Search

Emotional, behavioral, and mental health challenges make it difficult for many children and adolescents to engage and succeed at school. Research indicates that at least 20% of all children and adolescents have been diagnosed with one more mental health disorders. Behavioral problems, anxiety, and depression are the most diagnosed mental health issues, and they often co-occur. Moreover, these conditions are being diagnosed at increasingly younger ages. In the past several years there has been a rise in the number of adolescents and young adults with serious mental health issues such as major depression and suicidal ideation, and the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated mental health problems for children and adolescents. Schools offer promise for providing intensive clinical support to the most at-risk students, and schools are necessary environment to explore the implementation of multi-modal youth mental health services. This paper provides an analysis of an intensive, in-school mental health services model developed and implemented by Effective School Solutions (ESS), a New Jersey based provider of high acuity school based mental health services for K-12 students. We analyze this multi-modal model for its effectiveness in improving educational outcomes for over 3,000 students identified as requiring intensive clinical mental health support across the 2021-22 school year. This analysis reveals that those students receiving High- versus Low-fidelity programming (i.e., multiple sessions per week for at least half of the school year versus for less than half of the school year) had better educational outcomes. Students receiving High-fidelity programming had greater improvements in grade point average (GPA) and greater reductions in absences across the school year. A higher number of in-school clinical sessions per week significantly predicted a greater increase in GPA and a greater reduction in total disciplinary incidents (including out of school suspensions) across the school year. This report provides initial promising evidence that in-school intensive mental health clinical services yield positive effects on students' educational outcomes. Though future research is needed to validate and extend these findings, schools may consider implementing such services onsite to meet students where they are and to optimize students' mental, behavioral, and educational well-being. [This white paper report was published by the Yale Child Study Center."]

The purpose here is to translate the Fifth Force Psychologies movement through an integral (Wilberian) lens. One of the most significant impacts of doing this comes from the integral initiative, which has led to Ken Wilber arguing "Psychology is dead." Concomitantly, his view is that the "integral approach" is its replacement. This move characterizes Wilber's unique integral philosophy in a deconstructionist postmodern style of Nietzsche's "God is dead." Yet, Wilber, unlike Nietzsche, and more like Rank, reconstructs a post-postmodern vision of a new critical analysis and critical theory. In the author's view, the best of Wilberian thought and critique is his social politics of knowledge (re: his dealing with the Four Forces). It is what makes a foundational postmodern critical (conflict) theory of Integral (at least, in the Wilberian view, of which the author finds most compelling and useful to the problems of the 21st century overall--that is, ideological conflict, violence, fear, terror, wars, etc.). The very understanding of "psychology" and the field of Psychology is put into question by Wilber's challenge, just as God was more fully put into question by more and more people after Nietzsche. This technical paper puts Psychology into question, not for the first time, but in a way the author thinks is truly a first 21st century vision and profound in its potential as critique. The author offers nine reasons for naming and reclaiming "Integral-Transpersonal" as the Fourth Force of Psychology. (Contains 44 footnotes.) [This paper was published by the In Search of Fearlessness Research Institute.]

The author outlines a unique integral transdisciplinary theory (model, map) for studying four meta-motivations universal to all living systems. Within this theory are four primary principles to make the whole integral basis for understanding motivation and all that it determines in perception, thinking, feelings, actions. The four meta-motivations are Fear, Love, Freedom and Fearlessness. This work continues the author's 25 year study of recalibrating W. societies' views and approaches to curriculum design which are truly emancipatory, rather than continuing a legacy of fear-based curriculum design and pedagogy that is wiping out the best qualities of the Natural, Cultural and Spiritual worlds. The author argues that the foundational meta-motivation (principle) of Fear is an "ecology of fear" essential to the understanding of the Natural world and thus, also, the world of human beings. Any notion of "living in harmony" with the natural world ("a la" Gregory Bateson and many holistic and indigenous educators) ought to engage the role of an ecology of fear. A list of related resources is provided in an appendix. [This paper was published by the In Search of Fearlessness Research Institute.] (Contains 4 figures and 8 footnotes.)

