The death of a loved one is a significant stressor for children. Most children are exposed to grief at an early age. Without necessary support and guidance, children are much more susceptible to negative emotional, cognitive, and developmental effects. Expressive therapies such as bibliotherapy are supposed to provide a safe and healthy outlet for children's grief. However, school psychologists have limited pre-service training and readily available resources to effectively address children's death-related grief. This study included a survey of school psychologists from the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) Crisis Management Group. Of the 431 potential members, 22% (N=95) responded to an online survey. Of these surveys, 89 were considered complete and representative of school psychologists experienced in working with grieving elementary school-aged children. Participants responded to questions regarding availability of, use of, and need for printed materials to support children's grief. Participants were also asked to share their ideas, activities, and children's picture books which supported children's grief. Based on survey responses, practical guidelines and a resource list of activities and grief-related materials were summarized to assist school psychologists in better supporting young children's adaptive coping skills following the death of a loved one.

Schools closed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic with the expectation that learning continue from home. This presented a unique challenge for parents of children with special educational needs as during this time levels of stress were high and access to supports were low. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to explore and describe parents of children with SEN's experiences with at-home learning as it relates to their learning-specific parental self-efficacy, perceived stress and perceived support from their child’s school. Quantitative analysis revealed that learning-specific PSE was significantly and negatively related to perceived stress. Parents did not differ in their perception of school supports. While qualitative analysis revealed many similarities between groups, it also revealed nuanced differences that show that parents of high and low PSE experienced the school closures differently. Overall, the findings of this study provide evidence that parents with high and low parental self-efficacy differ in their experiences of supporting the learning of their children with SEN. This study serves to add to the limited body of literature on learning-specific PSE, as well as inform the efforts of schools and other professionals in supporting the parents of children with SEN and their families.

Parental support roles in K-12 online learning differ from traditional schools. Since K-12 students typically have not developed the self-regulation skills necessary for academic engagement, parents partner with schools to provide the affective, behavioral, and cognitive engagement support necessary for academic success. Through 21 semistructured interviews with parents supporting K-12 students in varied online contexts, this study delineates how parents provided support in each of these dimensions of engagement. The participants felt that in online education, parents should take the primary responsibility for behavioral engagement support, and that teachers were primarily responsible for cognitive support. Parents believed they shared affective engagement responsibilities with teachers, but that teachers should make content more interesting and engaging while parents provided for the emotional needs of their student. The findings also describe additional parental support roles, including helping students move to an online school, increasing personal availability, leveraging resources, teaching themselves, and encouraging students to develop independent engagement skills. The themes reveal how parents strengthen both themselves and other community actors to ensure their students receive sufficient engagement support. Given the importance of parental support in K-12 online education and the inequity of parental support across online learners, online schools should consider how to provide targeted help to parents in their support roles, including assuming a dual-support role for both students and parents.

Educators and school staff often overlook students with intellectual disabilities and students who are LGBTQ+ within public schools. They recognize even less students who identify in both these areas. The purpose of this study is to add to a small pool of research about how to best support students with intellectual disabilities who are gender nonconforming. A review of literature found a gap in understanding the experiences of students with intellectual disabilities who are gender nonconforming. This study uses a qualitative research design and intersectionality as a theoretical framework. The researcher completed interview with four special education staff using open-ended questions to learn how they have observed ways schools have supported students with intellectual disabilities who are gender nonconforming. The researcher categorized responses into the following themes: gender expression, relationships, acceptance and representation, resources for students, training for educators, and policy. The researcher found through the experience, knowledge, and perspectives of these four special education staff that students can freely express their gender identity in school and have mostly positive relationships with their peers and school staff. Special education and school staff generally accept students with these dual identifiers in schools, but rarely represent them in curriculum. Schools support students through wellness centers and positive language. Educators are in need of training on existing policy and procedure and ways to better include and represent students with intellectual disabilities who are gender nonconforming in their classrooms.

This descriptive study of the twenty regional Education Service Centers in Texas is an exploratory analysis of programs and services that promote school improvement. Data collected from each service center website enabled the researcher to determine which programs and services are available to school districts and also allowed the researcher to analyze the similarities and differences of the programs and services among the twenty ESCs. The study also compared the numbers of programs provided by each service center along with the number of school districts, schools, and students served by Education Service Centers. The data revealed that Education Service Centers serve different numbers of students and districts and they assist schools through a variety of special program support, state and federal funding issues, educator certification programs, and professional development training that are designed to support the teaching and learning process in school districts. Although the number of programs and services vary among the twenty Education Service Centers, they do provide similar programs and services that are effective and provide sustainable systemic support for school improvement throughout their region particularly when it comes to statewide initiatives and areas of federal and state compliance issues and the improvement of student achievement. Throughout the state, Education Service Centers prove to be a valuable resource to school districts seeking solutions from knowledgeable and experienced educational professionals. In conclusion, Education Service centers provide a variety of professional services that can assist superintendents, principals, teachers, paraprofessionals, and other district staff in assisting students throughout their district in achieving the highest possible levels of success in every aspect of the school day. However, it is highly critical that both school leaders and Education Service Centers communicate effectively with each other about the needs of the districts and the services that are available to promote school improvement.

