Review of Educational Research

Over the past decades, theories of cross-language transfer have widely focused on the proficiency required to transfer a single linguistic modality in one language to that same linguistic modality in another language (e.g., first-language reading to second/foreign-language reading). To move beyond cross-language transfer in a single modality, a new theory, the transfer integration hypothesis proposes that reading and writing are related across learners’ first and second languages. To test the transfer integration hypothesis, this systematic qualitative review synthesizes the findings of peer-reviewed studies on the reading-writing connections across languages. Evidence of cross-language reading-writing connections to support the transfer integration hypothesis was found with much variability resulting from literacy and linguistic factors. These factors include multilinguals’ language experience and grade level, reading and writing measures, language exposure, motivation, language proficiency, and language structure similarities and distance.

A growing literature examines how online learning can incorporate culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) to provide high-quality, equitable education to all students with a particular focus on validating and integrating the unique needs and experiences of students from minoritized backgrounds and identities. This systematic review qualitatively analyzes how 42 studies suggest the CRP tenets of academic excellence, cultural competence, and critical consciousness can be incorporated into asynchronous, synchronous, or blended learning overall, by grade level, and online learning modality as well as differences between studies conducted before and during COVID-19. This analysis highlights specific strategies for integrating CRP tenets into online learning with innovative examples from research on how to do so. This synthesis emphasizes the need for further research on how online learning can integrate critical consciousness, particularly involving students in social justice work and power sharing with students.

Oral language underpins written composition, establishing a relation between the two constructs; however, a comprehensive understanding of the factors moderating this relation remains to be fully explored. This meta-analysis investigates the relation between oral language and written composition, with a particular focus on identifying the factors that influence its relation. Moderators of grade level, language learner status, developmental language disorder status, orthographic depth, linguistic grain sizes (e.g., vocabulary, discourse skills), and measurement features for both constructs were considered. Measurement features for oral language encompassed format (oral vs. written), outcome (quality vs. productivity), modality (expressive, productive, or mixed), and the distinction between normed and research-developed tasks. For written composition, genre (informational vs. narrative), dimensions (e.g., quality, productivity), and the distinction of normed tasks were considered. A total of 104 studies involving 214,734 participants met inclusion criteria and revealed a moderate but significant correlation between oral language and written composition (r = .34). Results indicated that the relation between oral language and written composition strengthened as students progressed through grade levels and was more pronounced among foreign language learners compared to native speakers. Furthermore, the relation between oral language and written composition was particularly strong when the latter was assessed through the dimensions of quality, vocabulary, and fluency. This meta-analysis provides a comprehensive quantitative synthesis, underscoring the importance of considering individual factors and measurement features. The findings have practical implications for literacy instruction and future research aimed at closing gaps in our understanding of oral language and written composition.

The National Advisor/Academic Athletic Journal was published by the National Association of Academic and Student-Athlete Development Professionals (N4A) from the early 1980s to 2006. Scholarship in the student-athlete services field was “lost” because it was only available in print to members. Much of this literature has been unread and uncited. Thirty-one issues published from 1985 to 2006 were collected and digitized to preserve and share in an open-access repository. A content analysis was conducted on 168 items over 22 years to understand the topics and trends in this missing literature, the foundation for the field of student-athlete services. The journal published 99 empirical articles and 69 gray literature items in this time frame. Sharing these articles allows 241 unique authors to receive credit for their work in future research. Findings show many current issues affecting college athletes and student-athlete services professionals were prevalent in the journal’s issues. Implications for policy and suggestions for future research were presented.

Alarming rates of community violence and the detrimental impact on youth and communities stress the need for a well-founded response. This paper presents an integrative review of theory and research on the broad range of educational interventions to counter community violence. Based on critical analysis of distinctions in perspectives, objectives, and strategies, we established a multidisciplinary taxonomy of distinguishable approaches. The results show most interventions focus on either individual behavior or group interaction, while strategies for transformation of social systems are underrepresented. Based on related imbalances in theoretical orientations, the paper suggests a conceptual reorientation of community violence that includes structural mechanisms and enables a targeted approach of the many levels through which youth and communities are affected. By presenting a coherent overview of current educational responses, this paper assists policymakers and practitioners in integrating multiple strategies in a context-based and community-involved approach to reverse violence and promote peace.

Based on an analysis of 60 empirical articles, this review examines the experiences of student teachers and teacher educators engaged in social justice–oriented teacher education practices. We explore how student teachers respond to these practices, highlighting the development of their understanding alongside their embodied and emotional experiences. Findings illustrate that new understandings of structural inequity can evoke strong emotional responses and clash with existing beliefs. From these responses, several challenges and tensions arise for teacher educators: (1) navigating tensions between reproducing and transforming inequity in interactions; (2) decentering whiteness in predominantly white contexts; (3) addressing the vulnerability inherent in social justice education; and (4) challenges in putting social justice education into practice. These tensions underscore the complexity of social justice teacher education and highlight the delicate balance and judgment required of teacher educators in navigating discussions of inequity in the classroom.

