This research case study was conducted to determine how, if at all, the purposeful pairing of reading and writing activities helped students construct a writer's identity. As reading and writing are both skills separately taught, it is useful to explore the outcomes when pairing them together. This research study addresses how students can transact with texts, build upon their own ideas through a sociocultural lens, to create written products that will foster their identity as a writer. This case study relies on pattern matching to examine the extent to which students from an honors level junior English course perceived themselves as writers after the year-long course was completed. This study utilized a Google Forms survey along with an interview as a means of data collection in order to analyze whether or not students self-identified as a writer. This research is significant because it provides an account of eleventh grade students who were subjected to a hybrid year of learning due to COVID-19 and the outcomes of a classic American Literature curriculum that was modified to help them cultivate their own identity including one as a writer.

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Through quantitative and qualitative methods this study examined the transition planning process in Virginia's Henrico County Public School Division for secondary students with learning disabilities in an effort to determine the extent to which postsecondary outcomes identified in their transition plans were achieved. Specific objectives of the study were (a) to determine the congruence between written objectives in exiting students' transition plans and identified recommended practices in the literature, (b) to determine the congruence between the transition plans developed for students with learning disabilities and their postsecondary outcomes, (c) to determine the extent to which identified recommended practices in students' transition plans were implemented, and (d) to identify facilitating and inhibiting factors to the transition planning process from the students' perspectives. Findings showed congruence greater than 50% between only three of the eight identified recommended practices in the literature and students' transition plans: parent/family involvement, development of self-advocacy/self-understanding skills, and participation in academic skills training. Considerably less congruence was evident for each of the remaining five practices. Interagency collaboration was not identified in any of the transition plans. Information gathered to determine the congruence between the transition plans developed for students with learning disabilities and their postsecondary outcomes showed the employment outcome area as having the greatest degree of congruence and the education outcome area as being less than 50%. Data collected to determine the extent to which recommended practices were implemented revealed vocational training, parent/family involvement, and paid work experience had been implemented 100% while the remaining practices were found to be implemented to a much lesser degree. Facilitating and inhibiting factors to the transition process as reported by participants revealed practices found in the literature as well as those not identified in the literature. Academic skills training emerged as a dominant facilitating factor. The lack of this training was cited most frequently as an inhibiting factor. In addition, teacher attitude was reported frequently as an inhibiting factor.

The purpose of this study was to investigate teacher sense of efficacy and its relationship to pupil control ideology in urban middle schools. The following questions were investigated: (1) Among urban middle school teachers, what is the relationship between their level of self-efficacy for teaching and their pupil control ideology? (2) Are female middle school teachers more or less efficacious than male middle school teachers? (3) Are female middle school teachers more or less humanistic than male middle school teachers?;The study included middle school teachers from 4 urban school divisions in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Teachers from 13 middle schools from the 4 school divisions participated in this study which yielded a total of 161 teachers.;A Pearson r correlation was run to investigate the relationship between teacher sense of efficacy and pupil control ideology. T-tests were run to determine if statistically significant difference existed between the pupil control ideology and teacher sense of efficacy scores of urban male and female middle school teachers. The results of the Pearson r correlation indicated that there was no statistically significant relationship between teachers' sense of efficacy and their pupil control ideology. The t-test results indicated that urban female middle school teachers were more efficacious than urban male middle school teachers. There was no statistically significant difference between the pupil control ideology mean scores of urban middle school teachers.;This study has implications for schools to provide staff development for urban male teachers to increase their sense of efficacy. A replication of this study using a larger sample and a different measure of pupil control ideology may yield different results.

The focus of the ninth grade year as a crucial year for high school students is a current issue that raises national concern. Currently, rural and suburban school districts have been successful in implementing and in sustaining successful ninth grade transition programs. However, in urban settings, educators have been perplexed by the varying degrees of success with these same strategies. This study focused on four urban high schools' efforts to increase ninth grade promotion rates and ultimately high school completion rates. Each school's efforts have been described in order to gain insight into how each program was developed to meet the needs of its school population. The planning, implementation, program design, inhibiting factors, facilitative factors, and criteria used to determine success/failure were explored in each school, and findings for each school were compared to practices found in other ninth grade transition programs in urban settings across the United States. Findings from this study suggest that while ninth grade transition programs can positively impact ninth grade promotion rates, urban schools continue to fall short in yielding immediate and continued increases in promotion rates. Before the strategies can be systematically labeled effective, each school's efforts have to result in increases in ninth grade promotion rates that are replicated on a yearly basis.

Many research-based reading interventions exist, but little literature examines teaching secondary reading using entire novels as an intervention. This quasi-experimental study examined the relationship between whether entire novels were included in secondary intensive reading and students' English language arts skills. Data were collected through an online survey of eight reading teachers from one Florida school district. Data collected by the survey were teacher qualifications, inclusion of entire novels in reading curriculum, and implementation of research-based teaching strategies. Survey data, Florida Standards Assessment of English Language Arts (FSA ELA) student scores, student demographics and reading placement data were analyzed to answer six research questions regarding the use of entire novels in secondary reading classes. Students were enrolled in one of three leveled abilities reading classes (identified as a Reading Treatment). Data were analyzed using a series of Analysis of Variances (ANOVAs) with Kruskal-Wallis post hoc tests. Results indicated there were no statistically significant interactions between Reading Treatment, novels use, and student race or ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status. No interaction effect was found between Reading Treatment and teacher self-reported implementation of research-based teaching strategies for students taught with entire novels. A statistically significant difference in language arts skills was found for students in Reading Treatments 1 and 3. Among those students, those taught without entire novels had higher levels of language arts skills than students taught using entire novels. Another statistically significant difference was in Reading Treatments 3 students who had teachers without reading endorsements had higher language arts levels. This research was conducted to better inform educational leaders in best practices when determining secondary intensive reading curriculum.

The purpose of this qualitative critical discourse analysis study was to determine if there was a benefit to using a young adult adaptation of a canonical piece to increase student comprehension in the 9th grade English-Language Arts classroom. The use of young adult literature in the secondary classroom is a prevalent topic that continues to circulate amongst educators and researchers. This research study addresses how canonical literature is far removed from the current set of twenty-first century students and its disconnect in the classroom. This study sought to discover student thoughts and perceptions on a specific set of text pairings to answer the research question: How, if at all, does young adult literature better inform canonical literature in the 9th grade English-Language Arts classroom. This qualitative study uses critical discourse analysis methods to examine four students' written and verbal transactions through the use of a pre-survey, Google Forms "Quiz", a Zoom interview, and a post survey as a means for critical interpretation. Using critical discourse analysis the researcher identified themes that reflected the following results: students identified with the young adult text because they can relate to the character's struggles and current events, colloquial and neologisms were used to convey understanding, and participant's silences expressed confidence, even when their words did not. Student's through their own narratives have indicated that there is a benefit and need to use, a more culturally relevant young adult literature adaptation alongside a canonical piece to increase student understanding in the high school setting.

Teachers are confronted with many obstacles when learning to be the best teacher they can for their students. Teachers face challenges such as working with introverted students, developing activities that are fruitful and sustainable for varying students, and keeping students all focused on the goal of learning (Tasgin & Tunc, 2018). However, the authenticity of an instructor, while being researched in college and counseling settings, has not been sufficiently examined in high school settings. The authenticity of the instructor is a motivating factor for students at the college level (Kreber & Klampfleitner, 2013; Kreber & Klampfleitner, 2012; Kreber et al., 2010; Ramezanzadeh et al., 2016a, 2016b). Therefore, this mixed-methods study aims to explore secondary teacher authenticity, specifically inside high school classrooms (Bayir-Toper et al., 2020; Kreber & Klampfleitner, 2013; Kreber & Klampfleitner, 2012; Kreber et al., 2010; Ramezanzadeh et al., 2016a, 2016b). Surveys will be administered to teachers, select teachers will be interviewed, and thematic analysis will be conducted.

This exploratory case study was conducted in order to determine what themes, if at all, emerged from the analysis of multimodal, graphic novel panels adapted from primary texts. While research has been conducted in understanding the academic validity of graphic novels, as well as how visual analysis abilities can lend themselves to the further understanding of grammar, space, and hierarchy of elements of graphic novels, there exists a gap in how situating the meaning-making readers generate in an analysis of adapted graphic novels. This research study addresses how adolescent learners utilize language after exposure to visual grammar terminology and concepts, and what roles are adopted by the adolescent learner in their understanding of the multimodal images. This case study relies on pattern matching to examine what roles under the Expanded Four Resource Model were utilized, both prior and after applying visual framework on graphic novel panels. This study utilized an educational unit, along with an interview, in order to collect data. This research is significant because it provides an exploration of comparison to processes similar to purely textual reading, the concepts readers understood has presence within multimodal images, and how dominance-based thinking presented itself within many explanations of visuals.

Public school districts in Florida are required by law to cooperate with local law enforcement agencies to establish and assign one or more safe-school officers at each public school. Public school principals assume a significant role in the implementation of state policy measures and are responsible for providing safe school climates for students and staff (Coburn, 2005; Gawlik, 2015). However, principals' perceptions inform their individual interpretation of state policy measures, influencing the implementation process (Reid, 2017). This study utilized a cross-sectional survey to measure principals' perceptions of safe-school officers and their effect on facilitating safe school climates for students in public schools. The results of the study indicate there are statistically significant differences between principals' perceptions of safe school officers, in regards to principals who utilize formalized school-based policies or written documents outlining the role, responsibilities, and expectations of safe-school officers. The results also revealed statistically significant median differences between principals' opinions regarding the influence school resource officers and school safety officers have on engendering a safe school climate and the role and function of these officers. This study could generate insight into the perceived impact and limitations of new school safety provisions implemented to enhance school safety for students in Florida public schools.