The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate K-12 teachers' perceptions of instructional coaching. Specifically, this researcher assessed the perception of instructional coaching as a whole, support for hiring practices for instructional coaches, the value of instructional coaching for improving teaching practices, the value of instructional coaching for improving student achievement, and the perception of instructional coaches being in supervisory role. Participants in this study were located in three different school systems in Northeast Tennessee. All data were collected through an online survey distributed to 848 teachers resulting in a 62% return rate with 536 participant responses. Research reinforced the view that more research needs to be conducted to determine the effectiveness of instructional coaching. The data from 5 survey questions measured on a 4-point Likert-type scale were analyzed using one-sample t tests. Results indicated that teachers differ on their perception of instructional coaching based on grade level and their years of experience. No group had a statistically significant positive support for instructional coaching.

As of January 2023, there are 59,976 Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) with current licensure throughout the world. This number has substantially grown compared to the meager 392 persons so certified in the year 2000 (Behavior Analyst Certification Board, 2023) In the past 11 years, demand for Board Certified Behavior Analysts has increased by 4,209% (Behavior Analyst Certification Board, 2022). As the need for this resource has increased, the presence of BCBAs is becoming more prevalent in public schools today. A BCBA can be a beneficial and critical resource to teachers in aiding in their behavior knowledge, and classroom management. Since there is a scarcity of BCBAs in schools, it is important that a BCBA's time is spent effectively while working with teachers. To our knowledge, there is little to no research specifically targeting special education teachers and how they interact with BCBAs. A Multiperspectival Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis focus group was conducted with educators who interface with BCBAs. Findings indicated both barriers and affordances attached to special education teachers working with a BCBA. Implications for practice, implications for research, and limitations are discussed.

Best practices in adolescent suicide prevention include teachers as major participants, because teachers are in a unique and frontline position to support students. Unfortunately, many teachers are unaware of their role in suicide prevention efforts. In addition to confusion about their roles, teachers may feel uncomfortable and/or lack confidence in their abilities to identify warning signs and intervene with suicidal students. This study assessed secondary teachers' (N = 74) perceptions of their role in suicide prevention as well as how they perceive their comfort and confidence levels in identifying and intervening with suicidal students. In addition, this study explored possible reasons teachers might feel uncomfortable assisting in suicide prevention. While teachers overwhelmingly agreed that they should have a role in adolescent suicide prevention, teachers also reported having limited confidence in their ability to identify or help potentially suicidal youth. Teachers also acknowledged limited training, fear of making the situation worse, and fear of legal repercussions as potential barriers to participating in suicide prevention efforts. Consequently, teachers will benefit from more direct training which clearly identifies their roles and allows opportunities for teachers to role play.

Teachers are faced with the dual task of teaching academic skills and managing students’ problematic behaviors. Randomly selected kindergarten through sixth-grade teachers (N=295 of 1,144; 26% return rate) in rural, urban, and suburban Utah were asked to identify students’ five most problematic behaviors, as well as students’ five most desired social skills which supported social-emotional wellbeing and academic achievement. Teachers’ responses were summarized and information will be used to enhance universal Tier 1 social skills interventions, part of school-wide positive behavior support in Utah’s elementary schools. The top five problematic behaviors identified by participating teachers included (a) defiant and refuses to comply with teacher's requests; (b) aggressive (hits, kicks, shoves); (c) says or does things to hurt others' feelings; (d) inattentive, daydreaming, distracted; and (e) disrespectful to adults. The top five desired social skills included (a) conflict management/resolution; (b) following rules and instructions; (c) self-management: good use of free time, seatwork, assigned tasks; (d) anger management; and (e) coping with challenging situations. These identified behaviors and social skills will guide efforts of Utah’s Tier 1 Positive Behavioral Support in selecting children’s literature and creating classroom lesson plans which specifically address problematic behaviors and focus on desired social skills.

Students at risk for social, emotional and behavioral concerns (SEBC) are likely to experience a variety of negative outcomes if not identified and provided with appropriate interventions in a timely manner. Males tend to be identified more frequently than females for SEBC (Young, Sabbah, Young, Reiser, & Richardson, 2010), and there are many variables that may contribute to this disproportionate identification. This study specifically examined the influence of student gender on secondary education teachers’ referral decisions for students at risk for SEBC. This study additionally examined the influence of teachers’ prior referral experience, confidence in the mental health services available at their schools, perceived severity of problematic behaviors, and teacher gender as other variables potentially influencing teacher likelihood of referral. A sample of 229 secondary teachers was given vignettes about hypothetical male and female students with internalizing and externalizing concerns followed by a questionnaire. Findings from this study indicate that males with internalizing concerns were the most likely to be referred. Additionally, teachers’ prior referral experiences and their confidence in the mental health services available at their schools influenced their likelihood of making a referral. Results from this study can be used to inform and improve screening and identification processes in secondary settings.

This study is about how educators understand the task of increasing physical activity to acheive a safe school environment. The purpose of the study was to investigate and describe the experience for the school´s educators of implementing physical activity in their teaching in the school´s different environments and to examine the educators´ experience of the relationship between students physical activity and their security and studytranquillity. The introduction of break activities during the schoolday is part of the school´s work for security and studytranquillity. My empiric material is based on seven interviews with educators who work with students in preschoolclass to grade two. These semi-structured interviews were conducted at the school where I work. The recorded interviews were transcribed verbatim. I have used grounded theory to analyze my data. The categories that emerged from the interview results were: motives for physical activity, design of physical activity, challenges with physical activity, conditions for physical activity, and development of physical activity. The result I obtained through further analysis of the above categories shows two core categories which constitute of the function of physical activity. These two core categories are: physical activity to achieve results in other areas/subjects and physical activity as intrinsic value.

