A qualitative examination of weapon violence against teachers: A theoretical framework and analysis.

Weapon violence in schools is a pressing concern with serious consequences. In this study, we propose and evaluate a theoretical framework of school-based weapon violence comprised of contributors, triggers, and motivation leading to weapon behaviors, taking into account weapon type, origin, and availability. This framework provides a foundation to investigate the multifaceted nature of weapon violence in schools. Specifically, we examine the weapon violence experiences of 417 U.S. teachers based on their reports of their most upsetting experiences with violence in their schools from various aggressors (i.e., students, parents, colleagues). Qualitative open-ended survey data were coded in NVivo after achieving strong interrater reliability (Gwet's agreement coefficient with first-order chance correction, AC1 = .97; κ = .80), and analyses were guided by the proposed theoretical framework. Results indicated that individual, school, peer, family, and community conditions contributed to situational triggers (teacher or other school-stakeholder actions), and aggressor motivation was typically instrumental or expressive. The type and origin of weapons also played a role in weapon behaviors of carrying, threats, and usage. Aggressors often used readily available objects (e.g., chair, pencil) as weapons against teachers in addition to traditional weapons (e.g., knives, guns). Findings suggest that weapon violence in schools requires a broader conceptualization beyond traditional weapons and violence between students. This study advances our understanding of pathways to weapon behaviors for prevention and intervention. Implications of findings for school-stakeholder training and policies are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Violence and aggression against educators and school personnel, retention, stress, and training needs: National survey results.

Aggression and violence against educators and school personnel have raised public health concerns that require attention from researchers, policymakers, and training providers in U.S. schools. School aggression and violence have negative effects on school personnel health and retention and on student achievement and development. In partnership with several national organizations, the American Psychological Association (APA) Task Force on Violence Against Educators and School Personnel administered two national, multi-informant, cross-sectional surveys. Time 1 data were collected in 2020-2021 from 14,966 respondents; participants reflected on their experiences of violence and aggression before COVID-19 and during COVID-19 restrictions in this survey. One year later, in 2022, 11,814 respondents completed the Time 2 survey after COVID-19 restrictions ended. Participants included teachers, school psychologists, social workers, counselors, staff members, and administrators from all 50 states and Puerto Rico. Rates of violence and aggression directed against educators by students, parents, colleagues, and administrators were substantial before COVID-19, were lower during COVID-19 restrictions, and returned to prepandemic levels or higher after COVID-19 restrictions. After COVID-19 restrictions, 22%-80% of respondents reported verbal or threatening aggression, and 2%-56% of respondents reported physical violence at least once during the year, varying by stakeholder role and aggressor. Rates of intentions to quit the profession ranged from 21% to 43% during COVID-19 restrictions (2020-2021) and from 23% to 57% after COVID-19 restrictions (2021-2022), varying by stakeholder role. Participants across roles reported substantial rates of anxiety and stress, especially during and after COVID-19 restrictions, and identified specific training needs. Implications for theory, research, training, and policy are presented. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

School personnel well-being: Advancing measurement, best practices, and policy-Section 1: The role of context and competence in educator well-being.

This special issue of School Psychology is focused on promoting scholarship on school personnel well-being and safety as well as systemic factors that can be leveraged to make schools healthier places for all. This includes understanding social-ecological factors related to educator sense of personal safety and wellness, as well as focusing on school psychologists' role in promoting adaptive school environments. In this introduction to the special issue, we provide a synthesis of nine articles that capture the role of context and competence in educator well-being. Next, we reflect on what we learned from these studies about theories, measures, methods, and models related to educator well-being. We conclude with recommendations for future research directions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

How school policies, strategies, and relational factors contribute to teacher victimization and school safety.

In this study, we examined how school policies and strategies (i.e., positive discipline, hardening strategies, and positive behavioral strategies) affect teacher relational factors and teacher reports of victimization and safety. Specifically, we examined the mediational roles of teacher support of student learning, maltreatment of students by teachers, and teachers' differential treatment of students in schools. Using a sample of 6643 pre-K-12th-grade teachers, path analysis results revealed that positive behavior strategies, hardening strategies, and positive discipline were indirectly associated with teacher victimization and sense of safety. Additionally, teachers' perceptions of other teachers maltreating students had the greatest contributions to their sense of safety and victimization by students. Positive discipline was directly and indirectly associated with teacher victimization and safety. Implications and directions for future studies are discussed.

Teacher-directed violence and anxiety and stress: Predicting intentions to transfer and quit.

