Implementation Of Rti As A Part Of Multi-Tiered Systems Of Support: What Teachers, Administrators, And Teacher Educators Need To Know, Susan Polirstok, Joseph A. Hogan

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

Multi-tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) is an outgrowth of Response to Intervention (RtI). The various systems of support for students and school communities provided through these programs are integral to modern education and embedded in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA) of 2004. While there are many benefits to the implementation of MTSS and RtI, there are various obstacles that can hinder successful intervention programs. The absence of consensus across districts and states with respect to program development and implementation creates confusion. This article addresses considerations and concerns related to MTSS and RtI. Discussed are underlying principles, challenges …

The Inclusion Of Classroom-Related Dispositions In Teacher Evaluations, David K. Griffin

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

This paper examines various approaches to evaluating the classroom teacher and discusses the inclusion of dispositions in the evaluation process. A random sample of 150 teachers were asked to complete an online survey focusing on the inclusion of dispositions in their formal evaluations. They were asked to report what specific dispositions were evaluated, and if the specific dispositions were operationally defined. A summary of their responses to the survey items is discussed.

“Don’T Call On Me!”: Mediating Preservice Elementary Teachers’ Mathematics Anxiety In A Problem-Based Classroom, Christina Koehne, Wenyen Huang, Nataly Chesky

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

This study aims to understand the ways in which problem-based teaching in a mathematics content course can alleviate pre-service elementary school teachers' mathematics anxiety. The significance of this work is to help increase the content and pedagogical knowledge of mathematics education, as outlined in STEM policies. Using a mixed method approach, the teachers-researchers explore what methods, procedures, and other perhaps unknown variables, helped pre-service elementary teachers decrease their mathematics anxiety during two mathematics content courses. The findings illuminate five major themes the authors discuss, which are illustrated by rich descriptions of students’ narratives and interviews. Given the importance of mathematics …

Teachers' Experiences Of Using Play And Al's Pals To Teach Socio-Emotional Skills Through Coaching Support Models, Deborah Tamakloe, Elizabeth Powers, Alisa Landis, Lori Mccracken

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

Interactive teaching strategies provide opportunities for engaging children in discussing difficult concepts such as socio-emotional wellbeing and wide range of ideas about their social and personal lives. However, few studies have explored preschool teachers’ efficacy of using coaching through ‘Play and puppetry programs as approaches to developing children’s emotional regulation, socio-emotional learning and wellbeing. This paper reports on a “Labyrinth Project” aimed to gain in-depth understandings of preschool teachers’ experiences and perspectives pertaining to their efficacy of using play and puppetry as tools to promote children’s emotional learning and development. The results showed that despite early challenges with the use …

Cultivating Culturally Responsive-Sustaining Approaches To Social And Emotional Learning For Students With Or At-Risk For Emotional And Behavioral Dis/Abilities, Sharde Theodore, Lindsay Romano, Fanica Young, Danica Moise, Tahnee Wilder

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

School policies are largely driven by perceptions and expectations for how students should behave academically and socially, yet these practices often lack the cultural relevance and sustainability required to support racially, ethnically, and linguistically diverse (RELD) students with or at risk for emotional and behavioral dis/orders (EBD). Similarly, many evidence-based practices for behavior do not consider internalizing behaviors (e.g., anxiety, toxic stress), exemplifying a critical need for equitable practices aimed at supporting the prosocial and emotional needs of RELD students with or at risk for EBD. Given the multifaceted social, emotional, and behavioral needs of RELD students with or at …

Message From The President, Excelsior

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents, Excelsior

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

No abstract provided.

Letter From The Editors, Jesslyn Hollar, Joelle Fingerhut, Stephanie Purington

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

No abstract provided.

“Why Did Devon Just Leave The Classroom?”: Disability Studies In Education-Informed Related Service Provision, Katie Newhouse, Laurie Rabinowitz

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

Public schools often schedule related services by using a mix of pull-out and push-in instruction, referred to as service delivery models. This poses challenges because the transitions to and from services are obvious to other students and can influence student identities and result in a loss of academic instructional time. This article shares inclusive approaches for novice teachers to learn how to organize related service provision in ways that strengthen student identities as individuals with disabilities. By focusing on how our previous teaching and research experiences inform our pedagogical design in our teacher education courses, we seek to open the …

An Analysis Of The Statewide Shortage Of Aba Professionals In New York, Leanna S. Mellon, Noor Syed, Lauren Lestremau Allen

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

Support services for many Autistic students in schools is critical. Behavior analysts are one type of service provider who offer support services in and outside of school settings to Autistic students. As behavioral support services are increasing in educational settings, it is important to ensure there are a sufficient number of professionals trained to provide high quality and compassionate support. However, there may not be enough state licensed providers to meet the growing need of students across the state of New York (NY). The supply of state licensed behavior analysts (LBAs) was calculated for the state of NY, its six …

