PurposeThe purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between factors in the extended technology acceptance model (TAM) model and teachers' self-efficacy in remote teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, the authors sought to listen to classroom teachers as they expressed their unbiased views of the advantages, disadvantages and challenges of teaching remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic.Design/methodology/approachA survey was employed to examine the relationship between factors in the extended TAM model and teachers' self-efficacy in remote teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic using the 49-item questionnaire. A multiple regression analysis using a stepwise procedure was used to examine the relationship between factors in the extended TAM model and teachers' self-efficacy. Three open-ended questions closely examined remote teaching during the pandemic, related to challenges, advantages and disadvantages.FindingsQualitative findings challenges included Internet connection, lack of interaction and communication and challenges with motivation and student engagement. Disadvantages included teachers’ level of self-efficacy in using technology to teach, lack of support and resources to teach online and the struggle to motivate and engage students. Perceived benefits included flexibility for the teacher and differentiation, rich resources and a way to support learners when in-person instruction is not possible.Research limitations/implicationsThe data suggest that instead, during COVID-19, many teachers were learning about the platforms simultaneously as they were instructing students.Practical implicationsTo ensure quality remote instruction and that students receive the support to make instruction equitable, teachers need to perceive that their instructional technology needs are met to focus on teaching, learning and needs of their students.Social implicationsTeachers need opportunities to explore the platforms and to experience success in this environment before they are exposed to the high stakes of preparing students to meet K-12 standards.Originality/valueInstructional delivery has not explored teacher motivational and instructional teaching self-efficacy related to satisfaction with the learning management system (LMS).

To meet increasingly complex mathematics standards in late elementary school, students must conceptually understand and be fluent in the operations of multiplication and division. This includes understanding the operations' inverse relation. The purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of alternating concrete-representational-abstract (CRA) multiplication and division instruction on students' mastery of unknown facts and on their conceptual understanding. Fourth through sixth-grade students with learning disabilities who had failed to master all multiplication facts participated in the study. The researchers used a mixed method design, measuring accuracy and fluency of facts with a multiple probe across students design and qualitative methods to capture changes in students' explanations of their computation. The researchers demonstrated a functional relation between CRA instruction and accuracy and fluency in multiplication and division. Qualitative results indicated differences in students' understanding of the operations. Implications of the results will be discussed further.

In this article, the authors draw on narrative portraiture to inquire into the family, school, community, and teacher education experiences of two novice teachers who teach in schools located in two rural communities in the southeastern United States. The authors show how their university teacher education classes and field experiences neither addressed nor supported these teachers' identities as rural teachers. In doing so, the authors highlight how these teachers desired to be connected personally and professionally to the communities in which they teach. From these narrative portraits, the authors argue that identity and relationship exist synergistically within these teachers' lives and experiences. Drawing on such synergy is critical to attracting preservice teachers to and retaining novice teachers in schools within rural communities. Based on their interpretations, the authors offer suggestions for how teacher educators can better prepare preservice teachers who intend to teach within such schools.

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This special issue of Health and Social Care Chaplaincy (HSCC) considers international responses from chaplains ministering during the first six months of COVID-19. It presents initial research and reflections from seven countries about the provision of spiritual care to patients, families, and staff suffering under the affects of a cruel pandemic. At the time of writing this editorial, 4 the number of COVID-19 cases diagnosed internationally totals 1. Rev.