Education Commons^™

From Classroom To Leadership: Anchoring My Leadership In Literacy, Character, And Equity, Amanda Patty-Ingram

Dissertations

My leadership journey as an urban educator has evolved through multiple roles—beginning as a classroom teacher, growing into an academic instructional coach, and now serving as an assistant principal. Across these roles, three values have consistently guided how I lead: literacy, character education, and equity. These are not separate initiatives—they are the foundation of my decisions, relationships, and instructional leadership.

Over time, I have come to understand that effective literacy leadership must be grounded in both character education and equity. Yet in practice, these values are often treated as disconnected: literacy becomes test prep, character becomes behavior compliance, and equity …

Technology-Enabled College Access: A Field Study In Rural Mississippi Schools, Carol Cutler White, Tianlan Wei, Judith Meece

Mid-Western Educational Researcher

College choice and application processes are critical for postsecondary enrollment. This field study examines the potential utility of a technology-enabled college access (TECA) mobile app for supporting rural student postsecondary decisions. Through the TECA mobile app, participants can tour two- and four-year college campuses, view career videos, access detailed information about each institution (enrollment diversity, specialization, enrollment requirements, etc.), and connect with college advisors. The study used a theoretical framework and included 1,073 students attending seven rural high schools in Mississippi to evaluate the utility of TECA for increasing college knowledge, motivation, and preparation related to students’ choice and enrollment …

Development Of A Problem-Based Learning Model Assisted By The Interactive Canva Application To Improve Critical Thinking And Collaboration Skills Of Fourth Grade Elementary School Students, Fitri Dwi Utami, Heris Hendriana, Galih Dani Septyan Rahayu

Jurnal Pendidikan: Teori, Penelitian, dan Pengembangan

Penelitian ini dimotivasi oleh rendahnya kemampuan berpikir kritis dan kolaborasi siswa kelas empat sekolah dasar yang disebabkan oleh pembelajaran konvensional dan kurangnya penggunaan media pembelajaran interaktif. Studi ini bertujuan untuk mengembangkan model Pembelajaran Berbasis Masalah (PBL) yang dibantu oleh aplikasi interaktif Canva yang layak dan efektif untuk meningkatkan kemampuan berpikir kritis dan kolaborasi siswa. Metode penelitian yang digunakan adalah model Penelitian dan Pengembangan (R&D) Borg & Gall yang meliputi tahapan analisis kebutuhan, perencanaan, pengembangan produk, validasi ahli, revisi produk, dan uji lapangan. Subjek penelitian terdiri dari 21 siswa pada uji terbatas, 30 siswa pada uji luas, dan 60 siswa pada …

Exploring The Roles Of The Coach Developer: A Uscce White Paper, Christine Nash, Melissa Thompson, Sean Dahlin, Andrea Woodburn, Jeremy Elliott

Journal of Coach Development

Organizational white papers serve as a mechanism for strategic communication and to establish thought leadership, build credibility, and drive informed decision-making across stakeholder groups. It is the belief of the USCCE that the official launch of the Journal of Coach Development offers the appropriate outlet and timing to publish this official stance of the organization to explore the multiple roles of the coach developer. As the field continues to evolve, our shared understanding of the roles and responsibilities of those serving to support the growth and development of sport coaches will be essential. Further, as a critical focus of the …

The Growth Of Latino Students In South Carolina Public Schools: Challenges And Opportunities, Louise B. Jennings

Teacher Education Journal of South Carolina

This article provides data regarding Latinos in South Carolina schools, discusses some of the educational challenges involved, then offers recommendations for policy and practice that support not only Latino learners, but all our students and communities.

Chartering A New Course: Educational Initiatives Common Among Sc Charter Schools, Julie P. Jones, Paul J. Riccomini

Teacher Education Journal of South Carolina

South Carolina is ranked 24th in the nation for the number of charter schools in the state, with most of these schools opening in the last 10 years. This manuscript analyzes 7 common educational initiatives among SC charter schools: (a) small class size, (b) strong focus on technology, (c) advocating education of the whole child/ arts education, (d) required community service, (e) required parental involvement, (f) uniforms or uniformed dress, and (g) inquiry/project based curriculum. Description and analysis of each component is provided along with specific notes from schools which incorporate it.

