Teachers are constantly faced with a plethora of challenges, but none has been more prevalent in the 21st century than educating a diverse collection of students. In the midst of the current challenges in teaching P-12 students, pre-service teachers may be under district contract but may not be prepared for teaching students with disabilities, the homeless, second language learners recently immigrated to the United States, or students who face emotional challenges or addiction. Overcoming Current Challenges in the P-12 Teaching Profession is an essential reference book that provides insight, strategies, and solutions to overcome current challenges experienced by P-12 teachers in general and special education. Featuring coverage on a broad range of topics such as global education, professional development, and responsive teaching, this book is ideally designed for educators, administrators, school psychologists, counselors, academicians, researchers, and students seeking current research on culturally responsive teaching.

They were named the "throwaways." Children with learning differences engaged in artmaking as sensemaking to promote issues of social justice in K-12 schools. For the first time, children with learning differences, teachers, staff, and school leaders come together and share how they understand the role artmaking as sensemaking plays in empowering disenfranchised populations.

Rhetoric, Embodiment, and the Ethos of Surveillance: Student Bodies in the American High School investigates the rhetorical tension between controlling student bodies and educating student minds. The book is a rhetorical analysis of the policies and procedures that govern life in contemporary American high schools; it also discusses the rhetorical effects of high-security, high-surveillance school buildings. It uncovers various metaphors that emerge from a close reading of the system, such as students' claims that "school is a prison." Jennifer Young concludes that many of the policies governing contemporary American high schools have come to rhetorically operate as a "discourse of default" that works against the highest aims of education, and she offers a method of effecting a cultural shift for going forward. Specifically, Young calls for an explicit application of intentional rhetoric to match discourse to audience and suggests that the development of empathy as a core value within the high school might be more effective in keeping students safe than the architectural and technological approaches we currently employ.

Educational inequalities between students begin early, as children enter kindergarten with vastly different sets of background knowledge and experiences that do (or in many cases do not) prepare them to learn successfully in school. Many children enter school with skills and prior knowledge so low that they are unable to overcome this lack during the kindergarten year, leaving them unprepared for first grade. Predictably, these deficits only widen as the children progress on to subsequent grades. Conversely, children who enter kindergarten prepared to learn, and leave kindergarten having mastered key competencies in literacy and numeracy, are more likely to succeed throughout their schooling and later in life. The recent pandemic has only exacerbated this problem of learner variability. Differences in school approaches to remote or hybrid learning and variability in family and home environments have all impacted the performance of children, many of whom are now nearly a year behind. The pandemic has forced us all to consider the ways in which traditional models of schooling have fallen short, and how we might better design programs that leverage all the inputs in a young child's life (the home, parents, school, community, technology, and more) to ensure that their learning needs are met. If we hope to solve this problem at scale, we must re-examine what we know about these formative early years and develop new ways to ensure that children enter kindergarten ready to learn and leave kindergarten with all the competencies they need succeed in later schooling and beyond. We must consider of all the factors that contribute to a child's school readiness, as well as the critical learning must take place during the kindergarten year. It requires the examination of factors that most influence children's development during the first five years, and their lasting effects on the rest of children's lives. More importantly, we must examine the ways that we, as stakeholders, can influence outcomes for young children by creating synergies between and among these various factors. With all this in mind, this book proposes to assemble the most current research and thought-leadership on the ways in which innovative education stakeholders are working together to impact what are perhaps the most critical years in a child's education - the years leading up to and including kindergarten. Ensuring that children enter kindergarten ready to learn and leave kindergarten with all the key competencies required for later success must be pursued with intensity, creativity, and purpose if we truly wish to address learner variability and its impact on achievement at scale. This book will Illuminate the problem of learner variability in early childhood education, its short and long-term effects on K-12 education and life beyond school, and the potential of technological innovations to address this problem at scale.

