This article describes how, in the face of staff shortages and teacher turnover, Worcester (Massachusetts) Public Schools is supporting multiple avenues to recruit and retain quality educators in the district. High-quality professional learning is one of those avenues for ensuring a strong and stable workforce. The district's Office of Curriculum…

Out-of-school time (OST) programs can play an important role in fostering the development of literacy skills among children and youth. To investigate the variety of literacy skill-building strategies OST programs use, researchers from the National Institute on Out-of-School Time (NIOST) examined the practices of 31 programs in Massachusetts. This…

This qualitative phenomenological study examined the lived experiences of teachers with respect to the professional development received on culturally responsive teaching and their perspectives on the influence this professional learning has had on teacher pedagogical development and student performance. The 30 licensed teachers in Massachusetts…

This study draws upon faculty interviews conducted in 2019 and 2021 to document dramatic shifts in primary source instruction of undergraduate students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Synthesizing these data, it analyzes how faculty cultivated pedagogical practice, developed practical approaches to teaching with primary sources, and adjusted goals…

Much research has noted the misalignment between kindergarten through 12th grade (K-12) academic standards and curriculum materials used in classrooms. Many states and education organizations have been pushing for greater use of standards-aligned curriculum, especially during the past several years. In this report, the authors share results…

Productive learning of algebra is supported when students reflect on multiple strategies, compare them and discuss the rationale behind and relative merits of particular strategies. Comparison and Discussion of Multiple Strategies (CDMS) is an instructional approach designed to support these processes in math classrooms. In the current study, 16…

Effective classroom management is critical to supporting student learning and success in school. However, little research has focused specifically on the impact of classroom management on student mathematics achievement, especially in the early elementary grades or in a small group (i.e., Tier 2) context. To address this need we investigated the…

Easily accessible, asynchronous professional learning can support new career technical educators' instructional skill development from their 1st day of employment. This two-cycle action research inquiry aimed to improve special education student engagement in the licensed trades curriculum by exploring the connection between teacher induction…

Effective classroom management is critical to supporting student learning and success in school. However, little research has focused specifically on the impact of classroom management on student mathematics achievement, especially in the early elementary grades or in a small group (i.e., Tier 2) context. To address this need we investigated the…

The authors describe an instructional model of interdisciplinarity that aims to simultaneously develop undergraduate students' disciplinary knowledge and foster integrative skills. Two faculty members taught separate undergraduate courses in history and microbiology during which students came together at multiple points throughout the semester.…

In the spring of 2020, the United States experienced a nationwide closure of schools, and all educators had to shift their instructional modality from in-person to distance learning without warning. The problem is the COVID-19 pandemic prohibited in-person learning due to state- issued stay-at-home orders. The purpose of this basic qualitative…

Community-partnered research presents unique opportunities for personal and professional development among social work practitioners, researchers, and students. It is a vehicle for promoting social work values, generating and sharing knowledge, and connecting research to practice. Findings from these types of partnerships can be instructive for…

This study surveyed 649 secondary middle and high school English teachers from two U.S. states on their vocabulary instructional practices and on the professional development they had received to do so. The results showed that teachers are likely not selecting enough words of which to explicitly teach the meanings and that their methods of…

The purpose of this case study was to examine the play based teaching and learning methods at one particular elementary school in southeastern Massachusetts with the aim of identifying methods and practices that are seen as essential in developing the academic and social skills in kindergarten students. This school of study has been utilizing…

The discretion provided to states under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) offers new possibilities for policymakers to determine how best to allocate resources and support policies to provide students with a well-rounded education. As states begin to examine new strategies for improving student outcomes and developing the next generation of…