Elementary Education and Teaching Commons^™

Access In Teaching Stem Subjects To The Blind, Ashley E. Neybert

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

There are still many gaps in the literature regarding the difficulties faced by instructors of students who are blind and low vision and who teach Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) subjects. We surveyed 26 K-12 STEM teachers about accessible materials they are aware of versus which accessible materials they use in their classrooms, their thoughts on how common challenges identified in the extent literature affect them in their teaching, and their perspective on how much extra time may be required for blind and low vision students (if any) to effectively learn STEM subjects.

Remixing Dialogue: A Case Study On Perceptions Of Hip Hop Pedagogy In A Professional Learning Course, Kelly J. Thelen

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

This qualitative case study examines how teachers’ decision-making and professional autonomy shift while participating in a Hip Hop Pedagogy Professional Learning course supported by structured FIXIT (Lo & Wachter, 2023a, 2023b, 2023c, 2023d; Wachter & Lo, 2024) game-facilitated dialogue in a rural, culturally and linguistically diverse Midwest community. Grounded in Freire’s (1970) Critical Pedagogy, Ladson-Billings’ (1995) Culturally Relevant Pedagogy, Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy (Paris and Alim, 2017), and Adult Learning Theory (Knowles et al., 2005), the study explores the reclamation of agency by teachers in a time of constrained creativity and educator autonomy shaped by strict policy environments, an emphasis on …

Exploring The Effectiveness Of A “How-To-Teach” Book Club For Preservice Teachers, Rina Bousalis, Eden Greene, Robyn Klein, Abigail Woods, Isabella Mandoeng

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

As teacher training programs continue seeking ways to prepare their preservice teachers to teach, many have turned to “how-to-teach” books written by veteran teachers, viewing them as a valuable source that could offer teacher candidates additional support. This study, which developed from the idea of creating a book club with instructors and members of a university’s future educators’ organization, used a qualitative textual analysis approach to explore concepts that emerged from how-to-teach books, how participants’ perceived those concepts, and how the books benefited participants. The study revealed that although authors’ perspectives often conflicted with participants’ beliefs, the authors’ engaging activities …

Measuring Administrative Hiring Confidence Of Music Teachers In The Context Of Shallow Hiring Pools, Aaron M. Strum

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to identify and measure the confidence of K-12 administrators in hiring music faculty. This study also aimed to analyze administrators’ perspectives and confidence in key stages of the hiring process, including defining job expectations, posting, advertising, interviewing, and selecting highly specialized music teachers in K-12 settings. Confidence of K-12 administrators can be gauged through their understanding of how well an applicant aligns with the specific needs of the school’s program. Three research questions guided this investigation: (1a) How confident are K-12 administrators in their understanding of music teaching pedagogy when interviewing music teacher candidates …

Listening To Learn: Preservice Teachers’ Voice On What Matters Most In Their University Preparation Programs, David Wolff, Scott Klimek, Elizabeth Y. Dale

The Interactive Journal of Global Leadership and Learning

This study explores the perspectives of preserviceteacher candidates on the topics in education they perceive as the most important and urgent as they prepare for their first year of teaching. Utilizing quantitative methodology, the study aims to identify and prioritize educational topics sixty (n = 60) preservice teacher candidates believed were critical to their professional development. Participants are asked to rate the topics based on two criteria: urgency and importance. Each topic is rated on a scale from 0 to 5, where 0 indicated unfamiliarly with the topic, 1 indicated low urgency or importance, and 5 indicates high urgency …

The Role Of Perceived Academic And Peer Support In Mitigating Imposter Syndrome Among Adhd Students, Eden Morley Dr

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

Background: Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in higher education is associated with significant executive functioning deficits and performance inconsistencies. These challenges, alongside heightened rejection sensitivity, may predispose students to the Imposter Phenomenon (IP)—the persistent belief that one’s success is undeserved. While social and academic supports are known to buffer psychological distress, their specific role in mitigating IP within the ADHD student population remains under-researched.