This paper discusses research and thinking on the importance of interpersonal and intrapersonal effectiveness for teachers, school leaders and school improvement, and explores implications of the use of NLP in relation to personalisation and the children's agenda. It outlines initial research carried out as part of the Fast Track Teaching programme (the UK government accelerated leadership development programme) and on the London Leadership Strategy and makes suggestions for further research. Two appendices are included: (1) Content analysis of suggestions for use of NLP in teaching and school leadership (n. 380 teachers); and (2) Core content knowledge covered in the INLPTA Diploma Level training.

The purpose of this study is to explore aspects and indicators most commonly used to assess the quality of education systems in different countries through the comparison of 12 national publications describing the state of the educational system. To compare indicators the CIPP model was chosen. This model is organized in four main parts: Context, Input, Process and Product. Each main part was then divided into categories based on the research literature (e.g., Input is divided into human, financial and material resources). Based on the CIPP model an electronic database for quality indicators comparison has been designed and implemented. This system is dynamic and easy to update. Using the database it is possible to compare countries according to several criteria (e.g., main parts and categories of the CIPP model, ISCED [International Standard Classification of Education] level, level of data collection). The database is available to the public and is designed for researchers and scholastic decision makers. A first comparison shows that processes at the classroom level are rarely considered, whereas public financial resources as well as achievement results are always included. The study concludes with a discussion of the findings of the comparison, as well as suggestions for future research aimed at further defining relevant indicators for the assessment of education quality." An appendix presents: "The on-line database: structure and functions. (Contains 5 figures and 7 footnotes.) [This paper was produced by INVALSI - National Institute for the Educational Evaluation of Instruction and Training.]

How might students engage mindful learning? How might the professor engage mindful teaching? Both questions derived from fieldnotes a participant observer had created for the Future of Learning 2010 Summer Institute (Harvard Graduate School of Education) and the Tests and Measurements course, fall 2010 at Edward Waters College (EWC). Additionally, with an eye on the inquiry set, a participant observer designed a new Theories of Learning course--one that embodied research based practice. The new EWC course used Jerry Fluellen's power teaching prototype for the design, delivery and assessment of instruction. Students encountered daily writing to learn activities and thinking routines. They examined disciplinary ideas including Ellen Langer's landmark mindfulness theory applied to learning and mind brain education as a new direction in theories of learning. In the final project, they became young scholars presenting power point slide shows about the Barack and Michelle Obama Charter School of Tomorrow. They completed a GRE-like final examination of writing and thinking. Evidence of mindful learning and teaching emerged. (Includes a bibliography.)

The purpose of this study is to validate a test anxiety scale for Italian students. The scale is part of a questionnaire administered after the students' annual competence test by the National Institute for the Educational Evaluation of Instruction and Training (INVALSI). The aim of the scale is to explore the anxiety levels of Italian students during the administration of the standardized tests at the end of the school year. A test anxiety scale has been adapted from the Motivational and Self-Regulated Learning Competence Questionnaire. In May 2009 the tests (Reading comprehension and Grammar, Math) and questionnaire were administered to a sample of 42,929 5th graders. According to Classical Test Theory, Cronbach's alpha coefficient of reliability (0.71) evaluates internal consistency of the scale. Anxiety level estimates for students, items and item thresholds--according to the Andrich Rating Scale Model (1978)--are obtained using software ConQuest. Results show that item threshold estimates are monotonous and well separated from each other, so that the more anxiety levels increase, the more the students' agreement with each item increases. Applied across gender groups the RSM (DIF analysis) reveals that gender should be taken into account in detecting test anxiety: females are more anxious than males (the model fits better for the female sample). At the same time, two of the items seem to work differently by gender. (Contains 6 figures, 6 tables, and 3 notes.) [This publication was produced by the INVALSI - National Institute for the Educational Evaluation of Instruction and Training.]

Instructional designers can embrace leadership skills to shape the culture in educational entities toward a "living" institute (Senge, 2000, p. 54). Assessment and measurability set the direction toward the design of plan, implementation and strategy to organization. Paradigm shifts must take place in education.