Responding to calls to more deeply engage history in research concerning educational inequalities, the purpose of this study was to understand if and how research on racialized exclusionary school discipline makes use of the past. Drawing on a “uses of history” framework, we analyzed research studies on racialized exclusionary school discipline published between 2000 and 2022. Findings indicated that approximately 60% of articles used history and did so primarily reflective of an “informing” function utilizing select historical periods and events to frame studies of contemporary racialized school discipline. Commonly referenced periods included the 1990s specific to zero tolerance policies, mass incarceration, and the criminalization of Black youth. Articles tended to overlook relevant aspects of earlier 19^th and 20^th century histories. In addition to using history to inform, we also found that articles used history to build “explanatory bridges” that often made tacit, causal arguments connecting historical racial discrimination to that of the present. In contrast, 40% of articles were ahistorical, treating today’s trends as a contemporary issue. Overall, findings indicated that research increasingly recognizes the history of racialized exclusionary school discipline, though the typical timelines omit certain historical periods of relevance, and the uses of history themselves are often limited, with opportunities for more complex analytic use. The “uses of history” within these studies as well as examples of erroneous use, raise further questions as to how non-historians can and ought to engage the history of education in education research. We conclude by discussing contributions to research and suggestions for future applications.

What are the potential benefits and drawbacks of quantifying learners’ collaborative behaviors with high-frequency data? To provide preliminary answers to this question, I conduct a literature review on joint visual attention (JVA) in collaborative learning settings, analyzed through the lens of sensing technologies. JVA is a fundamental mechanism for establishing a common ground between individuals; without it, it would be extremely challenging for humans to synchronize their actions, understand each other’s perspectives, strive toward shared objectives, collaboratively resolve challenges, and learn together. I collected 69 papers that have studied joint attention with sensing technology (e.g., eye-trackers) and synthesized the state of the field. The main contribution of this paper is to review six measures of joint attention extracted from high-frequency gaze data, their connection to seven educational constructs, six benefits of using sensors, and seven research gaps to inform future work. I conclude with implications for using high-frequency data in educational settings.

Two-Eyed Seeing (TES) is a pedagogical approach with the potential to interweave Indigenous ways of knowing and Western sciences into P-20 education to increase Indigenous students’ engagement with the content. Presented here is a systematic mapping literature review on the TES pedagogical approach in P-20 educational settings to examine the trends in peer-reviewed literature on the subject. Specifically, the systematic mapping literature review sought to: 1) better characterize the peer-review literature in terms of publication outlets, geographic locations, content, and educational contexts; 2) determine what peer-reviewed literature reveals about the effectiveness of using a TES approach in a P-20 educational setting; and 3) determine what peer-reviewed literature suggests as guidelines and challenges for P-20 educators to using a TES approach. The completed search revealed 13 articles, and those articles were analyzed via content analysis and analyzed for patterns. The result is a detailed listing of guidelines to aid educators in incorporating TES into the P-20 classroom.

Restorative justice (RJ), a growing philosophical movement that has been adapted to American schools in recent decades, takes a radically egalitarian view of humans and their relationships, yet it has become entwined in reproductionist discourses and practices, specifically those around school discipline, carceral logics, and social control. Often attributed to diverse Indigenous communities, RJ is a philosophical approach to community-building that casts wrongdoing as relational harm rather than institutional rule violation. It is implemented in schools through a spectrum of restorative practices. While over 60% of schools use some form of restorative practices, often these practices are integrated along with racialized social control and carceral discipline. This methodologically diverse systematic review looks beyond evidence of effectiveness to examine how scholarly studies put restorative justice in conversation with the racialized carceral practices and logics of U.S. schooling. Additionally, this study reviews the operationalization of RJ within these studies (n = 61) to work toward a shared definition of anti-carceral school-based restorative justice. We found that most studies treated restorative justice as an antidote to excessive racialized social control while a small subset discussed its complicity, problematizing the idea or implementation of it. To maximize the anti-carceral potential of school-based RJ, our review suggests that whole-school change is the best approach, with a particular emphasis on the role of school leadership, proper training of school personnel, and student voice.

Teacher burnout and wellbeing are crucial to address as chronic teacher shortages persist, especially for special education teachers (SETs). Extending Brunsting et al.’s prior review on special educator burnout published in 2014, we synthesize 29 studies from 2013 to 2023 assessing factors associated with SETs’ work wellbeing or burnout. Most studies were quantitative, used cross-sectional analyses of convenience samples of SETs, and explored a range of factors, including working conditions (i.e., structure of work responsibilities and supports to meet those responsibilities) or affective responses to stress. Some recent studies provided initial responses to prior calls for longitudinal analyses, mixed methods studies, and intervention development. Our synthesis identifies strengths of the literature base and areas for future research, as well as implications for teacher educators, practitioners, and policy makers.