Leisure activities are important in assisting individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to build relationships, learn to behave socially appropriately, and acquire new interests--competences that assist in cultivating positive self-consciousness (Specht et al., 2002; Womack et al., 2011). Statistics indicate that 2.3% of 8-year-old children…

Research on the experiences of minoritized faculty shows that they face disproportionate challenges to professional support and career advancement. While broader research on faculty experiences highlights these inequities, program coordination is a distinct role further hindering minoritized faculty experiences. Program coordination entails roles…

New Leaders developed the Transformational Leadership Framework (TLF) to pinpoint practices commonly found in schools that were significantly advancing student achievement and in what sequence principals and their teams implemented those practices to deliver consistent and equitable outcomes for students. The TLF is based on: (1) More than 100…

Individual characteristics of neighborhood context, like concentrated socioeconomic disadvantage, are associated with children's cognitive development, including their academic skill development and executive functions. However, questions remain regarding how neighborhood structural, process, and physical features uniquely predict children's…

With the growing understanding of the importance of early childhood, leaders in many communities are looking for concrete ideas about how to improve the lives of young children and their families in their communities. They are looking for information and guidance about where to put their resources and energy, how to implement effective programs…

Based on self-reflective narratives, our study focuses on the lived experience of four Greek primary school teachers who are acknowledged for their personal commitment to environmental education. Their experience was narratively explored through recurrent conversations with them to bring out aspects of their identity and practice. The study was…

Science classroom assessment often requires multilingual learners to demonstrate ideas using only English-language resources. These assessments can provide an incomplete picture of students' knowledge and limit subsequent learning opportunities. Increasingly, science teachers are incorporating translanguaging pedagogies in their instructional…

Although natural playgrounds have originated from an intention to provide greater access to nature for children, these play spaces offer a designed and regulated space that diverges from other natural contexts. This study investigated the perceived and sociomaterially constructed role of nature in natural playgrounds by examining what people (i.e.…

Improving the rate at which individuals enter STEM careers remains a national concern, and there is a critical need for additional research examining the impact of career development programs for undergraduate STEM majors. Most career development studies are grounded in Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT), which states that students progressing…

To reveal the formation process of speech processing with early hearing experiences, we tracked the development of functional connectivity in the auditory and language-related cortical areas of 84 (36 female) congenitally deafened toddlers using repeated functional near-infrared spectroscopy for up to 36 months post cochlear implantation (CI).…

Institution-wide curriculum change is a costly, time-intensive and politically fraught undertaking. It is a challenge identifying who has responsibility for the curriculum and who is empowered to change it. The unbundling of the traditional tri-partite academic role of teaching, research and service leaves a gap of who in those communities decides…

Although teachers have opportunities to learn about many things through teaching experience, we know little about how they develop science subject matter knowledge in this setting. With both limited opportunities to learn science subject matter knowledge before becoming teachers and minimal science professional development available while working…

Neurodivergent students, including autistic students, often benefit from faculty support to navigate college challenges. To better equip faculty in their interactions with neurodivergent students and enhance their understanding, NeuroPREP, a faculty training program was developed. Comprising four 20-min modules, NeuroPREP addresses key topics…

Orthographic knowledge (i.e., the knowledge of conventions of a written language) has been identified as a predictor of both basic and higher-level reading processes, however, mostly examined in a cross-sectional design. It remains unclear, whether and how orthographic knowledge contributes uniquely in explaining differences in the acquisition of…

Approximately 40% of the U.S. early care and education (ECE) workforce lacks foundational training in research-based, developmentally appropriate practices for working with young children, which can impact the quality of ECE they can provide. To support young children's positive developmental trajectories, it is critical that all teachers have…