The majority of U.S fourth graders are not proficient in reading. With lawmakers in some U.S. states enacting "Read by Grade 3" laws, it is important for teachers to be well prepared to teach reading to their students. The purpose of this study was to explore novice kindergarten through second grade (K-2) teachers' perspectives of their…

Amid efforts to limit "divisive concepts" in educational settings, this article investigates the obstruction of a civic-focused early childhood curriculum. Joy Dangora Erickson and Winston Thompson analyze the challenges faced by a resourceful kindergarten teacher striving to uphold curriculum goals despite constraints imposed by the…

In Georgia, the recent "Protect Students First Act," or GA HB 1084, states that curricula and training programs should refrain from judging others based on race or advocate for divisive concepts such as "One race is inherently superior to another race," or that "the United States of America is fundamentally racist."…

Reflecting on legislative changes in Utah and their implications for teaching topics related to social justice, this plática explores the challenges and the possibilities that exist in our pursuit of liberatory pedagogy. Relying on the work of bell hooks and Chicana feminist scholars, we argue that despite the challenges posed by restrictions to…

Teachers in the United States are increasingly tasked with using data to inform their classroom instruction both through federal policies, such as the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA, 2016), and state policies requiring the use of teacher-determined data-driven goals for performance evaluations (MA 603 CMR 35.07). Many teachers, however, report…

Purpose: Through the lenses of deprofessionalization, demoralization, and remoralization, this study investigates the experiences of five educators with commitments to social justice education as they navigate teaching in an affluent, rural, and overwhelmingly white community in New Hampshire--a state that at the time of data collection had…

Teacher agency has been a burgeoning topic of research in education and music education. In education research, professional agency has been associated with the influence of policy, teacher demographics, teacher beliefs, professional developments, and teaching environments. In music education, music teacher professional agency is a music teacher's…

This phenomenological research study examined the educational experiences of educators who participated in Chapter 49 of Title 22 of the Pennsylvania Code Culturally Relevant Sustaining Education professional development programming within an urban School District in a suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Semi-structured interviews were conducted…

Polarization in the United States and controversy over the teaching of content some deem "divisive" has resulted in the enactment of restrictive legislation in many states. Such constraints contribute to a fraught environment in schools today and significantly impact the work of teaching. Utilizing frameworks of "ambitious…

In this study, we examine the lived experiences of educators who engage with youth through media literacy education. While prior research has examined the efficacy of media literacy education interventions, little attention has been paid to the contexts in which these are conducted. Our analysis of 20 semistructured interviews reveals how the…

In light of recent political events in the United States, and with the urging to consider Noddings' care ethics in early childhood education, this conceptual piece considers an often-overlooked question in political discourse: what are the rights of the child, and how might these be centered in discussions of pedagogy, curricula, and legislation?…

In 2019, declines in reading achievement across Texas motivated changes for teacher recertification, which required 60-hour professional development in the science of teaching reading (STR). The problem this study addressed was the challenges K-Grade 3 reading teachers encountered when implementing the recently adopted Reading Academy content at a…

Recently, attention surrounding LGBTQ+ people, perspectives, and histories in K-12 schools have been subject to renewed public debate. In 2023, state legislatures in the United States have passed more anti-queer laws than ever before, many of which target queer youth (HRC, 2023). Some of these state laws ban the teaching of and about queer people…

In April 2021, Idaho became the first state to pass a policy restricting teachers' discussion of race- or gender-related topics. Over the next two years, 17 more states followed suit and passed similar restrictions through state legislatures, state boards of education, state attorneys general, and executive orders. Using nationally representative…

Decades of federal and state education legislation enacted to increase student academic achievement and enhance school quality have pronounced impacts on teachers and their instructional practice. That impact is captured in the term intensification. Intensification is multifaceted and manifests as additional tasks accomplished simultaneously, with…