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Research shows that preschool teachers’ limited science knowledge may hinder high-quality science teaching in preschools. More science in preschool teacher education has been proposed as a solution, but it is unclear how science learning opportunities impact future science teaching practices. This study examines the effects of a three-year trial where a science-oriented preschool teacher program ran parallel to a regular preschool teacher program. 9–11 years after graduation questionnaires were sent to the former teacher students to assess their views on, and use of, science in preschool. Besides evaluating this trial, the questionnaires aimed to explore other factors associated with the number of science topics the teachers discussed with the children and the number of science activities they engaged in. The results show that teachers from the science-oriented program were more confident in talking about science and enjoyed science more than the other teachers, but the overall differences between the groups were small and not significant. The number of science topics primarily depended on personal factors (e.g. confidence and enjoyment of science). In contrast, the number of science activities depended on both personal factors (e.g. confidence in science) and contextual factors (e.g. inspiration from colleagues, parents, and children).

Although preschool principals are important for integrating sustainability,studies on this topic are scarce. Using an embedded mixed methodsapproach, this study explored and compared 50 principals’ views andactions relating to sustainability in the operations of 25 eco- and 25non-eco-certified randomly sampled preschools from 25 municipalities(of a total 290) in Sweden. Using a semi-structured questionnaire, datawas collected from the principals of the preschools. Whole SchoolApproach Flower Model was used as an analytical framework to analyzequalitative data, while quantitative data was subject to OrthogonalProjections to Latent Structures Discriminatory Analysis. According to theparticipating principals, eco-certified preschools focused on increasingchildren’s knowledge about and interests in sustainability, whereasnon-eco-certified preschools focused on strategies to develop teachers’sustainability competence. The findings support the fact that principalsat eco-certified preschools have a more nuanced and multifaceted viewof sustainability in their leadership practice, indicating thateco-certification, to some extent, plays an important role in making adifference. The study also highlights the potential of adopting a wholeschool approach to sustainability within preschool education.Cross-validation supported the generalizability of the conclusions, at leastwithin a Swedish context.

Teachers’ formative feedback provides motivational and cognitive support for student engagement in learning and raises their achievement. Because feedback arises from assessment, teacher conceptions of both assessment and feedback matter to how feedback is practised. This study determines how teacher conceptions of assessment and feedback are linked to each other and to self-reported practices in a repeated measures survey 18 months apart. All factors in the Swedish Teachers Conceptions of Assessment inventory predicted all six Conceptions of Feedback, which fully mediated influence of assessment conceptions on teachers’ self-reported formative feedback practices. Two conceptions of feedback (i.e., feedback improves learning, and students ignore feedback) were important predictors of teachers’ practice, and these feedback conceptions were predicted by the corresponding conceptions of assessment (i.e., it improves learning and it is ignored by students). The results imply that teacher formative feedback practices depend on an improvement-oriented conception of assessment as a prior belief. 

Understanding teachers’ conceptions of assessment is a key objective in supporting assessment practices that lead to improved learning outcomes. Thus, inventories capable of identifying teachers’ assessment conceptions are important. The Teachers Conceptions of Assessment (TCoA) inventory was an early and influential measure of teacher assessment conceptions, but replication studies have shown that the model may be affected by policy and practice context. In the present study, a Swedish adaptation of the TCoA was administered twice, 18 months apart. A sample of 249 teachers were matched across the 2 time-points and their self-reported scores were analysed with confirmatory factor analysis and invariance testing. With good correspondence to the data, six of the nine factors in the TCoA were completely replicated and one factor was partially replicated. The model had sufficient similarity between time points to permit mean score comparisons, which were largely equivalent between times. The study indicates that the Swedish Teacher Conceptions of Assessment adaptation can be used reliably in Swedish primary and lower secondary schools as measure of teacher conceptions of the uses of assessment.

The purpose of this study is to develop understanding of the relation between instructional practices and students' reading amount. As part of a larger mixed-methods study of reading practices across the curriculum in Swedish compulsory school, a selection of 14 classes from Grades 6 and 9 were observed over a total of 59 lessons. The data generated were coded and analyzed using both quantitative and qualitative methods. The results reveal a great variation in teachers' instructional practices which is shown to have both direct and more indirect consequences for students' reading amount. By combining the results from quantitative and qualitative analyses in the light of Self-Determination Theory, the study shows that most reading is done in classrooms where teachers manage to fulfill students' need for competence, relatedness, and autonomy while maintaining classroom structure and ensuring lesson time for reading. The findings are discussed considering previous research on instructional practices in relation to students' reading motivation and reading amount, adding to our understanding of what makes students read in everyday classrooms. Limitations of the study, directions for further research, and implications for practice are also discussed.

Previous research has laid a strong theoretical foundation for creating instructional designs that enhance motivation. However, the practical application of these designs in educational settings has been less frequently examined. The studies that have been conducted often had limited scope—both in duration and in the motivational dimensions they explored—and rarely involved teachers in the design, delivery, and evaluation of these interventions. Consequently, there is a gap in our understanding of how to implement effective, sustainable, and practical strategies to support students' motivation in schools. This project seeks to address this gap by having researchers and teachers collaborate in designing and evaluating a year-long and comprehensive intervention to develop motivation-supporting teaching. We evaluate the intervention through classroom observations, discussions between researchers and teachers, and student questionnaires. Although the project is still underway, an initial finding suggests that strategies that are theoretically effective in fostering adaptive motivation do not appear to work for the least motivated students. Instead, a more controlling environment has shown to be more effective in transitioning these students from a state of amotivation to engagement with their schoolwork. In our presentation, we aim to not only share insights from this study but also to spark a broader conversation about practice-based research on student motivation, including its potential, challenges, and development. 

Research has shown that formative assessment can have large positive effects on student achievement, but the effects vary substantially and are not always positive. In addition, the underlying mechanisms responsible for the learning effects are not well understood. We present a framework developed to support research efforts to identify these mechanisms. The framework includes formative assessment processes as well as students’ learning processes, defines and exemplifies the term mechanisms in relevant contexts, indicates possible mechanisms, and identifies aspects that require further research to characterise and explain the mechanisms through which formative assessment affects student achievement. Finally, we exemplify how the framework may be used to design studies capable of providing the robust evidence required for drawing conclusions about the mechanisms.

The objective of this study was to explore the relationship between assistive technology system elements and access to assistive products. Data on assistive technology system elements and self-reported survey data on access to assistive products from 20 countries were analyzed using multivariate statistical methods, including orthogonal partial least squares analyses. Access to assistive products was primarily associated with the geographic coverage of assistive technology services in a country, followed by system elements related to policy and personnel. To achieve universal access to assistive technology, geographic coverage of assistive technology services is an instrumental system element. However, it requires the implementation of appropriate policies along with sufficient funding, recruitment of adequately trained personnel, and availability of assistive products in need.