Teacher Certification During Multiple Pandemics In The Epicenter Of It All, Deborah Greenblatt 4509457

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

Teacher certification exams were put on hold as New York City became the epicenter of the COVID-19 crisis in March of 2020. State officials closed testing centers and school buildings, and teacher candidates began to panic as administrators at their student teaching placements worked feverishly to adjust. This changed teacher candidates’ ability to complete the performance assessment required for certification (edTPA). Concurrently, COVID-19 was disproportionally affecting the Black community (Phillips et al., 2020) and areas with limited financial resources. Based on the demographics of students at The City University of New York, there were extensive health challenges for many of …

Looking Back In Order To Move Forward: Lessons From Covid-19 For Teacher Education, Kiersten Greene, Lizabeth Cain, Elizabeth Brennan, Brianna Vaughan

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

This article provides critical perspectives on education technology integration in a teacher education context in a post-pandemic world. The authors—two early career teachers, one in a pre-school and one in an elementary school, and two elementary teacher education faculty members at a mid-sized public university—use the U.S. Department of Education’s 2016 guiding principles for educational technology in teacher education for analysis. The commentary evolves directly from and reflects the authors’ collective experience across the P-20 spectrum in education technology, with close attention paid to what was learned during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent pivot to remote learning …

The Other Fifty Percent: Expressions From Special Education Teachers About Why They Persist In The Profession, Laron A. Scott, Christine Powell, Lauren Bruno, Christopher J. Cormier, Kendra Hall, Old Dominion University, Joshua P. Taylor, Katherine Brendli

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

We examined reasons special educators are motivated to persist in the profession despite challenges that often lead to attrition for this group. Participants were 21 special education teachers with six or more years of teaching experience across multiple grade levels. Data were collected via the Zoom virtual meeting platform with four focus groups. Semi-structured interview techniques were used, and data were analyzed using deductive coding procedures. Participants shared external, employment, and personal factors associated with Billingsley’s (1993) career decision framework that influenced their persistence, such as supports from school administrators with expertise in special education law, passion for students and …

“I Changed My Mind”: Exploring Why College Students Change Majors To Become Teachers, Ross Bussell

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

While teacher education programs have long studied what draws students to choose a career in teaching, a less studied aspect of teacher candidates relates to students who change majors to become teachers. As a phenomenon that is common in teacher preparation, I am interested in better understanding why this happens. This article centers around six participants who began college choosing a science major, changing their course of study after at least one full year. Through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, a discussion of what led the participants to change majors, what they were looking for when deciding to become teachers, and …

Letter From The Editors, Christine E. Ashby, Julia M. White

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

No abstract provided.

Message From The President, Jacob Easley Ii, Julia White

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

No abstract provided.

Call For Proposals For Editorial Team, The Editors

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

No abstract provided.

What Pre-Service Teachers Want “Math” To Know: Examining Self-Identified Relationships And Critical Experiences With Mathematics, Claudia M. Bertolone-Smith, Alison Puliatte, Samantha Sommers, Michelle Unigarro, Danielle Vantassell

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

This study examines the self-reported critical experiences that undergraduate pre-service teachers (PSTs) choose to share when writing a letter directly to “Math” and creating a self-portrait of a math learning experience. The letters sought to initiate a personification of math and the self-portraits to further explore math learning experiences of the PSTs. The letters and portraits were examined to understand the types of math relationships and critical events PSTs reported and their impact on PST identity and agency as a future teacher. Portraits were analyzed by PST research partners. The relationship between the categories of critical events and mindset …

Teacher Residency As A Path To Teacher Diversity: Negotiating Tensions In Role And Identity, Jennifer Sharples Reichenberg, Hilary Lochte, Corinne M. Kindzierski, Alayla J. Ende, Diana Maskell, Crystal A. Elias, Julie J. Henry

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

This phenomenological qualitative study examined the experiences of graduate-level teacher candidates enrolled in teacher residency programs and serving as teacher aides or assistants (TAs). Some participants were graduate-level teacher candidates already employed as TAs in a large urban district and enrolled in an Urban Pipeline Residency Program, a state-funded diversity initiative designed to increase the number of teachers from underrepresented groups by supporting TAs to pursue teacher certification. Additional participants were enrolled in the Traditional Residency Program and completed residencies in other local districts. Survey and interview data from TA/teacher candidates, mentors, and instructors showed that TA/teacher candidates in both …

Diversifying The American Teacher Workforce: Problematizing The Past And Building The Future, Jacob Easley Ii

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

Equity in the education profession is of grave importance. The current socio-political conditions have elevated matters of social and racial justice in society broadly. As the number of students attending America’s P-12 schools has grown more diverse across racial and ethnic groups, racial parity within the teacher workforce continues to lag. Many stratagems have been employed to expand teacher diversity across the nation with varying effects. We explore the historical and contemporary contexts of teacher diversity and outline considerations to advance racial parity in the teacher workforce beginning with preparation. Specially, we discuss how university-based teacher preparation programs may continually …

