundation for the researcher&rsquo;s study. This study also gathered data on how a leader&rsquo;s experience shaped current decision-making. </p><p> The total number of participants consisted of 45 educational leaders enrolled at a Midwest university with a unique set of leadership characteristics. The 45 surveyed participants consisted of 30 females and 15 male educational leaders with 12 of those participants self-reported as Black and 33 self-reported as White. The participants described in detail the thinking behind each decision. The researcher analyzed each decision based on a specific ethical decision-making paradigm to seek a relationship to an educational leader&rsquo;s characteristic. </p><p> Results from the contingency table revealed a relationship between specific characteristics based on a particular scenario. Recommendations for future studies included investigation on each ethical paradigm and an individual educational leadership characteristic and analysis on reasons &lsquo;why&rsquo; each educational leader leaned on one particular ethical paradigm over another. </p><p>

<p> When international students come to the U.S. to study, they are faced with unique needs and challenges that influence their academic success, adjustment, and well-being. In particular, international students&rsquo; academic adjustment determines their academic success during the transition to U.S. universities. This dissertation examined the validity of a new scale and international students&rsquo; academic adjustment from self-determination theory (SDT) in three different papers. The first paper examined the validity of a new instrument assessing students&rsquo; beliefs about assessment in the context of second language learning. Specifically, this study was conducted with international undergraduate students to examine their beliefs about a high-stakes standardized English proficiency exam and the use of their self-regulatory learning strategies in the context of second language learning. This study discussed implications for researchers to use an alternative scale to measure four different aspects of students&rsquo; beliefs about assessments and for educators&rsquo; intervention in students&rsquo; developing adaptive beliefs about assessment in the learning process. </p><p> The second paper aimed to provide a comprehensive theoretical framework from a self-determination perspective that supports international students&rsquo; successful academic adjustment. This paper comprised of two phases: quantitative phase and qualitative phase. The quantitative phase explored the relationships between international students&rsquo; learning climates, basic psychological needs, discussion participation, beliefs about classroom assessments, and academic adjustment. The qualitative phase explored how international students perceive their learning environments and classroom experiences in more detail through semi-structured interviews. This study showed that SDT provides theoretical foundations to explain international students&rsquo; successful academic adjustment. </p><p> Finally, the third paper investigated the relationships between self-determined motivation, beliefs about classroom assessments, and the use of different types of learning strategy through the lens of self-determination theory. It was proposed that students&rsquo; self-determined motivation may shape adaptive beliefs about classroom assessments, which in turn, contributes to use of higher level of learning strategies and eventually academic adjustment as a learning outcome. Also, this study explored whether there is a difference in students&rsquo; motivation, beliefs about assessments, and the use of self-regulated learning strategies in two different instructional environments (lecture-based and discussion-based classrooms). This paper discussed how international students&rsquo; adapt themselves to U.S. universities through motivation to learn, perspectives about classroom assessments, and different types of learning approach in different academic disciplines at the university level.</p><p>

<p> Each California Community College (CCC) is required to develop and implement a Student Equity Plan that details budget for activities aimed at closing the achievement gap for disproportionately impacted student populations. This is an ambitious, new effort, one with substantial funding behind it, that challenges the capacity and practices of CCCs. Many institutions have identified Student Equity Coordinators (SECs) to provide oversight of the initiative and to guide transformational change efforts around equity. </p><p> This qualitative interview study explored the implementation of the California Community Colleges Chancellor&rsquo;s Office&rsquo;s (CCCCO) Student Equity Initiative (SEI) through the stories of the SECs tasked with overseeing the program on their campuses. The study provides insight into what SECs perceived as facilitators and obstacles to implementing the initiative. Fourteen participants, who had either served or were currently serve as SECs at their institution, were interviewed for this study. Bolman and Deal&rsquo;s Four-Framed Model for understanding organizational function provided the theoretical framework to analyze the data of this study.</p><p> Findings revealed that SECs viewed their institutional systems as both facilitators and inhibitors to implementation of the SEI. Many SECs reported a lack of clear understanding of the SEI by individuals and at the institutional level, which made it difficult to rally support for the initiative; the SECs did identify &ldquo;choir&rdquo; members--those constituents who participated in and/or supported most initiatives--as important allies in implementing the SEI, although also noted resistance from stakeholders who questioned equity efforts. Findings also noted the importance of research and evaluation as a facilitator implementation. SECs also reported a commitment to serving underrepresented students, and a sense of responsibility to ensure that the SEI was carried out effectively and efficiently, across divisions and departments, as facilitators. Having the right SEC in place not only promoted equity efforts at CCCs but displayed an institution&rsquo;s commitment to equity work. </p><p> Recommendations for policy include that each CCC should be required to use a percentage of funding to conduct the necessary research and evaluation needed to identify and rectify achievement gaps. CCC districts should also allow flexibility in their budgeting process to streamline Student Equity spending. Finally, findings suggest educational stakeholders should be required to attend professional development on equity to support a common understanding of the SEI and improve equity-mindedness.</p><p>

<p> Proponents of teacher pay for performance suggest that it reflects American values by rewarding student achievement and encouraging hard work. Supporters also say that pay for performance helps to recruit and retain teachers by increasing their compensation. Critics counter that pay for performance erodes teacher collaboration, is difficult to monitor, cannot be reliably linked to student achievement, leads to dishonest reporting of test scores, and is not a long-term solution to low teacher pay. Some researchers have found that extrinsic reward systems, such as pay for performance, can cancel the benefits that intrinsic motivation provides. As policy makers consider different pay for performance models, the link to teacher job satisfaction warrants investigation. This study examined pay for performance using the theoretical framework of Self Determination Theory. This theory suggests that employees find satisfaction when they have freedom in how they pursue organizational goals (autonomy), when they are given opportunities to improve job skills (mastery), and when employees feel they make a difference in the world (purpose). This study investigated pay for performance&rsquo;s effect on teacher job satisfaction in a small, rural school district. An evaluation of both quantitative data and qualitative data determined that pay for performance can contribute to teacher job satisfaction, but only under the right conditions. This study concludes with a list of suggestions for implementing a pay for performance program that is likely to contribute to teacher job satisfaction.</p><p>

