National Professional Development Research Articles

Transforming secondary teacher preparation for multilingual learners through translanguaging: Toward an integrated biliteracy and disciplinary learning framework

AbstractStudents designated as English learners and the broader group of multilingual learners continue to face restrictive learning environments in secondary classrooms despite existing research that demonstrates how integrating literacy development with authentic and relevant disciplinary learning benefits multilingual learners and all students. To address this issue, an interdisciplinary team of biliteracy and secondary content method scholars and teacher educators used funding through the U.S. Department of Education's National Professional Development Program to (1) articulate a cohesive framework that integrates biliteracy with disciplinary learning through research‐based instructional practices and (2) explore how English, math, and science secondary content method instructors apply this framework when working with preservice teachers. The researchers connected translanguaging pedagogy, content and language/literacy integrated approaches, and a practice‐based teacher education model to develop the Biliteracy and Content Area Integrated Preparation (BCAIP) Framework. They found that participating content area secondary method instructors made progress toward applying the BCAIP framework by building upon what they already do in support of diverse learners (i.e., foundational pedagogies) as they shifted toward biliteracy‐oriented pedagogy. The authors argue that situating translanguaging in a disciplinary learning context better positions secondary teacher educators to transform how they prepare preservice teachers to serve multilingual learners.

R.A.I.C.E.S. (Roots): A conceptual framework for community‐building that connects linguistic and cultural wealth to support emergent bilinguals

AbstractProject R.A.I.C.E.S. (Reaching All Individuals and Communities to Establish Success in Language Learning) is a National Professional Development grant initiative operating at Stephen F. Austin State University. Grant objectives were designed to enhance school readiness, English acquisition, and literacy outcomes for emergent bilinguals (EBs), English learners (ELs), and multilingual learners (MLLs) through collaborative professional development events involving university, community, parent, and school district partnerships. The Spanish word raíces translates to roots in English, symbolizing the project's commitment to preserving and nurturing the cultural and linguistic diversity of the community by reframing language learning within an additive paradigm. Project R.A.I.C.E.S. creates paid professional development events to build a community of professors, preservice teachers, in‐service teachers, parents and caregivers of emergent bilingual children, and children in collaborative professional development sessions called academias (academies). Each academia positions all participants, especially parents and caregivers and their children, as key stakeholders and equal partners in the learning process to honor the community's cultural wealth, emphasizing linguistic and cultural sustainability for English language learners in educational settings. Moreover, the academias provide preservice and in‐service teacher professional development and preparation for the TExES ESL certification exam, crucial for better meeting the needs of EBs/ELs/MLLs in rural schools.

Inclusive education in Sweden

Background and aim: Teachers’ positive attitudes towards inclusive education are taken to be critical to providing education that better meets pupils’ learning. Studies have therefore tried to clarify interaction between teachers’ attitudes and inclusive education. The present study reports data on teachers’ attitudes, self-efficacy and collaboration towards inclusive education in Sweden. Nation-wide data were collected from teachers before they joined a national professional development programme aimed at strengthening schools' competence in adapting teaching to the conditions and needs of pupils. Methods: Participants were 2,348 (51,6%) out of 4,553 targeted teachers that answered an online survey. The survey included three instruments: the Ohio State Teacher Efficacy Scale (OSTES), the Sentiments, Attitudes and Concerns about Inclusive Education – Revised (SACIE-R), and bespoke questions about teachers’ attitudes towards collegial learning (TACL). Mean values and correlations were assessed. Responses to an open question about teachers’ expectations ahead of starting their training programme were analyzed in NVivo, using word frequency analysis. Results: Three-quarters of respondents show overall positive responses towards adapting their teaching to the conditions and needs of pupils. However, almost two-thirds of teachers do also report significant concerns about their ability to do inclusive education well. Scores remained largely unaffected by public or private school ownership, nor did the affluence of school catchment areas affect teacher scores. Conclusions: The self-reported attitudes, self-efficacy and collaboration among teachers in Sweden towards adapting their teaching to the conditions and needs of pupils support positive research conclusions: although they do have concerns likely to be founded on professional considerations, teachers are by and large positive about meeting pupils’ learning needs.

