In primary and middle schools in China, banzhuren is the teacher responsible for managing and overseeing a specific class of students. The lower job satisfaction of banzhurens has been a longstanding issue. This study employs a quantitative method to investigate the impact of banzhurens' self-efficacy and burnout on their job satisfaction. A total of 624 primary school banzhurens from G City (in Henan province, China) participated in an online survey assessing their perceived job satisfaction, self-efficacy, and burnout. The data were analysed using structural equation modelling analysis. The results revealed that (a) banzhurens' burnout negatively influenced their self-efficacy and job satisfaction; (b) banzhurens' job satisfaction was positively influenced by self-efficacy; (c) banzhurens' self-efficacy could mediate the adverse effects of burnout on job satisfaction. Therefore, we suggest that banzhurens' job satisfaction can be enhanced by increasing their self-efficacy, particularly in terms of communication with leaders, and by reducing their burnout.

This study examines the transition challenges faced by students with learning disabilities (LD) from primary to secondary school, focusing on emotional, behavioral, and social aspects. Using a sample of 168 special education teachers, the study employs the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ-Hel) to assess emotional symptoms, conduct problems, hyperactivity/inattention, peer relationship difficulties, and prosocial behavior before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Statistical analyses, including t-tests and repeated measures ANOVA, reveal significant increases in emotional and behavioral challenges post-pandemic. Effect sizes (Cohen’s d) indicate moderate to strong impacts in key areas, with emotional symptoms (η² = .06) and hyperactivity/inattention (η² = .05) exhibiting notable changes. The findings highlight the necessity for targeted interventions, such as teacher training on emotional regulation strategies and structured transition programs. Implications for educators and policymakers include the implementation of inclusive practices and specialized transition support structures to mitigate these challenges and enhance the overall well-being of students with LD.

There are studies in the learning management literature examining the measure of system usage, but few explore how users apply the software tools to achieve specific work tasks, which in turn leads to perceived benefits. In the context of distance education, this study focuses on how Learning Management Systems (LMS) are fully used by faculty for their instructional needs. It extends existing research on LMS adoption by investigating how faculty members or instructors use the LMS tools for effective class teaching to achieve educational outcomes. Four usage patterns were identified: communication, content management, assessment, and class management. A model is presented to examine how these usage patterns interplay to achieve the perceived benefits. Data were collected from 544 instructors using LMS, such as Blackboard Learn, etc. Structural equation modeling using LISREL was employed to assess the research model. The results suggest that the usage for communication, content, and assessment activities positively impacts the usage for class management. In turn, the usage for class management influences the net benefits perceived by the instructors, and the usage for content also impacts perceived net benefits directly. These results provide practical guidelines for LMS developers’ design improvements and institutions’ policies, such as training instructors to fully utilize LMS features to achieve the maximum benefits of distance education.

Students are among the most vulnerable populations during periods of crisis, including war, economic collapse, and pandemics. These events extend beyond academic disruption, significantly affecting students' emotional and social well-being. Mental health challenges such as anxiety, depression, and behavioural changes are commonly reported, particularly among youth living in conflict-affected areas or economically disadvantaged households. This review examines the consequences of crises on school-aged students across both local and global contexts. A structured search strategy was employed to retrieve peer-reviewed articles published between 2005 and 2024 from databases including PubMed, ERIC, Scopus, and Google Scholar. The selected studies were thematically categorized into three primary domains: pandemics, economic hardship, and war-related trauma. The review emphasizes the identification of common psychological outcomes, contributing factors, and resilience strategies implemented at the school and community levels. The findings highlight the urgent need for early interventions, trauma-informed pedagogical approaches, mental health support programs, coping strategies, and emotional regulation skills. By examining the interplay between crisis-induced stress and student support mechanisms, this review seeks to inform educators, policymakers, and practitioners in their efforts to foster resilience and promote academic recovery.

Student dropouts led to a squandering of the education budget. The education system and society are significantly affected, particularly in terms of potential development. To ensure vocational students graduate and secure satisfactory employment in line with the field of study. Implementing a comprehensive system that encompasses promoting, supporting, preventing, and resolving various student issues is essential. This system includes close, meticulous care and support, timely and appropriate interventions, enhancement of life skills, guidance, and holistic student development. This research found that the risk factors in the teaching and learning process account for 90.78 percent of the reasons scholarship students drop out of the education system; there are instances of absenteeism, inappropriate behavior, and a dislike for the teacher and the subject they are teaching. Additionally, the care and support system for vocational students at risk of dropping out consists of four components: Component 1: living care; Component 2: dropout protection; Component 3: counseling and advising; and Component 4: transfer to support. The empirical evaluation of the care and support system for students concluded that the overall assessment was highly suitable. The information should be utilized for planning and policymaking in educational institutions.

