We are currently in an era of accountability, so the need for measuring fidelity of implementation is gaining attention. However, there is little research in the area of fidelity of implementation and an inclusive early childhood classroom. In addition, most of the research is conducted using teachers. This study examined the fidelity of implementation by two teaching assistants using the teaching strategies of time delay and system of least prompts with children with and without disabilities in an inclusive early childhood setting. A multiple-probe design with conditions across two behaviors and across two participants design was used to determine the effects of teaching assistants’ fidelity of implementation of evidence-based teaching strategies. Also a multiple probe across two behaviors, replicated across children was used. Most importantly, the results showed that teaching assistants could implement systematic teaching strategies with fidelity. Secondly, the children were able to make progress towards their target skills.

Doctor of Philosophy / Curriculum and Instruction Programs / N. Sanjay Rebello / Regardless of discipline, a decades-long battle has ensued within nearly every classroom in higher education: instructors getting students to come to class prepared to learn. In response to this clash between teacher expectations and frequent student neglect, a group of four physics education researchers developed a reformed instructional strategy called Just-in-Time Teaching (JiTT). This dissertation investigates the following three areas: 1) the fidelity with which undergraduate physics instructors implement JiTT, 2) whether student performance predicts student perception of their instructor’s fidelity of JiTT implementation, and 3) whether student perception of their instructor’s fidelity of JiTT implementation correlates with student views of their physics course. A blend of quantitative data (e.g., students grades, inventory scores, and questionnaire responses) are integrated with qualitative data (e.g., individual faculty interviews, student focus group discussions, and classroom observations). This study revealed no statistically significant relationship between instructors who spent time on a predefined JiTT critical component and their designation as a JiTT user or non-user. While JiTT users implemented the pedagogy in accordance with the creators’ intended ideal vision, many also had trouble reconciling personal concerns about their role as a JiTT adopter and the anticipated demand of the innovation. I recommend that this population of faculty members can serve as a JiTT model for other courses, disciplines, and/or institutions. Student performance was not a predictor of student perception instructor fidelity of JiTT implementation. Additionally, the majority of students in this study reported they read their textbook prior to class and that JiTT assignments helped them prepare for in-class learning. I found evidence that exposure to the JiTT strategy may correlate with a more favorable student view of their physics course. Finally, according to students, favorable JiTT implementation occurred when instructors reviewed all questions contained within the JiTT assignment during class and when instructors clearly connected JiTT questions to the textbook reading, lesson discussion, and other assignments. The impact of this work rests in its possibility to set the stage for future education studies on the fidelity of implementation of other research-based instructional strategies in various disciplines and how they affect student performance and perceptions.

abstract: In this study, the Arizona State University Mathematics and Science Teaching Fellows 2010 program was analyzed qualitatively from start to finish to determine the impact of the research experience on teachers in the classroom. The sample for the study was the 2010 cohort of eight high school science teachers. Erickson's (1986) interpretive, participant observational fieldwork method was used to report data by means of detailed descriptions of the research experience and classroom implementation. Data was collected from teacher documents, interviews, and observations. The findings revealed various factors that were responsible for an ineffective implementation of the research experience in the classroom such as research experience, curriculum support, availability of resources, and school curriculum. Implications and recommendations for future programs are discussed in the study. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Curriculum and Instruction 2012

The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the experiences of teachers fulfilling the role of facilitators of the STAR intervention with fellow teachers at two neighbouring schools. The study constituted part of a broader research project that commenced in 2003, at a primary school in the Eastern Cape. At the time of the current study, seven of the ten teachers who participated in the initial study were replicating the initial study’s strategy in two neighbouring schools in an attempt to assist the teachers in providing psychosocial support. In an attempt to explore the experiences of the teacher-facilitators I observed a STAR intervention session (November, 2008), that involved four participants facilitating a STAR intervention session at the neighbouring school. Following my observation of the intervention session, I co-facilitated a focus group, exploring the teacher-facilitators’ experiences in fulfilling the role of peer-facilitators. Two days after the first focus group, I co-facilitated a follow-up focus group for the purpose of member-checking. In addition, I relied on field notes and visual data as data sources. Based on the data analysis that followed, three main themes emerged. Firstly, the teachers seemed to ascribe meaning on a personal level in terms of their experiences as facilitators of STAR. They experienced joy in sharing knowledge and enabling others, feelings of self-worth and self-confidence, personal development and growth, as well as confirmed commitment and motivation. Secondly, they experienced a shared voice in the community, in response to the peer-facilitation of STAR, referring to appreciation and trust that inspired enthusiasm for participation in various school-community systems and a sense of community as outcome of facilitation. Thirdly, participants identified aspects related to being a peer-facilitator, in terms of overcoming feelings of uncertainty and concern, working as a team, relying on creative problem solving when dealing with potential challenges, and extending the scope of facilitation. Based on the findings of the study I concluded that the participating teachers experienced the facilitation of STAR in a positive manner on both a personal and professional level. As a result of their positive experiences, they seemed to become even more committed and motivated than initially, to support their community through the facilitation of STAR. Their positive experiences seemingly influenced their perceived development in terms of self-efficacy beliefs and actualisation, which in turn enhanced their personal and professional growth, thereby forming a cycle of improved positive experiences on various levels. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Educational Psychology / unrestricted