Teacher well-being and experiences of violence have become issues of national concern, and teacher shortages have increased since the onset of COVID-19. In this national study, we examined verbal and physical violence against teachers from multiple aggressors and the role of anxiety and stress in predicting intentions to transfer positions or quit the profession. The majority of the sample of 9,370 pre-Kindergarten-12th grade teachers was White (79%) and female (79%). Descriptive analyses revealed that 25% of teachers reported intentions to transfer schools and 43% of teachers reported intentions to quit teaching. Structural equation model results indicated pre-COVID-19 verbal and threatening violence from students, parents, colleagues, and administrators predicted teacher anxiety and stress and intentions to transfer schools (R² ranged from .18 to .23) and quit the profession during COVID-19 (R² ranged from .34 to .36). Anxiety and stress significantly mediated the relation between verbal and threatening violence across all aggressors and teacher intentions to transfer schools and quit the profession. Physical violence from certain aggressors predicted anxiety and stress and intention to transfer schools (R² ranged from .15 to .18) and quit the profession (R² ranged from .32 to .34). Further, teacher and school characteristics, such as identifying as a person of color and teaching at the middle and high school levels, were associated with greater intentions to transfer schools and quit the profession. Implications for school-based research, practice, and policy are discussed to address violence and promote positive work and learning environments for all school stakeholders. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Addressing violence against educators: What do teachers say works?

School personnel safety and well-being have received increased attention via national outlets; however, research is limited. The current investigation is the first to examine the reported use and perceived effectiveness of commonly used school-based intervention approaches for addressing school violence, specifically violence against teachers in U.S. schools. A sample of 4,471 prekindergarten-12th grade teachers was asked to rate the use and perceived effectiveness of common school-based approaches, namely exclusionary discipline (e.g., suspensions), school hardening (e.g., metal detectors, school police), prevention (e.g., school climate improvement, social-emotional learning, classroom management), and crisis intervention practices (e.g., de-escalation, physical restraint) to address verbal/threatening, physical, and property violence against teachers. Findings revealed that teachers rated prevention practices as most effective in reducing violence against teachers. The use of exclusionary discipline and crisis intervention practices at school was positively associated with all three forms of violence. Ratings of the effectiveness of specific practices were associated with lower likelihoods of verbal/threatening (i.e., hardening, prevention), physical (i.e., exclusionary discipline, hardening, prevention), and property (i.e., hardening) violence. Implications for school practice, research, and policy are presented. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Violence directed against teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic: A social-ecological analysis of safety and well-being.

Violence against teachers is a public health crisis that has devastating effects on school personnel well-being, health, and retention, as well as students' educational outcomes. In collaboration with national organizations, the American Psychological Association Task Force on Violence against Educators conducted the first national survey on educator victimization that included 4,136 pre-K through 12th-grade teachers from all 50 U.S. states and Puerto Rico during the pandemic. In the current study, 43.7% of teachers reported experiencing at least one verbal threat, physical assault, and/or property damage, with verbal threats being the most prevalent form of victimization during the pandemic. Using a social-ecological framework and logistic regression analyses, characteristics of teachers, school climate, and school organizational and community factors were examined as predictors of teacher victimization (i.e., verbal threats, physical, property violence) during the pandemic. Findings revealed that teacher role (i.e., special educators), negative and positive dimensions of school climate, as well as school organizational and community factors (i.e., percent of students receiving free and reduced lunch, instructional modality, school level, and urbanicity) significantly predicted greater teacher victimization. While findings revealed that in-person instruction significantly predicted teacher violence across aggressors, teacher victimization was reported across instructional modality (in-person, hybrid, remote). Results offer insights into possible contextual antecedents to teacher victimization, sense of safety, and well-being in schools. Implications for research and school practice are presented. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Teachers and school administrators' experiences with professional development feedback: The classroom strategies assessment system implementation.

