Yujeong Park

Mobile phone dependency and its impacts on adolescents' social and academic behaviors

This study aimed to examine the possible intrapersonal (i.e., attention, depression) and interpersonal (i.e., social relationships with friends, social relationships with teachers) problems related to mobile phone dependency and their impacts on academic achievement in adolescents in South Korea using a national sample of 2159 middle and high school students (1074 male and 1085 female). A structural equation modeling approach with mediation analysis was employed to test the seven hypotheses drawn from conceptual and empirical bases. Results showed that mobile phone dependency negatively predicted attention and positively predicted depression, which in turn, affect social relationships with friends and both Korean language arts and mathematics achievement. Also, the mediating roles of attention, depression, and relationships with friends were found between mobile phone dependency and the academic achievement of middle and high school students in S. Korea. Based on the findings, implications of the current study and future directions for research were discussed. The impacts of mobile phone dependency on social and academic behaviors in adolescents were examined.Mobile phone dependency negatively predicted attention and positively predicted depression.Mobile phone dependency affected social relationships with friends and academic achievement.The mediating roles of relationships with friends were found between mobile phone dependency and the academic achievement.

Individual and Contextual Factors Influencing Special Education Teacher Learning in Literacy Learning Cohorts

In this study, researchers operated from cognitive and situated perspectives to understand how individual qualities and contextual factors influenced elementary special education teachers’ learning in a multifaceted professional development (PD) project, Literacy Learning Cohort, focused on word study and fluency instruction. Grounded theory methodology was used to analyze qualitative interviews, cohort meetings, and classroom observations. Participants included five special educators who taught reading to students with disabilities in Grades 3 to 5. Results highlighted the central role of teachers’ ability to analyze their current instructional practice in developing integrated knowledge of word study and fluency instruction and crafting more integrated instruction. Teachers’ individual qualities, contextual factors, and PD components also worked in concert with teachers’ propensity to analyze instruction and ultimately influenced teacher learning (i.e., degree of integrated knowledge and practice demonstrated). Implications of these findings for designing effective PD efforts are discussed.

Teaching Sight Words to Elementary Students With Intellectual Disability and Autism: A Comparison of Teacher-Directed Versus Computer-Assisted Simultaneous Prompting

The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of teacher-directed simultaneous prompting to computer-assisted simultaneous prompting for teaching sight words to 3 elementary school students with intellectual disability. Activities in the computer-assisted condition were designed with Intellitools Classroom Suite software whereas traditional materials (i.e., flashcards) were used in the teacher-directed condition. Treatment conditions were compared using an adapted alternating treatments design. Acquisition of sight words occurred in both conditions for all 3 participants; however, each participant either clearly responded better in the teacher-directed condition or reported a preference for the teacher-directed condition when performance was similar with computer-assisted instruction being more efficient. Practical implications and directions for future research are discussed.

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.

Novice Teachers’ Experiences in High-Poverty Schools: An Integrative Literature Review

Retaining teachers in high-poverty schools is essential for ensuring students who live in poverty have equitable educational opportunities. Understanding novices’ experiences can help school leaders improve novices’ retention in high-poverty schools throughout their careers. This integrative review of studies investigates novices’ experiences teaching in high-poverty schools. We identified common themes in extant studies, as well as several important areas of research that are, to date, under-studied; most notably, more research is needed to explore differences in novices’ experiences of their working conditions in high- versus low-poverty schools, and the implications of those differences for teacher development and retention.

Situating Special Educators' Instructional Quality and Their Students' Outcomes within the Conditions Shaping Their Work.

abstract This investigation examined relationships among special education teachers’ working conditions (e.g., classroom characteristics, administrative support), personal characteristics (e.g., experience, certification status, self-efficacy), instructional quality, and students with disabilities’ reading achievement and behavioral outcomes. Data from the 2004–2005 administration of the Special Education Elementary Longitudinal Study were used. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the fit of models for five latent factors. Hybrid structural models were applied to test the hypothesis that working conditions would be positively associated with special education teachers’ self-efficacy and their instructional quality, which would, in turn, be positively associated with their students’ reading achievement and behavioral outcomes. Although the initial structural equation model tested failed to support the hypotheses, several significant relationships with theoretical and practical significance were discovered. Directions for future research and practical implications are discussed.

Workload Manageability Among Novice Special and General Educators: Relationships With Emotional Exhaustion and Career Intentions:

Novice special educators (those in their first 3 years) consistently report their workloads are unmanageable. Yet, it is not clear whether their perceptions of workload manageability contribute to outcomes of concern such as emotional exhaustion (a component of burnout) or intentions to continue teaching in their schools and districts. This pilot investigation used structural equation modeling to analyze data collected for the Michigan Indiana Early Career Teacher Study. We found (a) novice elementary and middle school special educators rated their workloads less manageable than novice elementary and middle school general educators; (b) novice special and general educators’ ratings of workload manageability predicted emotional exhaustion, which mediated a relationship between workload manageability and career intentions; and (c) the magnitude of the relationships was stronger for novice general educators. Results have implications for supporting and retaining novice special and general education teachers.

Multiple Dimensions of Instructional Effectiveness in Reading: A Review of Classroom Observation Studies and Implications for Special Education Classrooms

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to review and analyze effective classroom reading practices for early graders, using information gathered from the existing content-general and content-specific observation protocols measuring teachers’ classroom reading practices. Dimensions and constructs from 28 observation studies were synthesized to identify classroom instructional practices that have positive impacts on student achievement. Findings revealed that (a) instructional support, emotional support, and classroom management have positive impacts on student achievement, (b) the degree to which instructional practices are effective depends on students’ particular learning needs, and (c) students’ entering skills and primary language are associated with instructional effectiveness in reading. Challenges and implications for future research on effective instructional strategies for special education and the development of an observational protocol for special education teacher effectiveness are discussed.

Predictors of job satisfaction among individuals with disabilities: An analysis of South Korea's National Survey of employment for the disabled

This study aims to explore the influences of personal, vocational, and job environment related factors that are associated with job satisfaction of individuals with disabilities in South Korea. Data for wage-based working employees from a nationwide survey were obtained, which resulted in a total number of 417 participants. The six hypotheses and mediation effects of personal and work related environmental factors were tested using the structural equation modeling drawn from existing research evidence. Results revealed that (a) life satisfaction and job related environments directly influenced job satisfaction; (b) the relationship between personal experience and job satisfaction was mediated by life satisfaction for both mild/moderate and severe/profound disabilities group; and (c) the mediating role of job environment between vocational preparedness and job satisfaction was only observed for individuals with mild/moderate disabilities. Summary of findings and implications for future research and practices are discussed.

A synthesis of interventions for improving oral reading fluency of elementary students with learning disabilities

ABSTRACT A synthesis of the research literature was conducted from 2004 to 2014 on interventions designed to build oral reading fluency for elementary students with learning disabilities (LD). An extensive search yielded a total of 12 intervention studies. Among the 12 studies, the majority (n = 9) implemented repeated reading with or without a model. Findings from this synthesis indicate that there may be no differential effects between repeated reading with or without a model for improving oral reading fluency of elementary students with LD. In addition, findings suggest that elementary students with LD may benefit from video modeling or word/phrase-based practices that provide opportunities to repeat misread words or phrases with words incorrectly read during the initial reading.