Elementary Education and Teaching Commons^™

Teaching Inquiry: A Guiding Template Fosters Critical Thinking, Barbara D. O'Donnell, Abigail C. Schwent

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

This article provides a supportive way to address the marginalization of social studies by teaching inquiry through the use of a template. Inquiry based learning encourages students to make real-world connections by engaging in problem solving and exploration through research. It fosters higher level skills like critical thinking, evaluation, and synthesis of knowledge through experiential learning (Bell, Urhahne, Schanze and Ploetzner 2009). Using inquiry to investigate social studies topics encourages the use of sources from diverse perspectives to understand the complete picture of the event being researched. Teaching social studies through inquiry is a daunting task due to multiple obstacles …

The Teaching And Learning International Survey 2024: Non-Response Bias Analysis Report For Australia, Katherine Dix, Toby Carslake

OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS)

This report considers potential non-response bias in the 2024 Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS). Analysis in this report demonstrates that Australia’s ISCED 1 and ISCED 2 respondents are representative of the broader school and teacher populations, strongly supporting a ‘Fair’ rating for data quality, particularly given the high in-school principal and teacher responses rates.

Talis 2024 Australian Report: The Teaching And Learning International Survey, Tim Friedman, John Ainley, Wolfram Schulz, Katherine Dix

OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS)

The OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) collects internationally comparable data on the learning environment and the working conditions of teachers and principals in schools across the world. This report outlines the results of the 2024 survey of Australian teachers under the headings of: teaching for today's world; thriving in teaching; the demands of teaching, developing teacher expertise, teacher leadership and autonomy, professional relationships in schools, and sustaining the teaching profession. Australia’s participation in TALIS 2024 was managed by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER).

Red: A Crayon’S Story Bibliotherapy, David Wolff

OER Materials

The goal of this assignment was for preservice teachers to practice writing a chain of questions that focused on the social and/or emotional needs of young learners. Bibliotherapy is therapeutic in nature to help individuals understand themselves and the world around them through guided reading experiences (American Library Association, 2025; Delisle & Galbraith, 2002). Further, bibliotherapy allow individuals to identify a personal problem mirrored by a character in a book. As the reader connects with the character, the reader experiences the emotions expressed by the character. Finally, the reader applies the character’s experience to their own personal problem (American Library …

Reimagining Civic Education In The United States: Integrating Research, Policy, And Practice For Democratic Renewal, Delante Clark

Graduate Scholarship and Creative Works

Civic education in the United States faces persistent challenges, including inequitable access, curricular fragmentation, and reluctance to address controversial social and political issues. This paper presents a comprehensive synthesis of research, policy analysis, and practice-based case studies to reimagine civic education for the 21st century. Drawing on core scholarship supplemented with additional peer-reviewed studies on school segregation, charter school demographics, and race-conscious student assignment policies, the study examines the historical evolution of civic education, structural inequities, political avoidance, and promising innovations. Using a qualitative synthesis approach, the findings highlight five thematic areas: structural inequities, curricular misalignment, sanitized narratives, limits of …

Covid's Impact On Our Youngest Learners, Scottie Ellsworth

Journal of the Symposium of University Research and Creative Expression

Project Mentor(s): Amanda Obery, PhD; Wendie Castillo

The COVID-19 pandemic profoundly disrupted education, leaving lasting effects on elementary students’ academic development, particularly in literacy and reading comprehension. This research investigated the long-term educational impacts of the pandemic by drawing on qualitative insights from interviews with five educators across a range of specializations, including general education, interventional support, and multilingual learning. Using inductive thematic analysis and descriptive coding, the study identified key themes that reflected shifts in academic achievement, student behavior, attendance, and school priorities post-pandemic. These findings illuminate critical areas where students require support and outline the structural, instructional, and …

Do Our “Window And Mirror” Books Leave Shards Of Broken Glass?, Brianne R. Pitts, Jill Hermann-Wilmarth

Michigan Reading Journal

In this article the authors apply Bishop’s (1990) windows, mirrors, and sliding glass doors as an analytical framework that, along with critical literacy practices, can be used to enhance the social studies and literacy instruction. The stories we share in elementary classrooms teach students about their future possibilities. As teacher educators, we wondered about our students and our complacency with powerful ideas from foundational scholars in literacy and education. Using Bishop’s (1990) metaphor as an analytic tool, students’ critical disciplinary literacy projects are assessed for future instructional goals, leaving readers with eight practical tools for classroom instruction and critical assessment …

Hands-On Stem In Ghana: Inspiration For Culturally Relevant Pedagogy Globally, Alhassan Issifu, Mawuena A. Hanson, Heather R. Beem

