Search results

The purpose of this paper is to examine the development of a professional development (PD) model for educator growth and learning that is embedded into the school context in Qatar. Because the success of a PD program in practice cannot be judged against its theoretical underpinnings, the paper goes on to examine the perceptions of instructional coaches on the effectiveness of the PD model.

Through the use of a qualitative, constant comparative approach, data were collected from 19 instructional coaches through open-ended surveys followed by focus group interviews. The instructional coaches provided information about the strengths of the PD program, the challenges they faced in their day-to-day implementation of the program, and their suggestions for the improvement of the program’s implementation and outcomes.

The instructional coaches reported several strengths, which were compatible with the literature on effective PD. However, the challenges they faced were deeply rooted within the inherent structure of the program, in addition to external challenges at both the school and Ministry of Education levels. Thus, a general consensus on the way that the program should be implemented was reached.

The study revealed the complexity inherent in transferring research-based principles and theory into practice. It indicated that the components of PD programs interact within complex social settings.

This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of the school-based support program (SBSP) as perceived by teachers who participated in this program. SBSP was designed to collectively build the capacity and promote the overall quality of teaching and learning in identified independent schools in the State of Qatar.

This study is quantitative in nature and was conducted using a survey methodology as its research design. A variety of statistical techniques were utilized in this research. Means, standard deviations, t-test, and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were utilized to analyze gained data.

The findings indicated that teachers perceived the effectiveness of SBSP to be moderate-to- high. Further, there was a significant difference between male and female teachers in their perceptions of the effectiveness of SBSP overall. Male participant teachers perceived SBSP overall to be more effective than female participant teachers did. However, there were no significant differences among participant teachers in perceiving the effectiveness of SBSP that is attributed to their teaching experience or academic qualifications.

This study suggests a common level of satisfaction of the SBSP program that was launched just two years ago. At the same time, however, many recommendations and implications were discussed and suggested to enhance the effectiveness of the program.

This paper seeks to describe the design, implementation, and lessons learned from an obesity prevention pilot program delivered in a low resource school in the USA.

A planned program evaluation was conducted to: document explicitly the process of designing and implementing the program; and assess the feasibility and acceptability of the program to inform future planning. Evaluation data were gathered using document review (i.e. minutes from meetings with research staff and school personnel), key informant interviews, and focus groups. Qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis. Quantitative data were summarized using descriptive statistics.

A total of 113 African‐American students (47 per cent female) participated in the program. Over half were overweight or obese and mean nutrition and physical activity behaviors were below recommended guidelines. A participatory process involving school administrators, teachers, parents, and students resulted in the design of a program salient to the target population and responsive to the school's limited financial and human resources. The program was positively viewed by student and school staff alike. Challenges for implementing the program included: maintaining classroom management with very large class sizes and limited school staff, and difficulty in actively engaging parents in program implementation.

As a pilot program at a single school during one school year, the results may have limited generalizability. However, the paper supports the feasibility and acceptability of obesity prevention interventions in schools with limited resources.

School‐based programs can support nutrition education and increased physical activity opportunities, which may promote lifelong health behaviors. Future programs can increase the likelihood of behavior change and program sustainability by limiting class sizes, increasing parent involvement, integrating intrapersonal level changes with institutional factors, and developing community partnerships.

The research described provides insights into effective strategies and lessons learned for developing school‐based obesity‐prevention programs in schools with limited resources.

In Canada, food insecurity is characterized by the consumption of low quantity or low-quality foods, worrying about food supply and/or acquiring foods in socially unacceptable ways, such as begging or scavenging. As of 2012, approximately 15.2% of Ontario, Canada, children are living in food insecure households, a prevalence which has remained steady since 2005. This is particularly concerning when considering that school-aged children are a population whose growth and developing is sensitive to nutritional stress, and the experience of childhood food insecurity is highly associated with the development of adverse physical, mental and learning outcomes. This study aims at establishing the relationship between food insecurity and Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) standardized test scores in order to highlight the incompatibility of the EQAO's reliance on test outcomes in determining Ontarian school's accountability, specifically for those with a high prevalence of food insecurity.

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the key findings, themes and concepts in coaching from the inception of the International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education in early 2012 to the end of 2018. The review examines how coaching is theorized and practised in an educational context, and how coaching has evolved across educational disciplines.

The study is based on an analysis of research trends published in the International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education from Volume 1 Issue 1 (2012) to Volume 7 Issue 4 (2018). The criterion according to which the articles were selected for inclusion in the literature review is whether the word “coaching” is used in the title, abstract or keywords.

Across a wide range of geographical and institutional contexts, the studies surveyed in this literature review point to the different ways in which coaching interventions support success in teaching and leadership. This review identifies three principal themes across the literature on coaching: confidence, trust and identity.

The literature review is confined to studies published in a single publication and is therefore not representative of the entire field of coaching research.

The focus of this review is coaching in education. The review comprises a survey of research concepts, innovation and creativity in the area of coaching and education. It highlights advances in the field of coaching and education and points to areas of development for future research.

