Wendy Peia Oakes

As schools navigate widening achievement gaps, learning recovery demands, and increasingly complex teaching contexts, understanding how educators are prepared to enter the profession has become increasingly important. Using end-of-program survey data from 473 completers of a large traditional teacher preparation (TTP) program in the southwestern United States collected across three post-pandemic semesters, the purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between program completers’ perceived preparation adequacy and their self-efficacy during the transition from program completion to the first year of teaching. Findings indicate that perceived preparation adequacy remained positively associated with self-efficacy, with program completers reporting high levels of confidence in key professional domains. Perceptions of preparedness and self-efficacy were consistently high across undergraduate and graduate pathways, suggesting that shared program learning outcomes (PLOs) and clinically rich preparation experiences may provide a coherent foundation for educator development across multiple routes. Descriptive data also indicate that most completers intended to enter the teaching workforce following program completion, a transition not always realized. Collectively, these findings highlight the potential usefulness of contemporary PLOs in traditional preparation that are reinforced with practice-based opportunities. Implications for educator preparation and workforce development are discussed.

This study extends prior inquiry examining educators’ well-being in the context of Comprehensive, Integrated, Three-Tiered (Ci3T) models, one type of integrated tiered system. We investigated educators’ well-being (self-efficacy, burnout) and implementation (treatment integrity, social validity) during the post-pandemic era among educators in schools with ≥3 years of Ci3T implementation. Findings indicated consistently high levels of treatment integrity and social validity (>80%) across 2 years. In terms of well-being, educators in this post-pandemic sample were comparable to a pre-pandemic sample of educators implementing Ci3T. Relative to a pre-pandemic comparison sample, educators reported higher and increasing efficacy for instructional strategies and classroom management, as well as lower depersonalization and higher personal accomplishment. Yet educators also reported elevated levels of emotional exhaustion. Results identified individual- and school-level predictors of implementation and efficacy. As with studies of educator well-being in integrated tiered systems prior to the pandemic, fall treatment integrity consistently predicted educators’ spring self-efficacy across domains. Results also showed educators’ fall efficacy for student engagement predicted higher spring treatment integrity, suggesting a reciprocal relationship between constructs.

This article features two studies examining the impact of a Tier 2 intervention—Recognize. Relax. Record. (RRR)—designed to support elementary students with internalizing behaviors by helping them manage anxious feelings and increase academic engagement. We collaborated with teachers to use screening and attendance data to locate students in a Midwestern U.S. who might benefit from RRR. Results of a multiple-baseline design across participants study with five students provided modest evidence of a functional relation between introduction of RRR Instruction and decreases in variability of students’ engagement during academic instruction. These shifts were mostly small in magnitude and in need of replication and future inquiry before generalizing results. Treatment integrity data suggested high levels of implementation fidelity. Overall, social validity ratings were positive for most participants; however, some variability in ratings across students—as well as differences in adults’ pre- to post-intervention ratings—suggested the intervention was more acceptable for supporting some students than others. Results of an A–B nonexperimental study provided descriptive data suggesting potential benefits of implementing RRR instruction in a small-group format. We discuss the findings of this initial test of RRR, noting limitations and directions for future inquiry.

We report results from this psychometric study examining convergent validity between internalizing subscale (SRSS-I4) scores from the revised version of the teacher-completed Student Risk Screening Scale for Internalizing and Externalizing behavior (SRSS-IE 9) and the internalizing subscale from the Teacher Report Form (TRF). Using the sample of nine middle and high schools across two U.S. Midwestern states with 227 sixth- through twelfth-grade students, we replicated the data analytic plan used to determine initial cutting scores for use in secondary schools. Results from logistic regression and receiver operator characteristic curves suggested the following preliminary SRSS-I4 risk categories for secondary students: 0 to 2 low, 3 moderate, and 4 to 12 high risk for internalizing behavior patterns relative to the TRF internalizing subscale score. We intended to conduct subsequent analysis to address the nested nature of the data. However, 43.70% of teachers rated only one student on the TRF, resulting in there not being enough observations per classroom estimate a meaningful and accurate random slope in many cases. We discuss limitations and directions for future research, encouraging replication before shifting screening practices in middle and high schools.

As faculty in a college of education, we have undertaken a multi-year process to redesign pathways leading to teacher certification. Throughout this process, we have confronted challenges in recruiting and retaining teachers, concluding these issues stem from deeper inequities in the current design of the education workforce. To address this, we have implemented new models of educator preparation designed to foster social justice and ensure educators and students alike can thrive. These models emphasize the roles of educators and how they work together as a team with distributed expertise with embedded growth opportunities, and clear paths for career advancement. These models are designed to create inclusive and supportive environments. Central to this redesign, we created holistic systems of care, mitigated long-standing barriers to entry, specialization, and advancement for educators, and liberated content, resulting in increased access for individuals wanting to become educators. In this article, we share insights from our journey of redesigning educator preparation to meet the needs of preservice teachers equipping them to adapt skillfully to dynamic educational demands. Our work aims to reshape educator preparation through fostering a more inclusive, resilient, and sustainable workforce adept to the needs of ever-shifting educational systems.

Universal behavior screening is used in schools worldwide to detect students with and at risk for behavioral challenges. A plethora of instruments is available for this purpose, though little metascience has been conducted to review and synthesize methods used to study these instruments in educational settings, nor is there a comprehensive list of instruments to support educators in selecting an appropriate tool. We conducted this review to provide a rigorous—and accessible—overview of the research base for universal behavior screening instruments to facilitate educators’ decision-making process when selecting a systematic screening tool for the students they serve and identify areas of further refinement for the research community. This scoping review includes an extensive list of behavior screening instruments, an examination of how these tools have been studied, and areas for future research. We identified 56 behavior screening instruments. The most common psychometric analyses included coefficient alpha for internal consistency, correlations between theoretically related variables, and confirmatory factor analysis. We discuss other methods currently employed as well as methods and complexities for consideration in future research.