The long arc of learning: Perspectives and innovations from 20 years of U.S. National Professional Development Program projects

AbstractU.S. National Professional Development (NPD) grants can afford a longitudinal understanding of how teachers learn to support English learners. When NPD projects are completed successively and successfully, they can provide an even greater longitudinal arc of understanding. This article chronicles the designs and lessons learned across five NPD grants between 2002 and 2023. Each grant represents a snapshot in time, presenting a set of assumptions from the field, programmatic innovations, and insights from research outcomes. From highlighting the difference between incremental and radical pedagogical change and what it takes to move beyond individual teacher change to systemic change benefiting multilingual learners, the article outlines the succession of aspirations (capacity building, sustainability, and scalability), experiences, changing conditions, and data points framing lessons learned and new cycles of praxis. This article offers implications for theory, practice, and research. It stands as an argument for adapting, innovating, and moving beyond the status quo to inspire more innovation in teacher preparation for multilingual learners.

Linguistically responsive teacher identity construction through reflections on sociocultural pedagogical practices: Collaborating with secondary content area teachers of emergent bilinguals

AbstractThis article shares findings from the implementation of an ongoing National Professional Development (NPD) project that advances second language literacy and biliteracy in secondary content areas. The project is part of a research–practice partnership between a large public university and two school districts in south Texas that engages in‐service secondary school teachers seeking additional certification in English as a Second Language or Bilingual Education. Project activities adapt linguistically responsive theoretical and research perspectives to impact secondary teachers' knowledge, dispositions/beliefs, and practices. Analysis examines how secondary in‐service content‐area teachers reflect, narrate, and enact their professional identities as linguistically responsive teachers of emergent bilinguals (EBs) through professional learning activities. Findings describe how participants negotiated their identities as teachers of linguistically responsive instruction for EBs, as demonstrated through their engagement of reflective practices, digital language stories, and enactments of sociocultural pedagogical practices.

Caring and connecting with multilingual families through the COVID‐19 pandemic

AbstractThis study uses authentic cariño to explore a care and connect model in a case study of a single district in Teachers Educating All Multilingual Students (TEAMS), funded by a National Professional Development (NPD) grant. Along with ESOL/dual language licensure coursework, teachers in five districts engage in family–school–community partnerships to develop multilingual family engagement. COVID‐19 required urgent shifts in how teachers and districts reached families and offered services. Accordingly, the research question is as follows: How did TEAMS teachers' conceptions of caring and connecting to support multilingual family engagement shift in response to the COVID‐19 pandemic? Data included three teacher focus groups per district, interviews with facilitators and administrators, and individual teacher interviews. Case study was used across districts, but focusing particularly on one district with high percentages of teachers of color and low‐income multilingual families, the population hardest hit and dehumanized during COVID‐19. Analysis employed critical authentic cariño to explore teachers' authentic and aesthetic care that shifted over time—from focus on technologies and translators, pity, depersonalized objectives, and academic goals to warmer relationships, personalismo, relaxing together, reaching out, persistence, and advocacy. Results suggest ways to transform structures to better meet the needs of multilingual families by organizing around authentic care with families.

An equitable approach to leveraging multilingual paraprofessional learning

AbstractThis conceptual article focuses on how a National Professional Development grant through the Office of English Language Acquisition in the U.S. Department of Education supported multilingual paraprofessionals' equitable access to and participation in high‐quality, ongoing professional development aimed at supporting young multilingual learners, and how they leveraged both prior and newfound knowledge and experiences during their participation. We understood that paraprofessionals had been positioned as less white, less English‐speaking, and less knowledgeable than their teacher counterparts and knew that their engagement needed to be utilized as a resource. Thus, we broadly draw on the concept of equity but specifically on the notions of funds of knowledge, translanguaging, and raciolinguistics as we document our process of working with Pre‐K–second grade paraprofessionals.

BELIEVE in collaboration: Effective evaluation partnerships for National Professional Development projects

AbstractQuality partnerships are imperative for successful project implementation. The partnership between project personnel and independent evaluators is often overlooked. In effective partnerships, both the evaluators and the education project management team collectively ensure that educational initiatives are well‐planned, executed, and assessed. This collaborative approach fosters a culture of continuous improvement and accountability, ultimately leading to better educational outcomes for English learner students, educators, and the community. This conceptual article highlights eight elements of an effective project management and evaluator partnership: (1) clear communication and collaboration, (2) goal alignment, (3) early planning for evaluation, (4) multi‐purpose evaluation activities, (5) shared responsibility, (6) feedback loops, (7) transparency, and (8) evaluation capacity building. The authors present these elements through the design, deployment, analysis, and use of the Better English Learners Instruction and Education in Varied Environments (BELIEVE) classroom observation tool. The tool was collaboratively created and deployed across two National Professional Development grants in response to the COVID‐19 pandemic, addressing the need for a tool that could be used in varying learning modes and capture how effectively classroom teachers were teaching academic content and literacy to English learners in elementary and middle schools. The article illustrates how this tool has been used by program personnel to inform the teacher–coach relationship and educate teachers and administrators about best practices, and by the evaluation team to assess the progress of teachers' use of research‐based practices to teach English learners.

Prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders and associated factors affecting emergency medical services professionals in Jordan: a cross-sectional study

ObjectivesEmergency medical services (EMSs) personnel are at high risk for developing work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs). However, no studies have yet investigated the prevalence and effect of these disorders on the...

Training of teachers at the national level: problems and some solutions

An essential aspect in the development and iprovement of education systems is the policies and strategies regarding the continuous training of teaching staff. These policies and strategies differ from one country to another in function, being able to be adapted to the specifics of each educational system and to the needs of teacher training. Allocating adequate resources to implement and develop continuing education programs, providing financial incentives for teachers participating in training programs, developing national professional development standards, providing accessible and flexible continuing education programs, investing in research in the field continuing education are some examples of policies and strategies the can be adopted.

Utilization of continuous professional development among health professionals in East Ethiopia: a multi-health facility-based cross-sectional study

BackgroundHealthcare workers must maintain their knowledge, attitude, and skills regarding the most recent technology and competencies to deliver quality health care. The Ministry of Health, Ethiopia developed guidelines and directives for the utilization of continuous professional development programs. However, there is limited evidence on utilization and barriers to utilization in the study area. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the utilization and barriers to the utilization of continuous professional development among health professionals working in health facilities in eastern Ethiopia.MethodsA health facility-based cross-sectional quantitative study was conducted among 731 healthcare professionals from September 01, 2022, and October 30, 2022. A multistage sampling technique was utilized. A simple random sampling technique selected health facilities and study participants. A self-administered questionnaire developed from national continuous professional development guidelines was disseminated to healthcare professionals working in the selected forty health centers and four hospitals. STATA statistical package version 14 was used for data analysis. A descriptive summary was used to summarize the variables. A logistic regression model was used to assess the association between independent variables and the outcome variable. Adjusted odds ratios along with 95% CIs were estimated to assess the strength of the association, and a p-value < 0.05 was used to declare the level of statistical significance in the analysis.ResultsContinuous professional development utilization was determined for 731 healthcare professionals, of whom 241 (32.97%) [(95% CI: (29.55, 36.38)] had utilized continuous professional development. Lack of continuous professional development knowledge AOR 0.23 [(95% CI: 0.14, 0.37)], being female AOR 0.58 [(95% CI: 0.39, 0.86)], lack of internet access AOR 0.62 [(95% CI: 0.43, 0.89)], greater than 20 km distance from main road AOR 0.58 [(95% CI: 0.37, 0.91)], not heard importance of continuous educational units AOR 0.45 [(95% CI: 0.31, 0.65)], and poor perceived need of continuous professional development AOR 0.61 [(95% CI: 0.38, 0.97)], had a negative statistically significant association with the utilization of continuous professional development.ConclusionThe utilization of continuous professional development in the study area was low. Health sectors and stakeholders working on continuous professional development programs are required to focus on developing strategies for knowledge creation, female health workers, and access to the internet, remote areas, information on the importance of continuous educational units, and the variety of needs of professionals for continuous professional development implementation.

Partners for quality: building professional pathways for diverse adult learners in early childhood education

PurposeThis paper describes the rationale and key aspects of how one school-university partnership leveraged resources to create, implement and refine an innovative professional pathway called the Early Childhood Certificate (ECC) program which reflects the National Professional Development Schools (NAPDS) Essential Guideline 4: Reflection and Innovation. The ECC program is an innovative, career-building model that leverages resources between a predominantly white regional state university, a nonprofit organization serving as a Head Start grantee, a large urban school district and community-based education settings across a Midwestern metropolitan region.Design/methodology/approachThis descriptive narrative documents how the ECC program developed as a professional pathway for early childhood educators to scale up their skills for teaching young children while strengthening their capacities and credentials within the early childhood education (ECE) profession pipeline. The narrative includes relevant literature and examples from the field.FindingsThis paper includes a discussion of the benefits and challenges related to the design, implementation and refinement of the professional learning ECC program.Research limitations/implicationsThis is a descriptive narrative. As such, generalizability is lacking. Research is needed to determine the effectiveness and sustainability of innovative teacher education programs.Practical implicationsRelevant research and lessons learned provide guidance for other school–university partnerships to consider how to meet workforce and career needs for educators in the field of ECE.Social implicationsSchool–university partnerships can be change agents and positively impact early childhood educators' career development.Originality/valueThis paper addresses the need for understanding how predominantly white early childhood teacher education programs can partner with schools and agencies and then together leverage resources to support workforce and career development opportunities.