<p> This investigation focused on identifying model foundational strategies to assist Canton Public School District (CPSD) officials in recruiting new teachers, successfully hiring them, and then retaining them the district. </p><p> Located within the boundaries of the city of Canton, Mississippi, CSPD is geographically located in the central portion of the state. The district consists of 1 high school, 2 middle schools, 4 elementary schools and Canton Education Services Center.</p><p> CSPD is continually affected by an ever-increasing teacher shortage because new teachers tend to leave the district after they are hired. More than 50% of new teachers leave their teaching positions in the district&rsquo;s schools within 5 years.</p><p> The investigation utilized published literature and other archival data (e.g., scholarly papers presented at conferences) accessible to the public in the form of books, chapters in published books, journal articles, and scholarly papers presented at learned societies and associations.</p><p> Two research questions guided the investigation. The first research question asked: What does the published literature and related archival data (e.g., available scholarly papers retrievable from sources such as colleges, universities, foundations, conferences, etc.) accessible to the public reveal about recruiting, hiring, and retaining teachers? Overall, the material collected and analyzed yielded abundant information. Much of the available information proved valuable because the material focused attention the &ldquo;how-to-do-it&rdquo; aspects of recruiting, hiring, and retaining quality new teachers.</p><p> The second research question asked: Will information gleamed from an analysis of the published literature and other archival data (e.g., unpublished scholarly papers) lead to the development of foundational strategies for assisting school district officials in recruiting, hiring, and retaining new teachers for CPSD? It was possible to develop a model holding potential for improving teacher recruitment, hiring, and retention at CPSD.</p><p> The model that was developed features seven foundational strategies that if implemented, hold potential for improving teacher recruitment, hiring, and retention at CPSD. The seven strategies are: (1) identify the vacancy and write the job description, (2) announce and advertise the teacher vacancy, (3) develop a customized application form, (4) paper screening process, (5) interviewing process, (6) salary and benefit package, and (7) induction and mentoring.</p><p>

<p> The scope of the current study focuses on the relationship between direct and indirect methods of measuring social skills in children. Participants included 33 children between the ages of 6 and 11 years old. The sample drew from elementary schools in 2 Southern states in the U.S., as well as social skills groups from a university-based clinic. While some participants had been previously identified has having disabilities impacting social performance, it was not an inclusionary requirement and the majority of children were not identified as having a disability clinically or through a special education eligibility domain. Teachers and clinicians leading social skills groups completed indirect measures, the <i>Behavior Assessment Scale for Children Third Edition</i> (BASC-3) and the <i>Social Skills Improvement System </i> (SSIS) related to the participants&rsquo; social skills. Direct observations of participants were completed using the <i>Social Observation System</i> (SOS) by graduate level research assistants. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted to determine the predictive value of the teacher informed indirect measures on the direct method of observation. Additionally, simple linear regression analyses were conducted to examine the reverse relationship of the direct observation&rsquo;s ability to predict the variance observed in each indirect measure. Results indicated that both the indirect and direct methods of social skills assessment can significantly predict the other. However, while significant, a low to moderate amount of variance in the direct measure is explained by the indirect measures of social skills. The results and implications of the finding are discussed, as well as limitations and future directions.</p><p>

<p> Teacher retention is a pressing issue for school districts throughout the nation. Attrition, combined with an older teaching population and increasing student enrollment, is causing a teacher shortage (Suell &amp; Piotrowski, 2007). This teacher shortage is exacerbated in low-performing school. Many studies have been conducted to determine why teachers are leaving the classrooms of low-performing schools, but very few have examined the subject of why they are staying. This study attempted to identify teacher demographics and factors that exist in teachers who have five or more years of experience working in a Priority School in Arkansas. The results of the study determined that &ldquo;commitment to making a difference to the students in the community&rdquo;, &ldquo;strong/effective administrative leadership&rdquo;, and &ldquo;relationship among staff&rdquo; to be the most important factors considered when making the decision to stay employed in a Priority School.</p><p>

<p> As we progress into the 21^st century, we find ourselves at a transition point in the field of education. Preparing students for future careers and economic prosperity requires a dramatic change in the traditional American high school education system. The purpose of this mixed methods study is to identify if the participants&rsquo; high school experiences provided the skills necessary for college and career preparation after graduation, ensuring their economic prosperity as adults. Three research questions were addressed in this study: (1) If students graduate from high school unprepared for college and career after graduation, what is the economic impact on the community? (2) Does the completion of career-related programs such as career pathways, career technical education (CTE), or science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) prepare students for college and career? (3) Does A-G course completion, participation in honors programs, early college, or dual credit courses completed in high school prepare students for college and career? This population was identified because they would have time after graduation from high school to provide answers if their high school education program affected their college and career success or lack thereof. The findings demonstrated that the participants&rsquo; high school college and career preparation could influence students&rsquo; future economic success as adults. Also, the findings suggest that the specific types of experiences the participants had while in high school that led to their economic success varied and depended on the type of educational programs, opportunities, experiences, support, and motivation they had in high school.</p><p>