Reacting to an impression that history is not viewed as significant as other curricular subjects such as reading, math, or science, there were multiple purposes for this research: first, to document the attitudes of the fourth grade teachers in one county in Florida towards the subject of Florida history. The teachers' perceptions of the importance of the topic to and for the students, to the administration, and to them personally was surveyed in addition to the perceived preparation of the teachers to teach Florida History. The second purpose was to ascertain the perception of fourth grade teachers regarding preference and efficacy of their methods; third, to discern the teachers' views as to the effectiveness and value of the available materials; fourth, to determine the amount of instructional time devoted to the teaching of Florida History; and fifth, to discover if there is any correlation between teacher attitudes toward Florida History and the methods and materials that they use to teach the subject. Eighty-eight of the 210 fourth grade teachers employed in the county during the research interval responded to a survey that was part Likert scale and part fill-in. The results of this research were in agreement with the premise that teachers perceive themselves as unprepared to teach history; however, the teachers of this county thought that Florida History was important to and for their students, the administration and them personally. Although the teachers advocated the use of constructivist approaches to teaching Florida History such as cooperative learning, student projects, and role-playing, the majority of the teachers utilized lecture as their predominant instructional method due to insufficient classroom instructional time (only one in five teachers included Florida History in the daily schedule). The textbook was the leading material of choice overwhelming tradebooks, computer software, and videos. Although there was a relationship discovered between the teachers' attitudes and the methods they espoused, there was no relationship between the teachers' attitudes and the materials they employed to teach Florida History.

Each year as a growing number of students with learning disabilities are included in statewide assessments, teacher perceptions and beliefs toward student achievement are being identified and examined. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001(NCLB) and the 2004 reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 2004) raise the achievement expectations of students with disabilities and require that teachers are knowledgeable about state academic content and achievement standards (Thompson, Lazarus, Clapper, & Thurlow, 2006). State departments of education are responsible to ensure that teacher competencies and expectations are specific to the achievement of grade level content standards (Thompson, et al., 2006). Educational reform, increased knowledge in the teacher-learning process, and greater access to the general education curriculum require changes in instructional practice. This study investigated special education teachers' perceptions, backgrounds and beliefs related to test performance of third grade students with learning disabilities who passed the reading portion of the state assessment in Florida, the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT). The comparative descriptive research design was used to identify these factors and their effects in the study (Creswell, 2002). Quantitative data collection was used. A survey instrument was developed to include information on teachers' background, beliefs, experience, and perceptions toward statewide assessments. The survey was sent to seventy six third grade teachers of students with learning disabilities. Teachers receiving the survey were categorized into two groups based on the outcome of the 2007 FCAT in reading. Significant differences between teacher responses were found in the areas of professional development for test accommodations, co-teaching, and working with professionals in the general curriculum. Response to survey items on service delivery models indicated that students who spend the majority of time in the general education classroom or in a resource room setting have increased student achievement on statewide assessments. Differences were also found between teachers on questions related to school location, percentage of minority students, students who are eligible for free and reduced lunch, and positions employees held in education by the teachers in the study. One of the most significant findings of this study concluded that increased time spent in the general education classroom and collaboration of special education teachers with general education staff proved to be most beneficial when addressing the needs of students with learning disabilities and statewide assessment. The concept of teacher knowledge base and continued awareness of perceptions andbeliefs addressed in this study allowed for further research investigations.

The purpose of this study was to determine the knowledge level (general, etiology, assessment, treatment) of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD/ADD) of principles, regular education teachers, and special education teachers in the First Educational District in Northeast Tennessee. The study further the amount of instruction on ADHD/ADD that educators received as part of their teacher training and after they began teaching, the number of books and articles they read on ADHD/ADD, the number of students with ADHD/ADD they worked with, and the number of students they worked with who were on medication. The study also revealed teacher beliefs about ADHD/ADD as a legitimate educational problem, benefits of additional training, and how to best receive information on ADHD/ADD. Six research questions guided the study and 20 null hypotheses were formulated and tested at the .05 level of significance. Data were analyzed by using the t-test, the analysis of variance and the analysis of covariance. Results of the study indicated a significant difference between position and knowledge, degree and knowledge, and years of professional experience and knowledge. No significant difference existed between the type of system employed in and knowledge level.

The Florida Department of Education revised the Common Core State Standards into what are now known as the Florida Standards in February 2014, approving 99 revisions to the original standards that were accepted in 2010 (Dunkelberger, 2014). The purpose of this research was to identify current teachers# attitudes towards the new Language Arts Florida Standards (LAFS), specifically regarding teachers# perceptions of text complexity and close reading as enacted in the reading curriculum. Additionally, this study will attempt to identify how teachers# attitudes impact their implementation of the new standards. This research used a self-administered survey to collect the teacher perceptions of the LAFS in six different categories. The sample entailed the participation of 21 practicing teachers from the Central Florida area. The survey revealed that, although teachers don't necessarily dislike the construction of the standards, they feel that they are not knowledgeable in some integral areas of the LAFS, such as text complexity and close reading. The implications of the results are discussed, and some improvements for the future of the LAFS are given.