Starting Early: Building A Systemic Approach To Universal Pre-Kindergarten In South Carolina, Cathy R. Jones

Teacher Education Journal of South Carolina

A well-funded, universally available, voluntary pre-kindergarten program for South Carolina’s three- and four-yearold children could be fundamental to positively changing educational and social outcomes for its children. Research on brain development and the benefits of early childhood education highlight the value of enriched pre-kindergarten environments for children. South Carolina’s state funded pre-kindergarten scored nine out of ten on an indicator scale for quality. However, in 2007, less than 40% of four-year-olds and 1% of three-year-olds in the state had access to state funded pre-kindergarten.

From The Classroom To The Computer, Tina S. Herzberg, Laura M. Hooks

Teacher Education Journal of South Carolina

This article investigates the increased use of technology to provide distance education within the School of Education at the University of South Carolina (USC) Upstate. Interestingly, graduate education programs have been receptive to distance learning and now offer various courses each semester via distance education. This has allowed the university to provide flexibility and attracted graduate students throughout the Upstate region. Currently, there is a need for faculty in undergraduate programs at USC Upstate to explore if and how methodology courses could be developed as distance education courses while maintaining academic integrity.

Local Knowledge And Its Implications For Teacher Education In South Carolina, A. Scott Henderson, Cathryn A. Stevens

Teacher Education Journal of South Carolina

During 2005-2006, the Richard Riley Institute of Government, Politics, and Public Leadership at Furman University conducted focus-group interviews of parents, students, teachers, business leaders, school officials, and district administrators to collect data concerning the state of public education in South Carolina. Analysis of the results suggests that the state’s teacher preparation programs should continue and/or enhance their efforts in the areas of early childhood education, one-on-one tutoring techniques, adult/parent education, reading pedagogies, dropout prevention strategies, and curricular alignment/articulation.

Teaching With Differences In Mind: What A Difference It Makes, Sally Mcclellan, M. Evelyn Fields

Teacher Education Journal of South Carolina

Many factors contributing to the achievement gap are complex and not easily resolved. Teachers in elementary school, however, who have a solid understanding of pedagogical content knowledge can meet the diverse needs of all students when instruction is provided based upon the unique differences of students.

Initial Partnerships For Priority Schools: Icare, G. Fred Woodworth, Sandra F. Mclendon

Teacher Education Journal of South Carolina

In 2007, Jim Rex became Superintendent of Education and began to re-invent education in South Carolina. One of his first directives was to establish Palmetto Priority Schools—schools that had an Unsatisfactory rating more than three consecutive years. As a result of this directive, businesses and universities forged partnerships with the schools.

Civil Rights History In South Carolina And The Question Of Meaning: Tools For Closing The Achievement Gap?, E. Doyle Stevick

Teacher Education Journal of South Carolina

Schools seldom convey the purpose of education to students, and are poorly suited to be responsive to students’ purposes. Yet meaning is a crucial factor in whether students achieve in school. If schools can find ways to nurture a purpose for learning in students who do not have one, schooling can be transformed. In South Carolina, with its history of racism in education, exposure to the local and ongoing struggles for civil rights and a good education could potentially provide such meaning, and narrow the achievement gap.

Action Research: Extending Habits Of Mind To Reinvent Teaching Landscapes, Pamela Jewett

Teacher Education Journal of South Carolina

This article describes the habits of mind that three middle-school teachers developed after taking two action research classes, “Introduction to Action Research” in which they learned about action research and “Seminar in Action Research” in which they conducted an action research study that explored a significant teaching question. Not surprising in courses of this nature, the teachers learned concrete facts and processes specific to conducting action research. However, in this article I describe how the habits of mind that the teachers developed across the year helped them reinvent their definition of teaching to include being researchers.

Reinventing The Educational Landscape In South Carolina Through E-Mentoring, Diana L. Treahy, Steven Thomas, Genevieve H. Hay

Teacher Education Journal of South Carolina

The paper describes the development and implementation of an online mentoring program for students at low performing middle schools. These middle level students were mentored by preservice education students at the College of Charleston in Charleston, South Carolina. A comparison of the e-mentoring model versus traditional face-to-face mentoring is discussed. Positive outcomes of the program are described providing support for future development, expansion, and implementation of the model. Program development suggestions are provided as a guide for educators who would like to implement an e-mentoring program at their institution.

