Lessons Learned Coaching Teachers in Behavior Management: The PBISplus Coaching Model

There is growing interest in coaching as a means of promoting professional development and the use of evidence-based practices in schools. This article describes the PBISplus coaching model used to provide technical assistance for classroom- and school-wide behavior management to elementary schools over the course of 3 years. This Tier 2 coaching model was implemented within the context of school-wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) and tested in a 42-school, randomized controlled trial. We summarize some of the lessons learned by coaches regarding their efforts to gain access to the administrators, teachers, and student support staff in order to effect change and improve student outcomes. We conclude with a discussion of ways to successfully collaborate with teachers to promote effective classroom- and school-wide behavior management.     

Critical Pedagogy in Process: A Collaborative Self‐Study

... the most important consideration in formulating purpose in education is the happiness of the students themselves. — T. Makiguchi     

Reflective Practice,Literature, and Critical Theory

In this article, I offer a case of the predicaments I encountered in conducting teacher education research at my own institution and re‐examine these predicaments using an ethic of mindfulness and compassion. I explore how this Buddhist perspective might help researchers navigate what can be a lonely, ethically complicated research journey among their own colleagues. Based on this analysis, I propose that an ethic of mindfulness and compassion holds potential for guiding teacher education research and challenging researchers to see differently. I argue that conducting teacher education research using the lenses of mindfulness and compassion might propel social change aimed at increasing educational and social opportunity for all people and, in doing so, further the hope for justice in our relationships, teaching, and research.     

Relational Reasoning and Its Manifestations in the Educational Context: a Systematic Review of the Literature

Relational reasoning, the ability to discern meaningful patterns within otherwise unconnected information, is regarded as central to human learning and cognition and as particularly critical for those functioning in today’s information age. However, the literature on this foundational ability is currently housed within a range of domains of inquiry, where divergent terminology and methodologies are commonplace. This dispersion has made it difficult to harness the power of existing work to inform future research or guide educational practice. In order to address this lack of consolidation, a systematic review of relational reasoning was undertaken. Specifically, 109 empirical studies dealing with relational reasoning in general or one of four manifestations (i.e., analogy, anomaly, antinomy, and antithesis) were analyzed. Resulting data revealed trends across fields of inquiry, including a degree of conceptual ambiguity, conceptual and operational misalignment, and a lack of ecological validity in certain research paradigms. There were also particular forms and measures of relational reasoning that were more commonly investigated, as well as certain domains that were more often studied. Implications for how future research can examine relational reasoning as a multidimensional construct within educational contexts are also discussed.     

Teaching anxieties revealed: pre-service elementary teachers’ reflections on their mathematics teaching experiences

Over the last 50?years, there has been ample research dedicated to mathematics anxiety in contexts of teaching and learning. However, there has been less attention focused on pre-service teachers’ anxieties about teaching mathematics in classroom settings. This study analyzed pre-service teachers’ reflections at the conclusion of an elementary mathematics field experience in order to determine common themes surrounding anxiety-related events based on mathematics practice-teaching experiences. Through qualitative analysis of pre-service teachers’ reflections using open and axial coding, three categories and ten themes surrounding elementary pre-service teachers’ anxiety-related events based on mathematics practice-teaching experiences emerged. Some of the themes presented were ones that increased pre-service teachers’ anxieties for teaching mathematics, whereas other themes reflected aspects of the field experience that decreased anxiety for teaching mathematics. Based on the themes revealed in this study, suggestions for strategies and materials that could be developed for university mathematics methods courses are discussed. Novel perspectives for considering mathematics teaching anxiety, such as locus of control and future time perspective, are shared.     

Job-Related Stress and Sleep Disorders Among North Carolina College Presidents

The purpose of this study was threefold. First, the study was to determine the extent of job-related stress among North Carolina community college presidents. Second, the study was to determine the extent of sleep disorders that exist in the target population. And finally, the study was to measure, if any, the relationship between job-related stress, sleep disorders, and stress reduction methods. The findings of the study indicated that the presidents may feel job-related stress in the form of job pressures such as demands, but are less stressed by job-related threats such as a feeling of being overwhelmed. In the area of sleep, the findings suggest that community college presidents are generally sleeping without difficulties. Overall, the scores were on the lower end of the range that indicates better sleep quality. The study results also indicated that all respondents except one used some method of stress reduction.     

Efficacy of Supplemental Phonics-Based Instruction for Low-Skilled First Graders: How Language Minority Status and Pretest Characteristics Moderate Treatment Response

We examined the efficacy of 20 weeks of individual supplemental phonics-based instruction for language minority (LM) and non-LM first graders. Students were designated LM if the primary home language was not English (otherwise non-LM). Those performing in the bottom half of their classroom LM/non-LM group in letter knowledge and phonological awareness were randomly assigned to treatment and control conditions. Treatment included alphabetics, decoding, and oral reading practice. Results showed that treatment students (n?=?93) outperformed controls (n?=?94) on 5 of the 6 posttests; however, LM students exhibited lower treatment response on passage reading fluency. Pretest word reading did not moderate treatment response, and LM students with greater baseline vocabulary showed greater treatment response on posttest word reading and spelling.     

Home–school relationships: a school management perspective

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) is in the process of initiating major education reform designed to improve schools. Parental involvement in support of student learning ranks high on the reform agenda. This study explores managerial aspects of implementing home–school relationships in seven primary Public Private Partnership (PPP) schools in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Participants involved in this study were principals, social workers, teachers, parents, and students. Managerial aspects discussed in this paper relate to: (a) benefits of home–school relationships; (b) roles and responsibilities of stakeholders; (c) home–school communication; and (d) constraints and challenges faced in the management of home–school relationships. The findings elicit recommendations for improvement which may inform the work of policymakers, principals, social workers, teachers and parents in their continued efforts to build home–school relationships.