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In this qualitative study, I examined the efforts of three North Carolina laboratory school principals to implement culturally responsive parent, family, and community engagement. While there is already a significant body of literature on culturally responsive school leadership and parent and family engagement, there remains a need to examine how school principals attempt to tap into the expertise of nondominant families and communities in non-traditional schools, especially given the complexities of educational systems (Ishimaru, 2020). The principals in this research are experienced educators who currently serve at lab schools created through collaborations between the North Carolina General Assembly and University of North Carolina System as early as 2014. The idea of a laboratory school is not unique to the now nine schools operating through the UNC System. The concept of a lab school was the brainchild of American philosopher John Dewey, who strived to develop theories of child development and education (Whitman, 2020). Like the lab schools Dewey created as early as 1896, the three schools represented in my study are associated with a university and have a 3-part mission: facilitate research to learn more about how children grow and develop, educate pre-service education professionals, and serve the education profession (Wilcox-Herzog & McLaren, 2012). In addition to Dewey's vision, NC laboratory schools also have the responsibility of celebrating the knowledge, skills, power, and resources of the school community. In this qualitative study, I captured the efforts of three NC laboratory school principals' attempts to implement culturally responsive parent, family, and community engagement. I worked diligently to answer the following research questions: (1) How do NC lab school principals describe their attempts to lead for parent, family, and community engagement (PFCE) in their schools? (2) How do participants discuss the current state of PFCE in their school? (3) What is the relationship between a principal's appointment in a NC lab school and their training in and practice of culturally responsive leadership? The theoretical framework for the study was adopted from the 4-tenets of Ann Ishimaru's work in equitable collaboration (Ishimaru, 2020). For this study, I relied on two individual interviews with each NC lab school principal and one focus group session as primary data collection methods. Due to COVID19 restrictions at the time of my study, all interviews and the focus group took place over Zoom. This study affords readers an opportunity to examine the profiles of each principal participant and explore parent, family, and community engagement at each school. My findings reveal that NC lab school principals work with various partners to engage parents, families, and the community. I also found that NC lab school principals typically rely on single events to engage parents, families and community. In addition, I also discovered that NC lab school principals have both seized and missed opportunities to enhance culturally responsive parent, family, and community engagement, as well as finding that NC lab school principals have limited training in culturally responsive leadership. The principal participants in my study acknowledged that in their respective school, there was commitment to celebrating the knowledge, skills, power, and resources of the school community and they recognized that shifting the paradigm to more equitable collaboration was not an easy task and could not be done by the principal alone. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This study, a qualitative, practitioner inquiry seeks to illuminate and examine the experiences of teachers and school leaders in a rural, Title I laboratory school in an effort to document factors related to teacher attrition and teacher retention in this setting. The participants were divided into three groups: those who had taught at the target school for at least 4 years, those who left the school, and the school leaders; the teacher participants were interviewed in a one-on-one format regarding their experiences working in the school, and the school leaders engaged in a focus group with conversations geared toward their understanding of teacher attrition and retention issues in the school. The recorded experiences of these participants speak to the greater problem of teacher attrition in this country and have implications for similar schools situated in areas that have been historically underserved. Attracting and retaining high quality teachers in such environments is critical for providing advantageous educational opportunities for students, thus increasing the likelihood of positive outcomes for them. Not doing so exacts a cost that is unacceptable for students and could lead to the continuance of inequitable educational experiences, especially in marginalized communities. Findings based on the input of the teacher participants in this study oppose the common narrative that teacher attrition can be mainly attributed to low salaries to assert that lack of support and difficulty maintaining a healthy work/life balance were among the foremost concerns. The targeted suggestions of these participants for addressing these concerns and potentially curbing teacher attrition in similar school communities could be beneficial for other schools or districts seeking to increase teacher retention. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Laboratory schools in the United States have been in existence in some form since the establishment of normal schools in 1839. Heavily criticized in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, many laboratory schools would close their doors for a variety of reasons. One laboratory school in particular, the Fanny Edel Falk Laboratory School, was established under a unique charter agreement between the Falk family and the University of Pittsburgh. The school opened its doors in the fall of 1931 and is still in operation today. The primary purpose of this qualitative historical analysis was to understand the functions and purposes of the Fanny Edel Falk Laboratory School and to understand why this laboratory school has been in continual existence without break. The results of this study indicated that the primary purposes and functions of the Falk School to provide opportunities for clinical teaching and student teaching opportunities. The unique charter agreement between the Falk family and the University of Pittsburgh is also cited as a primary reason for the continued existence of the Fanny Edel Falk Laboratory School. Further exploration of these findings and implications for practice, theory, and for future research are discussed. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

