Science, engineering, technology, and mathematics (STEM) classes are required for families in the United States. Due to this requirement, there have been more STEM focused schools present in the educational landscape. Traditionally a high school offering, middle schools are now developing more focused STEM curricula, opening STEM campuses, and…

The ability of solving problems collaboratively has been increasingly significant. This research takes mathematics open-ended problems as the tasks and carries out collaborative problem solving with multi-machine video recording in the classroom environment aimed at 112 student pairs and 56 four-person student groups stemming from 224 students in…

Communication is vital for children's development, especially in differentiating rural and urban speech skills. The aim of this study is to investigate the speech skills of children living in rural and urban areas. The speech skills of 72 students attending the 8th grade in rural and urban areas of Iskenderun in the 2020-2021 academic year were…

The COVID-19 pandemic, a significant disruptor of traditional educational environments, has led to a notable shift in parental involvement in children's education, particularly in middle schools. This study, therefore, delves into the dynamics of parental engagement during remote learning, focusing on the challenges parents faced and the…

Parent-child conversations are impacted by environmental setting. Yet, few studies have considered where mothers and early adolescent youth prefer to have conversations about daily stressors. This study examines where mothers and youth prefer to have conversations about daily stressors, differences in preference based on demographic variables, and…

The term "It takes a village to raise a child" is one that resonates with me. The village includes many people. Parents, family, community members, and teachers play a role in the development of a child. The education journey of a child is one of the most important phases in their life. The traits obtained in school impacts adulthood.…

Background: In this paper, we extend findings from previous iterations of a design-based project called ThinkerSpaces design studios that promotes human-centred design among children. ThinkerSpaces design studios is a play-based afterschool club that follows principles of embedded design by prioritising learner agency, exploration and ongoing…

As virtual learning gains traction as a viable alternative to traditional face-to-face instruction for middle school students, it is important to ensure the effectiveness of these learning environments, including incorporating social and emotional learning (SEL) strategies. This qualitative study explored the influence of SEL pedagogy on student…

Sexual health communication in adolescence is important for sexual well-being. With limited empirical work utilizing longitudinal methodologies, this study aimed to investigate how the frequency of sexual communication with parents, peers, and dating partners changes across adolescence and varies based on sex, race/ethnicity, and sexual…

Engaging families in the academic lives of their children continues to be an area that needs improvement in public education. Furthermore, public educators continue to fail at establishing two-way communication practices, as well as providing educational opportunities for parents on the various ways they can help their students outside of school.…

School climate surveys are commonly used to solicit youth perspectives about their experiences in schools. However, to move climate surveys from solicitation towards a more youth-centered, partnered practice for school improvement, guidance is needed from the youth themselves about how and in what ways they hope adults respond to their survey…

The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to determine if, or to what extent, the soft skills of a principal, as perceived by their teachers, can predict a positive school climate at the middle school level in a large Independent School District (ISD) in southeast Texas. The theoretical constructs of attribution and emotional…

Objectives: More than 2.5 million middle and high school students in the United States reported current use of e-cigarettes in 2022. With continued curiosity and initiation of e-cigarette use among youth, it is critical to explore new and innovative ways to communicate about the dangers of e-cigarettes. The purpose of this study was to determine…

Background: Algebra has traditionally been seen as a site of inequity and a gatekeeper for marginalized learners within both national and international studies. However, considerable research has shown that taking an asset-based approach in mathematics teaching improves learning for marginalized students, including Maori and Pasifika learners.…

This article reports on a study exploring the associations between foreign language anxiety and the effectiveness of immediate and delayed corrective feedback (CF) in the acquisition of the English past tense. One hundred and two middle school English as a foreign language (EFL) learners responded to the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale…