{"title":"Supporting teacher learning during the professional development experience: The case of national board certification","authors":"Laura K. Handler, Teresa M. Petty, Amy J. Good","doi":"10.14507/cie.vol22iss3.1976","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.14507/cie.vol22iss3.1976","url":null,"abstract":"Amidst increasing globalized pressures to raise student achievement, nations are heavily investing in various forms of teacher professional development. In the United States, teachers are increasingly electing to pursue National Board Certification, yet few studies have analyzed the experience within the greater complex system of teaching and learning. Viewed from this approach, findings from this study suggest that numerous dynamic forces—relationships, partnerships, structures, and policies—interact in various patterns that can potentially support effective teacher professional development. Implications suggest a need for broader conceptualization, greater cohesion, and more strategic integration of teacher learning in education policy.","PeriodicalId":90480,"journal":{"name":"Current issues in education (Tempe, Ariz.)","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-12-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41687008","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Institutional responses to the COVID-19 pandemic: Faculty and administrator experiences","authors":"Narketta Sparkman-Key, Tammi F. Dice, Alex Gantt","doi":"10.14507/cie.vol22iss3.1993","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.14507/cie.vol22iss3.1993","url":null,"abstract":"The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic required shifts in operations for institutions of higher education everywhere. Faculty and administrators were asked to adapt to meet the needs of students. We conducted a qualitative content analysis to understand institutional responses and examine the experiences of faculty and administrators during the COVID-19 pandemic through the lens of chaos theory. Institutional responses to the pandemic varied. Participants identified supports and resources deemed helpful, as well as those found to be inadequate or unwanted. We also found that the pandemic resulted in some positive outcomes for faculty and administrators, which led to growth in teaching and self-care. Implications for strategic planning and future directions for research are explored.","PeriodicalId":90480,"journal":{"name":"Current issues in education (Tempe, Ariz.)","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-12-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44220888","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Mindfulness in the professional lives of K-12 educators","authors":"Emily J. McRobbie","doi":"10.14507/cie.vol22iss3.1988","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.14507/cie.vol22iss3.1988","url":null,"abstract":"This interpretive case study explored how K-12 educators conceptualized and applied mindfulness in their professional lives while taking the Stress Management and Relaxation Techniques (SMART) in Education professional development program. Participants believed mindfulness practice strengthened awareness and improved relational quality. Participants with regular mindfulness practice reported greater benefits and deeper insights about being present, compassion for self and others, and awareness of patterns of thought and behavior. This unique type of professional learning supported greater self-awareness. The study suggests mindfulness for educators presents opportunities for individual and school transformation, although the amount of school change participants reported was influenced by systemic support and privilege. Strengthening relational quality in schools, empowering teachers, and shifting school culture from places of cultural reproduction to those of transformation may more effectively address the social and civic issues that face society.","PeriodicalId":90480,"journal":{"name":"Current issues in education (Tempe, Ariz.)","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-12-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42906070","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Benterah C. Morton, Kelly O. Byrd, Elizabeth Allison, A. Green
{"title":"More than a babysitter: Looking back on an effective summer enrichment program","authors":"Benterah C. Morton, Kelly O. Byrd, Elizabeth Allison, A. Green","doi":"10.14507/cie.vol22iss3.1964","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.14507/cie.vol22iss3.1964","url":null,"abstract":"Each summer families across the globe send their children to summer camps and daycares for what amounts to babysitting. This study takes the discussion beyond babysitting and explores a unique summer enrichment program offered to rising second through fifth grade students in a modified enrichment camp model. During the four-week program, students were engaged in standards-based academic instruction in reading, mathematics, and science designed to provide enrichment activities to better prepare them for academic success in the upcoming year. Students were pre-tested over standards from the first quarter of the upcoming year. Then, they were taught the standards and post-tested. Analysis of the pretest and posttest data suggests that the program was successful in increasing students’ content knowledge in each of the subject areas taught. The findings imply that summer programs intentionally offering standards-based academics in an enrichment camp environment can be used to provide learning opportunities that diminish academic opportunity gaps.","PeriodicalId":90480,"journal":{"name":"Current issues in education (Tempe, Ariz.)","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-12-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41425002","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Editor’s Introduction","authors":"C. Eisele","doi":"10.1215/03616878-6-1-6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1215/03616878-6-1-6","url":null,"abstract":"There is no need to justify our topic as a \"current issue.\" The daily news accomplishes that. In fact, the issues are so current that the June Supreme Court decision upholding Minnesota's tuition tax deduction system necessitated changes in these essays written as recently as this Spring. \"Current,\" of course, does not necessarily mean of recent origin. The argument about church/ state religious entanglement in the educational process is an old one. As both authors make clear, the source of this current issue goes well back in American history. One historical commentator on the question of state aid for religious instruction, John Dewey, has a special interest for us. In his longest comment on the subject, \"Religion and Our Schools\" (Hibbert Journal, 1908), Dewey found not only the roots of the controversy in American history but also one source of his opposition to state support, \"The lesson of the two and a half centuries lying between the Protestant revolt and the formation of the nation was well learned as respected the necessity of maintaining the integrity of the state as against all divisive ecclesiastical divisions.\" Dewey's later remarks echoed his 1908 article. For example, in 1940, as Honorary Chairman of the Committee for Cultural Freedom, Dewey spoke out against a released time plan for the New York Public Schools (New York Times, 14 November 1940, p. 18). And in 1947 he joined with several other prominent educators in this reaction against using public funds to support transportation for parochial education, \"Our historic American doctrine of the separation of church and state appears seriously threatened, and many of our people are much troubled. The 5-4 decision some months ago of the Supreme Court upholding public pay for bus service to parochial schools feeds fuel to the flames\" (New York Times, 1 October 1947, p. 28).","PeriodicalId":90480,"journal":{"name":"Current issues in education (Tempe, Ariz.)","volume":"3 1","pages":"ii - iii"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"66149097","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}