Journal of Pre-College Engineering Education Research (J-PEER)

Many educators are increasingly seeking culturally relevant pedagogies they can employ to effectively engage their students. In Ghana a substantive set of hands-on STEM content has been created, incorporating locally available materials and cultural approaches while maintaining alignment to the national curricula. Against a backdrop of almost no public primary or junior high schools in the country containing any lab equipment, this approach leverages and celebrates the abundance of what is available within the locality. This challenges narratives of what is considered “good” and recenters power back with those in the classroom. Three sample activities and three firsthand stories are …

Autonomous Versus Collaborative Online Professional Development: Discovering The Differences In Teacher Learning And Perceptions, Michelle Thomas, Heather Tellier, Jennifer Urbach, Corey Pierce Ph.D., Holly Baker-Hill

Journal of Educational Research and Innovation

Online, asynchronous professional development (PD) offers flexibility for learners, yet what is the most effective way to provide online PD? While current research suggests online platforms can be effective for learning, there is a lack of studies examining differences between fully autonomous, asynchronous modules and those that are asynchronous but still collaborative. This mixed-method study examined the learning differences and perceptions between two cohorts of special education teachers as they went through an eight-unit online course on dyslexia. One cohort received an autonomous platform without interaction among the students or instructor. The other cohort received the same content, but online …

Framework Integration In Academia: Moving From Theory To Practice, Lori B. Doyle, Kara S. Bratton, Timothy Young, Catherine Webb, Cari A. Chittick, Heather L. Vezner, Rebecca A. Stanton, Tanya M. Tarbutton

Journal of Organizational & Educational Leadership

Character education has been a point of focus and research in K-12 education dating back to the 1990s. The work of integrating a character-forward framework in higher education is now considered a beneficial and impactful practice. One university has successfully completed the initial work of integrating a servant leadership framework in the School of Education using an approach in line with the community of practice model. The authors of this paper work together and have each played a key role in not only the early stages but the ongoing phases associated with maintaining and improving. This theory-to-practice article begins with …

Copyright Information

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

Publication rights to works is granted to Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities, however, full copyright for works published in this journal is retained by the author(s). The author(s) may post their works online in an institutional repository, on their University departmental website, or on their own personal websites.

Challenges In Providing Equitable Education For Primary School Students With Learning Disabilities In Zimbabwe: Teachers’ Experiences., Joyce Madzinga

Dissertations

This study examines the challenges primary school teachers in Zimbabwe face when supporting students with learning disabilities (LDs). Many learners with LDs are excluded from adequate classroom support due to systemic, cultural, and resource limitations. Learning disabilities are often under-recognized as compared to other disabilities because they are invisible. Raising awareness and empowering educators are crucial steps toward addressing these hidden needs and ensuring they are recognized and met. Six teachers were interviewed using a qualitative ethnographic approach. Findings reveal obstacles, including insufficient training in special education, limited teaching resources, high pupil-teacher ratios, negative societal attitudes, and poverty-related constraints. Additional …

Enjoyment In The Classroom: Reciprocal Student-Teacher Dynamics In Israeli Math Education, Yonaton Gutterman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Enjoyment is increasingly recognised as a keystone emotion in contemporary models of academic motivation and learning (Pekrun, 2006; Ryan & Deci, 2020). Grounded in Control-Value, Expectancy-Value, and Self-Determination theories, the present study tracked reciprocal affective processes in Israeli mathematics classrooms across ten lessons. Seven teachers and their 257 students (112 fourth-graders; 145 eighth-graders) completed parallel post-lesson questionnaires assessing feedback use, enjoyment, and perceived difficulty. Multilevel ordinal mixed-effects models, latent-growth curve models, and Bayesian random-intercept cross-lagged panel models were estimated to disentangle within-person fluctuations from between-person differences (Hamaker et al., 2015). Confirmatory-factor analyses supported scalar invariance of the key scales over …

Teachers' Perceptions And Readiness For Ai Integration In Under-Resourced K-12 Classrooms, Valerie Riggs

Journal of Research Initiatives

This study explores how educators from under-resourced schools, who participated in an AI Summer Research Institute hosted by a Historically Black College and University (HBCU), perceive the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in their classrooms. Using both quantitative data from post-survey responses and qualitative reflections from virtual interviews, the study examines how teachers anticipate AI will influence their teaching strategies and student engagement, and what long-term benefits or concerns they associate with AI integration. The findings indicate that while teachers are optimistic about AI's potential to enhance engagement and personalization learning, they also express uncertainty regarding its long-term impact and …

