Vol. 23 No. 3 (2022)

Three years ago, I started my journey to become Dr. Blair Stamper in Arizona State University’s fully online Educational Leadership and Innovation Program. I started this program with limited research experience. I was purely a practitioner, first as a middle school teacher and then as an instructional designer. While the courses in the program helped introduce me to the basics of research methods and research theories, my experiences with Current Issues in Education truly made me become a better researcher. 

In my first year at the University, I started as a reviewer for the journal. With guidance from the journal editors, I tried my absolute best to provide feedback on the articles submitted. Looking back, I realize I had no idea what I was doing. My feedback focused on grammatical errors, flow of ideas, and overall contribution to the field. I rarely focused my attention on the depth of content in the literature review and struggled to explain issues within the methodology. To this day, I often wonder what the editorial team must have been thinking as they read through my reviews of manuscripts.

In Fall 2021, I applied and was chosen for an editor position with the journal. In those first initial meetings, I felt a sense of imposter syndrome. There were so many conversations surrounding topics I didn’t understand that I felt lost and like I did not belong. I knew I had a lot to learn from the amazing editorial team in place. Through patience, observing, and paying attention to those around me, I felt myself gain more confidence in the publishing world. Within six months of being on the editorial board, I began teaching and mentoring newer editorial members to help them grow in the field.

My experiences with Current Issues in Education have allowed me to have a better understanding of the publishing process and helped build my confidence as a practitioner-researcher. I am now able to apply the perspectives of a journal editor, reviewer, and author to my own research and publications. Since joining the team, I have published two articles, with one pending publication, applied to be part of other review boards, and completed my dissertation. I am so thankful for the opportunity that Arizona State University has provided me through working with Current Issues in Education.

I am very proud to present the December 2022 Issue. 

In Teacher Collaboration and Instruction for Social-Emotional Learning: A Correlational Study, Leonard and Woodland conducted a quantitative study to examine the relationship between teacher collaboration and the use of instructional practices that support social-emotional learning (SEL). The authors found a statistically significant relationship between the frequency of teacher engagement in higher-intensity “student-facing” collaborative actions.

In Teacher-Preparation Programs and Trauma-Informed Teaching Practices: Getting Students to CHILL, Bailey presents self-regulation strategies to help teachers and students address their own social and emotional needs. CHILL is an easy-to-implement five-step process designed to reduce tension in moments of crisis and create the conditions whereby students are prepared to reengage with instruction, both with the teacher and with the class. 

Finally, in Is Consistency Possible? Course Design and Delivery to Meet Faculty and Student Needs, McMullan, Williams, Ortiz, and Lollar explore the needs of nursing students and faculty to determine an effective course design that leads to student achievement of course outcomes. The authors found that students find value in consistent course design and technology implementation to aid in content delivery.

Signing off,
Dr. Blair Stamper
Managing Editor, on behalf of the CIE Editorial Team