STEM Achievement Among Diverse Students and Elementary Pre-service Teacher Preparation: Considerations and Recommendations

Shifts in school demographics toward greater ethnic and linguistic diversity necessitate preparing a workforce of teachers who are skilled in inclusive teaching practices for all students. While improvements have been made over the past two decades, there is still a significant need to support pre-service elementary teachers in becoming capable instructors of STEM content in order to promote STEM achievement among diverse PK – 12 students. It is the obligation of all educational leaders to advocate for practices that work to dismantle systemic forms of inequality. This manuscript examines the increasingly significant role of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) in our society, issues surrounding the performance of diverse American students’ STEM achievement, and provides recommendations for improvement

Alternatively Certified Special Education Teachers’ Implementation of PBIS

Teachers are the primary conduit through which positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) are implemented. The purpose of this qualitative study is to investigate alternatively certified special education teachers’ implementation of PBIS. All participants were in their first or second year as teachers in classrooms for pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade students with disabilities. This study examines how alternatively certified special education teachers perceive and implement PBIS within their classrooms

Ready or Not, Here We Go! Preparing for the Education Specialist Teaching Performance Assessment

In the state of California, the Education Specialist Teaching Performance Assessment (EdSp TPAs) is the latest accountability measure to be required of aspiring education specialists. Existing literature has been overwhelmingly critical of the TPAs (Dover, 2022; Valdez et al., 2020). And now, in the dawn of the EdSp TPAs, there must be a candid conversation about preparing candidates sufficiently for the TPAs in order to avoid exacerbating the field that is struggling to recruit teachers. This article discusses three significant obstacles in preparing candidates for the assessment: challenges associated with identifying focus students, insufficient preparation among mentor teachers, and program timelines

Considerations in Promoting Parent and Family Involvement

It has been recognized for decades that parent and family (PF) involvement is a vital component of students\u27 educational experiences. Moreover, PF involvement is identified as an important protective factor for students. Thus, school administrators and educators understanding and encouraging positive relationships between families and schools may be one way to promote academic, social, and emotional success for youth throughout their lives. The purpose of this paper is to examine the literature on PF involvement and delineate a proposed model of PF involvement to foster resilience in children and youth