This scoping review explores leadership training opportunities for school nurses. The review was conducted to inform the development of a new leadership training program for school nurses in Massachusetts. A search conducted across four databases (PubMed, CINAHL, ERIC, and Web of Science) yielded four articles meeting the search criteria published…

Purpose: The aim of this study was to use the Daily Phonotrauma Index (DPI) to quantify group-based changes in the daily voice use of patients with phonotraumatic vocal hyperfunction (PVH) after receiving voice therapy as the sole treatment. This is part of an ongoing effort to validate an updated theoretical framework for PVH. Method: A…

This manuscript presents findings from a study of the contributing factors and details of special education due process hearings in the United States that involved students with emotional and behavioral disorders. The study examined 101 due process hearings conducted over a three-year period in a five-state sample: California, Illinois,…

Effective teaching practice focused on encouraging deep engagement helps all students learn and succeed. Considerable work by researchers and change agents, encouraged by national organizations such as the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Research Council, has promoted greater use of evidence-based educational practices, such as…

The Striving Readers program aimed to raise the literacy levels of middle and high school students reading below grade level and to build a strong research base on effective adolescent literacy interventions. This report summarizes the results of a systematic review of evaluations of the ten different interventions funded by the Striving Readers…

This document compiles information from multiple sources to offer readers a snapshot of Preschool Development and Expansion Grant (PDG) states' progress towards implementing a full comprehensive assessment system, as well as the tools they are using for each of the components.

States, programs, and schools have long focused on the inputs of teacher preparation--the rules for candidates and the preparation programs they attend--because inputs were thought to predict teacher effectiveness, and because they were often the best option available. But in the early 2000s, policymakers began trying to evaluate preparation…

The Performance Assessment for Leaders (PAL) is a four-task evaluation system designed to improve the quality of initial school leaders in Massachusetts by evaluating candidate readiness using a rigorous, standard assessment system. By design, it is signalling leadership quality expectations to preparation programmes. Through two years of survey…

We evaluate the predictive validity of the Massachusetts Candidate Assessment of Performance (CAP), a practice-based assessment of teaching skills that is typically taken during a candidate's student teaching placement and is a requirement for teacher preparation program completion in Massachusetts. We find that candidates' performance on the CAP…

Growing evidence shows that participation in out-of-school time (OST) activities positively supports youth development in general. However, simply participating in a self-identified STEM program is not sufficient. Youth will benefit more if they participate in "quality" afterschool programs. Therefore, a common understanding of quality…

Background: Institutions of higher education, specifically schools of education, should play a pivotal role in supporting educators' development of data literacy for teaching. While novice teachers are often prepared to use test-based assessment data, they learn these experiences in isolated courses that do not connect to instruction or school…

As part of the federal Preschool Development Grant Program in late 2014, the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) was awarded a Preschool Expansion Grant (referred to as the Massachusetts PEG program) to expand high-quality early childhood education to four-year-old children from low-income families. The Massachusetts PEG…

Career and technical education (CTE) is increasingly seen as a major potential contributor to the recovery of the U.S. economy. However, the effectiveness and impact of the current Carl D. Perkins Act (otherwise known as Perkins IV) that governs CTE are unclear. Is the federal investment in CTE paying off? To answer this, we need to establish the…

In 2006, our School of Management began the serious path of assessing both the "hard skills" (such as accounting, finance, and strategy) and the "soft skills" (such as leadership, team work, and ethics) of our MBA Program. The data generated from examining the "soft skills" that we want students to learn within our…

Teachers working with increasingly diverse student populations are expected, for the first time in American history, to bring all students to high levels of proficiency. American graduates must compete with graduates from other nations, given the realities of the 21st century global economy. American teachers must possess 21st century skills in…