Kristin M. Murphy

Evidence-Based Professional Development Considerations Along the School to Prison Pipeline

This article addresses professional development (PD) issues for those who provide services to students in the school-to-prison pipeline (STPP). Emphasis is on implementing evidence-based practices. The authors use a modified version of Desimone’s PD framework for the structure of this article involving (a) collective participation and common content foci, (b) coherence and continuums, and (c) duration and data-driven durability. Their hope is that this information will advance STPP PD practice and research. They offer considerations for future PD needs to those working to dismantle the STPP.

Current Juvenile Corrections Professional Development Practices and Future Directions

Personnel in juvenile corrections (JC) work with students who have challenging academic, behavioral, and mental health needs. The complexity of the JC setting requires personnel to be highly skilled in effective practices to meet the demands of their job. Unfortunately, juvenile correctional personnel are neglected as an important link in the school-to-prison pipeline that can be used to redirect students away from further or repeated involvement in the court system. In this article, our purpose is to provide readers with information on the professional development (PD) needs of JC personnel. Student, teacher, and facility contextual considerations in JC are described. Then, specific JC PD knowledge, skills, and dispositions associated with student academic, behavior, and mental health needs are detailed. Finally, resources and future directions are offered.

Responsibilities and Instructional Time: Relationships Identified by Teachers in Self-Contained Classes for Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disabilities.

Teachers of students with emotional and behavioral disabilities face complex challenges supporting students’ academic and behavioral needs. These teachers require support from administrators, but administrators are seldom prepared to provide support. Furthermore, research seldom operationalizes support in ways that provide actionable advice to administrators. Prior research indicates that teachers frequently feel overburdened with excessive responsibilities, and they often provide insufficient instructional opportunities for students with emotional and behavioral disabilities. However, prior research has not determined whether a relationship exists between teachers’ responsibilities and their instruction. Therefore, this study examines the relationship between teachers’ instructional time and the extra responsibilities they have. Results suggest that teachers’ noninstructional responsibilities are associated with less instructional time. Despite limitations to data collection methods, these findings have significant implications for administrative support.

Preparing Teachers to Effectively Deliver Reading Instruction and Behavioral Supports in Response to Intervention Frameworks

Successful implementation of Response to Intervention frameworks in schools requires general and special education teachers to have well-integrated knowledge bases for providing instruction and intervention in reading and behavior. Implementation-focused approaches to changing teacher behavior, favored traditionally in special education, however, are unlikely to help teachers acquire such knowledge. In this chapter, we discuss the knowledge and practice that defines expert teachers in reading and behavior and how such expertise might be achieved through practice-focused approaches to initial teacher education and professional development.