Objectives: This study investigated the severity of IP among undergraduate students with ADHD and examined the protective roles of Perceived Social Support (PSS) and Perceived Academic Support (PAS), while exploring gender as a potential moderator.

Methodology: A cross-sectional …

“I Want My Students To Be Knowledgeable About Civics”: Supporting Pre-Service Teachers Through A Civics-Focused Plc, Helena M. Sands, Daniela Kruel Digiacomo, Laura Darolia, Carly Muetterties, Stephanie Mobley

Kentucky Teacher Education Journal: The Journal of the Teacher Education Division of the Kentucky Council for Exceptional Children

This study describes a semester-long, civics-focused Professional Learning Community (PLC) with five elementary pre-service teachers (PSTs). Using inductive qualitative analysis of meeting transcripts, reflections, and field notes, three themes emerged: the PLC increased PSTs' confidence in integrating civics across the curriculum, built community through shared practicum experiences, and provided resources that broadened their understanding of civic learning. Findings suggest PLCs offer a promising structure for preparing elementary PSTs to prioritize civic education in their future classrooms.

Thinking Local Through Sources: Implementing Place-Based Education & The Inquiry Design Model, Kelli L. Knight

Kentucky Teacher Education Journal: The Journal of the Teacher Education Division of the Kentucky Council for Exceptional Children

Place-based educational methods are utilized across subjects to connect students with their local communities, and tasking them to grapple and solve real-world issues. Since place-based education (PBE) centers the students’ sense of place, this allows for the social studies disciplines to provide opportunities for place-based practices to take root. Through the use of the Inquiry Design Model (IDM), specifically through source material, place-based methods can be incorporated into the social studies classroom. The purpose of this paper is to provide a practical way in which, both pre-service and in-service, can modify IDMs to make them place-based by using local sources. …

Book Review: A Literacy Coach’S Playbook: Building A Winning Team To Improve Student Achievement, Kirsten Burke Smith

The Language and Literacy Spectrum

This scholarly book review of A Literacy Coach’s Playbook: Building a Winning Team to Improve Student Achievement (Brieske-Ulenski & Kelley, 2025) provides a detailed overview of a new clinical model of literacy coaching. The proposed approach, a Clinical Literacy Coaching Framework (CLCF), draws upon a medical model to build Literacy Leadership Teams (LLT) to improve data-informed and culturally-sustaining instruction.

Unfreezing Language: A Decolonial Reframing Of Translanguaging Pedagogies In English As A New Language & Dual Language Bilingual Education Settings, Cristian R. Solorza

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This qualitative multi-case study examines how elementary teachers in English as a New Language (ENL) and Dual Language Bilingual Education (DLBE) settings conceptualize, implement, and reflect upon translanguaging pedagogies, with particular attention to translanguaging rings as tools for language differentiation. Grounded in a rearticulation of language as a dynamic, socially, politically, and historically constructed subject and object, this study challenges monoglossic ideologies that position named languages as bounded systems at the center of language education. Instead, it centers students’ lived, embodied, and agentive language practices as foundational to language learning and to their participation as knowledge producers in ENL and …

Layers Of Representation: A Multidimensional Book Analysis, Mariah Pfundheller, Nikki Logan, Amy E. Lein, Sydney Bueno

Kentucky Teacher Education Journal: The Journal of the Teacher Education Division of the Kentucky Council for Exceptional Children

This study evaluates how educators interpret the Multidimensional Framework for Inclusive Literature (MDFIL), a tool for evaluating and selecting multicultural literature for their classrooms. Participants self-identified as current, former/retired, or student teachers, or as undergraduates pursuing a teaching license at the time of the survey. Incorporating multicultural literature into educational settings has a positive impact on children's development. Multicultural literature fosters feelings of acceptance, cultural awareness, and empathy among students. By exposing children to diverse cultural perspectives, multicultural literature not only enhances their understanding of their own identities but also cultivates a greater appreciation of others' experiences. The benefits of …

