Targeted school attacks are an ongoing threat to campus safety in the 21st Century. While case studies of previous incidents have demonstrated the impact educators can have on the outcome of school shootings, how to effectively prepare school-based personnel to respond to such a crisis remains largely unknown. This research aimed to assess educators' response to utilizing virtual simulation as a potential tool in emergency preparedness. Specifically, educators' perception of preparedness, reaction, and perception of learning were evaluated based on their experience with the Department of Homeland Security's Enhanced Dynamic Geo-Social Environment (EDGE) First-Responder Sandbox 2.0. A sample-size of 52 participants grouped in teams of six to eight received instruction on how to navigate the virtual environment before completing three simulated emergency scenarios and debriefs. An online survey was then completed to gather educator characteristics and to ascertain perceptions of preparedness, reaction, and perceptions of learning. Total preparedness, reaction, and learning scores were evaluated using descriptive statistics. Educator characteristics were then analyzed to determine if professional experiences or specific traits influenced scores. Overall, total mean scores indicated that, on average, participants agreed or strongly agreed with all survey items relating to preparedness, reaction, and learning. Thus, EDGE was an effective tool in exercising emergency preparedness. Educator characteristics and experiences were not statistically significant in the outcomes of scores. The quantitative data were evaluated using thematic analysis. The results and the additional feedback provided by participants demonstrated that EDGE may be a valuable tool for exercising emergency preparedness among all school-based personnel.

Institutions of higher education have shifted their focus from access and enrollment to creating more effective institutional conditions that lead to academic success, persistence, retention, and completion. Academic coaching has surfaced as a promising support concept in higher education, and to date, little empirical research exists on the subject, especially within community colleges. Guided by Schlossberg's (1989) theory of marginality and mattering, this qualitative study explored first year students' mattering experiences, perceptions of academic coaching and belonging at a southeastern community college in the United States. This study contributed to an understudied area of research for a distinct student population. The findings of this study demonstrated that first-year students, who did report initial feelings of marginality, but who also received support from an academic coach reported a strong sense of belonging and mattering on campus, helping them to overcome feelings of marginality and to persist.

"With so many students working, and such large numbers devoting a considerable amount of time to one or more jobs, work is – after going to class- the most common activity in which undergraduates engage" (Kuh, 2018, p. ix). An under-researched factor to investigate why students retain, is participation in an on-campus student employment program. The purpose of the study is to explore the relationship between a student's participation in student employment and if the student retains from their first to second year. Understanding this relationship can provide an opportunity to create positive impact for both the student and institution with minimal institutional financial investment. Additionally, this study explores if the level of participation in the program impacts if a student will retain. Utilizing a quantitative approach, the researcher used logistic regression to predict the relationship between student employment participation and retention. Tinto's Model of Institutional Departure and Astin's Student Involvement Theory framed the research questions for this study. Exploring the variable of student employment participation on retention might provide a valuable opportunity for institutions to invest in programming that provides financial, educational, and social support for the student while positively impacting their likelihood to retain. This study's analysis provides a prediction of the positive impact a student's participation in an on-on campus student employment program can have on whether a student retains at the institution. This study found that student participants were about 46% more likely to retain from their first year to the next at their institution. Additionally, the study found that for each hour the student participates in the program, they are .4% more likely to retain. Though significant, the study violated some assumptions on the logistic regression, restricting the generalizability of the study.

Orientation programs are one of the first interactions that students have with their chosen institution; they are also one of the first opportunities for students to begin to build a sense of belonging. Traditional orientation programs are delivered as an in-person, interactive experience. The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated an immediate shift toward online programming, including orientation programming. This study utilized Strayhorn's theory of student sense of belonging as a framework. The purpose of this quantitative study was to compare student reported sense of belonging after virtual orientation programs to student reported sense of belonging after in-person orientation programs in two groups of students, international and domestic students. The findings of this study were the following: 1) a statistically significant difference in the mean reported sense of belonging of domestic students who attended in-person new student orientation programming and domestic students who attended virtual orientation programming, and 2) no statistically significant difference in the mean reported sense of belonging in international students who attended in-person new student orientation and international students who attended virtual new student orientation programming. The difference in the domestic students was shown to point toward a higher sense of belonging in the students who attended in-person new student orientation programming than in students who attended virtual new student orientation programming.

As the number of individuals diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) increases, the number of those individuals graduating from high school with the goal of pursuing postsecondary education also increases. For those students with ASD interested in pursuing higher education, Wei et al. (2013) found that they have a propensity to pursue STEM disciplines. The purpose of this qualitative inquiry was to explore the ways students with ASD pursuing STEM disciplines described their experiences with support before and during college. Using Schlossberg's (1984) 4S Transition Model as a framework, the researcher conducted interviews with ten students to explore the challenges they encountered, the support they received, and the strategies they implemented that helped them successfully navigate their transition into and through college. Analysis of the participants' stories revealed a variety of areas of support that were important to their transition, including (1) family support and the role of mom; (2) social support and the role of friends in overall success; (3a) academic support and the role of DSS; (3b) academic support and the role of friends; (4a) mental health support and the role of counseling; and (4b) mental health support and the role of friends. Additionally, participants described five primary strategies they used when transitioning into and through college: (1) striving for normalcy, (2) peer mentor relationships, (3) facing fear, (4) engagement, and (5) on-campus housing. The researcher concluded with a discussion of the findings, implications for practice, and recommendations for future research.

