Though emerging research supports the effectiveness of school-based coaching models utilizing motivational interviewing (MI), an examination of the specific drivers behind these effects is notably lacking in the prevention field. This study leveraged sequential analysis to examine how teachers' verbalization of change talk (i.e., language in…

Background: This study describes how teachers' nature of science (NOS) views changed throughout an innovative Continuing Professional Development (CPD) program that provided sustained support throughout the process in a collaborative and reflective environment and activities that are consistent with the current curriculum and NOS tenets integrated…

As part of the 2001 No Child Left Behind federal statute, U.S. lawmakers reduced the amount of time that teachers could spend on social studies instruction in favor of devoting more instructional time to other core content areas. The Middle Years Program (MYP) is present in many local middle schools in Maryland, where MYP teachers spend equal…

In the US, many federal, state and local school improvement policies rely on teacher professional development (PD) to foster classroom change. Past research suggests PD that has a content focus is the most effective, but that even content-focused PD varies in its effectiveness. Through in-depth interviews of teachers participating in a middle…

Instructional coaching has been a professional learning opportunity that many school districts have employed to support teacher practice. Pairing instructional coaching with on-going workshops is a relatively new approach to professional development. Participants for this study include fourteen middle school teachers that teach either mathematics…

Over a two-year period, approximately 70 teachers from 18 schools participated in an on-going professional development program as part of a study to promote the teaching and learning of numeracy. Principals and other school leaders were invited to participate in the professional development program alongside their teachers, which 20 leaders from…

This case study reveals how middle school social studies teachers within a professional development program are encouraging their students to use multiple disciplinary literacies to create Our History Clips as they also work toward developing a classroom community of engaged student citizens.

In a Georgia middle school, general and special education teachers expressed concerns about the challenges of working collaboratively in the inclusive classroom. Effective teacher collaboration is pivotal to ensure academic success of all students. The purpose of this qualitative bounded instrumental case study was to explore middle school…

To succeed in today's economy, students need both proficiency in the "three Rs" (reading, writing and arithmetic) and strong applied skills. Communication skills, team work, and critical thinking have long been at the top of employers' lists of applied skills they seek in employees. States are responding to employers' needs by putting in…

Despite increases in overall academic achievement, African American males continue to struggle in the area of mathematics. Data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) indicates that eighth grade African American males had the lowest levels of mathematics success of all subgroups in 2013, with only 13% performing at or above…

The accelerated growth of 1:1 educational computing initiatives has challenged digital equity with a three-tiered, socioeconomic digital divide: (a) access, (b) higher order uses, and (c) user empowerment and personalization. As the access gap has been closing, the exponential increase of 1:1 devices threatens to widen the second and third digital…

The purpose of this study was to determine if one-to-one Chromebook use has an effect on student engagement and how one-to-one Chromebooks are used as an instructional tool. Specifically, what are the perceptions of middle school administrators and middle school core content-area teachers on one-to-one Chromebook use as an instructional tool and…

Many classroom teachers across the United States struggle to teach English language learners (ELLs) effectively, despite professional development in ELL strategies. This national problem is reflected in a rural middle school, the focus of this study. To address the academic needs of low-performing ELLs, the professional development model,…

We use data from a randomized controlled trial of a middle school science intervention to explore the causal mechanisms by which the intervention produced previously documented gains in student achievement. Our study finds that implementation fidelity, operationalized as a measure of the frequency of implementation of the cognitive science…

This article reports on how design-based research methodology was used to guide a line of intervention research that developed, implemented, revised, and evaluated online learning science curricula for middle school students, including general education students and English language learners (primarily of Hispanic origin). The iterative,…