<p> The purpose of this research was to explore factors influencing Kuwaiti kindergarten preservice teachers&rsquo; intentions to use Web 2.0 technologies in their future Kuwaiti kindergarten classrooms and their perceptions of using Web 2.0 technologies to enhance kindergarten student learning. This mixed methods study employed parallel collection of qualitative and quantitative data, separate analyses of the data, and then a merging of the findings. Gathered data were evaluated using the decomposed theory of planned behavior (DTPB) to predict the factors that influence Kuwaiti preservice teachers&rsquo; intentions to use Web 2.0 technologies in their future kindergarten classrooms. The central research questions of the study included the following: (1) What factors do Kuwaiti preservice kindergarten teachers describe as the best predictors of their intentions to use Web 2.0 technologies in their future classrooms? (2) What are Kuwaiti preservice kindergarten teachers&rsquo; perceptions of the pedagogical benefits of using Web 2.0 technologies in their future classrooms? (3) How do Kuwaiti preservice kindergarten teachers describe the factors that predict their intentions to use Web 2.0 technologies in their future kindergarten classrooms? (4) How do Kuwaiti preservice kindergarten teachers describe their perceptions of Web 2.0 technologies as pedagogical tools? The findings revealed that attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control positively and significantly affect the preservice teachers&rsquo; intentions to use Web 2.0 technologies. </p><p> This study indicated Kuwaiti kindergarten preservice teachers&rsquo; intention to use YouTube, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Twitter in their future kindergarten classroom to improve student learning, communicate with parents, and share classrooms activities. Another important finding was the fact that the majority of Kuwaiti kindergarten preservice teachers did not use Wikis, Blogs, Facebook, and Skype. However, they proficiently used the popular Web 2.0 technologies in their social cultural environment. Most of the teachers believed that Web 2.0 technologies could improve kindergarten students&rsquo; learning, but they had concerns regarding inappropriate content. Hence, they were not prepared to use Web 2.0 technologies in educational settings. Finally, by using a mixed-method approach, this study offered educators a different dimension of the factors that affect preservice teachers&rsquo; intentions to use technology.</p>

<p> This is a qualitative phenomenological study that examines teacher perceptions of the Performance Evaluation Reform Act (PERA). The purpose of this research was to analyze how educators&rsquo; perceptions of PERA influenced their workplace satisfaction and willingness to grow and improve. The study explores PERA in the context of neoliberal reform ideology and also through the lens of self-determination theory. Fourteen teachers from Central and Southern Illinois were interviewed and PERA, like other neoliberal education reforms, was shown to have a demotivating influence on the profession.</p>

<p> Transitional kindergarten (TK) is the 1st year of a 2-year kindergarten program. It follows the requirements of California Senate Bill 1381 in providing a modified kindergarten curriculum that is both age and developmentally appropriate. The Kindergarten Readiness Act of 2010 changed the required entry age for admittance to kindergarten and first grade and developed a TK program to implement throughout districts. The criterion to enter a TK program is that students must turn 5 between the months of September 2 and December 2. The TK program is designed to place emphasis on developing cognitive, socioemotional, and physical skills. TK implements the same core curriculum and materials as the kindergarten program, with curricular modifications and developmentally appropriate practices that will allow TK students to ultimately meet the Kindergarten Common Core and State Content Standards at the end of their 2-year program. </p><p> This study aimed to explore teachers&rsquo; perceptions about the extent to which the new TK program contributes to students&rsquo; social, emotional, and cognitive development to ultimately yield better learning outcomes for students once they enter kindergarten. Further, this qualitative study aimed to give a voice to TK and kindergarten teachers who are at the heart of the TK program implementation. It explores not only how the implementation of the Kindergarten Readiness Act of 2010 affects teachers professionally but also how it affects the learning outcomes of students under their tutelage. </p><p> Overall, these findings of this study revealed teachers&rsquo; beliefs that the TK students needed extra time to develop the cognitive, socioemotional, and physical skills necessary to improve learning outcomes in kindergarten. Teachers viewed the TK program as developmentally appro- priate to meet the needs of all students; however, they believed that the TK curriculum did not integrate the developmental domains into teaching and learning of subject matter. In fact, the participants held diverse perspectives regarding the TK curriculum on preparing students for kindergarten. Although teachers held various perspectives on the TK curriculum, they expressed strong, unifying views on their passion for practice and the importance of their instructional practices.</p>

