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In response to increased accountability demands placed on teacher preparation programs across the US, some programs are using standardized teacher performance assessments, such as edTPA. A recent m...

A descriptive, holistic, multiple-case methodology was applied to examine the nature of participation in discourse of two low- and two high-achieving grade 6 students while solving mathematical tasks in a standards-based classroom. Data collected via classroom observations and student interviews were analyzed through a multiple-cycle coding process that yielded the within-case themes of use of space, meaning-making, and peer and teacher interactions. This student-focused inquiry addressed a methodological gap in the extant empirical literature by employing video-recording as a means of eliciting student awareness and reflection, which notably revealed differences in participation between the two low-achieving students. When considering implications, the results illuminate needed additional classroom norms, issues related to relative differences in students’ abilities in heterogeneous groups, benefits of using video-recording as a means of promoting student reflection, and the important role of the...

The purpose of this article is to engage in the debate about Blueprint III regarding practice and graduate education in school psychology. We use school-based consultation as a lens to uncover meaning and context in the Blueprint and give particular attention to the Blueprint authors' foregrounding of prevention as a basis for school psychological services, a comprehensive consultation model for school psychological services, integration of concepts derived from positive psychology and public health in school psychology, and culture in school-based consultation. We offer suggestions to address barriers that may impede implementation of some of the worthwhile initiatives delineated in the Blueprint and develop approaches to strengthen graduate education. We conclude with a proposed agenda for research that may ground, justify, and enhance the preservice and inservice implications of Blueprint III, resulting in a substantial and well-founded impact on the field. As the authors of Blueprint III intended, we ...

Cross-cultural immersion experiences have been considered to be an effective way to prepare American pre-service teachers for culturally responsive pedagogical practices. The literature review shows few studies have investigated pre-service teachers' cross-cultural experiences in non-English speaking countries, specifically Asian countries. This qualitative study examined ten American elementary pre-service teachers' teaching and learning experiences in China. Five themes emerged from the data analysis: understanding and respecting Chinese culture; developing empathetic dispositions towards non-English speaking students; exchanging teaching strategies and resources; reflecting on professional and personal growth; and initiating a proactive stance as culturally responsive change agents. Additionally, the study revealed that having two separate Chinese field placements may have differing pre-service teachers' teaching and learning experiences. Varying types of opportunities to study abroad are on the rise. ...

Teachers know that when families are involved meaningfully in schools, students perform better in academic, behavioral, and emotional domains. This article describes a project designed to enhance the quality of children's literacy interactions with family members and simultaneously increase family involvement at school. The level of participation of a classroom teacher is key in implementing a family literacy support program in a low-income neighborhood.

This article underscores the potential advantages of qualitative methods to illustrate the depth and complexity of social validity. This investigation evaluates the social validity of Check and Connect with Early Literacy Support (CCEL) , through the perspectives of teachers and caregivers whose children participated in the intervention. Teachers from six classrooms and caregivers from six families participated in evaluating the social validity of this intervention using a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. Participants completed the Treatment Acceptability Rating Scale—Revised ( TARF-R ; Reimers, T. M., Wacker, D. P., Cooper, L. J. & DeRaad, A. O. (1992). Clinical evaluation of the variables associated with treatment acceptability and their relation to compliance. Behavioral Disorders , 18(1), 67–76.), a quantitative measure of treatment acceptability (a component of social validity), and were interviewed using qualitative interviews and focus groups. Results were analyzed through ethnographic methodology and indicate complex, reciprocal relationships among factors related to social validity. This investigation is considered in light of recent efforts to develop a systematic approach to evaluate the adequacy of intervention research using qualitative methods.

Authors of recent reports have concluded that U.S. educational reform has ignored special education (President's Commission on Excellence in Special Education, 2002). Little is known, however, about how local educational reform efforts consider special education when making decisions that may affect students in special education or special educators. The authors of this study examined the relationships between general education reform and special education by using focused analysis of qualitative data collected through a 3-year, comprehensive project in a suburban district that adopted shared decision-making (SDM) teams and site-based management. Data sources included observations of 86 SDM team meetings and interviews with team members and special educators. Findings from primary, middle, and high schools illustrated that there was little connection between general education reform and special education. Specifically, SDM teams seldom discussed special education. Most team members and special educators did not believe that special education was represented in team discussions. Some strategies for representing special education on SDM teams were occasionally effective (e.g., assigning a team member to represent special education for a specific topic). These findings have important implications for education policy because they are consistent with the 2002 report by the President's Commission. The authors also offer suggestions for future research and practice.

Preparing regular education teachers to teach in an inclusive setting has become a priority. Prospective teachers must take advantage of relevant resources to optimize learning for all children and technology can be an especially constructive means. However, the literature indicates that preservice teachers lack sufficient experience in identifying, organizing and applying technology resources effectively in classrooms. This article addresses this charge to teacher educators by describing the use, skill acquisition and application of technology of 30 preservice teachers as they conducted an on-line individual education plan project (OIEP). Qualitative and quantitative methods were used to analyze projects, rubrics, and surveys. Results indicated that undergraduates used technologies (e.g., World Wide Web, Inspiration and Excel) and acquired skills (e.g., hyperlinking, and graphing) to organize data. These data were applied in elementary classrooms to make data-based intervention decisions for spe...

