Beginning in the 1950s, learning to read was a major focus in elementary schools. Children typically began their reading journey with listening skills. Hearing sounds for letters, then words, come to life from the pages of a book were engaging to children. One way teachers engaged students in learning to read was to read aloud to them in their…

There is a paucity of research that has effectively listened to children's voices on matters important to them and has asked them how they would like to be listened to. This study used a playful approach to listen to children's voices about play spaces in their primary school. The research questions were: How can a playful approach be used to…

This phenomenological study investigated elementary teachers' perspectives on student engagement in competency-based education (CBE) classrooms in an upper Midwestern rural school district. The study addressed the limited research on CBE implementation in elementary settings by exploring teachers' lived experiences related to learner engagement.…

This article explores the potential for engaging 7 and 8-year-old school pupils in performative literature interpretation through process drama. Inspired by new materialism and affect theory, we focus on how literature interpretations come into being in dramatic fiction, and on how these becoming interpretations merge with the classroom. The study…

This article discusses findings from the qualitative research study which was conducted at a K-12 parochial school in Midwestern city. The study was conducted to understand how first and second graders who were located in one particular educational setting, with reading levels that ranged from low to high in a split classroom, made meanings from…

Inclusive education (IE) was introduced in 2001 in South African schools. Still, its implementation in mainstream classrooms has not attained optimum potential. To highlight the shortcomings, this study explores factors preventing teachers from effectively implementing IE in a combined school. Qualitative data were collected through interviews,…

This study investigated the role of tools in supporting students to reason about even and odd numbers. Participants included Kindergarten, Grade 1, and Grade 2 students (ages 5-8) at two schools in the USA. Students took part in a cross-sectional early algebra intervention in which they were asked to generalize, represent, justify, and reason with…

Early literacy learning in the primary grades creates the foundation of reading skills that determines the achievement for later literacy learning. The problem addressed was that the reading achievement of fourth-grade students in the United States of America has been decreasing since 2017. Early literacy learning requires effective instructional…

E-learning platforms have become increasingly popular in K--8 education to promote student learning and enhance classroom teaching. Student interactions with these platforms produce trace data, which are digital records of learning processes. Although trace data have been effective in identifying learners' engagement profiles in higher education…

Classroom teachers are often the primary implementers of universal social-emotional learning (SEL) in U.S. elementary schools with first-hand insight on translating programs into authentic settings and local contexts. This study examined social validity and cultural relevance ratings, indicators of implementation, and feedback from 57 first- and…

We created and tested a family-based intervention with families of children in Grades 1 and 2 with reading and behavioral difficulties to investigate its impact on text comprehension. Developed with input from parents, reading experts, and behavior specialists, Family-RISE (Reading Intervention with Supports for Engagement) integrates…

This study provides important insights about the dynamic landscape of technology integration in early childhood education, particularly its role in supporting reading development among students in kindergarten through third grade. The research methodology adopted for this study was a mixed-method approach, incorporating both quantitative and…

Teachers play a large role in determining whether or not the classroom climate experienced by students is positive, especially through their visible emotional behaviors (i.e., neutral, positive, and negative emotional expressions). Research suggests that teachers make specific contributions to the classroom emotional climate in actions such as…

Measuring reading engagement is critical for monitoring student involvement in academic tasks, as it predicts student reading achievement and further academic success (Anderson et al., 2021; Guthrie et al., 2012). As a multidimensional construct, researchers have employed various methods to assess reading engagement (Gill & Remedios, 2013; Lee…

This exploratory sequential mixed methods study aimed to understand teachers' perceptions of the impact of Social Emotional Learning (SEL) on school climate and student engagement, which is an area of study lacking in current literature. The research questions which guided the study were: What are teachers' perceptions of the connection between a…