Pa 146: What Is Clear, What Is Fuzzy, And What Should We Do Next?, Jenelle Williams, Nicole Peterson

Michigan Reading Journal

Michigan’s Public Act 146 (PA 146), the state’s K–12 Literacy and Dyslexia Law, establishes new requirements for screening, evidence-based instruction, structured literacy practices, professional learning, and strengthened multi-tiered systems of support to improve reading outcomes. While the law provides detailed and prescriptive guidance for elementary schools—particularly regarding decoding-focused instruction aligned to the science of reading, universal screening, and intervention planning—its implications for grades 4–12 are less clearly defined. This article examines what is explicit in the legislation, what remains open to interpretation in secondary contexts, and how districts can move forward strategically as they prepare for full implementation by 2027–2028. …

An Equity-Based And Culturally Responsive Bill Of Rights For Early Childhood Students Of Color With Exceptionalities, Evette Simmons-Reed, Michelle Frazier Trotman Scott, Gloria Tardash, Mildred Boveda, Donna Y. Ford

Perspectives on Early Childhood Psychology and Education

The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated existing disparities in early intervention (EI) and early childhood special education (ECSE) services for culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) disabled children, exposing critical gaps in access, services and support. systemic inconsistencies in implementation, training, and funding, remain barriers limit opportunities for CLD students to benefit, despite the aims of the Individuals with Disabilities Improvement Act (IDEA). To address these inequities, this manuscript proposes an expanded and updated Culturally Responsive Equity-Based Bill of Rights for EI and ECSE. Building upon Ford and colleagues' (2018) work, this revised document extends protections to children aged zero to five, emphasizing …

Guest Editor's Introduction: Methodological Innovations For Advancing Early Childhood Educational And Psychological Research, Anthony Mangino Ph.D.

Perspectives on Early Childhood Psychology and Education

The goal of this special issue is to provide you, the inquisitive reader and developmental scientist, with some of the methodological tools to aid in augmenting your analytic capacity.

Enhancing K-2 Teacher Effectiveness In Reading Instruction: An Improvement Inquiry Into The Roles Of Self-Efficacy, Growth Mindset, And Evidence-Based Practices, Kellie F. Dawson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

School districts across the United States have increasingly adopted structured literacy initiatives in response to growing concerns about early reading outcomes and policy mandates grounded in the science of reading. Despite substantial investments in professional development, less is known about how teachers experience implementation demands within authentic classroom contexts. This improvement study examined how evidence-based professional development influenced K–2 teachers’ self-efficacy, the barriers teachers encountered during structured literacy implementation, and the supports teachers perceived as most critical for sustained instructional change within Eagle Stone School District.

Grounded in Bandura’s Self-Efficacy Theory and Dweck’s Mindset Theory, this qualitative study explored teachers’ …

All Flourishing Is Mutual: Cultivating A Gift Economy Of Literacy, Lindsey Lush, Melissa Kurtz

Occasional Paper Series

In this paper, two scholars and practicing elementary educators argue that the policies and practices of the Science of Reading (SoR) movement in early literacy education are being constructed with the logic of a market economy, shaped by neoliberal ideologies of individualism, scarcity, and competition. Compelled by our concerns for the bodies and beings of readers and reading teachers in the context of our Northeast Georgia public elementary school and provoked by our shared engagement with The Serviceberry, Indigenous scientist and scholar Robin Wall Kimmerer’s book on lessons from the natural world, we engage a postqualitative approach to emergent, relational …

Exploring The Impact Of Generative Ai On Curriculum Design And Instruction: A Study With Preservice Teachers, Lindsay A. Gold, Vanessa Winn, Jackie M. Arnold