This article draws on organizational and cross-cultural consultation tenets, to analyze the contract negotiation of a school reform initiative by focusing on the contracting and cross-cultural issues that emerge at that stage. A case from one school presents illustrative examples generated and grounded by qualitative methodology using participant observation, semistructured interviews, extant records, and researcher logs. Themes related to contract negotiation that were derived from the analysis include conflicting expectations and beliefs; dissatisfactions with procedures and policies; lack of empowerment; pedagogical dissonance; and feelings of blame, inadequacy, and racism. This case highlights problems that can occur in school-based, cross-cultural organizational consultation when a rigid adherence to the content of consultation overshadows the consultation process. It is suggested that framing consultation as a coconstructed, participatory process that includes consensual contract negotiation may pro...

The present study addresses school violence and school drop out and proposes that the underlying factor of school connectedness/school climate should guide preventive and intervention efforts. Data were gathered from five schools in a small city school district in north Georgia. Group and individual interviews served as the basis for constructing a 78-item district-wide survey administered to 304 school employees. Data are presented on individual items from the survey. Principal components analysis revealed five distinct factors: school connectedness/positive school climate, causes of violence, causes of school drop out, interventions for drop out, and interventions for violence. The principal components analysis was the basis for construction of a revised scale. Differences between revised scale scores were noted as a function of whether respondents were from central office, elementary or secondary schools. The five revised scales had correlation ranging from .31 to .59. Implications for research and practice are discussed. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Despite recent attention to shared decision making as an approach to school reform, relatively little research has been conducted on the topic, and much of that research has relied on interviews and field notes, rather than systematic observation of team functioning. This investigation integrated systematic observations and interviews. The purpose of this study was to describe the leadership behaviors exhibited by principals, team leaders, and other team members (teachers, parents, students). We defined leadership according to team member contributions to decisions (decision content, decision-making processes, and statement function, such as initiating topics and making suggestions). This investigation used a comparative case study approach to examine the shared decision-making teams from three schools during the teams' first year. Results revealed variability in leadership across the three teams. Two teams were characterized by positive group process procedures with active involvement from a number of te...

Prereferral intervention is an approach to the prevention of special education problems that, although frequently recommended in recent years, has not received sufficient attention as a research topic. The purpose of this article is to provide data descriptive of the typical procedures and the collaborative problem-solving processes used by the prereferral intervention teams in eight urban schools. In addition to describing the model and its implementation, this article provides data indicating educators' perceptions of the goals of these teams, and their strengths and weaknesses, as well as describing the nature of consultation that is provided to classroom teachers and offering recommendations for improving these teams. The qualitative data sources used in this research included surveys, interviews, and team observations. Surveys were administered to team members and teachers, followed by interviews with these two groups. This resulted in 134 surveys and 91 interviews that were available for analysis. A...

The authors measured the rate and determinants of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in a group of cancer survivors. Patients who had a history of cancer diagnosis with at least 3 years since diagnosis, receiving no active treatment, such as chemotherapy or radiation, were interviewed (N = 27). Patients, who were part of the DSM-IV PTSD field trial, were compared with a community-based control group matched for age and socioeconomic status. One member of the survivor group (4%) and no members of the control group met criteria for current PTSD (NS). Six of the survivors (22%) and no control subjects met lifetime criteria (P < 0.02). Cancer patients have a higher rate of PTSD than found in the community. Symptoms closely resemble those of individuals who have experienced other traumatic events.

Cet article se presente sous forme de dialogue entre un bibliothecaire et un editeur qui se rencontrent durant les differents moments importants de la conference de Charleston de 1994. Le theme central de leur discussion sont les technologies de l'information et leur utilisation dans les bibliotheques. Chacun donne donc son point de vue sur le travail de l'autre

These short remarks served as my introduction to three presentations that formed the now-traditional Publishers Panel at the 1995 Charleston Conference. I provided the panelists with the following short premise on which to base their remarks. Publishers need to go electronic or perish, right? If so, what do they need to do to survive… what environmental changes do they need to cope with… what new business models do they need to create… and what market expectations (of publishers and customers) are appropriate?

Prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in 24 mothers of pediatric cancer survivors was compared with its prevalence among 23 mothers of healthy children. Significantly more mothers of pediatric cancer survivors were diagnosed with lifetime PTSD. Significant differences were also found in lifetime arousal, as well as current and lifetime reexperience and avoidance symptom clusters. Significant difference existed in the distribution of the number of prediagnosis high-magnitude events experienced by the mothers diagnosed with current PTSD as compared with the prediagnosis experience of the mothers who were not diagnosed with current PTSD. Illness severity, level of perceived family and extrafamilial social support, and Symptom Checklist-90-Revised global severity index scores did not significantly differ in the PTSD-positive and PTSD-negative groups.

The latest numbers released from Journal Citation Reports (JCR), published annually by Thomson Reuters, show large increases in the impact factor (IF) for several AGU journals. IFs are one way for publishers to know that readers have found their journals useful and of value in research. A journal's IF is calculated by taking the total number of citations to articles published by a given journal in the past 2 years and dividing it by the total number of papers published by the journal in the same time period. More generally, it can be seen as the frequency with which articles in a journal have been cited over the past year. The numbers speak for themselves (see Table 1).