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Teachers experience verbal and physical aggression from a variety of aggressors in schools worldwide. However, most school violence and aggression research is focused on students, with few empirical studies examining teacher aggression from parent offenders. This study investigated the school ecology associated with teachers' experiences of aggression from students' parents. We applied and adapted a school climate framework to examine the qualitative survey responses of 450 United States teachers who reported their most upsetting experiences involving parent aggression. Using a directed content analysis approach, teacher victimization was examined through the four school climate domains of safety, academic, institutional environment, and community. Significant socioemotional and physical safety concerns regarding verbal and physical aggression from parents, often related to school discipline practices, were identified. In the academic domain, parent aggression was associated with parent-teacher disagreements regarding grades and services, challenges with administrative leadership, and job stability concerns. The institutional environment domain illustrated where incidents took place, school resources, and policies regarding security and student placement as key factors in parent aggression. Results from the community domain highlighted issues of communication, mistrust, negative attitudes, accountability, diversity, and neighborhood and societal factors. Teacher experiences and exemplar themes provide context and further elaborate upon the school climate framework. Implications for research, school practice, and policy are presented.

"Mastery is a term that all educators use and believe they understand well. But when pressed to describe precisely what it means to 'master' a concept, skill, or subject, everyone has a different definition," assert Thomas R. Guskey and Eric M. Anderson. The father of the mastery learning approach, Benjamin S. Bloom, left the definition of mastery to individual teachers and schools, believing that decisions about what level of student performance represents true mastery involve value judgments and are best made at the local level. Although in many contexts mastery is defined as attainment of a specific percentage correct, in practice it's not that simple: a more important consideration is the cognitive complexity of the assessment questions students are required to answer or the difficulty of the tasks they are required to perform. Therefore, setting the level of mastery should always involve the thoughtful and informed professional judgment of educators, ideally working collaboratively.

Violence directed against K-12 teachers is a serious problem that demands the immediate attention of researchers, providers of teacher pre-service and in-service training, school administrators, community leaders, and policymakers. Surprisingly, little research has been conducted on this growing problem despite the broad impact teacher victimization can have on schooling, recruitment, and retention of highly effective teachers and on student academic and behavioral outcomes. Psychologists should play a leadership role in mitigating school violence, including violence directed toward teachers. There is a need for psychologists to conduct research accurately assessing the types and scope of violence that teachers experience; to comprehensively evaluate the individual, classroom, school, community, institutional, and cultural contextual factors that might predict and/or explain types of teacher violence; and to examine the effectiveness and sustainability of classroom, school, and district-wide prevention and intervention strategies that target teacher violence in school systems. Collectively, the work of psychologists in this area could have a substantial impact on schooling, teacher experience and retention, and overall student performance.

