California State University, Bakersfield (CSUB) was awarded a five-year grant, "An Equitable Pathway to In-Demand STEM Careers", that began in Fall 2021 to create and expand a streamlined pathway for Hispanic students to pursue their educational and career goals with servingness culture support. In the first year, the grant team has…

Background: This implementation feasibility study was conducted to determine whether an evidence-based parent-implemented distance-learning intervention model for young children at high likelihood of having ASD could be implemented at fidelity by Part C community providers and by parents in low-resource communities. Methods: The study used a…

To identify target areas for professional development, this mixed-methods study examined general education teachers' perceptions of autism and pedagogical practices in early elementary classrooms in the United States. In focus groups, teachers (N = 18) identified terms they associated with autism and strategies they used for inclusion and…

Autistic students often experience peer relationship difficulties. As peer acceptance and rejection may be malleable over time, we examined predictors of change in peer acceptance and peer rejection among early elementary-age autistic students. We followed 166 autistic children (mean age: 6.1 years [range: 4-8], 82.5% boys, grades preK-2nd)…

Early elementary students on the autism spectrum are at risk for poor quality student-teacher relationships (STRs), a key contributor to student outcomes. However, these students' own appraisals of their STRs are nearly absent from the literature. This study examined children's perspectives of STRs and agreement with teacher-reported STRs for a…

Student behavior problems in general-education classrooms present a major barrier to effective teaching. Behavior challenges, such as disruptions, noncompliance, and peer conflicts, reduce instructional time, whereas prosocial behaviors, such as paying attention, being ready to work, asking for help, participating in class, and completing…

This paper reports the results of a randomized controlled trial evaluating "We Have Skills," a brief curriculum designed to teach early elementary students academic and social skills as well as improve teacher efficacy in classroom management. Intervention efficacy was tested with 127 teachers, randomly assigned to condition, and 2,817…

Viewed through a social justice lens, preschool expulsion is an educational equity issue. This study focused on prior expulsion from preschool and child-care in a longitudinal study of 203 autistic children, ages 4 to 7. By parent report, 16%--one out of six autistic children--had been expelled from a preschool or child-care setting prior to…

Community colleges play a key role in driving talent development in the United States, producing workers with the kinds of training that employers need while enhancing economic mobility for students. There has been a push among policymakers at the federal and state levels to hold community colleges accountable for the employment outcomes of their…

This study examined the extent of perspective taking and language features represented in secondary students' text-based analytical writing. We investigated (1) whether perspective taking is related to writing quality, accounting for language features in writing; (2) whether students' English learner status is related to perspectives represented…

Historically, learning for young students has occurred in formal, in-person classroom environments, but the distance learning context has opened a myriad of learning modalities. To this end, we aim to better understand how deploying learning experience design (LXD) approach supports or hinders children's engagement while participating in an…

CalFresh benefits can help college students make ends meet while attending college, but not all eligible students apply. One contributing factor may be that students are not aware they are eligible. Therefore, outreach efforts informing them of their eligibility could help increase take-up rates. To test this, we designed and conducted two…

CalFresh benefits can help college students make ends meet while attending college, but not all eligible students apply. One contributing factor may be that students are not aware they are eligible. Therefore, outreach efforts informing them of their eligibility could help increase take-up rates. To test this, we designed and conducted two…

Background: Student academic behavioral engagement (BE) contributes to learning and school success. Student-teacher relationships (STRs) may promote BE, although previous findings regarding how these constructs are associated over time are mixed. For young autistic students who face barriers to early school success, a high-quality STR may serve as…

Parent-teacher relationship (PTR) quality is linked to child and family-school functioning and may be especially important in the school adjustment of autistic children. However, measurement of PTR quality has been limited by inconsistency in the use of measures, a paucity of two-informant measurement, and limited psychometric consideration. We…