Trauma-informed care is a relatively new construct in K-12 education, and districts across the United States are seeking avenues to meet the needs of their students. The COVID-19 pandemic elevated the need for districts to develop appropriate supports to address student and adult trauma. Traumatic events can affect a child’s mental, physical, social-emotional, and/or spiritual well-being (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration, 2011). Furthermore, children with an elevated risk of trauma may not be able to access these supports outside of the school setting (Baweja et al., 2015). Therefore, educational systems need to develop trauma-informed care models for schools that furnish a sense of safety and community so that students receive the necessary support. This evaluation aimed to identify how the moderating factors of district administrators, site administrators, climate and culture, and teacher capacity affect trauma-informed care via a multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) framework. It included a specific focus on Tier 1, universal access, to improve timely support for students. This formative program evaluation explored the impact of the moderating factors through the viewpoint of a newly created conceptual framework. I used qualitative and quantitative data sources to explore the multiple aspects of the phenomenon. The ARTIC-45 provided descriptive statistics about educators’ attitudes toward trauma-informed care. The observational data and analysis of the Panorama Education social-emotional learning (SEL) survey that assessed 3rd-12th students social-emotional well-being provided character to the evaluation. The data analysis yielded inconsistent results. The observational data strongly indicated a trauma-informed environment in which students were given clear expectations and engaged in positive reciprocal interactions with peers and adults. The ARTIC-45 data showed that administrators, teachers, and support staff responded favorably to trauma-informed care approaches. Though statistical significance could not be obtained due to the sample size constraint of being too small, the data provided context to the other data sources. For example, teacher capacity could not be quantified, but the data provided context to the overall staff capacity. The review of the archival and current SEL survey data showed that favorability among domains varied by site and grade level. The variations in students' social-emotional favorability can be related to their lived experiences and it is important to track over time to monitor how experiences, expressions, and feelings change over time. Students' perspectives regarding themselves and their environment differed from the observational data. This indicates that educators should not solely rely on observational data to determine students’ social-emotional well-being. Furthermore, an SEL survey can be used as a tool to understand students’ well-being and thus provide them with timely support. The evaluation determined that district administration, site administration, climate and culture and staff capacity can positively impact a multi-tiered, trauma-informed care environment. In these settings, student behavior and social-emotional well-being is viewed in a healing-centered manner. Districts can create a multi-tiered, trauma-sensitive culture and provide support to enhance teachers’ capacity to implement trauma-informed care, take advantage of administrative influence, develop community partnerships, and create a culture that is open to systematic change.

The use of Response to Intervention, more commonly referred to as RTI has become more prevalent as school systems look to find ways of bridging the opportunity gap and provide support those students who are not successful in their attempts to access the general education curriculum. More research is needed in order to have a better understanding of not only how schools implement RTI, but also how they utilize data, monitor student progress and help to ensure fidelity of implementation. The purpose of this study was to examine and explain how one elementary school with a high quality RTI program implemented Response to Intervention while keeping all three essential components in consideration. The findings demonstrate that the subject elementary school combined several elements of Response to Intervention and in turn, created their own version of a hybrid RTI model that utilized components from both the standard protocol model and the problem-solving model. In order to monitor student progress, universal screeners were utilized several times throughout the year for both reading and math. Reading was also monitored through running records, PALS Quick Checks, Orton Gillingham assessments, and exit tickets, whereas Math utilized formative assessments, anecdotal notes, and exit tickets to track student progress. Each math and reading CLT met weekly to engage in dialogue around student data. An important finding is that the subject elementary school made RTI implementation decisions around what was best for their students, which allowed for a more flexible and adaptable approach. The system utilized targeted individual student needs and helped to ensure that ALL students had access to the necessary supports that would help to ensure student success. / Doctor of Education / As schools continue to face increasing demands, including how to meet the needs of students with diverse academic backgrounds, they have been charged with exploring new ways and methods of ensuring that students are successful in their attempts to access the general education curriculum. Response to Intervention, more commonly referred to as RTI, has become more widely used in school systems as they continue to work to ensure student success for all. RTI is seen as a tool to help accurately identify students who have a learning disability (Ciolfi and Ryan, 2011), however more research is needed in order to have a better understanding of how schools implement RTI, as well as how they utilize the data collected and monitor student progress. This qualitative case study analyzes how one subject elementary school implemented RTI, how they utilized data, as well as how they monitored the progress of their students.

