The Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) requested assistance from the Region 8 Comprehensive Center (Region 8 CC) to co-facilitate and design a Stakeholder Review Committee. This request is a component of the Indiana (IN) Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) and Social Emotional Learning Initiative (2020-R8-I-002 IN-02-Year2). The purpose of…

The number of English language learners (ELLs) in the United States has increased dramatically. Given this increase it is vital for teacher education programs at the pre-service level and professional learning programs at eh in-service level to address the needs of ELLs. This article presents a teacher preparation model--"a language-based…

This paper summarizes results from a math intervention implemented in a high-poverty urban community. Over 7,300 students from kindergarten to 4th grade in 1 low-socioeconomic-status school district participated in the study. Students from 13 different schools (36 different classroom) participated in the treatment. Comparisons were made to…

This exploratory study examined the changing role of music education and the availability of musical experiences for students attending Montessori schools in the Midwestern United States. On a survey instrument designed by the researcher, Montessori school directors (N = 36) from eight states shared descriptions of the current role of music at…

Mindset, educator's effectiveness, leadership, and teacher performance are constructs that interact within the school environment to impact student success and achievement. A culture of mindset impacts teacher and principal effectiveness. These constructs have an interdependent relationship with one another. Building leaders' mindset influences…

Stakeholders and advocates in Indiana are committed to advancing strategies that improve ECE services, including workforce preparation and development, to ensure that early educators can meet the complex needs of young children. Critical to these efforts is the establishment of a well-coordinated, comprehensive professional preparation and…

The consistent prevalence of computer science in our society and the urgent need for STEM professionals in the U.S. raised the need for computer science education at the K-8 level. Researchers have examined the challenges, possible approaches, and contents of teaching computer science. However, there has been limited research on teachers'…

Through the use of narrative enquiry, this paper tells the story of how a kindergarten teacher in an all-girls' school incorporates family and community members' involvement to the construction of the congruent Third Space present in the classroom, and the ways the girls respond to this involvement, thereby providing a successful model for other…

The purpose of this study is to identify how teachers of Emergent Bilinguals labeled "English Language Learners" (EL teachers) responded to the sudden shift to emergency remote teaching and learning (ERTL) due to COVID-19 in March 2020. Emergent Bilingual teachers from Indiana, Minnesota, and Wisconsin were surveyed during ERTL and this…

This "Patterns of Practice: Case Studies of Early Childhood Education & Family Engagement in Community Schools" report updates the community school case studies through a description of ongoing developments in Cincinnati, OH; Evansville, IN; Multnomah County, OR; and Tulsa, OK and adds to that knowledge base of early learning and…

A growing number of states are interested in tracking the readiness of children entering kindergarten. In 2010, just seven states (Alaska, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Maryland, Minnesota, and Vermont) collected Kindergarten Entry Assessment (KEA) data for the purposes of aggregating data at the state level. Since this time, most states report…

The purpose of this study was to determine the screening measures used to assess students entering kindergarten in he state of Indiana. In addition, this study sought to determine how the data from these measures are used to inform classroom reading instruction. Eighty-nine schools participated in the study and sixty-two of those schools completed…

Today, the importance of early care and education (ECE) to children's lifelong learning and to our nation's economic well being is recognized up to the highest levels of government, and in businesses, schools, and living rooms across the country. This understanding represents a dramatic shift from earlier decades, and carries with it heightened…

The purpose of this study was to discover and compare perceptions of three different groups of Indiana elementary educators concerning the importance of areas of the principal's literacy knowledge base, as well as responsibility for and use of this knowledge by principals to adequately support effective research-based literacy instruction. The…

This paper describes a qualitative inquiry into the experiences of Burmese refugee families with elementary schools in the U.S. and proposes a new perspective for serving the educational needs of refugee children. Data included in-depth interviews with 25 Burmese families in a midsize Midwestern city. Findings from the preliminary analysis…