High-need Schools Research Articles

University-Community Partnership Model to Support Rural STEM Teaching and Student Engagement

Rural economically disadvantaged communities face unique challenges in engaging students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). School district administrators, teachers, and students do not have access to high-quality STEM opportunities compared to urban schools. This article describes a partnership between a small, private STEM university and a network of school districts scattered across the geographically isolated region of upstate New York. The partnership’s primary goal is to support the teaching and learning of STEM. This is achieved through actively engaging a range of university and community stakeholders in STEM enrichment and professional development. Programming includes summer camps and after-school activities, challenges and competitions that focus on inspiring students to pursue STEM careers, undergraduate and graduate student mentors, and a university curriculum designed to prepare teachers to work in high-need school districts. Activities are supported by the university’s Institute for STEM Education, which fosters collaborations for like-minded faculty and campus members to pursue grant opportunities and connect with community members. The paper describes various program components and how they work to support each other, discusses impacts of the program, and describes ways in which elements can be implemented elsewhere.

An exploratory study of STEM teachers’ mentorship networks

BackgroundThe Noyce Scholarship Program was created to attract and retain science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) teachers in high-need schools. Teacher support networks, and specifically mentorship support, have been linked to increased retention of high-quality teachers in the classroom. Using a sample of Noyce teachers, we used a multilevel model to explore how the characteristics and composition of novice teachers’ support networks are related to the likelihood that they receive mentorship support, and further, how characteristics common among Noyce programs are related to mentorship support.ResultsFindings suggest that the characteristics and composition of a teacher’s network, as well as certain Noyce program characteristics, contribute to the likelihood that teachers receive mentorship support from their larger support network.ImplicationsThe results of this study highlight the importance of considering how the design of teacher preparation programs may contribute to continued mentorship support for early career teachers, and ultimately, their retention in the classroom.

Teachers of English learners: perceived motivators to becoming principals of high-needs schools

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to explore intrinsic and extrinsic motivations that led 28 teachers of emergent bilingual (EB) students to seek a master's in educational administration with a focus on bilingual/English as a second language (ESL).Design/methodology/approachTo address the study objectives, the authors used a qualitative phenomenological design. The authors conducted online interviews with 28 teachers of EBs. The authors used the self-determination theory as the theoretical framework.FindingsPrimarily, teachers of EBs were intrinsically motivated to seek the principalship. The authors identified additional motivators that were not found in the previous literature which heretofore was based on general education teachers' responses. Those motivators were, gain advice from mentors, promote cultural awareness, commit to a campus-wide impact, increase awareness of the importance of bilingual/ESL education programs, and foster a relationship with the school community.Practical implicationsIdentifying the intrinsic and extrinsic motivators for teachers of EBs who desire to move into a principal position may aid faculty in university principal preparation programs and administrators in school districts to support and mentor these teachers to better serve as leaders in high need schools.Originality/valueThere is little known about intrinsic and extrinsic motivations of teachers of EBs which influence their decisions to change their career paths to become principals.

One Size Does Not Fit All: How Leadership Strategies Affect Teacher Satisfaction and Retention

Teacher retention rates continue to plummet at schools across the nation. A principal at Sunnyside Elementary watches firsthand as the revolving door of teachers increases significantly in her brief 3 years of leadership at this school. Once well-known and highly regarded at an award-winning school in the northeast, the principal struggles to delegate, communicate, and acclimate to a high-needs school in the southeastern United States. Yet the practices that worked so well in the northeast sends many of her teachers to search for greener pastures year after year. This case study examines leadership for retention, including communication, organizational climate, and relationship development.

Quality or Control: High-Needs Principals’ Perceptions of a PSEL-Based Evaluation System

This study investigated whether principals in high-needs schools reported different perceptions of a PSEL-based principal evaluation system than did principals in non high-needs schools. We employed a sequential mixed-methods approach in which semi-structured interviews followed an initial survey administration. High-needs and non high-needs principals reported statistically significantly different perceptions of the state’s evaluation system. We find that principals perceive wide variation in the resources allocated to their schools as well as the use of the performance rubric to measure their effectiveness. Additionally, principals identified principal supervisors as a major lever in the perceived fairness and flexibility of the evaluation system.

A sense of belonging: The role of higher education in retaining quality STEM teachers.

There is an alarming shortage of qualified STEM teachers in American PK-12 schools. The COVID-19 pandemic may exacerbate this crisis and consequently affect who participates in future STEM innovation. At three points during the pandemic, we surveyed early career teachers who were supported by the National Science Foundation as they began teaching in high-needs school districts. Teachers who felt connected to their professional and academic communities reported intentions to remain in the profession, while those who felt isolated reported intentions of leaving. It is critical for STEM academics to maintain professional relationships with graduates who pursue STEM teaching professions after graduation.