<p> In 2004, Alabama abolished its previous teacher tenure law that allowed for teachers to appeal adverse board decisions to a seven member Alabama State Tenure Commission. In its place, the Alabama legislature provided a process for teachers to appeal terminations, transfers, and major/minor suspensions to a hearing officer. The hearing officer was either selected from a panel of arbitrators through the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services&rsquo; Office of Arbitration Services (FMCS) or could be mutually agreed upon by the parties. Unlike the previous tenure law, the hearing officer was not required to given any deference or consideration to the board&rsquo;s decision below. Not long after its adoption and implementation, the 2004 Alabama Teacher Tenure Act came under fire for not fulfilling its intended goals of providing for an expedited and less-costly method of review for adverse employment actions. By 2011, Alabama&rsquo;s (as well as most other states&rsquo;) political landscape had changed significantly and the 2004 Alabama Teacher Tenure Act was repealed and replaced with the Students First Act. This qualitative research project analyzes the issues and application of arbitration-type hearings in 106 Alabama K-12 tenured certified personnel adverse employment actions. Specifically, the research addresses the issues regarding Alabama&rsquo;s 2004 Teacher Tenure Act, including how hearing officers trained as employment law arbitrators decided for or against board decisions in adverse employment actions, what trends emerged from their decisions, and what legal principles remain applicable for school administrators.</p><p>

<p> College degree attainment for Black Americans has significantly fallen their majority counterparts. While educational attainment for this minority demographic has been less than average, a secondary trend emerges. Despite the rises in graduation rates, Black males consistently earn a smaller percentage of the degrees garnered by Black students. Furthermore, policies throughout sectors of American society produce segregation that manifests as genocidal realities in the lives of Black men&mdash;including college graduation. Thus, the purpose of this research was to determine the effect of neighborhood segregation on Black men and women&rsquo;s 4 and 6-year graduation probability and determine if Black men reduce the gap when given 6 years to graduate. The theoretical framework of African American Male Theory guided this study. Utilizing the Princeton Longitudinal Survey of Freshmen (NLSF), the research utilized binary logistic regression to analyze the effect of 3 independent variables (household income, maternal education level, and neighborhood segregation) on dependent variables (4-year graduation and 6-year graduation). </p><p> A purposeful sample 1051 Black students (368 men and 683 women) from the NLSF were used in the analysis. The majority of study participants (55%) had a mother that had at least a bachelor&rsquo;s degree; 45% of the students came from neighborhoods that were majority Black (having at least 70% Black people in their neighborhood), and 15% came from poverty, 25% were low income, and 58% had incomes greater than low income. The logistic regression analysis found that for Black men, the odds of graduating and coming from a majority Black community are .506, and from a more diverse community, they are .661. For Black women, the odds of graduating in 4 years when growing up in a majority Black neighborhood were .937 and 1.6369 when growing up in a more diverse area. </p><p> The study determined racial segregation more adversely impacts Black men&rsquo;s ability to graduate with a bachelor&rsquo;s degree than it does for Black women. Even in desegregated (diverse) neighborhoods, Black men were unable to reduce the degree attainment gap given 4 or 6 years to graduate. The regression analyses yielded results that support the initial hypothesis that segregation is a significant predictor of bachelor degree attainment apart from academic preparation. Based on the indicators, predictors, and factors correlated with college degree attainment from the review of the literature, the results suggest that larger societal factors could potentially be significant predictors of college degree attainment outside of academic preparation. The findings argue for targeted interventions at the local, state, and federal levels to life course barriers imposed on Black males.</p>

<p> Policy changes influence various aspects of art education such as K-12 art education curricula, state licensure systems, and contexts of art teacher preparation. Despite strong relationships between art education policy and practical fields, few studies have attempted to understand art education from the perspective of policy analysis. This study explores the connections between art education policy and the field of art education through a focus on art teacher preparation in Indiana. Additional attention was paid to perceptions of the appropriateness of alternative licensure routes in relation to policies of academic and quality standards and the extent to which visual art teachers&rsquo; sense of identity as teachers and artists is affected by appropriation of these standards.</p><p> The theoretical framework of this study is the need to understand policy appropriation of standards (including visual art and art teacher preparation standards) as an on-going process, that is continually influenced and changed by internal (human level) and external (institutional level) factors. The appropriation process is effectively expressed through practices, narratives, and texts of practitioners.</p><p> To understand the status and factors of the art education policy appropriation in art teacher preparation, I collected data as printed or digital documents, and as interviews with faculty members and pre-service art teachers in two traditional visual art teacher preparation programs in Indiana. I analyzed external (institutional level) and internal (human level) factors to adopt and work with state and national standards. While national standards for visual art education (were adopted by many states and presented as voluntary policy, in Indiana the national standards were built into the Indiana&rsquo;s Academic Standards for Visual Art Standards for K-12 students. Visual art teachers were required to complete a traditional teacher preparation program and pass examinations to become licensed to teach art.</p><p> Findings reveal that faculty of higher art teacher education programs in Indiana paid attention to the national and state standards in K-12 visual art and the standards for teacher education when preparing students to become licensed K-12 art educators. External motivations were accreditations system for teacher preparation requested by Indiana Department of Education related to NCATE. Schools and districts could be external motivations that pre-service art teachers adopt the standards in order to succeed in a job market. Internal factors were respects of roles and leaders of art education associations, desires to train/be qualified teachers and attain balanced knowledge between art studio and art education. Alternative routes to licensure were viewed as economically advantageous but not supportive of high-quality education. Policy had little impact on issues of identity. I concluded with recommendations for improvement in art teacher preparation that were needs of supportive policies for pre-service teachers&rsquo; teaching and teaching licensure including traditional and alternative licensures.</p><p>

