>This article so very poorly written

Buddy, it's a magazine for teachers - it's not a piece for the NY Times.

>In addition, I can't find the author elsewhere online

Elizabeth Martin is a common name, there are many. She has 1 other article on this website about the same topic from 6+ months ago. This is probably an issue that is important to her and has no other reason to write articles.

>Is anyone else skeptical about the validity of this article?

Are you skeptical that teachers are being assaulted by students? What exactly are you skeptical of?