Researchers and policymakers have shown significant concern over urban communities' sociological and criminological disparities. Yet, research has not focused on the direct correlation between life’s hardships and stressors for minority students raised in urban communities and their resiliency to pursue higher education. This study explores the perspectives of 7 students enrolled at a small, private, 4-year higher education institution in Northern New Jersey. The findings illustrate the importance of collegiate programs that directly impact the lives of urban minority students exposed to trauma-related incidents within their communities that create life stressors and hardships.
More than 50% of fourth graders in the United States are reading below a proficient level, with more than 75% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch scoring lower than the U.S. average reading score. A framework of background knowledge is essential for vocabulary acquisition so the reader can comprehend the meaning of a text. Maintaining and building a reader’s foundation of background knowledge means that erosion of knowledge does not occur due to external factors such as socioeconomic status, limited English proficiency, or academic support at home. It is necessary to design literacy instruction with a primary focus on content knowledge to provide a foundation for reading achievement that can have a reciprocal effect on increasing reading comprehension skills. The narrowing of the elementary curriculum has jeopardized this foundation since the inception of NCLB, the marginalization of science and social studies education in elementary schools, the recommendations on how much time is recommended to teach these subjects effectively, and how knowledge in these content areas can support reading achievement. This quantitative cross-sectional field study aimed to measure the current perceptions of kindergarten through fifth grade teachers on whether integrating science and social studies content knowledge into reading instruction is a factor in student reading achievement. Their perceptions of the quality of professional development, resources, and time allotted to integrate content knowledge into reading instruction were also measured. The data from the surveys were analyzed using descriptive statistics to identify the patterns and trends among the self-identified variables and the sum inventory score calculated for both research questions. Once these data were examined, inferential statistics in the form of one-way ANOVAs were conducted to determine if there were significant differences in the mean inventory scores of the categorical variables within the sample population. There was an overall positive response to the statement that integrating science and social studies content knowledge into reading instruction impacts student reading achievement. There was also a statistically significant difference in responses between teachers who have been teaching 11–15 years versus those who have been teaching 1–5 years and a statistically significant difference between teachers who teach kindergarten and first grade and those who teach multiple grade levels. There was an overall negative response to the quality of professional development, resources, and time allotted to integrate content knowledge into reading achievement and a statistically significant difference between kindergarten and first grade teachers versus teachers who teach multiple grade levels as well as between second and third grade teachers versus teachers who teach multiple grade levels.
This non-experimental study explored the role of paraprofessionals in education, investigating the evolution of changing inclusion practices, student’s increased expectations, and ways of fostering improvement and competence for paraprofessionals to meet increasing education demands. The target population of this study was paraprofessionals who work as teacher’s assistants or aides in northern New Jersey. Specifically, the researcher aimed to acquire participants from three school districts in Northern New Jersey with access to special education programs supported by paraprofessionals. The study adopted three distinct Google survey forms as the primary tool for data collection, namely the paraprofessionals and teachers’ survey forms. One-sample t-tests were used to assess teachers’ assistants’ level of training, competency, performance, skills, knowledge, and frequency of assistants with a bachelor’s degree. The study findings established that the level of perceived training was average while the performance and competency were above average; however, the mean level of knowledge was significantly lower than average. The results indicated an urgent need for continuous training for both teachers and paraprofessionals to deliver the best services in taking care of the needs of the students. The study's findings are significant in that they fill the gap in the contemporary literature regarding the roles and competencies of paraprofessionals in support of learning and training. Apart from providing information that may assist educators and policymakers in making critical decisions during the development and structuring of programs for the paraprofessionals, the study findings foster the development of effective support models seeking to endorse the performance of paraprofessionals within special education settings.