Midwestern In‐service Teachers' Raciolinguistic Mindset and Pedagogies for Emergent Bilingual Learners: Whose Equity and Excellence Are We Seeking For?

AbstractThis mixed methods study examined how a National Professional Development Grant project's first cohort (2018–2020) in the Midwest impacted mostly White and monolingual inservice teachers who work with emergent bilingual learners (EBLs). Two research questions (RQs) guided this study: RQ1: What were the inservice teachers English language ideologies and their confidence in teaching EBLs after they completed professional development on racially, linguistically, and culturally (RLC) responsive teaching mindsets and pedagogies? and RQ2: How did the inservice teachers respond to prompts about raciolinguistic ideologies and EBLs' use of Standard American English? Quantitative t‐tests and factor analyses on pre‐post teacher surveys were conducted to investigate RQ1. Qualitative open and axial analyses on teachers' reflections to prompts about language ideologies were completed for RQ2. Quantitative results revealed that a majority of the participating teachers reported improved confidence in developing RLC responsive teaching strategies for EBLs. At the same time, their reflections showed that they persisted in their deeply‐rooted raciolinguistic ideologies about English, even though they intended to acknowledge and appreciate EBLs' use of language varieties.

A national professional development program fills mentoring gaps for postdoctoral researchers.

The Postdoc Academy: Succeeding as a Postdoc was designed to build postdocs' skills in career transition, career planning, collaborative research, resilience, and self-reflection. This study examined self-reported changes in five skills as learners progressed through the course. Data were collected from participants who responded to both pre- and post-surveys and engaged with the course learning activities. Results from repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance revealed that all of the self-reported perceptions of skills improved significantly upon completion of the course. Hierarchical regressions revealed that underrepresented minority learners had greater gains in their development of skills in career planning, resilience, and self-reflection. Qualitative analysis of learners' responses to learning activities found that postdocs perceived networking and mentor support as contributing factors to their skill advancement while tensions among multiple obligations and concerns of uncertainties were significant challenges to applying those skills.

National Professional Development Center on Autism Spectrum Disorder Website

National Professional Development Center on Autism Spectrum Disorder Website

The Efficacy of Yoga Interventions for Children with Autism: A Systematic Review

The purpose of this study was to produce a systematic review of the efficacy of yoga interventions on behaviors in children with autism. Literature was searched through MEDLINE, Sports Medicine &amp; Education Index, ERIC, Education Research Complete, and PyschInfo. The search criteria included children ages 3-22 diagnosed with autism, a yoga intervention that included physical postures, and at least one adult teaching. An initial total of 280 articles, including 27 duplicates were found. Nine papers met the inclusion criteria. Social and communication behaviors such as initiation, sensory response, and attention were evaluated. In seven of nine studies, positive behavioral results were reported. The results of this systematic review meet Every Student Succeeds Act’s Tier 1 of evidence and the National Professional Development Center on Autism Spectrum Disorder’s criteria for evidence-based practice, indicating yoga has strong evidence to support its implementation as a behavioral intervention for children with autism.

Exploratory factor analysis of the social skills improvement system (SSIS) for autistic children: Implications for use and educational placement

BackgroundThe Social Skills Improvement System Rating Scales (SSIS-RS) evaluates three domains of social functioning: social skills, problem behaviors, and academic competence. The SSIS-RS is a widely used social skills assessment for autistic children, but the validity of this measure for use with this heterogeneous population has yet to be confirmed. Using data from a previous large-scale investigation by the National Professional Development Center on Autism Spectrum Disorder, this study explored the factor structure of the SSIS-RS, examined how autistic children were rated using the SSIS-RS, and evaluated how scores on the SSIS-RS were related to special education placement. MethodConfirmatory and Exploratory Factor Analysis examined the factor structure of the SSIS-RS for a sample of 492 autistic children, ages four to 12. An independent samples t-test using subscale scores of the SSIS-RS was conducted to evaluate differences between autistic children learning in different educational settings. ResultsResults of the EFA yielded a 4-factor solution and support the internal validity of the SSIS-RS. Subscale scores for social skills, problem behavior, and academic competence differed significantly between students in general and separate settings with academic performance scores differing much less than social skills or behavior. ConclusionThis study examines strengths and weaknesses of the SSIS-RS as a tool for assessing autistic children through discussion of items removed from and retained in the model. Discussion of results includes implications for teacher interpretations of SSIS-RS scores, recommendations for modifications to the measure, and insights about educational placement and inclusive programming.