To support teachers' evaluation and professional development valid assessments that measure teachers' classroom practices and capture teachers' strengths and areas in need of improvement are needed. The current study examined school administrators' and teachers' experiences of Professional Development (PD), with the use of the Classroom Strategies Assessment System (CSAS), a classroom observational assessment that measures universal classroom instructional and behavioral practices, and their perceptions of the usability of CSAS for supporting PD. The study also examined school administrators' ratings of elementary school teachers' use of evidence-based instructional and behavior management practices, as an illustrative example of how performance feedback was implemented. Three school administrators observed 31 elementary school teachers three times each using the CSAS Greek version. Following each observation, teachers received brief performance feedback based on CSAS scores from their school administrator. School administrators and teachers completed the System Usability Scale to assess the usability of the CSAS administration. Semi-structured interviews with 19 of the participating teachers were conducted to further explore teachers' professional development experiences. Overall, teacher interviews expressed their need for professional development in the areas of instructional and behavior management practices and perceived CSAS feedback helpful for instructional improvement. Findings also suggest some improvements in the frequency and quality of teacher instructional and behavior management practices as measured by the CSAS. Implications for practices and research are discussed.

Instructional coaching actions that predict teacher classroom practices and student achievement.

Although there is emerging evidence supporting the efficacy of instructional coaching models used to support teachers in schools, additional research is necessary to investigate the individual contributions of coaching actions for specific approaches. This study investigated the extent to which three coaching actions-modeling, practice, and feedback-provided during data-driven coaching predicted (a) teachers' intervention implementation fidelity, (b) teachers' use of evidence-based classroom strategies, and (c) class-wide student achievement. In addition, the study explored the potential mediating influence of teachers' intervention implementation fidelity on the relationship between coaching actions and teachers' use of evidence-based strategies. Participants included 16 instructional coaches, one from each of 16 high-poverty charter schools, and 133 coached K-12 classroom teachers assigned to 3649 students. Results from multiple regression analyses indicated that the provision of practice opportunities during coaching was a statistically significant predictor, with greater practice opportunities associated with greater teacher intervention implementation fidelity and greater class-wide student English Language Arts (ELA) and math achievement. Feedback during coaching predicted student ELA but not math achievement. Both practice and feedback opportunities predicted better teacher use of evidence-based classroom strategies. In addition, teachers' intervention implementation fidelity mediated the relationship between teacher practice opportunities and teachers' use of evidence-based classroom strategies. Modeling was not found to be a statistically significant predictor. Study limitations and implications for practice and future research are described.

Advancing the science of coaching in education: An introduction to the special issue.

School-based coaching has emerged as an effective approach for enhancing school personnel's knowledge, implementation skills, and wellbeing, as well as student achievement and behavior. This article introduces the special issue Advancing the Science of Coaching in Education, highlighting four large-scale, rigorous investigations on the effects of coaching and possible contextual variables that influence effective coaching in education. Two studies (Glover et al., 2022; Pianta et al., 2022) assessed how components of coaching (e.g., feedback, practice) may mediate or moderate classroom practices and/or teacher-student interactions that lead to improved student learning. One study (Pas et al., 2022) examined fidelity profiles of motivational interviewing embedded coaching on classroom practices and student behavior in middle school. The final study (Reddy et al., 2022) examined the effects of behavior support coaching on paraprofessional implementation of research-based behavior interventions, wellbeing, and elementary school student social behavior. This article spotlights common elements across studies and offers directions for research and innovation. The special issue closes with a commentary (Erchul, 2022) on the contributions of school consultation research to contemporary coaching research and offers recommendations for bridging research to practice.

A randomized trial examining the effects of paraprofessional behavior support coaching for elementary students with disruptive behavior disorders: Paraprofessional and student outcomes.

There is limited research on job-embedded professional development designed to promote paraprofessionals' use of research-based strategies to support students with disruptive behaviors. This study serves as the first clustered randomized controlled trial to investigate the efficacy of the Behavior Support Coaching for Paraprofessional Model (BSC-P), which is a job-embedded training intervention for elementary schools. BSC-P is a data-driven coaching model designed to enhance paraprofessionals' implementation of behavior interventions for elementary school students with or at risk for disruptive behavior disorders. Within the present study, primary dependent measures included paraprofessionals' behavioral strategy implementation and perceived supports, the paraprofessional-teacher relationship, and work-related stress, as well as observed and rated student behaviors, academic engagement, academic achievement, and social skills. The sample included 259 students, 101 paraprofessionals, and 36 elementary schools randomly assigned to the BSC-P coaching condition or the waitlist control condition. Multilevel models revealed that, relative to those in the waitlist control condition, BSC-P paraprofessionals demonstrated improvements in behavior management practices (antecedent strategies d = 0.91, reward appropriate behavior d = 1.51) and emotional and instrumental support (ds = 0.60 and 0.63, respectively). No between-condition effects were found for perceived teacher-paraprofessional relationships or work-related stress. Relative to students in the waitlist control condition, students supported by BSC-P paraprofessionals exhibited improvements in observed verbal and physical aggression (ds = -0.68) and academic engagement (d = 0.87), as well as teacher-rated school problems (d = -0.43), adaptive skills (d = 0.44), and social skills (d = 0.42). Paraprofessionals reported that BSC-P was an acceptable and useful professional development model.