Since, its early development in our nation's capital, the Power Teaching Prototype (PTP) has evolved to connect three factors likely to characterize 21st Century teaching and learning. Teaching for understanding requires a clear method of designing instruction and a simple, yet powerful, way of delivering. For the design of instruction, Harvard University Project Zero Research Center's teaching for understanding (TfU) framework stands out for its collaboration between top teachers and selected researchers. Howard Gardner's MI approached (based on his multiple intelligences theory) provides a way of delivering student centered instruction. Thus, the first factor of PTP combines design and delivery. In turn, the second factor is information literacy. The core definition of information literacy draws on a 1989 Presidential report which said that information literate people can locate, evaluate, and create information. Information literacy extends teaching for understanding with the use of appropriate technology. Lastly, the third factor is Howard Gardner's five minds for the future. Gardner asserts that five minds are likely to need full development in schools and workplaces: his quintet of minds are the disciplined mind, synthesizing mind, creating mind, respectful mind, and ethical mind. Developing this set of capacities provides ample opportunities for assessing performances of understanding over time. The interaction of the three factors equals leverage for learning in a "flat world." From a systems perspective, Asa Hilliard's "Sba" (deep thought) may be one emergent property. On the one hand, power teaching becomes a way of creating scenarios about the future of Edward Waters College. On the other hand, PTP becomes a way of designing "Theories of Learning," a psychology seminar, one allowing students to experience new paradigm practices even as they study multiple views of human learning.

Individuals need communicative competence for personal fulfillment and development, active citizenship, social inclusion and employment. Aim of the research is to work out English for Academic Purposes activity organization model and its introducing sequence for promoting communicative competence. Content: the search for English for Academic Purposes activity organization model involves analyzing the meaning of key concepts communicative competence, opportunities, English for Academic Purposes activity. Conclusion: The organization model of English for Academic Purposes activity offers opportunities for developing communicative competence. [This paper was published in: Humanities & Social Sciences. International Scientific Publications, Vol. 2 (ISSN 1311-8978).]

The purpose of this descriptive case study was to describe the implementation of Ohio's version of the Evidence-Based Model (OEBM) state school finance system in 2009. Data sources included state budget documents and analyses as well as interviews with local school officials. The new system was responsive to three policy objectives ordered by the Ohio Supreme Court in the DeRolph lawsuit: (a) a distribution formula based on student needs; (b) elimination of phantom revenue; and (c) decreased reliance on the property tax. An examination of the distributional effects assuming full funding showed that the OEBM is designed to provide adequate funding from the state, when combined with a local property tax rate of just two percent. However, the OEBM was enacted with state appropriations far below full funding, and the new formula had no effect on distribution of state funds in 2009-10. Analysis of the distribution of all state funds for schools found that property tax reimbursement to public school districts and funding for choice schools were big competitors for the education dollar. (Contains 9 tables, 1 graph, and 2 endnotes.)

The phenomenon of marketing in educational institutions has been critically examined by Vining, Topor (2001) and Sevier (1986, 1996). However, no studies have yet been undertaken to examine the marketing of language programs in public education. A timely study is needed to examine the promotion of a recent educational program: the Alberta Languages Initiative which strongly recommends second language education by 2006. The goals of my research are to examine critically: 1) Why marketing techniques were used with this initiative and not other program renewals, 2) How business models are being adopted by educational systems and government agencies, and in particular, 3) How marketing and branding have become part of educational jargon and practice. The new Languages Initiative slated for grades 4-9, scheduled to launch in 2006, represents a significant shift in the curriculum for these grades. By studying this initiative from the perspective of marketing, I will be introducing a new research dimension which focuses, not on curriculum, instruction, program outcomes or content, but on program promotion. The findings will increase understanding of marketing techniques to promote certain educational programs, their impact on student enrollment, and their acceptability to the educational public in local and global contexts. This study is important as it explores how and why promotional means have been chosen and what implications this may have for educational programs in the future. The new critical theory is of particular interest to my study as it would allow me to focus on the internal and external politics of schooling, the social conditions and historical relations in which language education is positioned. The constitutive role of language in the social construction of knowledge is particularly relevant to knowledge as discourses. Habermas' use of critical theory is relevant given his concern with discourse and power, which led to his development of a theory of communicative action, as well as Bourdieu's re-conceptualization of a critical sociology, and Foucault's focus on the relationship between knowledge and power.

A recent study conducted by the American Psychological Association (APA) on school violence observed an emerging trend of in-school violence committed by students on school faculty and staff (McMahon et al., 2022). As a result, educators have increasingly factored student-related violence on adult stakeholders in their decisions regarding teacher turnover in various schools throughout the United States (Acosta, 2023; Walker, 2022). Although the recent phenomenon on school safety tends to focus on mass-shootings, this paper will examine how effective restorative justice has been as a deterrent to daily student-led violence during school hours (Dukes, 2023; Walker, 2022). Additionally, this paper will cite the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) and Denver Public Schools (DPS) as a model to examine the success or challenges of restorative justice in k-12 public education.

