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Emotions can either help or hinder students' learning. This is especially true in early childhood education. This article analyzes data on how two early childhood teachers account for students' emotions in their teaching, a process we call "emotional scaffolding." These teachers use emotional scaffolding for three main instructional purposes: 1) to create an emotional climate in their classrooms; 2) to manage students' excitement levels; and 3) to maintain students' interest in classroom learning. This article differentiates emotional scaffolding within instruction in early childhood education from other uses of the label found in the literature. Lastly, the article suggests a framework for researchers to use to analyze emotional scaffolding in early childhood classrooms.

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARSCoV-2) (1), was detected in the United States in January 2020 (2). Researchers documented deaths in the United States [...]

People often think that power only flows downhill in school. The author draws on his own research observations, as well as the philosophy of Michel Foucault, to offer more nuanced insights. He explains that power is not a "thing" people can possess and that it flows in multiple directions, forming a web of influence. These insights suggest that people's perceptions and actions can affect schools in subtle, yet important ways.

Measuring gifted and talented ("GT") students' perceptions of their "GT" label might seem to be a relatively straightforward affair. Most of this research uses survey methods that ask "GT" students to complete Likert scale or open-ended response questionnaires about their perceptions of the label and then presents results in clear and quantifiable terms, such as "X% of students hold positive perceptions of the 'GT' label." However, our qualitative study of "GT" students in two middle school social studies classrooms presents findings that not only trouble, but prompt questions about simple proclamations regarding "GT" students' perceptions of the "GT" label. What we found was that given the opportunity to share their thoughts at length, this group of "GT" students expressed a range of often contradictory perceptions about their "GT" label. Students expressed multiple interpretations and perceptions of the "GT" label, as well as both embraced the label and rejected the label.

Since a major purpose of critical pedagogy is to change society by changing schools, critical pedagogy must gain an increased presence within K-12 schools. For this to happen, however, critical educators must begin to more fully recognize and appreciate the structural obstacles that schools present to critical educational change. This paper examines three of these obstacles: schools' nature as public institutions, the fact that schools change reform efforts, and the relationship between "first-order" and "second-order" change and the types of changes for which criticalists often advocate. The paper ends by encouraging a smaller, more practical critical pedagogy that is focused on tangible and meaningful effect.

Increasing teachers' dispositions towards critical teaching is a fundamental goal for critical pedagogy. Because critical educational change cannot occur without teachers' "buy-in," developing teachers' inclination to implement critical teaching into their classrooms is a prerequisite for any successful critical pedagogy focused on change in K-12 schools. However, critical educators too often approach K-12 teachers' dispositions in ways that are at best unproductive and at worst harmful to critical change efforts. Some critical pedagogy exists that approaches teachers' knowledge and beliefs in "teacher friendly" ways, but most critical pedagogy suffers from the problem of totality and speaks merely to educators who "already" hold critical dispositions. In response to this problem, this paper identifies and examines three areas in which critical education scholars can work to better connect with a crucial, yet essentially unaddressed constituency: teachers in neighborhood schools. These three areas are critical pedagogy's audience, teachers' professional knowledge, and teachers' beliefs about what constitutes "real schools" and "real teachers." The paper ends by suggesting approaches to teachers' dispositions that do not sacrifice the possible to the ideal, that value practical and eclectic change efforts, and that appreciate teachers' already existing knowledge and beliefs as a foundational medium for developing critical education.

This article discusses the importance of improving two-year interpreter training programs for educational interpreters. It highlights the vital role that sign language interpreters play in the education of deaf and hard-of-hearing students, as well as the challenges faced by these students in academic performance. The article argues that two-year programs, typically offered at community colleges, may not effectively prepare interpreters for the unique demands of educational interpreting, which requires a more complex set of skills and contextual knowledge. The article suggests that two-year programs should implement specific practices to enhance the ability of their students to work as interpreters within schools, such as interactive and critical thinking-based curriculum, socialization opportunities with deaf adults, and mentorship programs. [Extracted from the article]

Instead of being a simple concept, "student-centered learning" is actually a complicated and messy idea that has encompassed a wide range of sometimes fundamentally different meanings, each holding important implications for education. Thus, educators need a more nuanced and more productive framework for conceptualizing student-centeredness in education. The framework proposed in this essay divides student-centered learning into three contours: learning contexts that center in students, that center on students, and that center with students. In using prepositional distinctions among these different centering contexts, the framework urges educators to let go of broad "student-centered" generalizations and to adopt more precise language about student-centeredness that more accurately speaks to the nature and implications of a particular educational relationship.

