Recent research has documented impaired ability to resist interference from visual distractors in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and suggests that this phenomenon may be more pronounced in young versus older children (Christ et al., "Neuropsychology" 25(6):690-701, 2011). The present study extends previous findings by…

Queer youth of color are critical and conscious observers of society. Despite limited representation in research and within mainstream gay media, there exists a legacy of queer youth of color contributing acts of resistance in the form of grassroots organizing, storytelling, music, performance, and revision of kinship networks. This article…

Portfolio assessment of teaching practice has been used in many states as one indicator to inform licensure decisions, yet the human scoring process is costly for all stakeholders. This paper documents a series of investigations of alternative scoring procedures for a state pre-service teacher performance assessment. The proposed partial double…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the principal coaching and/or professional development activities that expert high school principals experienced that helped them to achieve expert status, i.e. exemplary leadership, and positively impact student outcomes, to rate the effectiveness of the identified activities as reported by the…

This comprehensive and authoritative book serves as the road map to your school's professional development journey. Written for principals, professional development directors, other district leaders, and teacher leaders, "Professional Development: What Works" shows you how to plan and implement programs that promote teacher growth. Full…

Essay exams offer many benefits for instructors who seek to vary their assessment methods and engage students in critical discourse, yet they also pose many challenges and require thoughtful construction and evaluation. The author provides an extensive overview of the literature to illuminate best practices for designing and assessing effective…

Research clearly shows the lasting effects of early developmental experiences on children's later success and well-being; however, the early childhood field struggles to provide consistent high-quality care and education across a fragmented delivery system. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the programs for young children age 0-3. In 2013, the…

Literacy coaching is not new to education. Since the 2001 shift in the United States (U.S.) educational policy towards high-quality teacher training, accountability, and student achievement, literacy or reading coach positions have been a core part of the educational institution (U. S. Department of Education, 2003). However, with undefined…

There is a current push to understand and address the under-representation of Black folks in physics, and STEM more broadly. This dissertation presents research that explores this lack of representation through studies of identity and practice, premised on an understanding of systems of oppression operating within the culture of physics. This work…

Teaching effectiveness in higher education is challenging. Given the number of stakeholders and the reasons for assessing teaching effectiveness creates additional challenges. Yet when tying teaching effectiveness to successful student learning outcomes and combining those interests to a case study project, the views of faculty, administrators,…

The College Possible program provides intensive coaching by near-peer mentors, peer group support, and opportunities for academic and non-cognitive skill building to low-income students through an intensive two-year curriculum in junior and senior years of high school. The goal of the program is to close the achievement gap between low-income…

We present results from a five-year effort to design promising online and text-message interventions to improve college achievement through several distinct channels. From a sample of nearly 25,000 students across three different campuses, we find some improvement from coaching-based interventions on mental health and study time, but none of the…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of neuroscience instruction on coach self-efficacy and self-reported coaching behaviors within the coaching dyad. This study used a qualitative research design employing in-depth, one-on-one interviews with life coaches. Purposeful, criterion sampling was used to select seven coaches who…

Besides measures of students' performances, a valid assessment of students' efficiency in a teaching process should also include measures of invested mental effort. The research presented herein covers several approaches in measuring students' mental effort including 5, 7 and 9-point Likert type scales, time on task, as well as eye tracking…

This paper discusses the impact of instructional coaching on teachers of striving learners in the secondary English classroom. Conducted with eight teachers in a large urban high school, this study took place over four weeks and explored how implementation of Jim Knight's instructional coaching model affected teachers' comfort levels in working…