A strong foundation in math is crucial for critical thinking, future careers, and navigating our data-driven world. This Spotlight will help readers identify new initiatives to address gaps in students' math skills; catch up on the debate over the best way to teach math; learn how teachers can build on students' curiosity for math; explore how to…

Artificial intelligence is impacting society on a very large scale and should be included in K-12 educational content in some capacity to provide meaningful STEM experiences. Computer vision (a field of research that heavily leverages artificial intelligence) was emphasized in professional development for in-service teachers. The teachers received…

Research indicates that classroom magazines are used with over 25 million students each school year. This secondary analysis using archival data was conducted to investigate the relationship between classroom magazine utilization and teachers' perceived literacy skills development in 3rd-12th graders. Variables of mandatory reading, instructional…

Despite continuous efforts to develop teacher observation and evaluation frameworks, one-size-fits-all evaluation tools may not be adequate for an instrumental music classroom. Since implementing the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) in 2015, teacher evaluation has shifted from a high-stakes accountability model to models focused on feedback and…

Educators are tasked with ensuring that all students are provided with a quality education, regardless of their cultural backgrounds. This study explores the impact of culturally responsive teaching on the disciplinary rates of African American students in K-12 education. With a focus on qualitative methods, the research examines how culturally…

Given the increasing needs of employees with computational skills, understanding the core competencies of K-12 computer science (CS) education is vital. This phenomenological research aims to identify critical factors of CS education in K-12 schools from the perspectives and visions of CS faculties in higher education and teachers in K-12 schools.…

With any new initiative, stakeholder insights provide critical information that can aid in the execution of the project. Gathering stakeholder perceptions of a new initiative is particularly critical in schools where teachers' varied beliefs may influence outcomes. Recognizing and acknowledging beliefs may make the difference in adoption of new…

The study describes the experiences of a cohort of instructional technology students in an online practicum, all of whom were current K-12 teachers in the United States at the onset of the pandemic. Data were obtained from students' responses in online journals; reflection prompts focused on their transition to emergency remote teaching during the…

The purpose of this research project was to design, deliver, and informally assess the content and methodology of an introductory online course for the educators of Deaf and Hard of Hearing students (N=20) that focused on the block-based coding language, Scratch. Prior work by The Playful Learning Lab examined various STEM resources and their…

Since its development in 2010, the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) have been adopted in over 40 states. While the literature discussing the implications of this initiative is robust, the research examining its effect on K-12 physical education (PE) is limited. Moreover, there is little empirical data on the effect of the CCSS on student…

This article discusses how both Catholic schools and the teachers within them illustrated a commitment to living out tenets of the common good as a result of Catholic schools' choices during the COVID-19 pandemic era. Teachers in Catholic schools became adaptive leaders as a result of Catholic schools' choice to provide consistent in-person…

This study investigated the extent to which teacher and staff's gender role beliefs differ from the U.S. population and such beliefs are associated with their preference of leader gender in a P-8 Midwestern school through the lens of Bandura's (1971) Social Learning Theory. Teachers and staff who participated in this study responded to the survey…

Research indicates educators benefit from developing Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK), a combination of constructs that inform the design of pedagogically-sound technology-integrated instruction. Applying a mixed-methods explanatory sequential study design, we examined if and how novice K-12 teachers, who developed TPACK during…

Robotics education has been an addition to K-12 education to increase STEM motivation. The problem addressed by this study is the lack of understanding of how and to what extent robotics education supports STEM initiatives. The purpose of this qualitative interpretive study was to understand the role of robotics education within STEM initiatives…

A hotly debated topic is the effectiveness of inquiry-based instructional practice in science classrooms on student achievement and motivation. Numerous studies based on multinational large-scale education data show such student-centered instructional practice positively led to students' motivational beliefs but was negatively associated with…