Reading difficulties are common among middle school students in the US, especially among those with disabilities. Unfortunately, there is a significant shortage of professionals (e.g., special educators) who can provide high-quality reading interventions. Small group (SG) intervention is a group instruction that helps more students in need per…

As part of a larger critical discourse study, I share how engaging with critical texts and discussion was personally and professionally meaningful for participants, despite perceived limitations. To understand how critical pedagogy overlaps and conflicts with contexts of teaching in public schools, I facilitated discussion with teachers in…

The study examined student groups' (n = 72) self-evaluations of their group work and their learning of critical online reading during an inquiry task. The analyses focused on aspects of critical online reading, describing group work practices, and evaluating them. For learning critical online reading, the most often mentioned aspects were sources,…

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological research study was to examine if utilizing performing arts elements as teaching tools in large-group professional development (PD) sessions for K-12 educators increased educator engagement during PD. The problem of practice was the lack of K-12 educator engagement during large-group PD sessions. The…

This study focused on the Yuehua Secondary Vocational School students in Dezhou City. The objectives of this research were: (1) study the cooperative learning method's impact on the emotional involvement of art majors in secondary vocational schools, (2) to investigate how students' emotional involvement influences their learning outcomes and…

Article 1: One-on-one tutoring is the most effective teaching arrangement. Most schools and families, however, cannot afford to provide each child with a tutor. Peer tutoring in classrooms, a more feasible and scalable learning arrangement, increases learning for both tutors and tutees, but peer tutors' efficacy is often limited by their didactic…

Laboratory research experiences can be an important part of the training process for STEM professionals, but barriers exist that can prevent broad access to these opportunities. Virtual Research Group (VRG) modules, which use data curated from the scientific literature to simulate aspects of the research process, provide a scalable alternative to…

A growing problem in Oklahoma public schools is that some teachers integrate education technology into their classrooms while others do not. The need for adaptable practices with technology in classrooms has grown since the COVID-19 pandemic. Heitink et al. (2016) state that integrating technology use into the classroom often requires changes to…

Functioning in a world beyond school requires more sophisticated understanding of both content knowledge and knowledge production across the disciplines (Lee & Spratley, 2010; Shanahan & Shanahan, 2008), as well as how to access, interpret, and share information in print and online environments (Afflerbach & Cho, 2009; Coiro &…

Complex Instruction (Cohen & Lotan, 2014) is a groupwork pedagogy aimed at making classrooms equitable. The notion of status is at the core of this pedagogy and guides how teachers ought to respond to inequitable groupwork. In this dissertation study, I consider how the concept of status (from Expectation States Theory) is applied within…

The ongoing underrepresentation of Iraqi school students in science, mathematics, and PE (physical education) (SMPE) in general, and especially in PE demonstrates the need to develop and implement strategic high impact practice, such as new effective teaching strategies that not only improve students' academic outcomes but also foster student…

Inclusive education is now advocated as best practice in schools. However, the extent to which adolescents with severe disabilities access the abundant social and academic experiences available in general education classes remains uncertain. We conducted multiple observations of 146 U.S. high school students with severe disabilities (including…

College and Career Readiness (CCR) programming during early high school years assists students with planning for effective post-school transitions. Group interventions that address CCR for early high school students permit school counselors, career counselors, career specialists, or teachers to engage with a large number of students at one time…

We study the Tutoring Online Program (TOP), where: (i) tutoring is entirely online; (ii) tutors are volunteer university students, matched with underprivileged middle school students. We leverage random assignment to estimate effects during and after the pandemic (2020 and 2022), investigating channels of impact. Three hours of individual tutoring…

At the time of writing, New York City high schools had been working remotely for a year, with educators facing some great challenges. Working remotely marked a significant difference in the way we teach and the way our students learn. Classroom spaces were no longer room numbers on doors; they were virtual meeting room numbers on platforms like…