The monitoring of data within educational institutions is essential to ensure the success of its students and faculty. By continually analyzing data, educational leaders can increase quality and productivity in their institutions. Data Leadership for K-12 Schools in a Time of Accountability explores techniques and processes of educational data analysis and its application in developing solutions and systems for instructional concerns and next-generation learning. Providing extensive research covering areas such as data-driven culture, student accountability, and data dissemination, this unique reference is essential for principals, administrators, practitioners, academicians, students, and educational consultants looking to maximize their institution's performance.

Learn how to increase students' skills as writers and storytellers with an innovative, inclusive, and empowering framework for teaching writing that centers student voice. Tell Your Story: Teaching Students to Become World-Changing Thinkers and Writers explores how to help students see themselves as writers and storytellers who are developing the skills and techniques to communicate in ways that resonate with various audiences. When students make that shift and see themselves as active and valued participants in their own communities, cultures, and literary journeys, they become powerful writers eager to explore and share ideas.With the strategies in this book, you can Create an environment of belonging that fosters creativity and confidence. Demonstrate the value of oral and visual storytelling. Teach story structure, both old and new and in a variety of genres. Offer a variety of role models and exemplars through mentor texts. Assess and confer with student writers to help them improve their skills. Value students' voices as future agents of change. When you help students unlock the stories they want to tell, you'll see writing anxieties and resistance fade as students come alive to the multitude of ways in which they can make their voices heard. Storytelling can be a wellness practice, a tool for empowerment, and a method for self-understanding and self-expression. For all students, storytelling is a path to lifelong learning and to realizing the full power of their voice and their potential to change the world.

The book you can trust to guide you through your career in the early years, as the expert authors share tried and tested techniques in a range of early years settings. For this new edition, Jennifer Colwell and Amanda Ince have drawn together an expert author team to bring you guidance from top practitioners that is both cohesive and that continues to evolve to meet the needs of today's early years practitioners. It is designed for trainees whether in universities or early years settings and looks across the full early years spectrum, from birth to 8 years old. Reflective Teaching in Early Education uniquely provides two levels of support: - Practical, evidence- based guidance on key early years issues - including relationships, behaviour, inclusion, curriculum planning and learning, and teaching strategies - Evidence- informed 'principles' and 'concepts' to help you to understand the theories informing practice, offering ways for you to continue to develop your skills and understanding of early years practice in early childhood education and care New to this edition: - Case Studies which illustrate the impact Reflective Teaching can have on your practice and your setting - New Reflective Activities - Updated references and guidance on Key Readings - Updates to reflect recent changes in curriculum and assessment across the UK reflectiveteaching.co.uk provides a treasure trove of additional support. Readings for Reflective Teaching in Early Education, the supporting 'portable library' volume, is signposted throughout this book and provides convenient access to key texts.

With the recent uptick of violence in schools, it is essential to strategize new concepts for promoting nonviolent tendencies in children and creating safe environments. Through nonviolent teaching techniques, it is possible to effectively demonstrate mutual respect, tolerance, and compassion in order to have a lasting peace. Cultivating a Culture of Nonviolence in Early Childhood Development Centers and Schools aims to expand and deepen multicultural nonviolent teaching techniques and concepts to achieve desired outcomes for early childhood development centers, schools, institutions of higher learning, and centers of teacher development and training. While highlighting topics including child development, conflict resolution, and classroom leadership, this book is ideally designed for teachers, directors, principals, teacher organizations, school counselors, psychologists, social workers, government officials, policymakers, researchers, and students.

Mastering Primary Physical Education introduces the primary physical education curriculum and helps trainees and teachers learn how to plan and teach inspiring lessons that make physical education irresistible. Topics covered include: * Current developments in physical education * Physical education as an irresistible activity * Physical education as a practical activity * Skills to develop in physical education * Promoting curiosity * Assessing children in physical education * Practical issues This guide includes examples of children's work, case studies, readings to reflect upon and reflective questions that all help to exemplify what is considered to be best and most innovative practice. The book draws on the experience of four leading professionals in primary physical education, Kristy Howells, Alison Carney, Neil Castle and Rich Little, to provide the essential guide to teaching physical education for all trainee primary teachers.