Current teacher evaluation systems (TES) in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade (P-12) American public schools may be impeding the reflection and feedback processes needed for impacting teachers' professional growth and developing trusting, administrator-teacher relationships. The dominant purpose of summative evaluation has been to rate teachers'…

Socratic seminars are active learning opportunities for students that create a classroom atmosphere building upon the foundational knowledge and experience of the students in the room. The teacher acts as a facilitator of learning, and students research, create questions, and converse to create a deeper understanding of learning. The purpose of…

This article shares the results from a quasi-experimental mixed-methods study of a promising transition-focused professional development approach. The 12-week team-based intervention resulted in positive outcomes among intervention group participants' knowledge and capacities. The intervention group exhibited statistically significant changes in…

Students' learning experience mainly depends on the knowledge and skills they learned in class. The objective of an interior design program is to teach students innovative design thinking and how to express their creative ideas. Students do individual and team assignments to learn relevant design cases and methods. The main teaching focus of…

As the number of students pursuing opportunities in higher education from communities that are underrepresented and marginalized has increased over the last decade or so (National Center for Education Statistics 2022; Wilson et al. 2022), the student population of the University of Arizona Global Campus (UAGC) has exemplified this trend with 48%…

How do educators sustain K-12 district initiatives? Teaching and learning initiatives, despite being well-intentioned, often struggle to gain traction due to limited teacher acceptance or inconsistent program fidelity, so much so that many are familiar with the concept of "initiative decay." Even the most promising initiatives can…

Preparing pre-service students to teach agricultural mechanics is a difficult task due to the career pathway including a great variety of topics (Byrd et al., 2015). This study examined the trend in requirements in 1862 land-grant universities for number of courses, course credit hours, and course topics related to agricultural mechanics, as well…

The increasing rate of food allergies in children, combined with the role of food as an integral part of the school day has led to the emergence of anaphylaxis as a daily threat to students, regardless of prior allergy diagnosis. Stock epinephrine--non-patient specific epinephrine auto-injectors that may be used during emergencies--is a means for…

The case study explores the adoption and implementation of personalized, competency-based learning at Yuma Union High School District (YUHSD) within the broader context of the Arizona Personalized Learning Network (AZPLN). The study reveals that YUHSD has made notable strides in aligning district-wide systems with personalized learning principles,…

This report examines the implementation and outcomes of personalized, competency-based learning in the Arizona Personalized Learning Network (AZPLN) districts. The study conducted by Research for Action (RFA) analyzed survey data from students and teachers, as well as publicly available school-level outcomes data to assess the progress and impact…

Collectively, measures created for research use--whether self-report or observational--have contributed to evidence underscoring the importance of ensuring teachers develop knowledge and skills to engage in asset-based pedagogy. Teachers who wish to enhance their practice, however, do not have a way to elicit students' perspectives of their…

A-F school letter grade systems, currently used in 13 states across the United States (U.S.), are one popular version of the systems required by federal policy to help states define, rate, and label school quality every year. In this study, we explored the extent to which such grades assigned to schools, as based on objective measures including…

Tempe PRE was designed as a high-quality preschool program to create more opportunity for children in Tempe. In the 2021-2022 school year, NORC at the University of Chicago conducted an evaluation of Tempe PRE to understand how the program was being implemented and its effects on children and families. They also collected students' outcome data…

This article presents the first psychometric validation of the Culturally Responsive Assessment of Indigenous Schooling (CRAIS) tool, alongside a call for methodological complexity when engaged in research with and in Indigenous contexts. We examined the 23 culturally responsive schooling (CRS) principles underlying the newly created CRAIS tool in…

Background: Given the body image and disordered eating struggles prevalent in young adults, weight-inclusive anti-diet programs are needed on college campuses. Such programs replace weight loss advice with changes that center physical and mental well-being. Methods/Program Design: University health and wellness programs such as University Coaching…