Thomas C. Hunt Building a Research Community Day

Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) is transforming education by reshaping curriculum design, individualized learning, and professional collaboration. This interpretive study examines how 70 preservice teachers engaged with GenAI through structured learning experiences focused on lesson planning, content development, and reflective practice. Participants, all fourth-year PK–Grade 5 and intervention specialist candidates at the University of Dayton, completed a co-taught seminar led by methods professors in science, social studies, language arts, and mathematics. Data sources included initial reflections on GenAI’s role in education, documentation of prompt exploration, and ongoing reflections during the seminar. Thematic analysis revealed a shift in preservice teachers’ understanding from …

Humanizing Engineering For Preservice Elementary Teachers Through Sustainable Engineering Stories, Jeffrey D. Radloff, Madison M. Morris, Jacob Pleasants

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

Meeting the goals of US K–12 science education reform requires that preservice elementary teachers (PSTs) understand engineering as a specialized discipline and a human endeavor that addresses real-world issues. Yet in their formal education, few PSTs receive opportunities to learn about the humanistic dimensions of engineering: engineers’ personal values and motivations, the sociocultural nature of engineering work, and the societal significance of engineering. Storytelling about engineering offers a practical way to give PSTs access to these ideas. This study examines the impacts of integrating storytelling about engineering in a science methods course for future elementary school teachers. Over a two-year …

Teaching Iep Development To Preservice Teachers Using Real-World Scenarios And Kentucky Resources, Laura S. Clarke, Dusty Columbia Embury

Kentucky Teacher Education Journal: The Journal of the Teacher Education Division of the Kentucky Council for Exceptional Children

When considering all of the content and pedagogy required for preservice teachers to master before they begin teaching students with disabilities, candidates at public, regional university report that one of the most complex components is understanding Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) and how to write them. In this article, we will provide a program description of the structure, components, and outcomes of a model preservice personnel preparation program designed to address the pedagogical needs of university teacher education candidates in this rural state university. We will describe the plan and initial results from a small pilot study in which faculty in …

Critical Incident Analysis: A Methodological Approach For Teaching Trauma Informed Practices, Penny B. Howell, Mary S. Thomas, Shantel D. Crosby, Khirsten Scott

Kentucky Teacher Education Journal: The Journal of the Teacher Education Division of the Kentucky Council for Exceptional Children

Drawing on sociocultural theory, a transdisciplinary, multi-racial team of teacher educators, a social work educator, and a scholar of English and rhetoric, designed a study focused on developing teacher candidates’ understanding of trauma-informed practices during their teacher preparation program. Qualitative data from teacher candidates’ reflections on Critical Incident Descriptions (CID) completed during student teaching reveal their developing understanding of trauma-informed practice with Timing, Maintaining Relationships, Holding High Expectations, and Engaging Students so they Remain in the Classroom as prevalent themes across all CIDs. Findings suggest that Critical Incident Analysis promotes teacher candidates’ reflection practices as they make connections …

Leveraging Artificial Intelligence For Transformative Education: Challenges And Recommendations, Papia Bawa

Journal of Research Initiatives

The sheer force with which GPT models are inundating business, education and economic fields speaks to its ability to not only transform the ways in which we interact and act but also disrupt these ways. This systematic literature review applies the PSALSAR method to synthesize findings from 72 articles on AI applications in education, emphasizing its transformative potential across various domains. AI is transforming personalized learning by customizing content and feedback to individual needs, addressing challenges like data privacy and ethical concerns. It enhances administrative efficiency through automation and data-driven decision-making, improving institutional performance while managing biases and maintaining human …

Preservice Teachers’ Knowledge, Skills, And Perceptions Related To Data-Based Decision Making In Elementary Reading Instruction, Erin K. Washburn, Samantha A. Gesel, Miranda S. Fitzgerald, Corinne R. Kingsbery