Resilient, Mindful, And Satisfied Educational Professionals, Stephen J. Caldas, Gina M. Pin

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

This study conducted confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) using both the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC 25) and the Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) to create a validated, synergistic, higher-order factor we call Invicti Anima based on the responses 630 teachers and building-based educational leaders in three northeastern USA states. Controlling for important contextual variables including educator sense of agency, our structural equation path model mapped the relationships between educator role, level of Invicti Anima, and Job Satisfaction, as measured by the Job Satisfaction Index (JSI). The educators in our study who were strong in Invicti Anima …

Stories That Matter: An Analysis Of Teacher Candidates’ Compositions About Social Justice Events In Their Lives, Kathleen A. Gormley, Peter Mcdermott

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

Abstract

This study generated from our interest in learning about social justice events in the lives of teacher candidates in our programs of study. In many schools of education, including our own, social justice is a concept that is integrated into the curriculums, yet there is wide variation as to how this is actually done. A unique aspect of this study was that more than half of the candidates were matriculated in an alternate teacher education program where the majority of candidates are people of color. Using narrative analysis, we examine 48 written narratives composed by teacher candidates about events …

Letter From The Editors, Christine E. Ashby And Julia M. White

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

No abstract provided.

Message From The President, Jacob Easley Ii

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

No abstract provided.

Thinking About Teaching: A Rural Social Studies Teacher's Path To Strive For Excellence, Dana F. Serure

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

Thinking About Teaching: A rural social studies teacher's path to strive for excellence by Casey Jakubowski (2020) offers insights about the macros and micros of teaching. The book is geared toward educators and teacher candidates who seek to know more about the teaching profession. The book comprises four parts, including: 1) an introduction of practice which details twenty brief chapters of hot education topics, 2) curriculum and instruction, 3) rural education, and 4) a conclusion that pinpoints recommendations about teaching based on his experience that spans twenty years in the education field. Throughout the book Jakubowski expresses his professional journey …

Teacher Perceptions On L2 Acquisition And Education Practice For English Language Learners, Shu J. Chen-Worley Ph.D.

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

This study examined teachers' perceptions on language acquisition and education practice for English Language Learners (ELLs) to further address the disproportionality concern in education and identify the areas of training needs for classroom teachers as education renovation. A total of 222 participants voluntarily participated in this study. A Mixed Methods approach was used to conduct the study and analyze the data. The results showed that most participants did not have formal training in second language (L2) or learning experience but they had already taught ELLs. Working with ELLs and their parents was considered challenging for five common reasons. Language barriers …

Teachers’ Stories Of Autonomy, Competence, And Relatedness In Becoming An Innovative Teacher Facilitator With Ubiquitous Computing, Beth R. Sockman, Doreen Lwanga

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

Many classrooms have access to ubiquitous information communications technology (ICT), and teachers have been trained on the way to use it. However, few teachers use technology in what many consider the most powerful ways to learn. This study investigates four teachers who have developed from traditional teaching into facilitative–innovative teaching with ubiquitous ICT. As an instrumental case study, we used self-determination theory’s interaction of autonomy, competence, and relatedness to analyze their stories to understand better why and how they developed. Participants taught in middle and high schools representing a range of school sizes and sociocultural populations. Findings reveal that all …

Using Multimodal Virtual Instruction To Build Preservice Teachers' Knowledge Of Dyslexia, Susan J. Chambre, Molly K. Ness

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

Increasing awareness about screening and instructional interventions for students with dyslexia is a necessary component of P-12 teacher preparation. Disparities in reading achievement for students with disabilities, including those with dyslexia, is evidenced in lower literacy testing scores as well as lower high school graduation rates for those with documented disabilities when compared to typical developing peers. Preservice teachers, however, continue to struggle with understanding, identifying, and providing targeted literacy instruction to remediate reading challenges for students with dyslexia. Emerging data on the impact of the COVID-19 school closures on lags in student’s reading attainment, further solidifies the need for …

Committing To Anti-Bias Anti-Racist Teaching: From Activity To Habits Of Mind, Tierney B. Hinman, Elizabeth Y. Stevens, Tess M. Dussling, Nance S. Wilson, Amy Tondreau, Wendy Gardiner, Kristen White, Sophie Degener

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

With the need to prepare teacher candidates to work with an increasingly diverse student body in U.S. schools, a multi-institutional collaborative self-study group was formed to examine ways in which teacher educators could expand beyond practice-based literacy preparation to support candidates’ understanding and implementation of critical pedagogies. The self-study served as a catalyst for interrogating the identities the teacher educators brought to their practice and began a journey that transformed a focus on critical literacies into a commitment to action for change through anti-bias anti-racist work. This paper draws from group dialogue and reflective journals to examine specific practices implemented …