The Dilemma Of Disposition Assessment: An Exploration Of Teacher Candidate Perception, Joyce Shanks, Pamela Wash, Judy Beck

Teacher Education Journal of South Carolina

This paper presents research on how one teacher education program is assessing dispositions. Data instruments include teacher candidate self assessment, cooperating teacher assessment, and teacher candidate questionnaires. Results indicate that teacher candidates assess themselves lower than their cooperating teachers though they think the field experiences help develop their dispositions.

Integrating A Teachers’ Instructional Practices Online Database (Tipod) In Pre-Service Teacher Preparation, Dodi Hodges, Gayle Disney, Judy Engelhard

Teacher Education Journal of South Carolina

The Teachers’ Instructional Practices Online Database (TIPOD) is a project designed for use with pre-service teacher candidates at Coastal Carolina University (CCU). The project requires teacher candidates to research evidence-based strategies from peer-reviewed journals and submit them to an online database that teachers can use in their classrooms. Currently under construction and used for the first time in Spring 2008, TIPOD is an outgrowth of a sister project, the Instructional Practices Online Database (ISOD), which was implemented at Bowling Green State University in 2003 by the senior author. This paper presents the purpose and description of TIPOD, steps for implementation, …

Teachers Who Seriously Considered Leaving The Profession But Ultimately Chose To Stay, Greta G. Freeman

Teacher Education Journal of South Carolina

In an effort to provide information to help understand and slow the rapid turnover and decline of quality educational professionals and to aid in the quest to stock our classrooms with the very best teacher educators, this research examined public school teachers who at some point in their career seriously considered leaving the profession, but for one or more of the reasons described in this study, ultimately chose to stay. This phenomenological case study focused on a sample of twenty-five kindergarten through grade five teachers employed by one Western North Carolina school district. A series of written and oral responses …

Multicultural Education And Diversity: Essential To Reforming The Landscape For Preservice Teachers, Cheryl Warner, Frankie Keels Williams, Kathleen V. Davis

Teacher Education Journal of South Carolina

Preservice teacher education students should be definitive in their understandings about aspects of multicultural education and diversity. This article provides an analysis of the perceptions of preservice teacher education students regarding opportunities in the curriculum to enhance their understanding of multiculturalism and diversity. Based on the findings from the study, there is a convincing call for teacher education programs to help preservice teachers develop their knowledge, skills, and dispositions to teach diverse students. Specific strategies are presented for reforming the landscape for the preservice teacher education curriculum.

How Autism Is Changing The Landscape Of Speech-Language Services Provided In The South Carolina Public Schools, Julie S. Ray, Leigh Ann Spell

Teacher Education Journal of South Carolina

This study is a compilation of anonymous surveys that were sent out to speech-language pathologists/therapists (SLP/Ts) working in South Carolina public schools who have students with autism on their caseloads. The surveys focused on the speech services that South Carolina public schools offer students with autism, SLP/Ts’ confidence levels in working with students with autism, and each SLP/T’s personal rating of his/her preparedness level in providing therapy for students with autism. The study indicates the findings of the surveys and provides recommendations for communication services in South Carolina public schools.

Full Issue: Volume 1, 2008, Christopher Burkett

Teacher Education Journal of South Carolina

This file contains the full issue of TEJSC, including front matter, table of contents, editorial notes, and articles.

What Is Coach Development? A Uscce White Paper, Melissa Thompson, Christine Nash, Sean Dahlin, Andrea Woodburn, Jeremy Elliott

Journal of Coach Development

Organizational white papers serve as a mechanism for strategic communication and to establish thought leadership, build credibility, and drive informed decision-making across stakeholder groups. It is the belief of the USCCE that the official launch of the Journal of Coach Development offers the appropriate outlet and timing to publish this official stance of the organization defining the term ‘coach development.’ As an emerging term in the field, there is need for clarity around what coach development is and what it looks like in practice. Further, as a critical focus of the Journal of Coach Development, this paper will serve to …

Phishing Susceptibility Among Healthcare Workers: A Multiyear Study, Darin Challacombe, Elizabeth Mcelhiney

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

Understanding and improving phishing awareness is an important aspect of ensuring patient health information (PHI) is protected. Many health organizations require associates to complete annual training and supplement that training with simulated phishing email campaigns.

This poster will provide the results of a multiyear group of four studies in which health information (HI) professionals were provided various types of training and then tested on their susceptibility to simulated phishing emails. This will supplement the research on the viability of this method. And, this will present the findings by using real HI professionals (vs. college students).