L’engouement contemporain pour l’approche éducative instaurée par Maria Montessori est indéniable, tant dans les réseaux professionnels qu’au sein de la communauté scientifique, et ce, à travers le monde. La longévité de cette approche, sa large diffusion internationale et le fait qu’elle concerne désormais tant les soins aux bambin·es que le maintien de l’autonomie des personnes âgées en font un phénomène digne d’intérêt, comme en témoignent les nombreux ouvrages et articles scientifiques qui lui ont été dédiés au cours des dernières décennies. Une revue systématique du corpus scientifique relatif aux effets de l’approche Montessori sur les apprenant·es de différents ordres d’enseignement démontre que les études menées à ce jour obtiennent presque exclusivement des résultats favorables au groupe expérimental montessorien ou équivalents entre les groupes comparés, et ce, pour de nombreuses compétences. Cela dit, dans ce corpus prometteur, mais encore exploratoire, des limites méthodologiques importantes minent la validité et la fiabilité des résultats des études, comme le manque d’évaluation de la fidélité de l’implantation de l’approche Montessori dans les milieux scolaires desquels sont tirés les échantillons. En effet, le nom « Montessori » n’étant pas légalement protégé, toute école peut l’adopter, peu importe ses pratiques pédagogiques. La présente étude vise à dépasser ce problème de recherche. Ses objectifs sont les suivants : 1) déterminer les composantes essentielles du volet primaire (6 à 12 ans) du curriculum Montessori (VPCM), en portant une attention particulière à la façon dont les thèmes de l’éducation pour la paix et de la justice sociale y sont intégrés; 2) déterminer les facteurs contextuels influant sur la mise en œuvre du VPCM en milieu scolaire; 3) élaborer un modèle logique détaillé exposant les composantes essentielles du VPCM ainsi que les facteurs contextuels influant sur sa mise en œuvre. Pour répondre à ces objectifs, une étude de cas descriptive qui s’inscrit dans le courant de l’évaluation basée sur la théorie, associé à l’épistémologie du réalisme critique, a été réalisée. La collecte de données a consisté, d’une part, en l’observation participante d’une formation initiale des enseignant·es au VPCM accréditée par l’Association Montessori Internationale. D’autre part, des entretiens semi-dirigés portant sur les thèmes de l’éducation pour la paix et de la justice sociale ont été menés auprès de neuf formateur·rices et enseignant·es montessorien·nes. Enfin, un questionnaire en ligne relatif aux facteurs contextuels influant sur la mise en œuvre du VPCM a été rempli par 74 formateur·rices et enseignant·es certifié·es par l’AMI. Les résultats de recherche prennent la forme d’un texte descriptif exposant les composantes essentielles du VPCM en détail, suivi d’une synthèse des résultats relatifs aux composantes essentielles et aux facteurs contextuels influents, ainsi que d’une proposition de modèle logique du VPCM, qui constitue la représentation schématique et l’opérationnalisation des résultats de cette étude. Le tout pourra constituer les fondements de l’élaboration d’instruments pour l’évaluation de la fidélité de l’implantation du VPCM en milieu scolaire. Ainsi, cette étude contribue à dépasser la limite méthodologique majeure du corpus d’études menées sur les effets du curriculum Montessori que représente le manque d’évaluation de la fidélité de son implantation. / The contemporary enthusiasm for the educational approach introduced by Maria Montessori is undeniable, both in professional networks and within the scientific community, throughout the world. The longevity of this approach, its wide international diffusion, and the fact that it now concerns the care of toddlers as much as the maintenance of the autonomy of the elderly make it a phenomenon worthy of interest, as evidenced by the numerous scientific books and articles which have been dedicated to it over the past few decades. A systematic review of the scientific corpus relating to the effects of the Montessori approach on learners at different levels of education shows that the studies carried out to date almost exclusively obtain favourable results for the Montessori experimental group or equivalent results between the groups compared, and this, for many skills. That being said, in this promising but still exploratory corpus, significant methodological limitations undermine the validity and reliability of the results of the studies, such as the lack of evaluation of the fidelity of implementation of the Montessori approach in the schools where samples are drawn. Indeed, the name “Montessori” not being legally protected, any school can adopt it, regardless of its pedagogical practices. This study aims to overcome this research problem. Its objectives are as follows: 1) to determine the essential components of the elementary section (6 to 12 years) of the Montessori curriculum (ESMC), paying particular attention to the way the themes of education for peace and social justice are integrated into it; 2) to determine the contextual factors influencing the implementation of ESMC in schools; 3) to develop a detailed logic model outlining the essential components of the ESMC as well as the contextual factors influencing its implementation. To meet these objectives, a descriptive case study in line with the current of theory-based evaluation, associated with the epistemology of critical realism, was conducted. The data collection consisted, on the one hand, of participant observation of an initial teacher training in the ESMC accredited by the Association Montessori Internationale. On the other hand, semi-directed interviews related to education for peace and social justice were conducted with nine Montessori trainers and teachers. Finally, an online questionnaire on contextual factors influencing the implementation of ESMC was completed by 74 AMI-certified trainers and teachers. The results take the form of a descriptive text exposing the essential components of the ESMC in detail, followed by a summary of the results relating to the essential components and the influential contextual factors, and a proposition of a logic model of the ESMC, which constitutes the schematic representation and the operationalization of the results of this study. All of this could constitute the foundations for the development of evaluation instruments of the ESMC’s fidelity of implementation in schools. This study thus contributes to overcoming the major methodological limit of the corpus of studies carried out on the effects of the Montessori curriculum, which is the lack of evaluation of its fidelity of implementation.