A randomized controlled trial of instructional coaching in high-poverty urban schools: Examining teacher practices and student outcomes.

Job-embedded professional development is needed to effectively and efficiently enhance teachers' use of evidence-based practices in high-poverty urban communities. This study employed a three-cohort, waitlist controlled, randomized block design to investigate the effectiveness of the Classroom Strategies Coaching Model (CSC) in 14 high-poverty urban elementary schools. The CSC Model is guided by observations of teachers' instructional and behavioral management practices as measured by the Classroom Strategies Assessment System. Primary dependent measures included teacher use of evidence-based practices, student academic engagement, and teacher ratings of class wide student academic and behavior functioning along with perceived instrumental support, emotional support, and stress. The sample included 2195 students and 106 teachers randomly assigned to CSC coaching or waitlist control. Multilevel negative binomial modeling revealed that teachers in the CSC coaching condition had significant improvements in the frequency of academic praise (used 1.74 times more frequently) and behavior praise (used 2.10 times more frequently) as compared to teachers in the waitlist control condition. Multilevel linear models revealed that, relative to the waitlist control condition, teachers in the CSC coaching condition demonstrated significant improvements in quality of instruction (d = 0.52), behavior management (d = 0.60), and class wide student academic engagement (d = 0.41). Teachers reported significant improvements in class wide student academic (d = 0.96) and behavioral functioning (d = 1.24), instrumental support (d = 0.90) and emotional support (d = 1.04). No change was found for teacher stress. Implications for research and practice are reviewed.

Comparison of the Effects of Coaching for General and Special Education Teachers in High-Poverty Urban Elementary Schools.

Research that examines coaching approaches for special education teachers is very limited. This study, a secondary analysis of a wait-list controlled, randomized trial (106 teachers, 2,195 students, 18 schools), investigated the effects of a data-driven coaching that integrated observational assessment and performance feedback on general education (GE) versus special education (SE) teacher practices and student outcomes in high-poverty urban elementary schools. Coaches used observational data via the Classroom Strategies Assessment System to identify practice needs, set goals, create plans, and monitor progress toward goals. Prior to coaching, GE and SE teachers were observed using evidence-based instructional and behavior management practices; however, some practices were at rates lower than recommended by the research literature. Results suggest that goal selection and frequency and quality of practices were generally comparable between GE and SE teachers. However, SE teachers used 30% fewer behavior corrective feedback statements, on average, than GE teachers (p = .04). Overall, the effect of the coaching intervention did not differ across GE and SE teachers; both had significantly improved instructional and behavior management practices and student outcomes when compared with teachers in the control condition. Limitations and future directions for research and practice are discussed.

The magnitude and precision of estimates of change in formative teacher assessment.

Despite growing interest in formative assessment of teacher practices, research on rates of change in teachers' practices is sparse. This is the first study to examine the characteristics of observed change in classroom practices using the Classroom Strategies Assessment System (CSAS) across alternative schedules of data collection during instructional coaching. Our primary objectives included examining (a) the magnitude, variability, and precision of estimates of average rates of change in teacher practices and (b) the impact of data collection duration (i.e., number of weeks of data collection) and density (i.e., the number of classroom observations per week) on the precision of estimates of rates of change over time. A sample of teachers (N = 63) participating in instructional coaching was observed 14 times during coaching using the CSAS. Findings revealed a significant gradual improvement in strategy use, with significant between-teacher variation in rates of change. The frequency of observations was associated with the precision of estimates for average rates of change across teachers and for individual teachers, providing initial guidance on minimum number of observations required to monitor change in practice over time. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Physical aggression toward teachers: Antecedents, behaviors, and consequences.

