Education & Pedagogy

The COVID-19 Education Continuation Plan presented in this report is designed to maximize instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic while using non-traditional instruction (NTI) to reach 1,062 hours of instruction in all Kentucky school districts prior to May 29, 2020. This plan assumes school closure for in-person classes for the remainder of the 2019-2020 academic year (through June 30, 2020). The plan facilitates districts reaching 1,062 hours as called for by SB 177 (2020); however, the plan enables districts to end the 2019-2020 school year two weeks earlier than envisioned by SB 177 (2020). The plan relies upon districts continuing to provide NTI instruction and permits each NTI day utilized during the 2019-2020 school year to count as the equivalent of seven hours of daily instruction.

In the Fiscal Year 2022 Executive Budget Recommendation and the spending of Governor's Emergency Education Relief Funds, Governor Whitmer outlines investments intended to support the immediate recovery students require, while also making progress on the long-term goal of building a more equitable approach to school funding. This document is intended to highlight key pieces of Governor Whitmer's education budget recommendation and how these priorities can advance equity and excellence in Michigan schools. [For "Building toward Equity: Prioritizing Fairness & Opportunity in Michigan's Education Budget. Brief on the Fiscal Year 2021 Executive School Aid Budget Recommendation," see ED611150.]

As the state's lead education agency, the West Virginia Department of Education embraced the opportunity to facilitate input from state stakeholders and broaden discussion about education reform. The West Virginia's Voice report represents an intensive effort to gather, analyze, synthesize and publish public sentiment on this important topic. Over the course of several weeks, WVDE staff traveled thousands of miles and visited communities from Welch to Wheeling, and from Berkeley Springs High to Blennerhassett Middle School. Additionally, the broader community was able to participate through online surveys in an effort to open access to everyone. With 20,000 submissions and face-to-face responses, West Virginians shared their thoughts, opinions, concerns and expectations about public education. The report is the beginning of what should be an ongoing and open dialogue to enhance education in West Virginia.

This article is designed to enhance understanding about how job characteristics motivate physical education teachers. This is an important area of research because Ministry of Education Malaysia invest so much time and money into the creation and development of their physical education teachers and it is important to understand how the work they do relates to their motivation. We applied the organizational behavior concepts of the Job Characteristics Model developed by Hackman and Oldham (1975) to physical education teachers in order to better understand the work of physical education teachers and raise awareness of this important gap in the literature. Our hope is that the proposed research agenda will spark interest in and contribute to the legitimacy of physical education as a field of research.

"Critical Transformative Educational Leadership and Policy Studies - A Reader" is a comprehensive collection of critical contributions from most of the leading voices in the fields of educational leadership and educational policy studies, pushing back against the current neoliberal authoritarian environment. The volume offers alternative ways to perceive and to formulate education leadership and policy from a critical transformative perspective. Individual chapters discuss such topics as social justice in education; poverty, race and public education; counter-hegemonic education movements; the privatization of schools; and school reform and advocacy leadership, among others, all from a critical perspective. It is a crucial and timely volume for educators, school administrators, educational leaders, social activists, and union leaders concerned with the current state of our universities and our education system.

"Research Messages 2021" highlights the diverse range of research activities undertaken over the past year by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER). In 2021, research was shaped both by the VET (vocational education and training) reform agenda, and issues emerging from the pandemic. The 2021 national VET research agenda was overseen by the Australian and State and Territory governments and informed NCVER's research focus and the types of investigations that are priorities for the nation. Research published during the year encompassed a range of themes and topics categorised under four broad areas.: (1) COVID-19 pandemic; (2) VET delivery and practice; (3) VET student engagement and outcomes; and (4) industry and VET. [For the previous year, "Research Messages 2020," see ED620533.]

"Research Messages 2013" provides a summary of the research published in 2013 by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) in the following broad categories: (1) skills and productivity: from VET qualifications to higher-level qualifications and issues affecting the workforce; (2) social inclusion and participation in education and training: equity groups and measuring socioeconomic disadvantage; (3) young people: school, science and income support; (4) the VET sector: institutions, practices and the workforce; and (5) structures in the tertiary education and training system. [Funding for this paper was provided by the Australian Government Department of Industry.]

An IEP is an Individualized Education Program. When a child is identified with a disability under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) a child has a right to a Free, Appropriate, Public Education (FAPE). For a child to receive FAPE there has to be an IEP developed in order for the child to progress in the general education curriculum. This guide discusses: IEP team members; prior written notice; what should be on the IEP; transition; services; least restrictive environment; special factors on the IEP; and statewide testing. It also provides contact information for OCECD; "For My Records" forms; and parent responsibilities/important timelines. [This guide was originally published in 2006. For the 2019 version, see ED601042.]