PICTURE EXCHANGE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM AND ITS EFFECTIVITY TO THE COMMUNICATION OF LEARNERS WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM

Special education involves the preparation of teaching procedures and materials, and other interventions designed to address the needs of a child with learning differences, disabilities, and giftedness. Autism is a neurological complex condition that affects behavior, socialization and communication of the child. As such, PECS is a form of augmentative and alternative communication that uses pictures, images and symbols which was designed to provide aid and support to children with autism in enhancing their communication skills. In particular, this research assessed the extent of effectivity of Pictures Exchange Communication System to the communication skills of learners with Autism Spectrum Disorder at Bright Gem Learning Center, Consolacion Central - SPED Center, and Talamban Elementary School - SPED Center as basis for development plan. The study utilized a mixed type of research method: Quantitative - Qualitative research and Thematic Synthesis approach. This research study has 30 learner respondents, 30 parent/ guardian respondents, and three SPED teachers involved. The questionnaire for learners with ASD was adapted from the National Professional Development Center on Autism Spectrum Disorder, Picture Exchange Communication System: Steps for Implementation. For the parent/ guardian respondents and SpEd teachers, research-made questionnaires are provided to assess the effectivity of PECS in the communication of learners with ASD at home and at school settings. The study found out that the Physically Assisted Exchange was considered to be highly effective. On the contrary, Responding to What They Want, resulted to be moderately effective. Generally, the study concluded that PECS can enhance the communication skills of learners with ASD. It is strongly recommended, especially to non-verbal learners, to use PECS as one of the techniques to improve their receptive and expressive communication skills.

TransECHO: A National Tele-Education Program for Expanding Transgender and Gender Diverse Health Care.

Purpose: Few clinicians have received training to provide comprehensive primary care for transgender and gender diverse (TGD) people. This article describes the program design and evaluation outcomes of TransECHO, a national professional development program for training primary care teams on the provision of affirming integrated medical and behavioral health care for TGD people. TransECHO is based on Project ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes), a tele-education model that aims to reduce health disparities and increase access to specialty care in underserved areas. Methods: Between 2016 and 2020, TransECHO conducted 7 year-long cycles of monthly training sessions facilitated by expert faculty through videoconference technology. Primary care teams of medical and behavioral health providers from federally qualified health centers (HCs) and other community HCs across the United States engaged in didactic, case-based, and peer-to-peer learning. Participants completed monthly postsession satisfaction surveys and pre-post TransECHO surveys. Results: TransECHO trained 464 providers from 129 HCs in 35 U.S. states, Washington DC, and Puerto Rico. On satisfaction surveys, participants provided high scores for all items, including those related to enhanced knowledge, effectiveness of teaching methods, and intentions to apply knowledge and change practice. Compared with pre-ECHO survey responses, post-ECHO responses averaged higher self-efficacy and lower perceived barriers to providing TGD care. Conclusions: As the first Project ECHO on TGD care for U.S. HCs, TransECHO has helped to fill the gap in training on comprehensive primary care for TGD people.

From Attendance to Collaboration: Contextual Differences in Teacher Perceptions of Multilingual Family Engagement

Background/Context: There is a growing need for schools to examine the best ways of working with immigrant and multilingual families, as it is ever more likely that all teachers will work with multilingual newcomers and their children during their career. However, teachers often view multilingual families in deficit ways, and many teachers lack experience in designing culturally responsive school–family partnerships. Although professional development (PD) has been shown to positively impact teachers’ beliefs regarding actively engaging culturally and linguistically diverse families, it is not clear from the literature how such PD is taken up across different district contexts. Purpose/Objective/Research Question or Focus of Study: This article explores teachers' perceptions of multilingual family engagement across four distinct school districts involved in a PD project. We specifically asked: (1) How have teachers’ perceptions of immigrant/multilingual family engagement changed over the first year of a PD program? (2) How do teachers’ perceptions of multilingual family engagement differ across district contexts? Research Design: In this mixed-method study, we examine teacher survey responses, reflections, and researcher field notes from our first cohort of teachers ( n = 25) participating in our National Professional Development (NPD) grant project. We completed descriptive statistics to address our initial research question before exploring how context could be shaping the ways teachers implemented ideas from the PD. Next, teacher reflections and researcher field notes were analyzed following an ethnographic approach. Conclusions/Recommendations: We found that power-sharing approaches to family engagement were conceptualized by teachers along a continuum of relationship-building and power-sharing across districts. While PD can support teachers to develop family engagement beyond common and traditional practices, buy-in by teachers can be limited by district context and opportunities. Researchers providing PD need to recognize that discussions around power-sharing will look different depending on district context. Furthermore, providing this type of PD will require relationship-building with districts/teachers, ongoing support, and different amounts of time specific to the context(s) they are serving.