Thesis (M.S.A.)--University of North Carolina at Wilmington, 2004. / Includes appendixes. Includes bibliographical references (leaves : 53-55).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Miami University, Dept. of Psychology, 2004. / Title from second page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 26-30).

Policy documents derived from the South African Constitution and the South African Schools Act clearly state that all learners are entitled to support, thus enabling them to reach their full potential. Support should be rendered effectively at school level within a well-established and functioning Institutional Level Support Teams (ILST). Institutional Level Support Teams (ILSTs) at primary schools within the Uitenhage District seem to be problematic, since parents, the school and the community do not realise that they should work interrelated with each other to enhance the effective establishment and functioning of the ILST. The main aim of this study is, therefore, to formulate guiding principles for the effective establishment and functioning of Institutional Level Support Teams. A qualitative research design using a phenomenological strategy was deemed appropriate for this study, as the researcher wants to gain a deeper understanding of the phenomenon under study. The researcher used a combination of convenience sampling, as well as purposive and judgement sampling. The sample group included educators, members of the Institutional Level Support Teams, Institutional Level Support Team co-ordinators, School Principals, community members and members of the District Based Support Team (DBST). Data were collected by means of semi-structured interviews, participant observations and questionnaires. Tesch’s eight step data analysis process was employed to identify possible common themes. The findings indicated that the stakeholder component of the social system representing learners, parents, schools and the community, do not provide sufficient support to learners experiencing learning challenges and therefore ILSTs are not functioning optimally presently.. Therefore the researcher provided supportive guiding principles to parents, the school and the community, for the effective establishment and functioning of the ILST, based on Bronfenbrenner’s eco-systemic theory, which is the theoretical framework of this study.

Schools and districts are implementing more change initiatives because of an increase in accountability through national, state, and city requirements. Teachers and administrators are responsible for adhering to change initiatives and producing the results to bring the reform initiative to a successful fruition. This study explores the attitudes that are prevalent in the schools regarding reform initiatives and the change process. A qualitative research method was used to explore the prevailing attitudes about change among teachers and administrators. Teachers were not opposed to changing if their students would benefit from the change; however, changing just for change sake was not acceptable. Themes of teacher empowerment and voice were prevalent. Teachers wanted to be heard because they had the expertise within the classroom with their students and they wanted the autonomy to shape reform initiatives to fit the needs of their classrooms. School support, district support, and community support were important systems to ensure success of reform initiatives. Within each support system were important roles and responsibilities teachers depended upon for resources as a reform initiative progressed. In addition, teachers spoke candidly about essential professional development opportunities and collaboration within their schools. Teachers addressed the 4 reform initiatives pertinent to this study and discussed the impact of the initiatives on the classrooms. Reform initiatives are not cure-alls for what is ailing the public schools; however, there is a place for reform within each school and district. Teachers want to have valid data and clear cut goals and objectives to support the reform. Principals and superintendents have roles and responsibilities before, during, and after a reform initiative because teachers look to them for cues regarding reform. The 4 reform initiatives studied are still having an impact on classes today, some more than others. This study adds to the development of knowledge about the change process and change initiatives. It provides a framework for administrators involved with change to understand the preconceived notions and explore ways to reshape those notions. It may also aid future developers of reform initiatives as they develop programs for schools to adopt.

The purpose of this study was to identify existing relationships between the perceptions of novice teachers regarding their teacher preparation programs, the support given to teachers from their schools, and the purpose of school. The study took place in Northeast Tennessee. Seventeen teachers from three different school systems participated in individual qualitative interviews, which lasted about one hour each. The finding corroborated the theory analyzed for this study and revealed areas for improvement in all levels of the education system. Teachers suggested meaningful changes to teacher preparation programs, including changes to general prerequisites and reorganizing education programs around meaningful field experience connected with adequate theory. Teachers suggested school districts to refine some programs they already have in place and improve their support. When prompted about the purpose of school, most teachers found a lack of connection between the expectations of school from state level and the purpose of school. The suggestions given by teachers matched the suggestions given by research regarding what needs to change to achieve the purpose of school.