Background/Context: The nature of the impact of state-mandated accountability testing on teachers' classroom practices remains contested. While many researchers argue that teachers change their teaching in response to mandated testing, others contend that the nature and degree of the impact of testing on teaching remains unclear. The research on the relationship between testing and teaching in social studies follows this pattern. For example, some researchers argue that mandated testing fosters a "just the facts, ma'am" approach to teaching social studies. Others, however, contend that factors such as teachers' personal beliefs about social studies and about what learners need to know are equally, if not more, determinative influences on teaching as are testing pressures. Focus of Study: This article presents an extended and fine-grained analysis of the influence of state-mandated accountability testing on one social studies teacher's classroom practice. Research Design: Grounded in the narrative inquiry tradition, this case study spans approximately two and a half years of fieldwork, including approximately 110 days of observations of one eighth-grade U.S. history classroom. Conclusions: The findings from this study shed light on the problems and frustrations that one teacher faces when confronted with a testing apparatus that limits her instructional time with students and an accountability exam that emphasizes a "bare bones" approach to content. While no generalizable conclusions are intended to be drawn from this study, the data presented in this article nonetheless add support to the viewpoint that while state-mandated accountability testing does influence classroom teaching, teachers' beliefs about subject matter and their goals for students play an equal, if not larger, role in shaping their classroom practices.

Critical pedagogy has often been linked in the literature to faith traditions such as liberation theology, usually with the intent of improving or redirecting it. While recognizing and drawing from those previous linkages, Jacob Neumann goes further in this essay and develops the thesis that critical pedagogy can not just benefit from a connection with faith traditions, but is actually, in and of itself, a practice of faith. In this analysis, he juxtaposes critical pedagogy against three conceptualizations of faith: John Caputo's blurring of the modernist division between faith and reason, Paul Tillich's argument that faith is "ultimate concern," and Paulo Freire's theology and early Christian influences. Using this three-pronged approach, Neumann argues that regardless of how it is seen, critical pedagogy manifests as a practice of faith "all the way down."

Background: Much research has been done on the factors that influence teachers' work. Yet, the nature and scope of those factors, and their impact on teachers, remain unclear. Indeed, different literature bases on teachers' work present different and often contradictory conclusions. For example, some researchers claim that mandated accountability testing exerts the greatest impact on teachers' work. Yet, other researchers claim that teachers' knowledge and beliefs have an equally strong impact on their work as does mandated testing. These contradictory findings in the research seem to happen at least in part because most research into teachers' work only looks at one or two influences on that work and ignores how multiple factors work together to influence teachers' work. Purpose: Recognizing this background, this study examines three factors that influence teachers' work: mandated accountability testing, teachers' knowledge and beliefs, and teachers' milieu. The article examines each factor, both individually and collectively, for their combined influence on teachers' work. Setting: This study was conducted at a public middle school in south Texas. Population: Four social studies teachers participated in this study: 2 eighth-grade U.S. history teachers, 1 seventh-grade Texas history teacher, and 1 sixth-grade world cultures teacher. Research Design: The study encompasses 5 years of weekly interactions with social studies teachers at the school. I logged approximately 450 hours of nonparticipant observations, made field notes and audio recordings of regular classroom activities, conducted 13 semistructured interviews and had numerous informal conversations with the teachers, and attended teachers' department meetings. Open coding was used to closely analyze research texts. Findings: The analysis finds that these three factors do not influence teachers' work in isolation. Instead, they combine to form a complex "web of influence" on teachers' work. The article crafts a narrative of these teachers' experiences with these different factors and illustrates how the factors combine to impact their work. Conclusion: This article holds implications for school leaders, policy makers, and teacher educators. In short, it offers evidence about the unintended consequences of not taking a holistic approach to school leadership, educational policy, and teacher education.

