This paper introduces the LIDO, or the Low-Inference Discourse Observation tool, that captures discourse moves produced by students and teachers in whole-classroom discussions. Coding methods are ...described, followed by analyses that explore validity of the LIDO through correlations among LIDO-coded discourse moves and between LIDO scores and scores on the Instructional Support domain of the Classroom Assessment Scoring System-Secondary, utilizing 643 audio-recorded classroom lessons. Observations were conducted in fourth through seventh grade urban classrooms, including English Language Arts, Mathematics, Science and Social Studies. Rates of teacher and student discourse moves correlated with each other and with CLASS scores in expected ways, providing evidence of internal and convergent validity. Implications for use in research are discussed, including specific advantages of this new approach, such as the capacity to tease apart teacher behavior from student behavior in the context of classroom interactions.
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NUK, OILJ, SAZU, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
This article examines the degree to which major domains of child development are affected by Pediatric Acute-Onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome (PANS)/Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders ...Associated with Streptococcal Infections (PANDAS). Using cross-sectional survey data collected with an international sample of parents who identify as having children with PANS/PANDAS (N = 402), this study analyzed parent-reported developmental impacts and access to treatment and adequate supports. Parents reported that PANS/PANDAS negatively impacted their children's development across all domains: Emotional Development (92% of children), Social Development (90%), Cognitive Development (86%), Academic Growth (86%), Identity Development (83%), Talent Development (73%) and Language Development (50%). In addition, developmental impacts were likely to be more severe for children whose parents reported a greater number of inadequate supports with parenting, school, extracurricular activities, and crisis situations. These results indicate that children and families affected by PANS/PANDAS need better support to maximize children's opportunities, at home, in school, and in their communities, to continue developing despite challenging neuropsychiatric symptoms.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OBVAL, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
Managing students' problem behaviors in the classroom is a difficult challenge for many teachers. A teacher's ability to empathize with students' perspectives and life experiences could impact their ...approach to the student's problem behaviors; however, few previous studies examine teacher empathy. This study adapted an existing empathy measure to assess educators' cognitive and affective empathy for students. Participants were elementary school teachers (N = 178) who reported on their levels of empathy and completed measures of teacher-student relationships, student behaviors, and approaches to handling behaviors for their self-reported most challenging student. Results indicated the adapted measure reliably assessed teachers' cognitive empathy and an affective form of empathy characterized as empathic distress (experiencing personal distress from others' distress). Teachers higher in cognitive empathy reported more positive mindsets about student behavior, greater competence in handling problem behaviors, increased use of effective problem-solving strategies, greater relationship closeness, and lower levels of job burnout. Teachers high in empathic distress showed largely opposite findings, with more negative misbehavior mindsets, greater relationship conflict, less competence, fewer problem-solving strategies, and higher job burnout. These findings have implications for supporting teachers to effectively intervene and build positive relationships with behaviorally challenging students.
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BFBNIB, DOBA, FZAB, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Understanding the factors associated with variation in the implementation of educational programs has emerged as a key research focus, in an effort to identify how promising programs can be scaled up ...across their targeted contexts. The current study explored demographic-related variation in program dosage using a novel source of implementation data from the treatment group in a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of Word Generation, a curriculum designed to support deep reading comprehension and academic language. Both student- and teacher/classroom-level predictors were associated with variation in the proportion of curricular activities students completed. We also evaluated how variation in treatment-group program dosage distinctively predicted growth on the RCT’s key outcome measures of taught vocabulary words, academic language, and deep reading comprehension. We conclude that design and evaluation of future RCTs would benefit from procedures to predict implementation variation and its consequences prior to randomization.
The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically altered practices in the K-12 education system. Though several studies have documented impacts on students and staff, limited research has explored educators' ...experiences with these changes. This study addresses this gap using interview data to examine elementary school educators' perspectives. Results suggest that the pandemic facilitated a variety of adaptations in schools that led to outcomes that were primarily negative (student social development and educator stress), mixed (student well-being and academic achievement; educator support, time demands, and well-being), or positive (student resilience and flexibility; educator resilience, sense of community, autonomy, and flexibility). This study describes ways in which pandemic-related changes in schools produced a mix of unfavorable and favorable conditions. An important implication is that rather than aiming for a complete "return to normal," schools should identify what may have worked better during the pandemic, such as increased social-emotional learning and individualized instruction, and explore ways in which such changes could be maintained going forward.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
6.
Improving Classroom Quality Brown, Joshua L; Jones, Stephanie M; LaRusso, Maria D ...
Journal of educational psychology,
02/2010, Volume:
102, Issue:
1
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
This study capitalizes on recent advances in the reliable and valid measurement of classroom-level social processes known to influence children's social-emotional and academic development and ...addresses a number of limitations in our current understanding of teacher- and intervention-related impacts on elementary school classroom processes. A cluster randomized controlled trial design was employed to (a) examine whether teacher social-emotional functioning forecasts differences in the quality of 3rd-grade classrooms, (b) test the experimental impact of a school-based social-emotional learning and literacy intervention on the quality of classroom processes controlling for teacher social-emotional functioning, and (c) examine whether intervention impacts on classroom quality are moderated by these teacher-related factors. Results indicated (a) positive effects of teachers' perceived emotional ability on classroom quality; (b) positive effects of the 4Rs Program on overall classroom quality, net of teacher social-emotional functioning indicators; and (c) intervention effects that are robust to differences in these teacher factors. These findings support and extend recent research examining intervention-induced changes in classroom-level social processes fundamental to positive youth development.
