This design case highlights how two instructional designers initiated, designed, and implemented a K-12 novice teacher training program to address three known challenges teachers face when understanding, designing, and implementing project-based learning (PBL). The design framework comprised three areas: trainees, training program design, and…

This study examined whether the intensive reading intervention affects annual reading level growth in middle school students to mitigate reading loss from the COVID19 school closures. Participants included struggling middle school readers (N = 101) from a rural district in east Texas. Student participant Measures of Academic Progress (MAP)…

The purpose of this case study was to investigate teachers' perceptions of fairness under the new Texas teacher evaluation system (T-TESS). Using the theoretical framework of procedural justice, the qualitative study measured the teachers' perceptions of fairness utilizing Leventhal's six rules (1976) of representativeness, bias suppression,…

This study examined school psychology faculty beliefs, attitudes, and perceptions regarding the status of graduate training in evidence-based assessment and intervention. The perspectives of a national sample of faculty in the U.S. were obtained through an online survey. A qualitative examination of faculty responses provided an understanding of…

This paper is a report of a design-based research project undertaken to build a blended teacher education program that focuses on cultivating teachers' competencies for personalized and blended learning in K-12 classrooms. Two iterations were designed and examined in total, with 10 teacher educators and two teacher candidate cohorts. Teacher…

Despite evidence suggesting that standardized tests are an imperfect measure of academic readiness, many community colleges across the country rely on them alone to determine student course placement. However, when the COVID-19 pandemic forced campuses to transition to remote operations in spring 2020, proctoring in-person placement tests became…

Response to Intervention (RTI) is a multi-tiered approach to help struggling learners, but RTI is not federally or state funded. This poses a unique and overlooked need for supporting educators with RTI to close the achievement gap for at-risk populations. In this study, a mixed-methods, convergent parallel design was used to examine RTI…

This study examined the challenges that pre-service teachers faced when implementing inquiry and their perspective on how to overcome them. The data sample was 55 pre-service teachers (PSTs) enrolled into two sections of a science methods course in a private university in North Texas. The data sources consisted of inquiry-based lesson plans, PST…

Background: Reading instruction begins at the primary level with reading comprehension issues manifesting themselves by the 3rd-grade and becoming more pronounced by fourth-grade. While primary teachers often teach narrative comprehension skills, middle school teachers have the responsibility to teach both narrative and expository comprehension…

Students today can enter classrooms lacking the social and emotional skills needed to achieve academic and behavioral success in school. As the need for the classroom-based social and emotional interventions and supports grow, the need to identify the perceptions of teachers involved in the identification and implementation of these interventions…

Teacher appraisal and evaluation systems have increased the level of teacher accountability, resulting in increased pressure to be successful in the classroom (Benedict, Thomas, Kimerling, & Leko, 2013; Derrington, 2011; Glazerman et al., 2011; Papay, 2012). As a result, several states have begun to stray from the traditional methods of…

Project/problem-based learning (PBL) can provide an effective model for school reform when implemented with fidelity. In the report, "Rising Above the Gathering Storm," it was recommended that if the U.S. is to remain competitive in the 21st-century economy, there must be a serious effort to "enlarge the pipeline of students who are…

Analyses of literacy and numeracy levels worldwide by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development suggest that the U.S. population has one of the lowest numeracy levels among developed nations. Sixty-four percent of American adults are unable to use math and interpret math problems that most higher-level jobs require, and a full 30…

Five-plus years into the experiment with new "college- and career-ready standards" (of which Common Core is the most notable and most controversial example), we know little about teachers' implementation and the ways policy can support that implementation. This paper uses new state-representative teacher survey data to characterize the…

The purpose of this feasibility study was to inform the development of an intervention to support reading and self-regulation for students with significant reading difficulties and disabilities (RDs), including dyslexia. Participants were 21 special educators, dyslexia specialists, and reading interventionists and 48 students in Grades 2 to 4.…