One school in a Western United States was recently rated academically unacceptable by the state. That same school had an inactive Parent as Teachers organization, and teachers expressed concerns regarding low parental involvement. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine the impact of teacher perceptions of barriers to parental involvement. Epstein's model of parental involvement was the theoretical framework for this study. The research questions focused on identifying perceived parental involvement barriers from the perspective of teachers and suggesting viable solutions to address these perceived barriers. This case study involved interviewing 8 elementary school teachers. Data analysis consisted of open, axial, and selective coding. The following themes emerged from the data: (a) Teacher perceptions of parents and barriers to parental involvement; (b) communication; (c) teacher expectations for parental involvement; (d) building effective relationships; and (e) solutions and resources to improve parental involvement. The participants in the study identified viable solutions in order to improve parental involvement and to engage families to provide opportunities for parents and teachers to build relationships. The implications for positive social change include the potential for increased student academic success.

In the papers, educationaljournals and occasionally in farm magazines and other periodicals we read of the unsatisfactory school conditions prevalent in the state of Kentucky. As a citizen, student, teacher and would-be educator in this beautiful state, it appears desirable to determine to some degree whether or not inadequate school programs exist in Kentucky and if so to locate some of the factors determining them. Obviously the field is too broad to be covered in a single investigation. This particular study has been concentrated in one small county of the state. As it proceeded, broader and broader avenues for investigation opened only to be eliminated one by one to a few specific observations treated in this investigation. This is a study of the children appearing on the rolls in the primary grades of all the schools in the county system during the school year 1940-41. It was then determined where these children were twelve years later relative to their scholastic lives.

The writer has had experience as a supervisor of music at the elementary and secondary levels. This experience combined with the development of courses to suit the program for an elementary teacher training institution provided the background for the development of this project. The problem, as it appeared to the writer, was that in spite of valiant efforts on the part of music supervisors and art teachers’ elementary students did not comprehend music or art as an aesthetic whole. The methods in use, in most Maine schools, presented the arts as a technical skill to be mastered by the student rather than as a fine art to be first understood and then, in later grades, mastered. Investigation showed that some institutions of higher learning were combining the arts in college programs. Further search indicated an attempt on the part of some secondary and junior high teachers to combine the arts in their teaching. No evidence could be found however, that there was any effort to prepare teachers to deal with this concept at the elementary level. It seemed that this combining of the arts in the elementary grades was the most desirable approach. With this premise as a base the program of preparing an allied arts teacher for elementary grades was developed. Methods and Procedures A survey of the offerings in the area of fine arts was made by studying programs in seventy colleges and universities engaged in teacher preparation. The Music Educators National Conference publications were reviewed to determine what research had been done in the area of that combined arts. Letters were written to members of the National Association for the Humanities in Education to determine what work was being done in the field. Correspondence, review of research, and personal interviews with educators and administrators provided the direction for the study. A survey of the fifty state departments of education which resulted in forty replies pointed up the need for such a teacher preparation program. When the need for the program had been established writer proceeded to collect a bibliography that included music education, art education and general education as well as philosophical observations on the fine arts. The organization and collection of this material was accomplished in the period of two years. Summary The program was presented to the administration, Academic Affairs Committee, Faculty Council and the Dean of Academic Affairs of the University of Maine, Fort Kent, in November of 1970. With full campus approval and on the basis of the surveys the program was presented to the University Chancellor early in 1971. In March 1971 the Chancellor approved the program and the University of Maine board of trustees, at their April meeting, endorsed the course of studies for the Fort Kent campus. The program was put into operation in the fall semester of 1971 and has some eleven students involved in all or part of the allied arts concentration.

National assessments have revealed that African American students do not demonstrate proficiency in mathematics to the same degree as their White counterparts; however, some teachers are able to guide their African American students to mathematics success. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to determine the instructional strategies of teachers who have been successful in promoting mathematics achievement in African American students. This study was guided by a single research question that focused on the instructional strategies used by teachers whose African American upper elementary students demonstrated proficiency in mathematics on a state standardized test. Feuerstein's mediated learning experience theory formed the conceptual framework for this study. Data were collected through interviews, document analysis, and observations of 6 upper elementary teachers from 3 different schools in a single school district. Open coding was used to note emergent themes that formed the basis for the findings. This study identified 7 effective strategies for teaching mathematics to African American students: employing repetition and review, using specific teaching tools, grouping for instruction, applying assessment and reteaching, engaging student discourse, using word problems, and making real life connections. The strategies that emerged from the study displayed characteristics of the traditional and reform approaches to teaching mathematics as well as culturally relevant pedagogy. These strategies may be useful in helping teachers to increase African American students' achievement in mathematics as well as their feelings of self-efficacy. The findings of this study may improve the pedagogical practices of mathematics teachers of African American students.