<p> This applied dissertation presented a mixed method design to gain a broader perspective of the perceptions of classroom management practitioners within a particular school district. Many teachers, or practitioners, experience issues with classroom management because of their understanding of strategies they use. Because of the researcher&rsquo;s position within the education system, it was recognized practitioners are mandated to utilize specific classroom management strategies. As such, the study was designed to glean the perceptions of these practitioners in relation to the misunderstandings and mandates related to the strategies dealt with on a daily basis. </p><p> The perspectives gleaned afforded opportunities to generate statistical data. The last question presented to the study participants allowed each participant to express his or her ideas, related to the questionnaire or otherwise, in any way they saw fit. The analysis of the study took into consideration the open response comments as they pertained to the statistical data generated. </p><p> Findings revealed the most favorable, as well as most effective, strategies as perceived by actual practitioners. Practitioners also expressed their opinions indicating their displeasure regarding mandated classroom management strategies commonly referred to as Office Referrals. Practitioners indicated they perceived revoking student privileges, placing students in time-out areas, and utilizing counseling services as more effective when choosing strategies relative to managing their classrooms.</p><p>

<p> Colleges facing pressures to increase student outcomes while reducing costs have shown an increasing interest in competency-based education (CBE) models. Regional accreditors created a joint policy on CBE evaluation. Two years later, through this grounded theory study, I sought to understand from experts the nature of this policy, its impact, and the possible need for it to be revised. Findings indicate that the Council of Regional Accrediting Commission&rsquo;s (C-RAC) Framework was helpful as an educational tool but was also a product of its time and may need to be updated. Analysis of survey responses, a focus group discussion, and semi-structured interviews revealed themes centering around a) the value of the Framework, b) its alignment with accreditors and changing times, and c) the need for its revision. A grounded theory of a narrative lifecycle for the Framework details a progression through six stages that is driven by predictable narrative features. Implications of a narrative policy lifecycle view of the Framework underscore the need for revision of the Framework, and the potential usefulness of applying a narrative paradigm to other higher education accreditation work.</p><p>

<p> This quantitative study focused on educators entering the classroom as teachers both pre- NCLB and post-NCLB enactment. The specific problems explored in this study was the motivational levels and job satisfaction factors of pre-No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and post-No Child Left Behind (NCLB) public school educators; how motivation and job satisfaction influenced educators&rsquo; decisions to remain active in the classroom within an instructional capacity. The participants in this study were public school teachers employed by a mid-sized school district. The research instrument used as part of this study was Mertler&rsquo;s (1985) Teacher Motivation and Job Satisfaction Survey (TMJS); one of the few motivational/job satisfaction surveys specifically developed for application within the education profession. SurveyMonkey supported the survey, data collection, and statistical analysis. The application of a chi-square, one-way ANOVA, Pearson Correlation, Stepwise Multiple Regression, frequency distribution tables, and descriptive statistics allowed for the identification of a relationship, if one existed, between pre- NCLB and post-NCLB educators motivation factors and job satisfaction levels and teachers choosing to remain actively engaged in teaching within the classroom. The research revealed, while there was no significant differences between pre-NCLB and post-NCLB educators&rsquo; motivational levels, job satisfaction factors between the two groups were statically significant different.</p><p>

<p> Educational reform is at the forefront of legislatures and school districts across the United States (Hattie, 2011). To find and employ high school improvement initiatives that lead to improved educational experiences for students, educational leaders must examine in great detail what systems have been successful and then modify the initiatives to fit the characteristics of their particular school districts (Berliner &amp; Glass, 2015). The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of initiatives one Midwestern high school implemented beginning in 2012. The initiatives implemented included the Tardy Sweep policy, Response to Intervention (RtI) program, and a Late Work policy. The data collected were archival and reflected the school years from 2010-2011 through 2015-2016. Using descriptive statistics, the findings demonstrated an improved attendance rate, a decline in discipline referrals, and decreased failure rate with the implementation of these initiatives at one Midwestern high school. The findings of this study provide a compelling argument for the implementation of the three initiatives at other high schools.</p><p>