By bringing together existing research in a number of areas across the field of coaching, this literature review provides a coherent overview of a rapidly evolving and diverse field.

The Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act address factors to consider in educating students with and without disabilities together to the maximum extent appropriate. This chapter is designed to examine the origins and evolving interpretations of the LRE concept in special education policy and practice. Discussion traces the evolution of the concept as a legal principle, and reviews its application to educational strategies for students with learning and behavioral disabilities in contemporary schools. In conclusion, the future of the LRE concept is addressed in light of competing policies promoting presumptive inclusive education, and publicly funded school choice programs promoting greater involvement of parents in choosing where their children with and without disabilities should be educated.

To be effective, evidence‐based programs should be delivered as prescribed. This suggests that adaptations that deviate from intervention goals may limit a program's effectiveness. This study aims to examine the impact that number and quality of adaptations have on substance use outcomes.

The authors examined 306 video recordings of teachers delivering “All Stars”, a middle school drug prevention program. Multiple observers coded each recording, noting the number and type of adaptation each teacher made. Each adaptation was given a valence rating. Adaptations that were deleterious to program goals received negative valence ratings; positive ratings were given for adaptations that were likely to facilitate achievement of program goals; neutral ratings were given to adaptations that were expected to have neither a positive nor negative impact on program goals.

All teachers made adaptations. Teachers were consistent across time in the types of adaptations they made, suggesting each teacher has a personalized style of adapting. Those who made few adaptations, and whose average adaptation was rated as being positive had a higher percentage of students who remained non‐drug users. In contrast, teachers who made many adaptations, whether their average valence rating was positive, neutral or negative, failed to have as many students remain non‐drug users. Measures of fidelity, including quality of delivery and teacher understanding, were related to valence of adaptations, with better performance related to making positive adaptations.

Through training and supervision, teachers should be guided and encouraged to follow programs directions, making few adaptations and ensuring that adaptations that are made advance the goals of intervention. Programs should define acceptable and unacceptable ways they may be adapted.

This study provides significant evidence about the challenges that face disseminated evidence‐based programs.

The study aims to explore the experiences of new school-based mentors in Norway of an online teacher professional development (OTPD) programme in mentoring. The focus was on how the OTPD programme worked out as a boundary artefact to strengthen the coherence between a university and partner schools.

Constant comparative analysis was used to examine 21 school-based mentors' experiences and how the programme worked out as an artefact to strengthen the coherence between the teacher and education arenas. The findings were interpreted considering the literature and OTPD and boundary-crossing theories.

The findings revealed that the OTPD programme served as a boundary artefact. By participating, the new school-based mentors felt part of a community, identifying as teacher educators. Thus, the programme mediated their understanding of their new role as a teacher educator. Two main tensions were found: first, resistance towards online collaboration with school-based mentors across schools and participants that preferred to work locally with their own colleagues and, second, different technologies at the schools and the university disrupting the participants' experiences. Overall, this study emphasised the value of a facilitator from the university supporting the participants' development in the OTPD programme.

This study provides an understanding of teachers' OTPD when at the boundary of becoming school-based mentors and may contribute to enhancing universities' quality of teacher education. This study also highlights the importance of stronger connections between school-based mentors and their university campuses.

The purpose of this article is to advance knowledge concerning outcomes among the former residents of therapeutic children's homes, especially those located in England.

In total, 16 young adults who had been resident in one of seven therapeutic homes took part in interviews.

It appeared, from the information they gave in these interviews, that their outcomes were good in terms of their emotional and behavioural well‐being, physical health, accommodation, and absence of early parenthood and substance use. Some of the young adults also had good outcomes in respect of their education and absence of criminal convictions. A small number of the young adults did less well on these latter two measures but few of them were particularly poor in either of these respects. The young adults had limited contact with their family members.

The evidence from this research is that young adults who have been in therapeutic residential care can have good outcomes.

The purpose of this paper is to review and synthesise research evidence and propose a theoretical model suggesting that school-based yoga programs may be an effective way to promote social-emotional learning (SEL) and positive student outcomes.

This paper is a literature review focusing on: the current state of research on school-based yoga interventions; a preliminary theoretical model outlining the potential mechanisms and effects of school-based yoga; similarities, differences and possibilities for integrating school-based SEL, yoga and meditation; practical implications for researching and implementing yoga in schools.

Research suggests that providing yoga within the school curriculum may be an effective way to help students develop self-regulation, mind-body awareness and physical fitness, which may, in turn, foster additional SEL competencies and positive student outcomes such as improved behaviours, mental state, health and performance.

Given that research on school-based yoga is in its infancy, most existing studies are preliminary and are of low to moderate methodological quality. It will be important for future research to employ more rigorous study designs.

It is possible, pending additional high-quality research, that yoga could become a well-accepted component of school curricula. It will be particularly important for future research to examine possibilities around integrating school-based yoga and meditation with SEL programs at the individual, group and school-wide levels.

This paper is the first to describe a theoretical model specifically focused on school-based yoga interventions, as well as a discussion of the similarities and differences between school-based yoga, SEL and meditation.