We will provide a summary …

Lost In Translation? Bilingual Readability In Healthcare Forms, Darin Challacombe, Elizabeth Mcelhiney

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

Health information achieves impact only when it is accessible and understandable to patients and their caregivers. Challacombe and McElhiney (2025), in Advances in Health Information Science and Practice, reported results from three studies analyzing the readability of patient-facing forms from the 150 highest-ranked hospitals in the United States. Their findings revealed the average readability of these forms exceeded the recommended 8th-grade reading level, indicating patients may not have fully understood their privacy rights or the specific documents requested.

This follow-up study extends the previous research by evaluating Spanish-language versions of these forms. Preliminary results suggest many translated documents are written …

March 13, 2026 Ereporter, University Of Alabama At Birmingham

eReporter (campus newsletter)

No abstract provided.

Vigilante Justice: A Study On The Causes, Christina Tackett

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A thesis presented to the faculty of the College of Caudill College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences Morehead State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree Master of Arts by Christina Tackett on March 13, 2026.

Investigating Teachers’ Resistance To Instructional Coach Support In A Southern, Rural U.S. School District, Tukiiya Stephens

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Instructional coaching is a strategy designed to support systematic changes in instructional practices and improve student achievement. In the study site district, teachers were required to use instructional coaching as a mandated form of pedagogical support for enhancing teaching practices and improving student achievement. However, prior to this study, 48% of teachers did not seek support from the instructional coaches (ICs) hired to provide this job-embedded professional development. Guided by Ajzen’s theory of planned behavior, the purpose of this basic qualitative study was to investigate teachers’ perspectives regarding the lack of engagement with ICs and to identify ways to increase …

Teacher Retention Across Contexts: Examining Teacher Workforce Stability And Its Impact On Student Outcomes In Traditional Public And Charter Schools In New Jersey, Telia Bennett

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Teacher retention remains a critical factor in understanding disparities in student outcomes across school systems. This study examines the relationship between four-year teacher retention and student outcomes in New Jersey, with particular attention to differences between traditional public schools and charter schools. The study includes approximately 4,003 district-level observations across 670 school systems and includes six years of data (2018–2019 through 2023–2024) from the New Jersey School Performance Reports,

Findings indicate that higher rates of four-year teacher retention are generally associated with improved ELA proficiency and lower rates of chronic absenteeism, although the strength and statistical significance of these relationships …

School-Based Human Service Professionals’ Perceptions Of The Relationships Between Black Families And Southern Schools, Vanessa Faye Barnhill

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The experiences that Black parents had in school have been found to influence how they view and interact with schools and the challenges and barriers related to their child’s education attainment. It is important to understand school-based human service professionals’ perceptions about the relationship that Black families have with Southern schools and suggestions these professionals have about promoting better communication and understanding with Black families. The purpose of this qualitative generic study was to examine school human service professionals’ perceptions about the relationship that Black families have with schools and to gather suggestions about how they could promote communication and …

College President Preparation Strategies For Major Gift Solicitation, Michael T. Miller

Journal of Research on the College President

The study examined how college and university presidents prepare to solicit major gifts from individual benefactors, an increasingly important responsibility as institutions diversify revenue streams through philanthropic support. While extensive literature exists on higher education fundraising and presidential leadership, relatively little research has explored the specific practices presidents use to prepare for major gift solicitations. To address this gap, the study employed a descriptive research design consisting of two phases: a survey of 100 four-year public college and university presidents and follow-up semi-structured interviews with six presidents who agreed to discuss their preparation processes in greater detail. Survey findings indicated …

The Effectiveness Of Wordwall-Integrated Game-Based Learning On Elementary School Students' Science And Social Studies (Ipas) Learning Outcomes, Maryanah Maryanah, Aynin Mashfufah, Riska Pristiani

Jurnal Pendidikan: Teori, Penelitian, dan Pengembangan

The implementation of IPAS learning at the elementary school level is still dominated by one-way learning strategies with limited media support. This condition has an impact on the low level of student activity, resulting in suboptimal conceptual understanding, especially for abstract material such as food chains. This study aims to examine the effect of applying digital game-based learning integrated with Wordwall on the IPAS learning outcomes of fifth-grade elementary school students. The research used a quantitative approach with a quasi-experimental design, involving a treatment group and a comparison group with equivalent initial abilities. Data collection was carried out using a …