Scholars and practitioners have called for personalized and widely accessible professional development (PD) for teachers. Yet, a long-standing tension between customizing support and increasing access to such support has hindered the scale-up of high-quality PD for individual teachers. This study addresses this challenge by developing a…

Paraprofessionals are increasingly hired in US schools to support the learning and behavior needs of students with or at risk for disabilities; despite receiving very limited professional development supports to enhance their skills in classrooms. The research base is lacking on effective paraprofessional professional development and intervention…

This study examined the effects of science and engineering (S & E) inquiry on preschool and kindergarten children's academic outcomes using a randomized control-group design. Participants were divided into three groups: a classroom-only group (C-only) receiving NGSS-aligned S & E inquiry; a classroom plus family engagement group (C + F)…

This brief report describes findings from a single case withdrawal design study which explored the impact of training and emailed video prompts to promote a teacher's implementation of a culturally responsive teaching plan in a therapeutic school. Data collectors gathered implementation data as well as observed students' academic engagement and…

Early child care and education providers provide instruction to diverse learners, including children with developmental delays but often lack training in use of evidence-based instructional strategies to support children's meaningful learning engagement. This preliminary study examined effects of the Early Achievements for Child Care Providers…

A central goal of upper elementary schools is improving students' skills to write persuasively using source materials. This study focused on three essential areas of writing at the upper elementary grade levels. First, children learned skills to read and use source materials through the web-based intelligent tutoring system for the text structure…

The purpose of this study was to explore paraeducators' perceptions of job-related supports, challenges, and effectiveness. Qualitative interviews were collect from 47 paraeducators across three states in the South and Southwest regions of the United States. A majority of paraeducators report being satisfied in their job and having positive…

Traditional professional development is often characterized as being expensive, time consuming, and lacking impact. In contrast, online professional development provides greater flexibility and is becoming increasingly popular for school personnel. In this article, we report the process and outcomes of gathering feedback to adapt traditional…

This paper reports on a quasi-experimental pilot study of the impacts of a high school teacher professional development (PD) series. The 10-session series, "Engaging High School Students in Academic Work," was designed to equip teachers to deepen students' learning and engagement and thereby increase course-passing rates. The study took…

Professional development (PD), which includes coaching, has demonstrated the capacity to affect preschool teachers' use of evidence-based practices. The present study explored how coaches facilitated conversations within practice-based coaching (PBC) partnerships. A direct behavioral observation coding system was developed to investigate: (1) the…

The three-tiered Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) framework promotes the development of systems and data analysis to guide the selection and implementation of evidence-based practices across multiple tiers. The current study examined the effects of universal (tier 1) or school-wide PBIS (SW-PBIS) in one state's scale-up of…

Decades of research have shown that exclusionary discipline practices are not only ineffective for changing student behavior, they lead to worse social, behavioral, and academic outcomes for students. This article explores the findings from a pilot study of the "Inclusive Skill-Building Learning Approach" (ISLA), an instructional…

School-wide Positive Behavior Support (SWPBS) has a large evidence base for preventing and addressing externalizing problem behavior, but there is little research examining its effects on internalizing problems, such as anxiety and depression. Given the prevalence of internalizing problems in today's children and youth, it is worthwhile to examine…

Ninth grade is a pivotal year for students. Numerous studies find that academic performance in 9th grade often sets the student's trajectory throughout the high school years, as well as the probability of graduation. The Building Assets Reducing Risks (BARR) model is a comprehensive approach that addresses developmental, academic, and school…