Impact of school sealant programs on oral health among youth and identification of potential barriers to implementation

BackgroundSchool sealant programs (SSPs) increase sealant prevalence among children lacking access to oral health care. SSPs, however, are substantially underused. From 2013 through 2018, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention funded 18 states for SSP activities in high-need schools (≥ 50% free and reduced-price meal program participation). From 2019 through 2020, the authors assessed SSPs' impact in reducing caries and how states expanded SSPs. The authors also discuss potential barriers to expansion. MethodsFor Aim 1, the authors used a published methodology and SSP baseline screening and 1-year retention data to estimate averted caries over 9 years attributable to SSPs. For Aim 2, the authors used state responses to an online survey, phone interviews, and annual administrative reports. ResultsUsing data for 62,750 children attending 18.6% of high-need schools in 16 states, the authors estimated that 7.5% of sound, unsealed molars would develop caries annually without sealants and placing 4 sealants would prevent caries in 1 molar. Fourteen states reported SSP expansion in high-need schools. The 2 most frequently reported barriers to SSP expansion were levels of funding and policies requiring dentists to be present at assessment or sealant placement. ConclusionsThe authors found that SSPs typically served children at elevated caries risk and reduced caries. In addition, the authors identified funding levels and policies governing supervision of dental hygienists as possible barriers to SSP expansion. Practical ImplicationsIncreasing SSP prevalence could reduce caries. Further research on potential barriers to SSP implementation identified in this study could provide critical information for long-term SSP sustainability.

Supporting first-generation college students to become teachers in high-needs schools

Extensive research exists on students who are the first in their families to pursue post-secondary education, i.e. first-generation college students. But what about first-generation students who pursue careers in education? This study highlights the experiences of first-generation college students, then graduate students, turned teachers and may shed light on how teacher preparation programs could improve persistence among first-generation college and graduate students and support this population as they embark on careers in K-12 settings. First-generation college students who become teachers frequently share demographic characteristics with students in high-need schools, i.e., many are of low socioeconomic status and/or are people of color. Thus, these teachers may help to fill a critical need as they may be more likely to persist as teachers in high-need schools, which are typically hardest to staff and have high turnover.

Cultural Fit and the Effects of School-wide Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports in High-Need Schools: A Quasi-Experimental Study

School-Wide Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports is a framework that aims to improve school culture and climate, students’ behavior and attendance. As the program is largely spreading, comparative studies showing its efficacy on students’ outside the United States are needed. In addition, there is a need for studies examining SWPBIS effects on school climate from all the stakeholders’ point of view, especially students and parents. Moreover, few researches used comprehensive questionnaires including the three main components of school climate: engagement, safety and environment. The purpose of this study is twofold: investigate the SWPBIS implementation feasibility in a French speaking European country and measure implementation effects on school climate and absenteeism. Using a quasi-experimental design, the current study investigates the impact of SWPBIS implementation in elementary and secondary high-need schools (n intervention schools = 4, n control schools = 5). Findings show positive effects for all stakeholders on different components of school climate. Effects on absenteeism are mixed. Implications and limitations are discussed.

Cultural Fit and the Effects of School-wide Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports in High-Need Schools: A Quasi-Experimental Study

School-Wide Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports is a framework that aims to improve school culture and climate, students’ behavior and attendance. As the program is largely spreading, comparative studies showing its efficacy on students’ outside the United States are needed. In addition, there is a need for studies examining SWPBIS effects on school climate from all the stakeholders’ point of view, especially students and parents. Moreover, few researches used comprehensive questionnaires including the three main components of school climate: engagement, safety and environment. The purpose of this study is twofold: investigate the SWPBIS implementation feasibility in a French speaking European country and measure implementation effects on school climate and absenteeism. Using a quasi-experimental design, the current study investigates the impact of SWPBIS implementation in elementary and secondary high-need schools (n intervention schools = 4, n control schools = 5). Findings show positive effects for all stakeholders on different components of school climate. Effects on absenteeism are mixed. Implications and limitations are discussed.

How Do Distributed and Transformational Leadership Teams Improve Working Conditions and Student Learning in Underperforming High-Needs Schools?

<p style="text-align: justify;">Theories of distributed leadership suggest that organizational learning and change results not from the efforts of a single individual, but rather from a network of people working within their broader systems. Team empowering leadership enhances human resources development of the organization to promote the sharing of knowledge that is necessary for change. In this study, we study transformational and distributed leadership team that have been linked to improving working conditions and students’ learning in high-needs schools. Specifically, we highlight a team-based intervention where positive organizational improvements were made to academically struggling schools, and then qualitatively examined the associated processes to understand what enabled the occurrence of those positive changes. We find that the team structure allowed for the clarification of expectations, enhancement of communication, and improvement of educator working conditions through professional development support and distribution of leadership responsibility, which ultimately resulted in improvement in school culture and performance.</p>

The RUMERTIME Process as a Protective Factor in School Attendance Problems.

The RUMERTIME Process (RP) is a five-step culturally responsive social-emotional, problem-solving, prevention-intervention strategy used to educate, equip, and empower students, educators, and families. The RP equips individuals with the abilities to recognize, understand, manage, express, and reflect on their thoughts, interactions, mindsets, and emotions (RUMERTIME) in relation to themselves, others, and the daily life challenges they face within multiple systems and settings. The RP is embedded within the Cultivating SEEDS System framework (CSS) and is utilized to equip culturally diverse communities, inclusive of students, family members, educators, and administrators, with the social-emotional skills to effectively solve student attendance problems (SAPs). The data shared in this practice intervention article are descriptive in nature and highlight the RP as a protective factor and explain its three goals. The paper consists of three parts: (a) introduction of the RP, which is embedded in the CSS framework; (b) description of implementation of the RP as integral to the Daytime Intervention Room (DIR) program; and (c) discussion of risk factors that qualified students to receive services through the DIR program as well as data that demonstrated how the RP performed as a protective factor. The DIR program was aimed at creating an alternative to out-of-school suspension (OSS) and the traditional punitive in-school suspension (ISS). The program was established in each of the four schools in an urban high-needs school district in the midwest region of the United States. The DIR program was intentionally designed to include multiple levels, stakeholders, and delivery support, thus creating a solid base for the holistic development of students, educators, and parents. In conjunction with the CSS framework, the DIR program sought to increase academic performance, decrease the number of behavior referrals, and improve attendance rates in this high-needs urban school district.

A Case Study of Using Test-Enhanced Learning as a Formative Assessment in High School Mathematics

Retrieving information from memory can—under many circumstances—strengthen one’s memory of the retrieved information itself. The strategic use of retrieval to enhance memory and help long-term retention is known as retrieval practice. However, it is unclear whether its effect also holds true in the case of learning mathematics. This research is an exploratory case study, where we test a method— using test-enhanced learning as formative assessment—in a high-needs vocational school. Since the literature on how this method works in classroom settings in mathematics is limited, the purpose of our case study was to get a better view and to lay the groundwork for further experiments. The experimental group and one of the control groups were from the vocational school, while the other control group was from an elite grammar school. On the final test members of the experimental group outscored their schoolmates and reached statistically the same scores as the control group from the elite grammar school. By means of the method, we were able to reduce the performance gap in long-term retention between students from the elite grammar school and students from the urban high-needs school.

Virtual reality enhanced Dialectical behavioural therapy

ABSTRACT Virtual reality (VR) as a tool to build wellbeing for students with latent trauma is being examined in multiple contexts. The purpose of this study was to compare modalities of treatment, namely, VR-enhanced therapy, face-to-face therapy without VR and wait-list time-delayed control. Participants were 69 students selected from a high-needs urban school. Observations, researcher assessments and paper instrument scores, were analysed using a mixed model measure ANOVA. Results for each of the measures comparing standardised scores across the main effect of modality illustrates a statistically significant difference between virtual reality enhanced Dialectical Behaviour skills training and each of the other modalities. We suggest approaches using VR-enhanced DBT promote greater DBT skill acquisition.

“Honestly, I Think it’s Going Great so Far… I Did Have a Mental Breakdown” Examining the Experiences of Paid Residents in their First Year

This paper examines results from interviews of four undergraduate teacher candidates who participated in the inaugural year of a newly designed paid residency program. A large regional university, in collaboration with its largest partner school district, developed this particular teacher residency model as a potential way to offer diverse clinical experiences for undergraduate students and help combat teacher shortages in high-needs schools. This study explores the experiences of the four undergraduate students who were selected and hired as paid teacher-residents during the pilot year of this program. Each participant had their own classroom in which they served as teacher of record with the same requirements, roles, and responsibilities as the other teachers in the building. Utilizing a constructivist framework, we share results from one-on-one interviews as well as focus group discussions about their experience during pre-planning, school opening, and the first months of this new paid residency. Emerging themes identified candidates’ perceptions of starting the program and perceived issues, candidates’ preparedness for the responsibility of teacher-resident, the role of the mentor teacher in their experience, and candidates’ overall perceptions of the residency experience related to their sense of confidence and preparation for the profession. This research seeks to add to the field of Education and clinical practice and paid residencies. This research contributes to an understanding of the effectiveness of teacher residencies in the preparation of teachers. Keywords: Teacher Preparation, Internship, Preservice Teachers DOI: 10.7176/JEP/13-5-01 Publication date: February 28 th 2022