Violence directed toward teachers has been understudied despite significant media and empirical investigation on school violence, such as student-to-student victimization and bullying. To date, there are relatively few published studies scattered across many countries. To address this void, the American Psychological Association, in collaboration with the National Education Association, created the first Violence Directed Against Teachers Task Force. Task Force recommendations and results from the Task Force U.S. national survey on teacher victimization are presented, together with teacher-reported case studies. The case studies are used to illustrate the range of educators, reported incidents, resulting actions by educators and schools, and stress faced by teachers. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Positive perceptions of the school social environment have been found to be associated with a host of positive outcomes. However, English language learners (ELL) might be less likely to have positive perceptions of their school environment or a strong sense of school belonging compared with their fluent English-speaking peers. The purpose of the present study was to examine predictors of 10th-grade ELL students' perceptions of the school and students' perceptions of their relationships with their teachers. Student characteristics such as their level of English ability and school characteristics such as the demographics of the student and teacher populations at the school, as well as policies and opportunities afforded by the environment, were also considered. ELLs had lower positive perceptions of school climate, but higher positive perceptions of teacher–student relationships than their peers. English proficiency predicted positive perceptions of school climate, but was not significantly related to teacher–student relationships. In turn, perceptions of school climate were important contributors in explaining reading scores for ELLs after taking language proficiency into account, while teacher–student relationships were a significant factor in predicting GPA. Implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay summarizes the literature on the differences in perceptions between adolescent students and parents of parental involvement in education and discusses how such different perceptions are linked to students' academic achievement and other outcomes. We present psychological research on why students' perceptions of parental involvement are stronger predictors of academic outcomes than parents' perceptions. We then highlight empowering student voice as a strategy to improve parental involvement and school-family partnership practices, programs, and policies. Research on student-led parent-teacher conferences is discussed as a real-world example of students actively engaging in school-family interactions. We recommend evidence-based strategies that school leaders and teachers can use to support students in playing an active role in improving school-family partnerships. We conclude by describing gaps in existing research that will benefit from future research on the topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we examined how school policies and strategies (i.e., positive discipline, hardening strategies, and positive behavioral strategies) affect teacher relational factors and teacher reports of victimization and safety. Specifically, we examined the mediational roles of teacher support of student learning, maltreatment of students by teachers, and teachers' differential treatment of students in schools. Using a sample of 6643 pre‐K‐12th‐grade teachers, path analysis results revealed that positive behavior strategies, hardening strategies, and positive discipline were indirectly associated with teacher victimization and sense of safety. Additionally, teachers' perceptions of other teachers maltreating students had the greatest contributions to their sense of safety and victimization by students. Positive discipline was directly and indirectly associated with teacher victimization and safety. Implications and directions for future studies are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Family engagement in middle school is essential to ensure optimal learning. Middle-level educators (typically Grades 5 or 6 through Grade 8 in the U.S.) play a pivotal role in helping to guide parents' understanding of their evolving roles in supporting their adolescents' academic success. Students particularly benefit from (a) parental support for learning that is developmentally appropriate, and (b) age-appropriate boundaries and positive relationships resulting in the perception that adults in their lives care. These strategies, supported by open lines of communication and effective partnerships between schools and parents, can support the academic success of middle school students and build collective trust between educators and parents. In this article, we provide research-based strategies for middle-level educators to effectively communicate with parents to bolster developmentally appropriate family engagement. These strategies are paired with examples demonstrating how the research translates into practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much research has been dedicated to supporting school communities in combating the problem of school violence. However, violence directed toward teachers is under‐investigated, and knowledge of how to support teachers is limited. This qualitative study used conventional content analysis to assess teachers' recommendations for preventing and improving the response to teacher‐directed violence. The sample included 245 prekindergarten through 12th grade teachers, all of whom experienced school violence and participated in a larger national survey study on violence against teachers. Using a social‐ecological framework and conventional content analysis, teacher recommendations for addressing teacher victimization were identified and organized at the individual, school, community, and society levels. Themes around conflict resolution strategies; improving policies, resources, and relationships with administrators; increasing parental involvement; and changing culture and laws were highlighted. Implications for research, practice, and policy are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The prevalence of verbal aggression in schools is well documented; however, most of this research focuses on verbal aggression between students. Examination of student verbal aggression toward teachers is limited. This qualitative investigation explores events that frequently precede and follow student verbal aggression toward teachers using an antecedent-behavior-consequence (A-B-C) framework. Method: The sample includes 98 prekindergarten through 12th-grade teachers who experienced verbal aggression from a student and identified an antecedent and consequence of the incident. Conventional content analysis was conducted to identify common types of verbal aggression, antecedents, consequences, and A-B-C patterns among teacher-directed verbal aggression incidents perpetrated by students. Results: Findings reveal threats were the most common type of verbal aggression and varied across developmental level, with high school teachers reporting more threats than elementary teachers. In terms of A-B-C patterns, student verbal aggression was precipitated by disciplinary action; the aggression then led to the student's removal from the classroom or school, school staff becoming involved, or a positive outcome (e.g., an apology or a service provision). Teacher directives (e.g., requesting a student to sit down or complete classwork) led to verbal aggression, resulting in administrative inaction. Finally, academic performance–related situations (e.g., grades) led to verbal aggression followed by student removal. Conclusions: Common antecedents, consequences, and patterns suggest strategies for preventing and addressing verbal aggression, such as training for teachers and administrators, effective classroom rules, facilitation of student engagement, and improved discipline policies and practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

School violence is a significant public health concern that occurs in many forms. Physical aggression can cause serious bodily injury and long-term negative effects, and both teachers and students experience significant rates of physical aggression. There are few studies examining teachers' experiences of physical aggression. Studies that go beyond prevalence are limited, and we know little about the triggers and consequences that surround these incidents. This qualitative investigation used an antecedent-behavior-consequence (A-B-C) framework to understand how incidents of physical aggression directed toward teachers unfold. The sample included 193 elementary and secondary teachers who completed an anonymous, online survey and described events leading up to and following their experiences with physical aggression. Using conventional content analysis, we identified common antecedents, such as breaking up fights, discipline, and directives, and common consequences, such as student removal, school staff involvement, positive outcomes, and inaction. Further analyses revealed seven common A-B-C patterns among physical aggression incidents that are highlighted and discussed. Utility of the A-B-C framework for teacher-directed violence is described, along with implications for research, practice, and policy. Exploring the context surrounding incidents of physical aggression directed against teachers provides useful information for violence prevention and interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extant scholarship has primarily examined demographic predictors of teacher victimization. Teacher multiple victimization, or the extent to which teachers experience multiple types of violence, has not been examined. Using social-ecological theory, we examine correlates of violence among 2,324 teachers who reported having been victimized at least once. Male teachers were more likely to report student-generated multiple victimization, and White teachers were more likely to experience multiple forms of violence generated by students and parents. Teacher attributions also played an important role. Characterological and behavioral self-blame were associated with higher colleague and student-generated multiple victimization, respectively. Regarding contextual variables, teachers who reported less administrative support were more likely to report multiple forms of violence by students and colleagues, and teachers working in urban settings reported more student-generated multiple victimization. This study underscores the importance of accounting for individual and contextual factors. Implications for research and practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Highlights: [•] We examined the relation of students’ perceptions of mastery goal structure and teacher support. [•] In fall, students perceived classroom goal structure as distinct from teacher support. [•] In spring, students perceived classroom goal structure and teacher support as integrated. [•] Results were similar for 6th and 7th grade students. [•] Students perceptions of the classroom environment change across the year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]