The purpose of this phenomenological inquiry was to explore how low-income adult college students engage in online learning environments at a mid-sized state college in the southeast of the United States. This study was guided by a conceptual framework of Knowles et al. (2015) adult learner theory and Garrison et al. (2000) communities of inquiry (CoI) frameworks. By analyzing participant responses through both the community of inquiry and adult learning theory frames, this study perceived the needs and expectations that are distinctive to adult learners through a social, cognitive, and teaching presence in the online learning environment. A transcendental phenomenological design was used to address the three research questions. Eleven college students who fit the scope of low-income adult online learners participated in semi-structured interviews for this study. The themes discovered in this study will allow instructors and leaders in higher education to interpret a more nuanced and in-depth understanding of the characteristics, barriers, and opportunities for engagement in this ever-growing population of adult learners in the online learning environment. Based on the results of this study, recommendations for practice include increasing opportunities for more peer-to-peer engagement, embedded student support services, developing resources to increase online readiness, providing more specific support for adult learners, and exploring more flexible face-to-face course offerings.

State leaders have responded to recruiting and retaining teachers in the workforce with Grow Your Own (GYO) programs for recruiting secondary students or community members into education. An example of a GYO is the precollegiate Teacher Academy (TA) program offered in local high schools as a career and technical education pathway. The TA provides guidance for high school students thinking about the teaching profession. TA educators foster students' interest and recruit and retain them in education by exploring their motivations. This study was a triangulated mixed methods study with the quantitative/qualitative model of utilizing both data sets to determine student motivation and perception in relation to recruitment and retention. The collection of the quantitative data occurred via a Factors Influencing Teaching (FIT-Choice) survey of TA secondary students' perceptions and motivations. Additionally, the study's qualitative research component involved a TA questionnaire on TA recruitment and retention and a TA teacher focus group. The focus group encompasses three TA teachers and a higher education representative working with TA students. The results of this study showed statistical significance in fallback career, intrinsic motivation, and salary as motivation and perceptual subfactors as determined by the FIT-Choice survey. This study's finding through a triangulated analysis shows that recruitment plans for secondary students will need to address social influences, teaching as a fallback career, job security, salary, and the opportunity to work with children/adolescents. Similarly, retention strategies will need to address intrinsic career values, difficulty, shape the future of children/adolescents, prior teaching and learning experiences, and social contributions within the classroom environment for students currently enrolled in a TA program. Thus, the study provides insight into how the role of student motivation and perception and recruitment and retention are necessary for successful outcomes of increasing participation.

The purpose of this program evaluation case study was to seek the perceptions of a group of teachers based on their experience with Whole Brain Teaching strategies at a suburban middle school. Perceptions and factors that lead to teacher use of the strategies were explored with the intention of informing stakeholders of whether teachers view these strategies as viable to their practice and how these beliefs influence implementation. Challenges pertaining to implementation were uncovered as well as the frequency and intended purposes of teacher use of the Whole Brain Teaching strategies. Further, there is limited research available on Whole Brain Teaching and this study along with a review of literature seeks to add to the emerging research base of educational neuroscience. The findings determined that teacher perceptions for the study group were influenced by factors such as the dynamics and characteristics of the group itself and whether the strategies were used in a co-teaching environment. Other key findings were that the teacher’s perceptions evolved over the course of the study to where teachers perceived the strategies to be effective for lower levels of thinking such as remembering but were not effective for promoting their students to think critically. Recommendations offered include the use of a professional learning community focused on the teacher’s experience with the Whole Brain Teaching strategies and continuous evaluation that considers needs, successes, challenges, and necessary improvements.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the assessment literacy of Virginia principals and describe how principals with varying levels of assessment literacy integrate assessment leadership practices that support assessment for learning. This study investigated the differences in assessment literacy between elementary and secondary principals and across principals’ predominant method of training in assessment. Mertler and Campbell’s (2005) Assessment Literacy Inventory (ALI) was used to obtain measures of overall assessment literacy and determine relative strengths and weaknesses across the seven Standards for Teacher Competence in the Educational Assessment of Students. There were no significant differences in assessment literacy across levels or as a result of type of training in assessment. Participants scored highest in their ability to recognize unethical practices and their relative weakness was in developing assessment methods. Qualitative interviews were conducted with six principals with higher levels of assessment literacy and six principals with lower levels. Interviews were analyzed for assessment leadership practices related to: support of assessment for learning principals, alignment, professional development, balanced assessment, and ethical practices. Discrepancies between principals with higher and lower levels of assessment literacy were in the areas of professional development on learning targets and the alignment of instruction to learning targets. Principals with across levels of assessment literacy described using professional learning communities and instructional specialists to support grouping for instruction. Additionally, principals described balanced assessment systems with multiple measures of formative and summative assessments. There were commonalities in ethical practices and considerations across principals.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between principal support and teacher academic optimism. The conceptual framework guiding this study proposed that the existing relationship between the constructs of teacher academic optimism could be related to principal support. Extant data from high school teachers in an urban setting provided quantitative data analysis of the four types of principal support (emotional, instrumental, informational, and appraisal) and whether they can predict the constructs of teacher academic optimism (teacher self-efficacy, teacher trust in parents and students, and teacher academic emphasis) or academic optimism itself. This study identified the relationship between types of principal support and academic optimism in an urban setting that can be applicable to school settings, and based on past studies, impact student achievement.