Kaposiform hemangioendothelioma (KHE) is a rare vascular tumor in children, which can be accompanied by life‐threatening thrombocytopenia, referred to as Kasabach‐Merritt phenomenon (KMP). The mTOR inhibitor sirolimus is emerging as targeted therapy in KHE. As the sirolimus effect on KHE occurs only after several weeks, we aimed to evaluate whether additional transarterial embolization is of benefit for children with KHE and KMP. Seventeen patients with KHE and KMP acquired from 11 hospitals in Germany were retrospectively divided into two cohorts. Children being treated with adjunct transarterial embolization and systemic sirolimus, and those being treated with sirolimus without additional embolization. Bleeding grade as defined by WHO was determined for all patients. Response of the primary tumor at 6 and 12 months assessed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), time to response of KMP defined as thrombocyte increase >150 × 103/μL, as well as rebound rates of both after cessation of sirolimus were compared. N = 8 patients had undergone additive embolization to systemic sirolimus therapy, sirolimus in this group was started after a mean of 6.5 ± 3 days following embolization. N = 9 patients were identified who had received sirolimus without additional embolization. Adjunct embolization induced a more rapid resolution of KMP within a median of 7 days vs 3 months; however, tumor response as well as rebound rates were similar between both groups. Additive embolization may be of value for a more rapid rescue of consumptive coagulopathy in children with KHE and KMP compared to systemic sirolimus only. What's new? Kaposiform hemangioendothelioma (KHE) is a rare vascular tumor in children. Up to 70% of these patients also develop a life‐threatening, consumptive coagulopathy known as Kasabach‐Merritt Phenomenon (KMP). Sirolimus is proving to be an effective therapy for both KHE and KMP. However, it can take several weeks for sirolimus to have an effect. In this study, the authors found that initial treatment with embolization provides a rapid rescue from the symptoms of KMP. Image‐guided, transarterial embolization may thus provide a valuable adjunct to sirolimus therapy of KHE/HMP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To increase situational awareness and support evidence-based policymaking, we formulated a mathematical model for coronavirus disease transmission within a regional population. This compartmental model accounts for quarantine, self-isolation, social distancing, a nonexponentially distributed incubation period, asymptomatic persons, and mild and severe forms of symptomatic disease. We used Bayesian inference to calibrate region-specific models for consistency with daily reports of confirmed cases in the 15 most populous metropolitan statistical areas in the United States. We also quantified uncertainty in parameter estimates and forecasts. This online learning approach enables early identification of new trends despite considerable variability in case reporting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paulo Freire’s work is often characterized and used in terms that seek to produce widespread political and economic changes across societies. Peter Roberts, however, in his bookPaulo Freire in the twenty-first Century, offers readers a much different way of approaching Freire’s work. Throughout his book, Roberts presents Freire as recognizing the limitations of educational initiatives, as not seeking specific macro-political objectives, and as emphasizing openness to alternative discourses. These themes weave throughout each chapter of the book, in which Roberts examines a wide range of topics, from Freire and Dostoevsky to reason and emotion to political correctness to Freire and theTao Te Ching. In this review essay, I engage a number of purposes. I elucidate and trace these three themes as they weave throughout and support the various topics that Roberts examines in his book. I illustrate how Roberts’s treatment of these themes challenges many of the interpretations of Freire’s work found within the critical literature, and, through this critique, it offers readers new ways of thinking about Freire’s thinking. Lastly, I discuss how Roberts’s thoughts suggest new ways that Freire’s work, and critical education in general, might begin to make more meaningful and practical inroads into public education and might develop new avenues of scholarship on Freire’s work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing teachers' dispositions towards critical teaching is a fundamental goal for critical pedagogy. Because critical educational change cannot occur without teachers' 'buy-in,' developing teachers' inclination to implement critical teaching into their classrooms is a prerequisite for any successful critical pedagogy focused on change in K-12 schools. However, critical educators too often approach K-12 teachers' dispositions in ways that are at best unproductive and at worst harmful to critical change efforts. Some critical pedagogy exists that approaches teachers' knowledge and beliefs in 'teacher friendly' ways, but most critical pedagogy suffers from the problem of totality and speaks merely to educators who already hold critical dispositions. In response to this problem, this paper identifies and examines three areas in which critical education scholars can work to better connect with a crucial, yet essentially unaddressed constituency: teachers in neighborhood schools. These three areas are critical pedagogy's audience, teachers' professional knowledge, and teachers' beliefs about what constitutes 'real schools' and 'real teachers.' The paper ends by suggesting approaches to teachers' dispositions that do not sacrifice the possible to the ideal, that value practical and eclectic change efforts, and that appreciate teachers' already existing knowledge and beliefs as a foundational medium for developing critical education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The label "best practice" holds increasing status in education. Derived from the language of business, "best practice" ostensibly sits at the pinnacle of learning inside the classroom. However, "best practice" is a problematic label. Drawing from empirical data and the relevant literature, this essay examines claims of "best practice" in two areas, social studies and second language acquisition, and argues that decontextualized notions of "best practice" gloss over meaningful contextual dynamics that shape educational settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Instead of serving only a marginal purpose within doctoral programs, residency should occupy a meaningful formative space for students. Reimagining residency enables programs to help students cultivate new attitudes and values that reenvision the world even as it enriches doctoral programs themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]