Background: The present study examined the effectiveness of three staff training elements: psychoeducation (PE) on autism, introduction of functional behavioural analysis (FBA) and emotional management (EM), on the reaction of challenging behaviours for frontline staff towards children with autism in Hong Kong special education settings. Methods:…

This study investigated the influence of three types of variables (teachers' backgrounds, the current teaching situation and characteristics of students with disabilities) on Taiwanese first-grade teachers' perceptions of inclusive education. A mail survey was conducted with all first-grade teachers in a metropolitan city in central Taiwan. After…

Established in the 142,000-student Montgomery County, Maryland, district in 1999, peer assistance and review (PAR)--or "peer review," as it is occasionally called--is actually an old idea. In 1981, the then-president of the Toledo Federation of Teachers, Dal Lawrence, helped create the first PAR program. Almost 30 years later, only a…

This manuscript provides an overview of the findings of an ongoing qualitative exploratory study that examined how preservice and inservice teachers in two different online education courses (ED 600 and ED 500) developed an understanding of the multifaceted issues that affect diverse learners. The study also investigated the instructors'…

In Ghana, several education initiatives for promoting the quality of education have excluded the issue of teacher motivation. Well-motivated teachers are likely to be more committed to their profession and this could lead to desirable learning outcomes. This research attempted to identity and analyse what teachers in public pre-tertiary schools in…

Special education services in Saudi Arabia have received much attention over the past 15 years. This increased attention has been reflected in the increasing amount of such services offered, including services aimed at students with intellectual disability. However, the enormous expansion of special education services was not followed by…

As part of the process of redesigning an integrated general and special teacher education program to prepare candidates to meet the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse students, researchers engaged a series of focus groups with current candidates, recent graduates, and partner school personnel. Data presented in this paper identified…

This study highlights one semester of ongoing research reflecting how preservice English students performed dispositions for social justice. This work draws on a postmethod approach, observing participants' artifacts and participation in a variety of classroom activities. By tapping into participants' funds of social justice knowledge, it explored…

This study investigates the influence of a two-year professional development programme on primary teachers' attitudes towards primary science, their confidence and competence in teaching science, and pupils' attitudes towards school science. Unlike the traditional "one-size-fits all" model of professional development, the model developed…

This study examines one part of a validity argument for portfolio assessments of teaching practice used as an indicator of teaching quality to inform a licensure decision. We investigate the relationship among portfolio assessment scores, a test of teacher knowledge (ETS's Praxis I and II), and changes in student achievement (on…

As part of Washington State's efforts to ensure and improve the quality of the teacher workforce, the Professional Educator Standards Board (PESB), with assistance from Educational Testing Services (ETS), has recently introduced a new, evidence-based assessment of teachers called the ProTeach Portfolio. The development of ProTeach was mandated by…

Assessments of U.S. students typically reveal stronger performance in science than mathematics yet their science performance remains uninspiring at best. Whether the metric considered is an international benchmark from TIMSS or PISA or the nation's NAEP report card, the mediocre portrait of U.S. science achievement has remained virtually unchanged…

This study is part of a larger randomized efficacy trial examining the impact of Behavioral, Emotional, and Social Training: Competent Learners Achieving School Success ("BEST in CLASS"), a Tier 2 intervention that targets the prevention of emotional/behavioral disorders in young, high risk children. In this investigation, we examined…

The Study of School Turnaround examines the improvement process in a purposive sample of 35 case study schools receiving federal funds through the School Improvement Grants (SIG) program over a three-year period (2010-11 to 2012-13 school years). This brief focuses on 11 of these SIG schools with high proportions of English Language Learner (ELL)…

The purpose of this policy statement is to support families, early childhood programs, and States by providing recommendations from the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Education (ED) for preventing and severely limiting expulsion and suspension practices in early childhood settings. Recent data indicate that expulsions and…