The purpose of this study was to develop and explore the factor structure of the Student Engagement in Social-Emotional Learning Skills (SE-SELS) survey, a newly designed assessment that assesses students' knowledge and use of five social-emotional learning skills (self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills and responsible decision making) aligned with the framework of the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning. The SE-SELS survey includes 20 items and takes approximately 5 min to complete. Participants were 359 students in Grades 6-8 at one university-affiliated laboratory school serving students in kindergarten through eighth grade. The instrument was explored through exploratory factor analysis, which determined that the strengths of relationships among variables was satisfactory and that the model overall had strong internal reliability ([alpha] = 0.90). All items were retained for the final SE-SELS survey (0.41 [less than or equal to] [alpha] [less than or equal to] 0.75). Items linked to the relationship skills component and the self-management component were merged to create a four-factor model, which was a better fit for the data overall and retained all five components addressed by the SE-SELS survey. There is at present a lack of reliable and valid instruments that measure the effectiveness of interventions and student outcomes related to social-emotional learning. The SE-SELS survey can thus help school counselors and other educators to determine the impact of social-emotional learning interventions and provide baseline and growth data for students. Follow-up studies are needed to support the reliability and validity of the SE-SELS survey. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This Educational Leadership Portfolio (ELP) addresses the issue related to children's screen time and indoor sedentary behavior. Research shows that young children need to have time outside in nature to ensure holistic development in the twenty-first century. The overarching goal of this work is to reduce the extent of children's indoor sedentary behaviors by creating, implementing and evaluating nature-based professional development (PD) for in-service teachers. Specifically, I hoped to strengthen teachers' knowledge and beliefs about nature-based education (NBE) and encourage participants to engage in NBE lessons and programs. This work does not measure child outcomes, however, the overarching goal is something that I hope to contribute to with this work, "while it" is outside the scope of this project. This work is situated at the UD Lab School which is the lab for the Early Childhood Education academic unit in the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences in the College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) at UD. Two sources of information guided the design of the PD's curriculum content: A literature review and a needs analysis. The literature review addresses how NBE is defined, reviews the history of NBE, provides empirical evidence for the benefits of NBE, and identifies critical issues specific to NBE. The data from the needs assessment survey clearly laid out the path of curriculum development for the PD in order to meet the needs of participating in-service teachers. Subsequently, I created a nature-based education module with a total of six PD hours, which was anchored in the literature review and needs assessment. The needs analysis survey included elements that identified the extent of the in-service teachers' prior knowledge, beliefs, and learning experiences with NBE as preliminary data to inform curriculum development for the PD. These data also served a secondary purpose, which was to provide a baseline for comparing responses to the same survey questions on completion of the PD. I analyzed data using quantitative techniques from a needs assessment survey as well as pre and post knowledge and survey assessments. ELP Artifacts were utilized to support teachers through the PD module. The goal of this improvement effort is to evaluate the PD needs, create and facilitate PD, and determine its effectiveness by comparing teachers' self-assessment of their knowledge and the pre and post participation in the PD module. The improvement effort was overall successful. At post testing, 80% of participants reported a competent or very competent level of knowing how to meet curriculum standards while teaching NBE, compared to 30% at pretesting. Recommendations as a result of this work include continuing to offer NBE introductory courses and expand to targeted modules to in-service teachers locally as well as pre-service teachers. This recommendation is based on the success of the NBE PD for in-service teachers and can only help to extend the knowledge base to a new generation of teachers to incorporate into their practices. This would provide more of an opportunity for ongoing mentoring which has shown to help teachers be more successful. Additionally, I recommend expanding PD offerings to include online versions with various resources available for teachers to download to help them feel prepared in teaching about nature-based education. I suggest redesigning the knowledge portion of the needs assessment to include more questions to create more beneficial PD modules based on expressed needs. Lastly, I recommend creating a university level NBE course. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Colleges and universities have taken on the legislative challenge within the state of North Carolina to engage civically through joint efforts with school districts within counties with dire challenges to improve academic and social and emotional outcomes for children. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of lab school processes and their impact on teachers and student outcomes. This is a qualitative study of school leaders, teachers, families, and support personnel within a university lab school to determine their impact on at-risk populations in kindergarten through Grade 5. Data from this study were obtained using a qualitative research design utilizing a narrative analysis evaluation. Experiences of those engaged in supporting high-risk students for improved academic outcomes in partnership with an urban school district of North Carolina were included in this research. Participants responded to questions emerging from journaled accounts of lab school processes, academic programming, and educational practice. Follow-up questions developed from identified and emergent trends and themes were conducted through individual interviews surrounding the four core research goals of this study: support, service, pedagogy, and partnerships. Findings will inform school leaders and stakeholders in the educational arena of the most efficacious approaches for improving outcomes for children existing within at-risk educational environments. The majority of this study indicated the lab school had multiple positive effects on lab school students and staff especially in the areas of increased student and teacher efficacy through a strong sense of community, increased teacher autonomy and access to professional development, providing more exposure to areas at-risk students lack, as well as focused instruction based on student needs. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Challenging behaviors are one of the basic problems that all pre- and in-service teachers have to be prepared to deal with in schools. In Thailand, it was found that challenging behaviors of students with disabilities had an effect on teachers' stress because many teachers perceived that they were lacking the knowledge and skills to deal with these problems. The primary purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a modified version of a basic functional assessment (FBA) training package developed by Loman and Horner (2014) on increasing the knowledge and skills of Thai special education teachers with respect to the functional behavior assessment process. This process is a set of procedures developed in the United States for assisting practitioners in identifying appropriate function-based interventions in which the motivations of students are taking into account (Dunlap & Fox, 2011; Dunlap, Kern-Dunlap, Clarke, & Robbins, 1991; Foster-Johnson & Dunlap, 1993; Horner, 1994; Horner & Carr, 1997; Lane, Umbreit, & Beebe-Frankenberger, 1999). The original research questions from the Loman and Horner (2014) study were used. However, this study also examined whether a modified version of this training package would be effective within the cultural context of Thailand and whether it would be perceived as effective and acceptable by Thai special education teachers for implementation with Thai students in a Thai school. Twelve special education teachers who worked at a laboratory school in Thailand participated in this study. Nine of these special education teachers were randomly assigned to be in the intervention group, which received the training. The three remaining teachers were randomly assigned to the control group and did not receive the training. The results across a variety of measures indicated that all trained special education teachers increased their knowledge of the FBA process after receiving the training. Using a questionnaire that assessed the social validity of the training procedure, it was found that these teachers perceived the training as efficient, valuable, and acceptable for use by Thai teachers with Thai students in Thai schools. A number of recommendations are made based on this study with respect to how to improve the training process when used in Thailand or another country outside of the United States. Nevertheless, the most important finding of this study was that these procedures were effective in preparing these teachers to use the FBA process with their students. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This study explored the many layers involved in young children's meaning-making as they digitally compose. Utilizing a multimodal, social semiotics theoretical framework to analyze children's digital compositions using a composing app, this study was designed around one research question: What is the nature of three and four-year-old children's multimodal meaning making while using a composing app? The qualitative study involved four focal participants from a three- and four-year-old classroom, who attended an inquiry-based lab school in the southeastern United States. The data were collected over a period of eight weeks, where the children were invited to tell their stories using a digital composing app on an iPad. Utilizing a naturalistic observational approach, the composing events were video-recorded and transcribed, capturing both what happened on and off the screen. Utilizing a multimodal analysis, the findings revealed multiple layers in young children's compositional expression and exposed the importance of how compositions evolve. The affordances of digital tools offered opportunity for children to build layers of meaning and for those layers to be captured in ways not necessarily available before. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This study is concerned with how teachers use data about students' ideas in science, elicited from embedded formative assessment probes, to make decisions about next steps in instruction. Since Black and Wiliam's (1998) seminal work on formative assessment, researchers and practitioners alike concerned themselves with formative assessment and its potential benefits to instruction and student achievement. However, the literature shows that a significant hindrance for educators is their ability to plan next steps in instruction in response to data elicited from formative assessment. This study drew upon the concept of pedagogical design capacity and the Design Capacity for Enactment framework (Brown, 2002) as a means to better understand what resources teachers both identify and take advantage of when making decisions about formative assessment outcomes. The study took a qualitative approach and employed a case study methodology. I engaged two fourth grade teachers at an independent laboratory school in Pittsburgh. These teachers implemented two different formative assessment probes twice. The study collected data from five sources. Observations with video and audio recordings captured teachers working with information elicited from probes in planning sessions as well as planning documents dedicated to science. Teachers annotated unit and lesson plans. Lastly, teachers were interviewed individually multiple times throughout the study and at the end. Analysis of the data collected utilized analytic memo writing and first and second cycle coding. The study found that teachers drew heavily on personal resources (pedagogical content knowledge, subject matter knowledge, and beliefs and goals) when making instructional decisions about next steps in instruction. Teacher response to data from the formative assessment probes became increasingly responsive to student misconceptions as the unit progressed. Early in the animal unit not many changes were made; later, every lesson was adapted or improvised in response to the data. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

The effective delivery of interactive read-alouds to young children fosters language and literacy development. Such development is attainable only when students can read proficiently and on grade level, starting from pre-k and kindergarten. The effectiveness of read-alouds is highly dependent on how teachers interact with their students during the read-aloud. The problem is, due to a broad range of children's abilities in the classroom, and differences in teacher's preparation, many teachers view interactive read-alouds as challenging. Findings from empirical research have supported the premise that reading is fundamental to learning, and such development is a precursor to effective communication. Using a qualitative holistic single-case study approach, the researcher in this study explored barriers pre-k and kindergarten teachers experience when delivering interactive read-alouds to their students, from the teachers' perspectives. A purposive sampling method was used to recruit a minimum of 10 pre-k and kindergarten teachers, with two or more years of interactive read-aloud teaching experiences, from a university laboratory school in Alabama. Semi-structured interview and non-participating observation were utilized for data collection After coding and analysis, with NVivo II qualitative data analysis software, six themes emerged from the research questions. The four themes relevant to research question 1 were: (a) lack of preparation, (b) confidence factor, (c) time constraints, and (d) lack of interest. The two themes relevant to research question 2 were (a) skill proficiency and (b) self-efficacy. The recommendations provide practical use for planning, training and, use of strategic actions to lessen these barriers. Future research studies should include a larger number of pre-k and kindergarten teacher participants and could center on the long-term effect of interactive read-alouds on students' skill, comprehension development, and state assessment scores. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This dissertation depicts my paradigmatic shift from traditionalist approach to constructivist approach of teaching and learning of mathematics. I have used autoethnography as the genre of writing and research that connects the personal to the cultural placing the self within a social context (Reed-Danahay, 1997). Employing autoethnography, I have studied my experiences as a mathematics learner, teacher, educator and researcher and how these informed my pedagogical practices and knowledge as a school teacher and an educator. As an Autoethnographer, I have presented my work in alternative textual forms such as layered accounts (Ellis & Bochner, 2000) with four criteria of writing--orientation, strength, depth, and richness (Van Manen, 1988)--to create pedagogical thoughtfulness and pedagogical wakefulness among the readers (Luitel & Taylor, 2003). I performed my narratives as poems, dramas, dialogues, and stories (Denzin and Lincoln, 2005). I have mentioned about triple crises, a triple threat, a triple crown of thorns: representation, legitimation and praxis in the research (Denzin & Lincoln, 2005). I have also informed the research process and product with the rigor criteria. This study changed my belief about what is reality (ontology), my view on how to know the reality (epistemology) and accordingly what ways to adopt in order to make students understand the reality (pedagogy). My reflections and review of literatures formed the ground to change my ontological assumptions. Multilayered analytical and interpretive autoethnography in my cultural context enlightened me of what is knowledge and how knowledge is acquired. Evolution of teaching methodology from beginning of my teaching career to till the date I joined School of Education, Kathmandu University depicts layered and staged pedagogical metamorphosis. In brief, this study depicts how a conventional learner, teacher and educator turns into a transformative educator and researcher through confession on wrong practices and envisioning the better methods of teaching and learning for future. [M.Phil. Dissertation, Kathmandu University.]