The purpose of this study was to analyze whether cultural differences existed in forms of aggression and prosocial behaviors among 8 to 10 year old students in Ireland (N=145) and Puerto Rico (N=56) and if the prevalence of these forms of aggression differed between genders. Classroom teachers using the Children’s Social Behavior Scale – Teacher Form (Crick, 1996) rated all students in their classes on relational aggression, physical aggression, and prosocial behaviors. Three 2 (culture) by 2 (gender) analyses of variance were performed on each of the following dependent variables: relational aggression, physical aggression, and prosocial behavior. Teachers reported greater prevalence of relational aggression in Puerto Ricanstudents and greater prevalence of prosocial behavior among Irish students. Nosignificant differences were reported between cultures in physical aggression. Teachersreported higher prevalence of physical aggression among males compared to females andhigher prevalence of prosocial behavior among females when compared to males. Nosignificant gender differences were found in relational aggression. An interaction effectwas found in prosocial behavior with Irish females being higher in prosocial behaviorthan Puerto Rican females and Irish males. This research supports that culturaldifferences exist in relational aggression and prosocial behaviors among 8 to 10 yearviiolds. Gender differences in physical aggression and prosocial behaviors in this agesample were also supported. Future research, and the study's limitations were discussed.

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Educators are concerned over disruptive student behavior that diverts teacher attention from instruction to student's negative behavior. The disruptive student is frequently removed from the classroom, decreasing negative behavior but resulting in shorter instructional time for the disruptive student. The purpose of this correlational survey study was to identify teachers' (a) levels of concern for specific disruptive behaviors, (b) methods most frequently used for disruptive behavior, and (c) professional needs related to general classroom and behavior management. The study examined the relationship between teachers' levels of concern regarding specific behaviors and the degree of support needed to manage those behaviors. Bandura's self-efficacy theory served as the framework for this study. Stephenson's Child Behavior Survey was modified and used to collect data from 49 Title I elementary school teachers in a southern state. Data were analyzed descriptively and results indicated that teachers (a) were concerned with student distractibility and disobedience, (b) used a variety of disruptive behavior methods, and (c) desired additional knowledge and support to address disruptive behavior. Also, a correlation analysis was conducted and determined that a significant relationship existed between teachers' levels of concern and levels of additional support needed to address disruptive behavior. It is recommended the school district implement a system of teacher support for disruptive behavior, and identify existing underused supports and promote their use. This study may contribute to positive social change by providing teachers with the support and methods needed to decrease disruptive behavior, resulting in increased teachers' sense of efficacy and improved students' learning and achievement.

Phonics was identified as one of the critical components in reading development by the National Reading Panel. Over time, research has repeatedly identified phonics as important to early reading development. Given the compelling evidence supporting the teaching of phonics in early reading, it is critical to make sure that instructional decisions in phonics are based upon valid and reliable assessment data. This study examined the psychometric properties of the Consortium on Reading Excellence (CORE) Phonic Survey and was designed to establish instrument validity and reliability. Analyses indicated moderate to very strong validity and reliability coefficients. Additionally, a D study using generalizability analyses data identified the optimal assessment administration protocol for the CORE Phonics Survey to minimize the error variance and maximize the reliability under absolute and relative decision-making conditions.

This study investigated the Florida Standards Assessment (FSA) English Language Arts (ELA) scores of proficient third-grade students and explored trends in achievement or decline on the FSA in fourth grade. Further, this study explored the relationship of school environment to academic outcomes of Black and Hispanic fourth-grade public school students in terms of FSA ELA scores from third to fourth grade. This study used multiple statistical analyses on pre-existing de-identified data to explore learning gains by race/ethnicity. By focusing on and studying only one school district, this study provides conclusive results connecting learning gains and ethnicity in specific instances, but not in others. Recommendations were made for modification of the study design, future applications of these findings, and continued research in the various stages of academic achievement of the target student populations, in addition to identifying discrete factors or combinations of factors that best support all students' learning gains.

To be economically competitive, U.S. citizens must be mathematically competent (Wang et al., 2010). However, students in the United States have consistently underperformed those in other industrialized nations in mathematics (Program for International Student Assessment [PISA], 2018), which threatens the economic health of the nation (Achieve, 2013; Auguste et al., 2009; Harbour et al., 2018; Mickelson et al., 2013). Federal education reform was implemented and failed to improve the mathematics achievement of U.S. pupils (Cheong Cheng, 2020). Researchers have found links between teacher knowledge and student achievement; however, factors mediate this relationship (Hatisauri & Erbas, 2017). As a result, non-significant and inconsistent research findings are common. The purpose of this phenomenological research study was to build an understanding of the meaning elementary mathematics educators with average mathematical knowledge for teaching in high-density Black schools (EMEs) ascribe to their instructional reasoning. The EMEs participated in an interview or focus group to explore their lived experiences and understand the essence of their instructional reasoning. The EME participating in this research accredited their instructional reasoning to their schemata for teaching and learning. The EMEs held schemata for how students learned mathematics, the availability or lack of resources available to teach mathematics, their knowledge of mathematics content progressions, and their understanding of students' knowledge. The EME schemata for teaching and learning must be understood to deepen the conceptualization of mathematical knowledge for teaching (MKT) and inform policymakers to enhance federal and state mandates and stakeholders interested in teacher development and training.