The topic of this scholarly research is "Examining a Framework for Starting a K-12 Private School; Varying Modalities of Applying the Framework." Starting a private school requires a great deal of critical-thinking, knowledge-seeking, and decision making. There are numerous factors to consider before starting a private school, which the author has organized into sections within a framework that was created based on the author's experience in the industry. The sections, or phases in the framework (also referred to as a blueprint), are listed as, (1) Pre-planning, (2) Conception, (3) Development, (4) Implementation, (5) Establishment, (6) Launch. Within these six phases are additional sections, which include a timeline for the K-12 private school project. All of these sections must be taken earnestly because they represent the overall policies, culture and expectations as a collaboration of the school, students, parents, and society. This scholarly research paper intends to explore sources that give insight on how to start a K-12 private school and what components are necessary to successfully launch a school. Sources for this topic were challenging to locate as there is scarce literature on the topic. Therefore, the research was broadened to include individual research topics for specific sections of the framework. By expanding the scope, the author was able to find additional sources to help support the research.

This paper critiques the historical partnership between Education and Psychology in their coordinated search for theorizations of learning and teaching. Psychologists' construction of learning as an integrated set of processes (albeit complex and multifaceted) subserves the historical imperative of this preparadigmatic science to achieve paradigmatic consensus as a mature science. Joining with Psychology, Education loses the ability to address learning theory as the fragmented, locally coherent domain that it is today. The disadvantages of the integrative interpretation of learning are illustrated in this paper with respect to the contradictory roles played by metacognition in contemporary programs of pedagogical reform.

Testing is an issue of increasing importance. While for many teachers language learning should be communicative; in fact, they expect their students to provide evidence of their knowledge. Thus, there is a clear mismatch on the approach to language teaching and language testing. As a consequence, there is an evident need change the testing paradigms. Purpose of the paper: This paper suggests guidelines that are currently researched in the OPENPAU project to change the teachers' perspective towards oral testing. Sources of Evidence: Evidence was obtained through the interaction of four expert teachers with experience in oral testing. Analysis and results: The study indicates that teachers' should have positive interventions in tests rather than just trying to simply obtain data. [Paper presented at WCES 2014.]

The paper proposes an integrated model of pre-service preparation of teachers by incorporating the principles of critical and constructive approach to teacher education. The paper is an attempt to share the draft of the model with the national audience of teacher educators. The model proposed is integrated, among other things, in that in addition to the impact of teacher education on the behavior of teachers in classrooms the cognitive, moral, and ethical aspects of teacher and their connection with policy levers such as teacher evaluation and course requirements are incorporated. This alternative orientation to teacher education, the author hopes, will help create discussion about ways to meet the age old conflicts in teacher preparation like those between theory and practice and those between liberal and technical nature, and that between more school experience and more academic content courses. The paper is an attempt to share the draft of the model with the national audience of teacher educators.

This paper introduces the practice and theoretical framework for a new generative learning environment that creates shareable electronic artefacts from reflective dialogue across a whole-group. These artefacts are quantitative and qualitative representations of student experience. By grouping these student-generated products new measures of student experience are created that inform both research and development. This approach, created by the author, is called Shared Thinking. This research is an interdisciplinary PhD study, funded by the Kelvin Smith scholarship, at the University of Glasgow. The PhD is based in the Faculty of Education with supervision shared with Psychology and Computing Science. Collating the different ideas discussed here, this study involves the use of electronic voting systems (EVS) technology in the face to face classroom; the use of a whole-group protocol (specifically a snowball or pyramid group-discussion technique); and the use of voting to generate an electronic shareable synthesis that can function as a mediating artefact (Anderson et al., 2007; Conole, 2008). The snowball group-discussion technique used here works by sharing the individual perspective, firstly by inviting each person to write down their view. Individuals then share their ideas within and between small groups until the whole-class perspective is generated. This protocol works as a thinking routine (Ritchhart & Perkins, 2008) much in the same way as Exploratory Talk (R Wegerif, 2009). The mix of the snowball technique and the use of technology equates to a dialogical space (Mercer, 2000). However, the intention to collaboratively generate a whole-group perspective, as a synthesis of reflective conversations, changes things. This intention creates a learning disposition of collective curiosity and cooperative inquiry (Heron & Reason, 2006). Researchers and subjects work together to produce visible solutions to authentic problems. This learning disposition and the co-construction of a mediating artifact together transform the possibilities for learning, dialogue and participation. The "dialogical space" becomes a "generative environment" (Grabinger, 2000) that produces a mediating electronic synthesis for participants and vicarious learners (McKendree, Lee, Dineen, & Mayes, 1998). This is participation-reification as a process and product with all the consequent implications for knowledge-building and management (Wenger, 1998). I have called this new generative environment, and socio-cultural practice, Shared Thinking. This environment contains a space, a structure, a reflective dialogue, a disposition, a purpose and a shareable product. This, in turn, informs the development of a shared understanding of the social, cognitive and developmental context. (Contains 1 figure.) [This paper was published in Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Networked Learning 2010, Edited by: Dirckinck-Holmfeld L, Hodgson V, Jones C, de Laat M, McConnell D & Ryberg T. p61-69.]