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Teachers’ knowledge of and ability to use reading assessments and assessment data to inform instruction has long been recognized as a core teaching competency. Data-based decision making (DBDM) is a process by which educators examine assessment data to identify student strengths and needs and apply those findings to their practice. DBDM has been linked to student achievement/engagement and positive teacher self-efficacy. However, DBDM, specifically in reading, is a complex process for teachers. Preservice teacher preparation has been deemed a space for the introduction of DBDM in reading. However, few studies have explored how targeted instruction in reading-related DBDM may impact …

Hitler Must Be Killed: A Wwii Case Study, Jeffrey Byford, Presley Shilling, Alisha Milam

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

Social studies education during the 1960s experienced an educational renaissance known as the new social studies movement. Over 50 projects were funded by the National Science Foundation or private corporations to interject a student-centered curriculum into K-12 classrooms during this period. Nearly 60 years later, can student-centered decision-making activities be used in an era of high-stakes testing and planned curriculum? This article attempts to rekindle students' interest in decision-making and discussion by exploring elements in Moral Reasoning: The Value of Life from the Harvard Social Studies Project (HSSP). The activity called "Hitler Must Be Killed" helped students bring the content …

Edu 31 Introduction To Learning Disabilities And Inclusive Education Syllabus, Moet Bolden

Open Educational Resources

The syllabus for EDU 31 contains a course description, course objectives, course readings divided by week and links to ZTC readings.

From Arrival To Opportunity: A Policy Analysis For Supporting Newly Arrived English Learners In California, Valeria Gabrielli, Stephanie Mendoza Hernandez

School of Public Policy Capstones

Newly arrived immigrant students, commonly referred to as “newcomers,” represent a notable portion of the English Learner (EL) population in California’s K–12 public schools. As of Fall 2023, the California Department of Education reported that newcomers comprised 3.27% of total student enrollment. Although enrollment is projected to decline in the near term, the potential for future increases highlights the need for sustainable, evidence-based support systems. This study examines how California K–12 public schools with large EL populations provide academic and trauma-informed support services to newcomer students, with a particular focus on early intervention in grades K–5. Using the Bardach policy …

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.

From The Editors..., Thomastine Sarchet-Maher

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

No abstract provided.

Call For Manuscripts, Thomastine Sarchet-Maher

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

The Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities is a peer-reviewed, open access, multi-disciplinary online journal with an international focus. We publish articles that reflect the best of research and practice related to inclusive science education, including works submitted by science and special education researchers, teacher educators, and teachers. Interesting topics have included innovative curricular ideas, instructional adaptations, research-based modifications, best practices, and management strategies in science education. JSESD adopts the philosophical perspective that all students can achieve in science, and that science benefits from the full participation of all students.

My Schoolhouse Remains A Ghost Town: When The School Closes, The Block Dies, Sunni Ali

Journal of Research Initiatives

This conceptual essay examines the neoliberal policy forces driving widespread public school closures in urban communities across the United States. Drawing on scholarship in education policy, urban sociology, and community studies, the author argues that the closure of traditional public schools — accelerated by charter school expansion and accountability-driven federal policies such as No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top — has had devastating consequences for low-income communities of color. The essay explores how school closures erode neighborhood cohesion, dismantle civic anchors, and disproportionately burden students and families with the fewest school choice options. The author advocates for …

The Campaign For Motivation: Comparing Tabletop Role-Playing Game Running With Classroom Instruction, Arpit Bawa

Journal of Research Initiatives

Motivation is a cornerstone of effective teaching and learning, influencing student engagement, satisfaction, and academic performance. This descriptive case study examines Tabletop Role-Playing Games (TRPGs) as an underutilized pedagogical approach in higher education and compares the motivational processes involved in TRPG game running with those in classroom instruction. Leveraging the mere exposure effect (Zajonc, 1968), the study proposes that faculty unfamiliar with TRPGs can lower perceived barriers to adoption by identifying familiar motivational elements shared with classroom teaching. The study draws on self-determination theory, motivational frameworks, and case study methodology to analyze structural parallels between TRPG game mastering and instructional …