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CEKLJ, FFLJ, NUK, ODKLJ, PEFLJ, UPUK
Positive school climates have been found to have favorable effects on adolescent health risk behaviors and mental health outcomes. However, the mechanisms by which teacher behavior may promote such ...effects in high schools have not been extensively studied. Based on social control theory and a social developmental-contextual model, it was predicted that by respecting students’ points of view and decision making capabilities, teachers can help build respectful school climates that encourage healthy norms of behavior. Structural equation modeling with a nationally representative sample of 476 youth ages 14–18 supported the model. Adolescents who reported higher teacher support and regard for student perspectives in their high schools were more likely to see their schools as having respectful climates and healthy norms of drug use which was associated with lower levels of personal drug use. Students in such schools also reported greater social belonging and fewer symptoms of depression.
This study examined the efficacy of a supplemental, multicomponent adolescent reading intervention for middle school students who scored below proficient on a state literacy assessment. Using a ...within-school experimental design, the authors randomly assigned 483 students in grades 6-8 to a business-as-usual control condition or to the Strategic Adolescent Reading Intervention (STARI), a supplemental reading program involving instruction to support word-reading skills, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension, and peer talk to promote reading engagement and comprehension. The authors assessed behavioral engagement by measuring how much of the STARI curricular activities students completed during an academic school year, and collected intervention teachers' ratings of their students' reading engagement. STARI students outperformed control students on measures of word recognition (Cohen's d = 0.20), efficiency of basic reading comprehension (Cohen's d = 0.21), and morphological awareness (Cohen's d = 0.18). Reading engagement in its behavioral form, as measured by students' participation and involvement in the STARI curriculum, mediated the treatment effects on each of these three posttest outcomes. Intervention teachers' ratings of their students' emotional and cognitive engagement explained unique variance on reading posttests. Findings from this study support the hypothesis that (a) behavioral engagement fosters struggling adolescents' reading growth, and (b) teachers' perceptions of their students' emotional and cognitive engagement further contribute to reading competence.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NMLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
The current study examined changes in family functioning following the onset of Pediatric Acute-Onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome (PANS)/Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with ...Streptococcal Infections (PANDAS). A social-ecological and systems framework was used to investigate (1) how families’ day-to-day lives and functioning evolved since the onset of PANS/PANDAS, (2) challenges families faced in raising a child with this condition, (3) changes in family sub-systems, and (4) sources of support. Qualitative research was conducted in two phases: narrative thematic analyses of online parent forum threads followed by semi-structured interviews with nine families. Five primary themes are presented: (a) Child Symptoms and Clinical Course, (b) Family Resources and Institutional Barriers, (c) Close Relationships (sub-themes: family sub-systems and support network – extended family and friends), (d) Routines and Daily Life, and (e) Family Emotional Well-Being. It was found that depending on the state of the child (i.e., well or in flare/exacerbation), the family’s level of functioning fluctuated. Family functioning was also found to be impacted by lack of support from the medical community, child’s school system, family and friends. The marital relationship was found to be greatly impacted, in addition to strains in the parent-child and sibling relationships. Analyses revealed that the severity of the neuropsychiatric symptoms was a particularly challenging aspect of PANS/PANDAS with many families using trauma metaphors to describe their experience. The impact on the emotional well-being of the family entails a level of suffering that diverges from the literature on the impact of other childhood chronic illness on family functioning.
Highlights
Examined family functioning utilizing online parent forums and nine semi-structured interviews with PANS/PANDAS families.
Unpredictability & relapsing-remitting nature of neuropsychiatric symptoms cause significant disruptions to daily life.
Financial strain, social isolation, and lack of support from schools and medical institutions transform family functioning.
Parents’ frequent use of trauma metaphors to describe experience diverges from literature on other chronic illnesses.
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DOBA, EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, IZUM, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, ODKLJ, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
Educators' high levels of stress have been well documented in existing literature, though little research has directly looked at comparisons of stress experiences and needs for support based on ...school level. The present study included 33 teachers (19 elementary and 14 middle school) from one school district who participated in semistructured interviews. Responses to questions regarding their primary source(s) of stress and their ideal solution(s) to relieve that stress revealed distinctions between elementary and middle school teachers. Elementary teachers described stress related to a sense of responsibility or need to care for students and meet their social, emotional, behavioral, and academic needs. Their ideal solution primarily involved receiving more emotional support and more support staff in the classroom to help meet all students' needs. In contrast, middle school teachers reported the majority of their stress as stemming from external demands or pressures such as test scores, high or unattainable expectations from administrators or parents, and not having enough time. Middle school teachers' ideal solutions largely entailed a shift in the use of their time, specifically to remove tasks (e.g., unnecessary staff meetings) and be able to focus their time on what matters the most (e.g., teaching students). These findings indicate that although almost all of these teachers reported being highly stressed, their sources of stress and perceived needs for support varied based on school level. Efforts to promote teacher well-being must consider school level and teachers' own perspectives on what they need in order to provide the most beneficial supports.
Impact and Implications
This study revealed that perceived causes of teacher stress differ depending on the level taught (i.e., elementary vs. middle school), and ideal solutions to stress proposed by teachers align with the perceived causes, such as emphasizing emotional support from colleagues or reducing the number of required meetings to free up work time. To appropriately address teacher stress, such causes must be carefully considered, and educator perspectives about solutions should be elevated.
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CEKLJ, FFLJ, NUK, ODKLJ, PEFLJ, UPUK
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