Students with specific learning disabilities (SLD) are educated in general education classrooms. As a result, these students are faced with more challenging instructional curricula. Although some students with SLD perform as well in mathematics as students without disabilities, most perform below state standards despite being provided instructional and testing accommodations. Policy makers have envisioned the implementation of instructional accommodations as a primary means of ensuring an appropriate education (Mcleskey, Hoppey, Williamson & Rentz, 2004; Scalon & Baker, 2012) for students with disabilities in general education classrooms (Mc Guire, Scott, & Shaw, 2006). The researcher implemented a non-experimental ex post facto research design to investigate the research hypothesis to determine the relationship between the five most frequently used accommodations by general education teachers who teach students with SLD and student achievement in Algebra 1. At the beginning of the 2016 – 2017 school year, the collection of data began by emailing the Qualtrics Survey Software (V.23) to 185 general education mathematics teachers in Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Four main instructional accommodation constructs were assessed using a 15-item questionnaire. From the responses to the survey, the five of the most frequently used accommodations were determined. Nine general education Algebra 1 teachers from six high schools across the county who reported using similar accommodations and taught three or more students with SLD in mathematics participated in the study. The researcher and two peer researchers conducted in-class observations on the participants’ fidelity of implementation of accommodations (FOI) using a checklist during the period in which they taught students with SLD. An Algebra I test was used for pre- and post-testing to determine student mathematics achievement. The results of the survey indicated that teachers most frequently provided: (a) sample problems of varying levels, (b) guides or prompts or personal (teacher/peer) assistance, (c) extended access to instructional resources and equipment, (d) provided preferential seating and (e) additional time to complete assignment or class projects. Linear regression analysis revealed a significant positive relationship between teacher FOI of accommodations and student achievement (p < .05).

<p>This dissertation investigated a psychoeducational intervention’s effectiveness in nurturing concern for others in adolescents with high intellectual abilities. The intervention was implemented at two research sites in a city in western India with 130 participants. Concern for others was conceptualized as an interplay of empathy, compassion, and prosocial behavior, and interrelationships among them were examined using correlational and regression analyses of self-reported survey data. Results indicated that prosocial behavior is positively associated with empathy (i.e., perspective taking and empathic concern) and other-compassion (i.e., compassion for others and compassion for other living beings) with correlations ranging from medium to strong (.46 ≤ <em>r</em> ≤ .79). Compassion for self, however, is not associated with prosocial behavior (<em>r</em> = .01) or any other key variables of having a concern for others (-.06 ≤ <em>r</em> ≤ .09). Compassion for others and perspective taking are the strongest predictors of prosocial behavior. Predicted self-reported prosocial behavior in girls is, on average, significantly greater than that in boys. Participants were then randomly assigned to treatment and control (delayed treatment) groups. The intervention’s effectiveness was evaluated using a convergent mixed-methods design by combining repeated-measures multivariate analysis of variance (RM-MANOVA) of self-reported survey data and thematic analysis of interview data. Classroom quality was perceived to be high. Moreover, on average, participants’ level of adherence to the intervention was high, especially for session attendance (93%), and self-reported home activity completion (89%). The RM-MANOVA results showed that the self-reported concern for others varied significantly over the time of participants’ participation in the intervention with a large effect (treatment group: ηp2 = .57; delayed treatment group: ηp2 = .47); however, the effects did not seem to sustain over the next three months. Univariate <em>post-hoc</em> analyses indicated significant differences with moderate effect size in prosocial behavior and compassion for others. Overall, the intervention was perceived to be a largely positive experience—appealing, meaningful, and supportive of belongingness—yet there is a scope for improvement, especially regarding active participation. Emotional regulation, mindful engagement, responsible communication, relationship building, kindness, and gratitude were described as key intervention affordances. The mixed-methods integration of results provided preliminary evidence for the effectiveness of the intervention. (IRB #1812021447)</p>