Christine Grima-Farrell

Mentoring pathways to enhancing the personal and professional development of pre-service teachers

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the critical features and outcomes of an Australian collaborative university- and school-based immersion project for mentoring final year pre-service primary teachers in the area of special education as they embed theory and practice in inclusive classrooms for a full year, to respond to diverse student needs. Design/methodology/approach – Using a three-year qualitative study design, data were gathered through pre surveys and post surveys, two one-to-one semi-structured interviews, and reflexive journal entries. Analysis using triangulation of data sources and inter-rater reliability was employed to reach consensus on the key themes. Findings – Findings suggest that mentors proved critical to reducing pre-service teacher anxieties and to enhancing their personal and professional knowledge, confidence and skills as they differentiated instruction and assessment techniques to cater for students with a diverse range of abilities. Research limitations/implicat...

Curriculum-Based Measurement of Oral Reading fluency (CBM-R): An objective orientated evaluation study

The knowledge and practices associated with improved outcomes for readers have yielded converging evidence about practices associated with improved reading outcomes for primary students. This considerable intervention knowledge can be beneficial for English teachers working with struggling secondary readers. Fluency is one critical element that becomes increasingly important for many older students with reading difficulties as they strive to read large quantities of text written at challenging levels, with sufficient speed, accuracy and understanding to keep up with class content and demands. This objective-orientated evaluation study examined the effects of Curriculum- Based Measurement of Oral Reading ( CBM- R), a prevention-orientated approach designed to identify readers at risk of not achieving adequate outcomes, on 94 second-grade students from a primary school in New South Wales, Australia. Results indicate that teachers found CBM- R to be a reliable and easily implemented prevention-orientated system, which has the capacity to raise awareness of fluency abilities to guide differentiated practice and reduce the risk of failure in English. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transitions from Behind the Fence to the Community: The Australian Experience

The majority of young people involved with the juvenile justice system in Australia are male and aged between 10 and 17 years. Those that are sentenced to a juvenile justice sentence serve an average sentence of 6 months for offences such as burglary, assault, and dangerous driving. Similar to other countries, these youth often have complex needs and experience high rates of recidivism. Evidence-based transition planning processes have been shown to lower these rates. Although not legally mandated, juvenile justice and education systems in most Australian states have programs in place to support these young people in reconnecting with education and/or employment, their families, and the community upon their release. These supports are explored through the lens of the five areas of the Taxonomy of Transition Programming 2.0. The overrepresentation of Indigenous youth in the Australian juvenile justice system is discussed, along with possible reasons for this phenomenon. The typical experience of an incarcerated Aboriginal teen is illustrated through a case study. Recommendations for future practice are presented.

The Exploration Phase

This chapter strives to highlight the RTP knowledge gained through employing the first stage of the methodological pathway desrcibed as the Exploration Phase. This approach evolves further in the following Explanation and Expansion phases to demonstrate case study methodology in action whilst enhancing the new knowledge on ways to reduce the research to practice gap in inclusive education.

The Explanation Phase

This chapter presents a deeper interrogation of the factors that contributed to the success or failure of research-based projects in six different classroom applications. Researcher insights and teacher participant experiences were used to guide the development of interview and survey questions employed in the Explanation phase. The information teacher participants shared about individual projects was compared to the factors identified in the RTP literature to create and modify planned questions that encouraged additional detailed knowledge of how and why individual projects were implemented, sustained or failed.

The Expansion Phase

This chapter identifies the consistencies and differences outlined by experienced teachers post the implementation, sustainment, expansion or extinction of six different evidence based projects in school applications. Through a focus group discussion teacher participants explored the priorities and interactions among Research to Practice factors together. They elaborated upon and confirmed the RTP factors that impacted on the changing status of the research based projects in their schools and the relationships between them that developed as a result of their implementation experiences.

Teacher Education: Engaging Connections Between People, Projects and Preparation

This chapter highlights the unwavering support for the importance of the connections and relationships among consistent RTP factors if research is to be functional and responsive to the needs of students in authentic classrooms. Research to practice factors were aligned and experienced differently in every unique school setting, yet they were all consistently identified and are foundational to formation of 13 recommendations on ways to reduce the RTP gap in education. These recommendations are featured in this chapter through three core areas: people and their capacity, the projects and their content and preparation and its context. All teacher participants consistently linked these core areas as they reflected deeply on how research was implemented, sustained or failed in their classrooms.

Inclusive Practices in Mainstream Schools: An Australian Perspective

The concept of inclusive education within the Australian context is portrayed. The autoethnographic experiences of the authors presented in the form of case studies provide vivid descriptions of how students with special educational needs and disabilities are supported within mainstream Australian classrooms. In particular, interesting inclusive strategies outline the ways in which students with disabilities are included in mainstream classrooms across the three states in Australia – South Australia, New South Wales and Queensland. The total education plan has been taken into consideration while providing deep insights into the inclusive practices undertaken for the case study of students.

Meet the Teachers: Introducing Six Experienced Teachers and Their Selected Research Based Projects

The chapter introduces the six-experienced teacher participants, their schools, background and the context of each individual case. It includes a description of the research base behind the projects implemented as well as the status of each project (successfully implemented, sustained or extinct) within each school setting. The techniques described by the each participant to ensure that their selected projects are founded in valid research and implemented with integrity are also presented. This information is included as it is critical to establish the authenticity and validity of research and its application. Although the successful outcomes of the individual projects were not the focus of the study, these details are included as a term of reference when describing the details of the research based practices. This assists in determining the quality of the individual research to practice efforts from which data for this project was derived and conclusions drawn.

The RTP Literature: Mind the Gap!

Much has been said about the research to practice gap in education. Exploring this body of knowledge is foundational to forging the pathway forward in reducing the RTP gap. A review of the literature about the research to practice gap over the last 40 years reveals that there have been few empirical studies that focus on the factors impacting upon research becoming practice in inclusive education settings. Given the large number of commentary claims and limited number of direct research based exapmles located during a Research to Practice literature (RTP) search, this review exceeded beyond the intended parameters. It was expanded as the search for empirical research to practice based knowledge continued. The review of one body of knowledge led to the review of another body of knowledge and this chapter is organised around the five bodies of knowledge that are reported to contribute to the successful implementation of research in schools. These five areas include: Research to Practice literature (RTP), Professional Development (PD), Teacher Education (TE), Comprehensive School Reform (CSR) and the Concerns Based Adoption Model (CBAM). Collectively this knowledge substantiates the need for research that responds to calls to sustain the use of research in school settings.