Evaluation Of A Classroom Management Program For Improving Student-Teacher Relationships, Social Skills Instruction, And Teacher Self-Efficacy, Alex Mason, Ying Guo, Ashley T. Scudder, Kathleen A. Clancy, H C. Yeh, Richard Spoth, Tricia K. Neppl, Chungyeol Shin, Patrick M. Tyler

Journal of Educational Research and Innovation

This study tests the effectiveness of Well Managed Schools (WMS), an established classroom management program, for improving student-teacher relationship quality, teacher social skills instruction, and teacher self-efficacy. Participants were 415 Grade 1-5 teachers in 49 schools representing 24 school districts across six states in the United States. Teachers were assigned randomly to either the WMS condition (n = 210) or a usual classroom management practices control condition (n = 205). Data were collected via teacher surveys and classroom observations across five waves over two years. Results from analyses of covariance showed a significantly higher adjusted mean level of …

Teacher Perceptions Of Instructional Coaching Impacts On Instructional Practice And Student Learning, Alpaslan Ozdogan

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

This exploratory study investigates the role of instructional coaching in elementary education through the lens of teacher perceptions, with a focus on its influence on professional development, instructional methodology, educator well-being, and student academic achievement. The research pivots around four key questions examining the perceived impact of instructional coaches on:

1. Teachers' professional growth within elementary educational settings.
2. The evolution of instructional strategies and classroom practices.
3. The emotional and mental well-being of educators.
4. The academic performance and learning outcomes of students.

A narrative research approach was adopted, collecting and analyzing data through elementary teacher surveys, in-depth interviews with both teachers and …

Increasing Implementation Of The Comfortable Cafeteria Program To Promote School-Age Children’S Mental Health And Well-Being, Reinecka Mondesir, Angela Labrie Blackwell Phd, Otr

Summer 2025 OTD Capstone Symposium

Every Moment Counts (EMC) is a positive mental health promotion initiative that offers several initiatives to create inclusive environments that support student participation and emotional well-being throughout the school day. Comfortable Cafeteria, part of EMC, fosters positive mealtime experiences supporting peer interaction, emotional regulation, and inclusion. Many SBOT practitioners lack the resources to implement Comfortable Cafeteria, despite its benefits. This capstone project addresses the need for practical tools to help school-based occupational therapy (SBOT) practitioners integrate the Comfortable Cafeteria program into daily practice. Using the Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) framework, the project developed and disseminated an interactive, evidence-based video …

Digital Transformation In Jamaica's Education Sector, Grace Willis

Capstone Collection

Digital transformation in Jamaica’s education sector, significantly spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic, represented a seismic shift on this small Caribbean island I call home. This transformation was central to national education reform and involved multiple projects aimed at modernizing educational delivery, infrastructure, and the supporting ecosystem. This study explored the multifaceted implications of these initiatives through qualitative research conducted with ten key stakeholders, complemented by a review of publicly available materials. Interviewees included school administrators, Information Technology (IT) teachers, funding sponsors, representatives from national education bodies, and international development agencies engaged in domestic strategic efforts. Participants were recruited through cold …

The Implementation Of A Pilot Program On Puberty And Menstruation Education For Adolescent Females And Youth Development Specialists For A Gender-Specific Community Organization: A Quality Improvement Project, Cassandra Tavares

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Manuscripts

Background & Significance: Adolescent girls in the United States (U.S.) often lack adequate education and support regarding puberty and menstruation, despite the importance of this knowledge for healthy development (Schmitt et al., 2022). Only 21% of school systems serving ages 8–12 provide puberty education, and many educators feel unprepared to teach it (Schmitt et al., 2022). Purpose: This quality improvement project aimed to equip youth development specialists (YDS) at a community organization with a structured curriculum and educational tools to confidently educate adolescent females (ages 8–13) on the physical, emotional, and social aspects of puberty and menstruation. Intervention: A four-day …

Empowering General Educators: Supporting Students With Learning Disabilities Through Inclusive Tier Two Practices, Megan Sparling

Masters Projects

Many general education teachers enter the profession with minimal training in how to effectively support students with learning disabilities, particularly those who require Tier Two interventions but do not qualify for special education services. This lack of preparation contributes to reduced instructional confidence, inconsistent intervention practices, and missed opportunities to support struggling learners. Grounded in Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development, Universal Design for Learning (UDL), and Bandura’s theory of self-efficacy, this capstone project addresses the urgent need for ongoing, practical professional development tailored to the realities of inclusive classrooms. The literature highlights the importance of sustained, collaborative, and contextually embedded …