The purpose of this study was to identify characteristics of effective professional learning communities while learning their impacts on staff members. The study also discovered the role of educational leaders during an effective implementation of professional learning communities. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with staff members of an…

Students in Title 1 school districts continue to fall far behind their peers academically in comparison to neighboring suburban districts. School reform has unsuccessfully attempted to improve test scores by consistently changing reading curriculums and mandating the use of various resources that fail when implemented. Struggling school districts…

As teachers gain experience, their assessment knowledge base, personal beliefs, and the educational context come together to shape their identity as an assessor. This study sought to add to the body of research by highlighting and describing, through the lens of the teacher, how beliefs and context influence teachers' assessment literacy in…

This dissertation explored the unique experiences of general education teachers teaching in an inclusive classroom (which will also be referred to as a "mainstream classroom") with a combination of students with and without autism (which will also be referred to as "autism spectrum disorder" and "ASD"). This was a…

As caseloads for special education teachers continue to rise and as more students with disabilities enter the regular education setting (U.S. Department of Education, 2016), the need for co-teaching, in which a special education teacher and regular education teacher work together in one classroom to meet all students' needs, is significant.…

"Can we do math instead of watching the movie?"--Kindergartener. A student did ask that question. A whole class enthusiastically did math instead of watching the movie (Cardinale, 2019). Where? In a public school in Lodi, New Jersey, where kindergarteners learned how to think like mathematicians: in numbers, symbols, and patterns (DiLeo…

School leaders and teachers are confronted with federal, state, and local mandates that must be followed to ensure all students reach their fullest academic potential. To this end, the challenge has been raised to teachers and administrators to have younger students in the lower elementary grades prepared for standardized student testing.…

The role of the parent in a child's reading development requires consistent communication with educators about the child's individual needs and progress. National concern for declining reading scores throughout the country begins in the early childhood educational setting. This study, designed as an action research, explored one-way and two-way…

Administrators and teachers are seeking professional development (PD) opportunities to find ways to increase scores on annual standardized tests as well as to learn methods of instruction that will help meet the academic needs of a diverse student population. Differentiated instruction (DI) is a research-based method of teaching students based on…

The present study is an initial investigation of the concurrent validity of a new assessment, the Classroom Strategies Scale (CSS version 2.0) for Elementary School--Observer Form. The CSS assesses teachers' use of instructional and behavioral management strategies. In the present study, the CSS is compared to the Classroom Assessment Scoring…

Advocates for Children of New Jersey (ACNJ) recently examined the status of kindergarten throughout the state and found that for these programs to become that strong linchpin for young students, programs and standards must be strengthened and better coordination must take place between preschool and grades 1st through 3rd. Over the last year, ACNJ…

The author's first two years of teaching were filled with read alouds, eager faces, a-ha moments, and weekends stuck at home with cold after cold. No matter how quickly she bolted from students' incoming coughs and sneezes, come winter, she always seemed to get sick again and again. Thus, in this article, the author offers ways on how to spot,…

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of professional development on the knowledge and classroom practices of teachers of science in kindergarten through Grade 5. These teachers, trained to be generalists in the content areas, were strongly prepared in pedagogical practices, reading skills, basic language arts, and mathematics…