Vol. 23 No. 1 (2022)

Dear readers,

Welcome to our Issue 1, Volume 23!

I am delighted to announce that this issue results from the tremendous efforts of our renovated Editorial Board. At the beginning of 2022, we expanded the team, which now includes nine brilliant students from our three doctoral programs at Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College. We are also very proud to have more student reviewers on board! We aim to support young researchers by providing resources to conduct ethical reviews while at the same time respecting the diversity of their backgrounds, life experiences, and expertise.

This editorial is also an opportunity to thank the guest speakers that provided their insights about the editorial journey in our internal seminar on scholarly publishing practices. My greatest gratitude is to our five guest speakers, Lawrence Lenhart, John Nelson, and Dr. James Blasingame from ASU, and our external speakers, Yixuan Wang and Jennifer Ervin, student editors of the Journal of Language & Literacy Education (JoLLE).

Our editorial team has been expanding connections with educators, scholars, students, and publishers from different communities here in Arizona, across the country, and beyond. In February, we presented our journal at the Unconference 2022, an event to advance Open Science in education research. We were present at the Arizona Regional OER Conference in March, an event organized by the Maricopa Community Colleges District.  April was an exciting month to connect and reconnect with colleagues in two events that bring together communities of educational researchers from around the world. First, part of our team strengthened connections at the CIES 2022 Conference, in Minneapolis, MN. Second, we spread the word at the 2022 AERA Annual Meeting in San Diego, CA.

As an international student, it is a fascinating experience to lead the publication of the four papers included in this issue. We continuously receive a myriad of submissions that address interesting and timely questions, provide innovative approaches, and expand vibrant ideas that seek to mobilize education research.

One of our goals is to continue disseminating rigorous research that addresses educational inequalities and responds to social justice issues disproportionally affecting underserved populations in the United States and worldwide. The first paper in this issue analyzes the media coverage of culturally relevant school curricula and educational practices that respond to racial justice, particularly on Black lives. The author, Abe Feuerstein, aimed to identify the dominant narrative frames in 72 articles published in four U.S.-based newspapers. He found two competing narratives. One clearly addresses inequality and systemic injustice. The other narrative claims national identity and patriotism, which potentially limit schools that seek to discuss racial justice. This study invites us to think about the bridges between education and communication studies, strengthening our commitment to publishing boundary research to inform education policy and teaching practices.

The original study of Kristan Russell, Melissa Burnham, Sarah Trescher, and Victoria Knoche reflects on the issue of sexual relationships between teachers and students. Their thorough content analysis of Nevada school district policies reveals that despite all the districts in the state having explicit policies to address sexual harassment, the vagueness in the description of potential boundary-crossing situations makes it difficult to prevent other inappropriate relations e.g., in social media. This paper points out that, in order to prevent sexual offenses in schools, regulations should clearly state the consequences of sexual misconduct, including unethical interactions in social media and other electronic communications.

With this issue, we want to keep the door open to manuscripts that reflect on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on education. Many of us experienced mental well-being issues during this time; stress and anxiety were the most common conditions that led us to unprecedented burnout. Among schoolteachers, the need to transform their classroom into a virtual (and safe) learning environment in a limited time exacerbated the challenges. In their study, Harriet Fox and Heather Walter investigate the individual and environmental factors that K-12 teachers in the U.S. perceived as critical elements for their resilience processes. The authors found that strong connections with peers and support from district and school administrators were crucial for teachers to cope with uncertain times. Although some experienced isolation and felt under-supported, the sense of community and school connectedness were decisive for overcoming the disruptions in teachers' professional and personal lives.

One of the questions that the pandemic put on the table is how do students manage their learning processes? In their systematic review of the literature on self-regulated learning (SRL), Erin Cousins, Linda Bol and Tian Luo explore the long-term effects of the SRL processes in K-12 students. The authors analyzed 17 peer-reviewed empirical studies that included delayed post-test follow-up measures to identify the trends in the intervention structure, complexity, and style of the interventions. Their findings have important implications for curriculum designers and instructors as the durability of achievement outcomes may be enhanced by implementing domain-specific instruction.

The editorial team would like to thank our readers who make it possible for us to contribute to strengthening educational research. Or, as our founder-editor, Dr. David Berliner, states, ‘the hardest science of all.’ We are thrilled to share that CIE’s website has been viewed 1,339,917 times so far!

As in past years, the submissions portal will be closed during the summer months, and reopen in August.

Sincerely,

Ivonne Lujano Vilchis

Editor-in-Chief, on behalf of the CIE Editorial Team