The paper is the outcome of an experiential learning episode encountered by a teacher educator (the author) with a group of student-teachers under his mentorship during a session of the practice teaching programme (2006-07) at the secondary school level. The crisis faced by a student teacher in connection with the development of a lesson template based on Brunarian theory of concept development and Joyce and Weil's formulation of Information Processing Family of Models of Teaching turned out to be an occasion of "Eureka" to construct a new version of Concept Attainment Model (CAM) of teaching. Here the practitioners involved in the exploration proposes a twist to Concept Attainment Model of teaching, namely Mutual Comparison Reception Model of CAM, which seems to be highly suitable for the learning of those secondary level science concepts which are interlinked in the conceptual ladder. The field level experiences of the student teachers with the proposed model of teaching (2007-09) are also reviewed in the paper. The paper also annexes a selected lesson template developed by the student teachers based on the proposed model. (Contains 1 table and 2 footnotes.)

The Comparing Options in Secondary Mathematics: Investigating Curriculum (COSMIC) project is a longitudinal study of student learning from two types of mathematics curricula: integrated and subject-specific. Previous large-scale research studies such as the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) indicate that numerous variables are associated with mathematics performance; however, consideration of too many variables can result in biased models that inflate the amount of variation explained. This paper addresses key issues in the design of studies of curricular effectiveness including data collection, data reduction, and coherence in modeling student achievement in Year 1. At the student-level, demographic and prior achievement data was collected for 2621 secondary school students in five states. These scores were transformed onto NAEP scales to yield a COSMIC Prior Achievement (CPA) score that provided a control for prior achievement across the entire sample. At the teacher-level, data related to teaching experience, professional development, teacher beliefs, and curriculum implementation was collected. Student learning was measured using the Iowa Test of Educational Development: Mathematics (Level 15) and two project-developed assessments (Test A and Test B) that embodied curricular validity (National Research Council, 2004). Item Response Theory (IRT) scaled student scores were adjusted for CPA and subsequently aggregated by teacher. Seven factors were extracted from 24 teacher-level variables through principle components analysis, four related to curriculum implementation and three to teacher characteristics. Curriculum Type, Percent Free/Reduced Lunch (%FRL), and Lesson Development variables were examined in relation to student outcomes. Full and partial correlations procedures were used to identify key variables associated with student mathematics learning. Significant correlations included Curriculum Type with student scores on Test A and Test B; %FRL correlated (negatively) with scores on Test A and ITED-15; Technology & Collaboration with scores on Test B and ITED-15; Opportunity-to-Learn (OTL) with performance on all three outcome measures; and Knowledge of Standards with scores on Test A and Test B. When controlling for %FRL, Curriculum Type was significantly correlated with all three dependent measures. A similar pattern emerged when controlling for OTL, suggesting a relationship between OTL and %FRL. In contrast, controlling for Technology & Collaboration weakened the correlations between Curriculum Type and all three assessments. Recommendations related to key issues in data collection, data reduction, and coherence that are prerequisite to the productive modeling of student achievement data in comparative curriculum studies are provided. (Contains 13 tables, 5 figures, and 4 footnotes.) [This paper is based on research conducted as part of the Comparing Options in Secondary Mathematics: Investigating Curriculum (COSMIC) project, a research study supported by the National Science Foundation.]