Using undergraduate students in the research methods course in Child Development as participants and keeping the instructional approach consistent, this study examined two research questions. The first research question tested the effect of two classroom settings, active learning classrooms (ALCs) versus computer labs, on students' learning. The…

Currently, 95% of American teenagers own a smartphone device, and smartphone users spend on average about 5.4 hours a day on them. Smartphone ownership, usage, and dependency are higher among teens and young adults than in any other age group. This study addressed a gap in research by examining high school teachers' perspectives on two topics: the…

This cross-sectional study examined if there was a positive correlation between students' critical consciousness (CC) levels and their entrepreneurial self-efficacy. The study was conducted via a survey that had four parts, including the Critical Consciousness Inventory (CCI), the Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy Survey, open classroom (OC)…

Collaboration is an underused teaching strategy despite its benefits and the call for curriculums worldwide to increase its use. To aid in discovering why the strategy is underused, more information was needed about the implementation of collaboration in the mathematics classroom. The purpose of this study was to investigate mathematics teachers'…

Early care and education (ECE) programs for children prior to kindergarten in California are provided through a mixed delivery system that includes licensed home- and center-based programs as well as school settings. The requirements, experience, and supports for educators vary widely across settings, depending more on funding sources and…

Purpose: The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of secondary traumatic stress (STS) among elementary teachers from Title I schools. This study sought to understand teachers' perceptions of STS and the personal, behavioral, and environmental factors that influence their impact. Methodology: This study…

Dual language learners make up an increasing share of preschool students, but they often perform worse than monolingual students on assessments measuring school achievement. This study compares Head Start classrooms implementing either the dual language model or the English with home language support model. The author examines how the models…

Students with emotional and behavioral disabilities (EBD) show low academic growth and are most likely to be placed in restrictive learning environments. This research study explored correlations between class settings and the academic achievement of middle school students with EBD. The academic achievement measures are based upon California's…

Early childhood researchers from across the U.S. came together to form the Early Learning Network (ELN) in 2016 with the mission to identify policies and practices that narrow opportunity gaps and help children maintain early learning success. Early Learning Network teams are excited to share what they have learned--and what it means for early…

The use of the Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) to improve early childhood education program quality is based in part on assumptions that the quality of programs can be measured and that quality ratings are associated with meaningful differences in learning outcomes for children. This report reviews all of the state QRIS validation…

Equity-centered preparation builds novice teachers' capacity to make meaningful instruction accessible to all students, particularly those historically excluded from high-quality learning experiences. Drawing on social learning theory, we examined Teacher Study Groups as a model for supporting preservice special educators' development of…

Understanding how learning environments productively mobilize children's ideas as resources for participation in joint activity is an ongoing focus of research on classroom instruction. We investigated whole-class mathematics conversations in which multiple students participated in ways previous research suggests are consequential for learning. We…

This study investigated former foster youths' lived experiences and perceived Teacher Efficacy as P12 educators in California. This study used Bandura's self-efficacy theory and funds of knowledge to shed light on the assets former foster youth bring to their classrooms and schools. Through the stories collected from the participants in this…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to introduce a social network analysis (SNA) toolkit aiming to enable leaders, educators and researchers work together to deepen their understanding of classroom social network dynamics. In doing so, the authors provide both theoretical and practical steps in building a bridge between theory and practice and a…

Quality rating and improvement systems (QRISs) are designed to assess, improve, and communicate the quality of early care and education programs. Using administrative data, we investigated whether providers that participated in a county-level QRIS saw increases to their global quality (tier) rating, domain-specific quality ratings, and scores on…