In a Midwest school district, school personnel and students are concerned that the Extra School Time (EST) program student enrollment is declining. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore teacher, administrator, and adult age student perceptions to gain a deeper understanding of the problem leading to declining enrollment in the EST program. Using Lewin's holistic model of systemic leadership and evaluation of programs, teachers', students' and administrators' perceptions of factors, processes for support, curriculum needs, and actions to improve implementation of the EST program were explored. Using a qualitative case study, data were collected via semi-structured interviews and a survey of 9 purposefully sampled participants. Sampling criteria included being a current or former adult age student who attended the EST program, current EST teacher, and EST administrators. Data from semi-structured interviews and surveys were triangulated and analyzed using inductive and comparative coding, and a constant comparative analysis method. Emerging themes were coded using axial coding. Six themes emerged: lack of child care, transportation, work conflict with class attendance, convenience of times classes were offered, and offering courses that were relevant to the student. A 24-hour faculty professional development program was developed to educate EST faculty and staff on the issues influencing declining EST enrollment and develop strategies and actions to improve implementation of the EST program by addressing student and teacher needs. Positive social change from this study may include increased graduation rates, meaningful employment for EST participants, college entrance, and employment growth for the local community.

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Title Î? schools are supported to improve student reading achievement and to bridge the achievement gap between low-income students and other students. The researched-based practices of professional learning communities, coteaching classrooms, and the RtI 3-tiered model were added to a Title Î? school to improve students' reading achievement; however, the effects of these research-based practices on students' reading achievement were unclear. The purpose of this quantitative causal comparative study was to examine the impact of these research-based practices on reading scores of students. Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT 2.0) reading achievement scores were compared between students (n = 98) in a Title Î? school receiving researched-based practices for 3 consecutive years against Title Î? students (n = 127) not receiving researched-based practices for 3 consecutive years. Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences and Webb's depth of knowledge formed the theoretical framework of the study. The independent variable was the type of reading instructional practices. The dependent variables were the FCAT 2.0 reading scores of Title Î? 5th, 4th, and 3rd grade students. The covariates were the FCAT 2.0 scores or the Florida Assessment for Instruction in Reading test scores taken at the end of previous year for each grade level. Analysis of covariance indicated that students receiving the enhanced instructional practices had significantly higher reading scores than did the comparison group following the intervention. The implications for positive social change include providing data to the study school administration that support the use of these researched-based practices in Title Î? schools to improve students' reading achievement and close the reading achievement gap.