Inclusion of deaf/hard of hearing (D/HH) students is more common than ever before. General education teachers need to be aware of strengths and needs of this particular group of students as well as have a few simple strategies to implement in the classroom. This chapter will present strengths and needs relative to language, social/emotional skills, and literacy. Language modalities, educational philosophies, as well as assistive listening technologies are discussed. We will further present important information on changes in technology and support personnel that may be used to improve the education of D/HH students. [For the complete volume, "General and Special Education Inclusion in an Age of Change: Impact on Students with Disabilities. Advances in Special Education. Volume 31," see ED606160.]

This brief, the ninth in a series, explores issues and promising practices in paving career and technical education (CTE) pathways to high-STEM occupations--a key piece of the STEM college and career readiness puzzle. Other briefs focus on related parts of the puzzle, such as the role that math and science standards play in students' college and career readiness, providing rich STEM learning in preschool and out-of-school time programs, and strategies to ensure all students enjoy a successful STEM education. This brief offers examples of promising programs and recommendations for realizing the full potential of secondary CTE and community colleges in preparing students for college "and" careers.

In the sphere of higher education (HE) globally the tensions between academic autonomy and accountability, and the research vs teaching debate have been ongoing for decades. Zumeta (2011, p. 133) notes one of the reasons for such tensions to be the view of accountability as a social construct, resulting in its definition varying from context to context and time to time. While professionalism in the higher education context is closely associated to research status of academics, the question addressed in this paper is whether accountability in teaching-related work, if clearly defined and practiced, can be used as mechanism towards professionalizing higher education teaching. The findings of the qualitative study clearly indicate a correlation between the characteristics of teaching-related accountability and professionalism in higher education, underscoring the notion that an accountable and excellent higher education teacher should be able to rise to the coveted position of a professor.

The Distance Education Accrediting Commission (DEAC) and The Presidents' Forum have released a new study authored and researched by the Online Learning Consortium's Dr. Jill Buban, which sheds light on how adult learning institutions address students who possess alternative credentials and seek to apply these experiences to a degree. This first-of-its-kind study explores key definitions and reveals five common themes focused on competency-based education (CBE), prior learning assessment (PLA), alternative credentials, the importance of reliable data, and traditional vs. non-traditional learning. This study is expected to serve as a useful tool for education planners, policy makers, administrators, researchers and government leaders to help shape future ideas about how to serve adult learners in their quest for degree attainment. [The report was also commissioned by the Presidents' Forum.]

As Congress considers reauthorizing the Higher Education Act (HEA), there is an opportunity to implement a holistic accountability system that invests in equity, holds campuses responsible, and protects students and families. Recent efforts to increase access to higher education have narrowed gaps in enrollment for students from low-income families and students of color, but gaps in degree attainment persist. Fortunately, research has consistently shown that, with concentrated and concerted efforts, with the support of willing leaders and alignment of policy and resources, institutions can close completion gaps for low-income students and students of color. Ed Trust advocates a holistic approach to accountability that will help ALL of higher education serve ALL students better. In this report, Ed Trust makes five recommendations to help Congress achieve this goal.

In fall of 2019, the EdWeek Research Center set out to gain a clearer sense of nationwide teacher and teacher education perceptions and practices by sending out two surveys about topics related to early reading instruction, especially as it related to phonics. One survey was taken by 674 K-2 and elementary special education teachers who indicated that they had taught children how to read. The other was taken by 533 postsecondary instructors who indicated that they had taught courses on how to teach students to read. This report examines survey findings.

For over 5 years, The Education Trust-West's #Data4ThePeople campaign has been a statewide effort to ensure California builds a data system that is designed with achieving equity and the needs of students, parents, and families at the center. Now with school and college closures caused by COVID-19 posing a real challenge to data accessibility and quality, state and education leaders are urged to find workable solutions. Data is critical to ensuring communities and educators are empowered with the best information to highlight inequities and demand educational justice for California's schools and colleges. The latest resource in our Education Equity in Crisis series, called "#Data4thePeople but How?" aims to highlight the real impact of school and college closures on data. While it's not possible to adequately collect data at this time, it is possible to understand the current limitations and find workable solutions to ensure useful data is collected in a timely fashion.