School violence is a significant public health concern that occurs in many forms. Physical aggression can cause serious bodily injury and long-term negative effects, and both teachers and students experience significant rates of physical aggression. There are few studies examining teachers' experiences of physical aggression. Studies that go beyond prevalence are limited, and we know little about the triggers and consequences that surround these incidents. This qualitative investigation used an antecedent-behavior-consequence (A-B-C) framework to understand how incidents of physical aggression directed toward teachers unfold. The sample included 193 elementary and secondary teachers who completed an anonymous, online survey and described events leading up to and following their experiences with physical aggression. Using conventional content analysis, we identified common antecedents, such as breaking up fights, discipline, and directives, and common consequences, such as student removal, school staff involvement, positive outcomes, and inaction. Further analyses revealed seven common A-B-C patterns among physical aggression incidents that are highlighted and discussed. Utility of the A-B-C framework for teacher-directed violence is described, along with implications for research, practice, and policy. Exploring the context surrounding incidents of physical aggression directed against teachers provides useful information for violence prevention and interventions.

Converging on quality: Examining multiple measures of teaching effectiveness.

The present study explores the convergent and predictive validity for several widely used measures of teaching quality from the Measures of Effective Teaching Project (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, 2009-2011). Specifically, the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS; Pianta, Hamre, & Mintz, 2012), the Framework for Teaching (FFT; Danielson Group, 2013), and the Tripod Student Perceptions Scale (Tripod; Ferguson, 2008) were examined. Correlations among measures were assessed by developmental level and content area (elementary mathematics N = 70; elementary English language arts N = 101; middle school mathematics N = 291, middle school English language arts N = 280). Both average scores and score variability (i.e., coefficient of variation) for the CLASS, FFT, and Tripod were used to predict value-added models (VAM), a high-stakes measure of students' academic growth. For elementary mathematics and ELA, findings indicated the CLASS and FFT exhibited moderate convergent validity while divergent validity was found between the Tripod and the CLASS and FFT. Across content areas in middle school grades, the CLASS, FFT, and Tripod exhibited moderate to high-moderate convergent validity. Average student and observer scores were positively related to VAM scores, whereas variability in scores demonstrated negative relations to VAM scores. Implications of findings for teacher evaluation and professional development are discussed.

Assessment of teaching to predict gains in student achievement in urban schools.

We examined the degree to which assessment of teachers' instructional and behavior management practices, as measured by the Classroom Strategies Assessment System (CSAS; Reddy & Dudek, 2014), relates to gains in student achievement as measured by the Measures of Academic Progress (Northwest Evaluation Association [NWEA], 2011). Two-level hierarchical linear modeling was applied to achievement scores from 2,771 students in 130 kindergarten through 8th-grade classrooms in 13 urban schools serving students in communities with high concentrations of poverty. Results suggest that teachers' use of evidence-based instructional and behavior management strategies, as measured by the CSAS, were associated with reading and mathematics gains. In general, students in classrooms with higher quality use of evidence-based teaching strategies exhibited greater gains, whereas students in classrooms with lower quality use of effective strategies exhibited lesser gains. Implications of these findings for research and educational practice are presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Measuring teacher practices and student academic engagement: A convergent validity study.

We examined the convergent validity of observer ratings of teachers' use of evidence-based instructional and behavior management practices using the Classroom Strategies Assessment System (CSAS; Reddy & Dudek, 2014) with student academic engagement as measured by the Cooperative Learning Observational Code for Kids (CLOCK; Volpe & DiPerna, 2010). This study was conducted with a sample of 107 teachers and 2,000 students in 11 urban elementary schools serving students in a community with high concentrations of poverty. Correlational and multiple linear regression analyses examined whether CSAS instructional and behavior management scores predicted classwide academic engagement. Results provide initial evidence of the relationship between observer ratings of teacher practices and student engagement. Specifically, CSAS scores indicating higher quality instruction and behavior management were associated with higher student engagement. Multiple linear regression revealed that instructional practice scores (as measured by the CSAS) uniquely predicted student academic engagement (i.e., attention and participation during instruction) while behavior management practice scores did not. Implications for future research and practice are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Coaching to improve teacher instruction and behavior management in a high poverty school: A case study.

This case study describes in depth the actions and processes associated with implementing the Classroom Strategies Coaching (CSC) model with a 3rd-grade teacher, Sara. The CSC model uses formative assessment data to support teachers' use of evidenced-based instructional and behavior management practices. The CSC model took place across 8 weeks in a high poverty school. Findings highlight increased use of behavior praise and concept summaries by Sara (single subject effect sizes of 8.49, .56) and reduced need for practice changes in academic performance feedback and behavior praise (as measured by Classroom Strategies Assessment System discrepancy scores [i.e., ∑ recommended frequency-observed frequency]; effect sizes of -1.21, -1.77). Improvements in student academic engagement (effect size of 2.55) and teacher reported instructional support were also found. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).