This paper explores the potential of Eye Movement Miscue Analysis (EMMA) as a method to evaluate the complexity of picturebooks as reading material for primary school children. While EMMA has been applied to examine reading processes and strategies, this paper reports on the first study using EMMA to examine classroom picturebook complexity and its implications for developing readers. This research found EMMA method revealed specific nuances for understanding children’s reading practices in response to the complexity of the text at hand. Drawing together an internationally established reading teaching resource, the text complexity guide (Pinnell & Fountas, 2007) with miscue analysis reading assessment and eye movement technology, this research sought to gain insights into potential areas of complexity or challenge in picturebooks commonly available in Australian school libraries and classrooms. The method shared here examines text complexity ratings, children’s reading performance, and eye movements, as they read in natural classroom settings. Analysis of children’s reading miscues revealed that readers encountered challenges not anticipated through the use of the text complexity guide. Argued in this paper is that EMMA methodologies could extend understandings about text complexity beyond established frameworks and hence guide future assessments.

The personalization of learning and teaching processes represents an advanced approach to education that adapts content, pace, and teaching methods to the individual needs and preferences of students. This approach relies on analyzing diverse student characteristics, such as their knowledge level, progress, learning style, and interests. Achieving these goals is significantly supported by the use of information and communication technology, which facilitates and enhances the implementation of personalization in technology-enhanced learning (TEL). The primary objective of personalization is to increase student engagement, motivation, and support in achieving learning outcomes through individualized learning paths, real-time progress tracking, and feedback. This systematic literature review examines existing personalization approaches in secondary and higher education, supported by technology. The study investigates their effectiveness and provides recommendations for future research. Results reveal that personalized teaching methods—primarily through recommender systems, adaptive learning platforms, and algorithm-driven models—are effective in tailoring educational experiences by leveraging diverse student data, such as demographics, prior achievements, learning styles, and digital engagement. The review shows a predominant focus on higher education, particularly in subjects related to computer science and digital technologies. Quantitative evaluations complemented by qualitative insights, consistently indicate that personalization enhances content mastery, motivation, and overall satisfaction, with no significant negative effects identified.

Teachers’ self-efficacy in classroom management is essential to their professional identity and teaching quality. While contextual factors shape these beliefs, the role of pre-service teachers’ perceptions of teacher education courses in influencing self-efficacy through their classroom management beliefs remains underexplored. This study expands self-efficacy theory by proposing an integrated model in which beliefs serve as both a mediator and a moderator between course perceptions and classroom management self-efficacy, particularly in inclusive classrooms. It builds on previous evidence that pre-service teachers’ beliefs about proactive strategies partially mediate the relationship between their course perceptions and capability beliefs in proactive management practices. This leads to the proposal of a moderated mediation model to explore a more nuanced relationship by investigating whether pre-service teachers’ punishment-oriented classroom management beliefs alter the strength and direction of this partial mediation effect. Data collected online from 480 pre-service teachers enrolled in State University and National Colleges of Education in Sri Lanka, which were used in the previous study, were analyzed using SmartPLS4 structural equation modeling. The findings indicate that punishment-based beliefs negatively moderated the indirect partial effect of pre-service teachers’ perceptions of classroom management training on their self-efficacy for inclusive classroom management, mediated by preventative beliefs. This positive indirect effect was significant only when reactive punishment-based beliefs were at low to moderate levels. These findings suggest that an overreliance on reactive strategies diminishes the beneficial influence of teacher education on self-efficacy in implementing preventive measures for inclusive classroom management. The results emphasize the importance of fostering proactive beliefs through targeted training within initial teacher education programs, supported by dedicated engagement from teacher educators and policymakers.  

Educational researchers, as well as researchers in other disciplines, often work with ordinal data, such as Likert item responses and test item scores. Critical questions arise when researchers attempt to implement statistical models to analyse ordinal data, given that many statistical techniques assume the data analysed to be continuous. Could ordinal data be treated as continuous data, that is, assuming the ordinal data to be continuous and then applying statistical techniques as if analysing continuous data? Why and why not? Focusing on structural equation models (SEMs), particularly confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), this article discusses an ongoing debate on the treatment of ordinal data and reports a short review on the practices of conducting and reporting SEMs, in the context of mathematics education research. The author reviewed 70 publications in mathematics education research that reported a study involving SEMs to analyse ordinal data, but less than half discussed how data were treated or guided readers through the analysis; it is therefore harder to repeat such an analysis and evaluate the results. This article invites methodological discussions on SEMs with ordinal variables in the practices of educational research. Subsequently, a standard for reporting SEMs with ordinal data is proposed, followed by an example. This standard contributes to educational research by enabling researchers (self and others) to evaluate SEMs reported. The example demonstrates, using real-life research data, how two different approaches for analysing ordinal data (as continuous or as a product of discretisation from some continuous distributions) can lead to results that disagree.