Coaching has become a prominent professional development tool for helping early childhood teachers implement curriculum and research-based practices in their classrooms. One of the coaching strategies found to create positive changes in teacher practice and child outcomes is building trust between the coach and teacher(s). Despite what is known in…

This dissertation study explores the implementation of Project-Based Learning (PBL) in first-grade classrooms and its impact on student engagement. The study emphasizes the importance of collaborative grade-level teams and teacher support in successfully implementing PBL. The study adopts a mixed-methods approach and takes place in a small rural…

Introduction: In the proposed paper, the key findings of the national project "School Open for Everyone" are presented. The research focused on the conditions and preparedness of schools for inclusive education. As a part of the project, an investigation into first-grade teachers' attitudes towards and opinions on the education of pupils…

The New York State Department of Education (NYSED) has been supporting selected districts in the planning and implementation of PreK-3rd Grade systems. NYSED is supporting the use of the Framework for Planning, Implementing, and Evaluating PreK-3rd Grade Approaches developed by Kauerz and Coffman (2013). Recognizing the ultimate goal of PreK-3rd…

Part of the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education (SCOPE) research series titled "Teachers' Time: Collaborating for Learning, Teaching, and Leading," this case study looks at the Santa Monica Alternative School House (SMASH), a K-8 public school in the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD). It is a school of…

The collaborative action research reported here strives to extend a prior study that dealt with the effects of integrating a general music course of study with the total curriculum of a first grade class. This second study used a similar plan in which a fifth grade teacher and a music teacher worked cooperatively to provide a curriculum that…

Collaborative teaching is an option worth exploring at the elementary school level. The problem is many teachers lack the knowledge to effectively make these co-teaching relationships work. The purpose of this study is to identify effective co-teaching strategies to enhance collaborative teaching relationships. The study documents 1st through 4th…

This paper discusses caring relationships and their importance in supporting student learning, examining a study conducted at a public elementary school. The first section describes a theoretical context for care in the school community and argues for its presence in capturing the essence of school reform. It explores one component of care,…

At a Quito elementary school, the biggest challenge facing teachers was developing a curriculum that supports child-centered learning, a new concept for Ecuador's traditional society. To strengthen their own teaching and involve parents, a bilingual group of teachers began by collaborating among themselves. The result was a thematically oriented…

This article discusses how a first-grade inclusive classroom immersed students in multiple sign systems to foster literacy, including art, drama, and music, science, and movement activities. The second part profiles a boy with learning difficulties and what was learned about him in an attempt to take an aesthetic stance toward assessment.…