Leading multiple schools: an examination of franchise model school principals

ABSTRACT This study examines the leadership characteristics and skills of school principals who work within the franchise model framework. This model consists of a successful flagship school principal who is given the charge to be the principal of nearby schools while attempting to align practices and structures of the newly adopted schools to that of the successful flagship school. Three franchise model school principals, fourteen assistant principals, and forty-two teachers were interviewed. Data analysis revealed franchise principals’ characteristics to be seasoned, successful principals with experience leading low-performing schools; challenging the status quo; shared leadership; and visionary leadership to align all franchise campuses. Given the novelty of franchise model schools, it has the potential to develop and retain effective principals for high-needs schools.

How Finance Reform May Alter Teacher and School Quality: California’s $23 Billion Initiative

Gains in school spending helped to lift achievement over the past half century. But California’s ambitious effort—progressively distributing $23 billion in yearly funding to poorer districts—has yet to reduce disparities in learning. We theorize how administrators in districts and schools, given organizational habits and labor constraints, may fail to move quality resources to disadvantaged students. We identify the exogenous portion of California’s post-2013 reform, finding that schools receiving progressively targeted funding tended to hire inexperienced teachers and disproportionately assign novices to courses serving English learners. New funding expanded the array of courses in high schools, as access to college-preparatory classes by English learners declined. These unfair mechanisms operated most strongly in high-needs schools serving larger concentrations of poor students.

Measuring equity of education resource allocation: An output-based approach

This paper provides a methodological framework to measure and analyze educational resource allocation within and across systems and ascertain potential equity implications. The proposed approach employs an outputs-driven method to provide a snapshot of the equitable distribution of key educational resources available in relation to student populations that are most in need. Our approach standardizes educational resources into three broad dimensions including teacher quality, school physical environment, and school instructional environment while contrasting the allocation of these resources between low- and high-needs schools. We implement this approach using real world data from Brazil to demonstrate its adaptability to the context and available data while still maintaining a consistent framework across applications.

Effects of Teaching in a Summer STEM Camp on the Mathematics Teaching Self-efficacy of Highly Qualified Preservice Secondary Mathematics Teachers

Educational opportunity gaps experienced by students of color living in poverty, with accompanying lower levels of mathematics achievement, remain a roadblock to their access to college-level training in STEM fields. To address this problem, secondary teachers must be confident in their ability to share mathematics content effectively with students from cultures different than their own. Bridging the opportunity gap is more likely with two elements in place: intellectually stimulating pre-college experiences and community partnerships that establish connections between underserved neighborhoods and resource-filled environments such as university campuses. This study explored the effects of teaching in a four-week STEM summer camp for ethnically diverse, high-needs middle school girls on the teaching self-efficacy of highly-qualified preservice secondary mathematics teachers, a group that has been less studied than preservice elementary teachers. Participants were scholarship students in a federally-funded teacher preparation scholarship program at an urban, metropolitan university. Teaching self-efficacy was measured by the Mathematics Teaching Efficacy Belief Instrument (MTEBI) and by follow-up qualitative analysis of questionnaire responses and focus groups. Participants’ gains on the MTEBI were significant for Personal Mathematics Teaching Efficacy, but not for Mathematics Teaching Outcome Expectancy. Qualitative analyses suggested that both instructional coaching and everyday interactions in a summer camp setting contributed strongly to the preservice teachers’ increased confidence about teaching mathematics to culturally diverse, high-needs learners.

Why do they stay? An exploratory analysis of identities and commitment factors associated with teaching retention in high-need school contexts

While the literature cites a number of examples for why STEM teachers leave high-need school (HNS) contexts, there are fewer studies that address why teachers stay. Through the examination of STEM teacher participants who accepted a scholarship to teach in HNSs, we sought to understand the aspects of their identities and social experiences that supported their commitment. Using a qualitative methodology and thematic analysis, we found teachers to enact researcher and social justice advocate identities that were supported by familial relationships with administrators, colleagues, and students. These factors support teachers not just to remain but to flourish amid highly demanding contexts.