bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Ethics, Institutional Review Boards, and the Changing Face of Educational Research
Authors: Howe Kenneth R. , Dougherty Katharine Cutts
Published: June 2007

Educational research has enjoyed special exemptions from formal ethical oversight of research on human subjects since the original mandate from the federal government that such oversight must occur. Although interpreting these exemptions has always been a potential source of controversy and conflict for university Institutional Review Boards, the burgeoning use of qualitative methods has further complicated matters. This article discusses the original rationale for special exemptions for educational research and then examines which varieties of qualitative educational research are consistent with it and which varieties are not. The article also examines the formal ethical oversight of student research practica, an issue also complicated by the advent of qualitative methods. Specific policies are offered both for determining which varieties of qualitative research should qualify for the special educational exemptions and for formally overseeing student research practica.
Use of Standardized Patients in Clinical Assessments: Recent Developments and Measurement Findings
Authors: Vu Nu Viet , Barrows Howard S.
Published: June 2007

This article reviews recent developments and measurement findings on the use of live patient simulations or “standardized patients” in performance examinations to assess the competence of medical professionals. The results of large-scale standardized patient-based performance assessments are presented and discussed in terms of their feasibility, reliability, validity, and implications for assessing competence in other professions.
Conducting Research on Practice
Authors: Richardson Virginia
Published: June 2007

This article explores two forms of research on practice: formal research and practical inquiry. Formal research is undertaken by researchers and practitioners to contribute to an established and general knowledge base. Practical inquiry is undertaken by practitioners to improve their practice. It is suggested that practical inquiry is more likely than formal research to lead to immediate classroom change; that these two forms of research are fundamentally different; and that both are useful to practice, but in different ways.
Comparing Teachers' Work With Work in Other Occupations: Notes on the Professional Status of Teaching
Authors: Rowan Brian
Published: June 2007

Educational researchers frequently compare teachers' work with work performed in other occupations. In this article, I discuss the promises and pitfalls of this type of analysis. Using data from The Dictionary of Occupational Titles (U.S. Department of Labor, 1991), I examine the nature of teachers’ work and compare teaching with the work performed in other occupations. On the basis of this analysis, I conclude that teaching is a complex form of work that requires high levels of formal knowledge for successful performance. I also argue that the professional status of teaching is closely tied to the complexity of teachers' work and that educational reforms intended to further professionalize the occupation of teaching can succeed only to the extent that they make teachers’ work even more complex than it currently is.
Qualitative Research as Jazz
Authors: Oldfather Penny , West Jane
Published: June 2007

A metaphor of qualitative research as jazz is developed to illuminate qualities embedded in processes of qualitative inquiry. The jazz metaphor creates a pathway for making explicit the tacit understandings that enable us to make our way as researchers without fully orchestrated scores. As jazz is guided by a deep structure of chord progressions and themes, qualitative inquiry is guided by epistemological principles, socially constructed values, inquiry focuses, and findings emerging through analytic methodologies such as constant comparison.
Performance Assessment: Policy Promises and Technical Measurement Standards
Authors: Linn Robert L.
Published: June 2007

Major changes in the nature and context of assessment are underway that have potential implications for technical measurement standards. Three particularly notable changes are (a) the expanded role of the federal government, (b) the increased emphasis on standards, and (c) the major increase in reliance on performance-based assessments. These changes provide the context for the recently launched effort to revise the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing. Implications of these and other changes for the revision of the Standards are discussed.
Reading Recovery in the United States: What Difference Does it Make to an Age Cohort?
Authors: Hiebert Elfrieda H.
Published: June 2007

Reading Recovery, a program in which teachers tutor first graders, has been implemented extensively in the United States over the past decade. This review summarizes seven aspects of the available data from Reading Recovery in the United States: (a) nature of the reading tasks, (b) characteristics of tutees, (c) student accomplishments as first graders, (d) maintenance of student accomplishments through Grade 4, (e) student-teacher ratio, (f) cost-effectiveness, and (g) teacher effectiveness and retention.
A Developmental Contextualist Critique of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
Authors: Pellegrini AD , Horvat Michael
Published: June 2007

In this article we critique the current concept of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as it applies to primary school boys and girls. Generally, ADHD symptoms in young children are treated as if they reside solely within the child. The biological determinism of this conceptualization is both oversimplified and inaccurate. A developmental contextualist approach suggests that biological and classroom variables interact to elicit ADHD-related behaviors. In this article we define ADHD, present a model of developmental contextualism, and show ways in which the theory can overcome limitations in current conceptualizations of ADHD and guide future pedagogy and research.
Enlarging the Dialogue in Educational Measurement: Voices From Interpretive Research Traditions
Authors: Moss Pamela A
Published: June 2007

In this article, I argue that the theory and practice of educational measurement would benefit by expanding the dialogue among measurement professionals to include voices from research traditions different from ours and from the communities we study and serve. To that end, I explore a critical dialectic between a naturalist conception of social science, from which the tradition of educational measurement has evolved, and an interpretive conception of social science. By moving between theory and concrete illustrations, I contrast the ways in which interpretations are typically constructed and grounded within the different traditions and consider the ethical and political consequences of these epistemological choices. This contrast among research traditions reflects an exercise in what Messick (1989) calls a “Singerian” mode of inquiry, where one method of inquiry is evaluated in terms of another to highlight the assumptions and values underlying each. The dialectic implied in such a reciprocal critique—particularly when undertaken with the respectful intent of comprehending the alternative perspective as fully as possible ( Bernstein, 1992 )—provides a generative model through which assessment theory and practice can evolve.
A Framework for Appraising Educational Reforms
Authors: House Ernest R.
Published: June 2007

Transaction-cost economics provides a framework for appraising educational reforms, i.e., deciding whether these reforms are likely to succeed in the “real life” of schools. This framework conceives of reform as a contract between reformers and stake-holders (teachers, students, parents), and these transactions are marked by bounded rationality, opportunism, and the protection of specific assets (e.g., accumulated knowledge and skills) on the part of participants. Not acknowledging these attributes turns reforms into unproductive planning exercises—mere promises without results—or stakeholders struggling to protect their assets, resulting in the failure of the reform. Several current educational reforms are judged on the basis of their transaction costs and consequent prospects for success.
Piaget's Social Theory
Authors: DeVries Rheta
Published: June 2007

Current debate in education on the role of individual and social factors in development often presents Piaget as giving primacy to individual cognitive processes in contrast to Vygotsky's view of the primacy of social and cultural factors. It has even become popular to say that Piaget's child is a solitary scientist, constructing knowledge apart from the social context. This view is in error. To counter the often inaccurate assumptions, Piaget's social theory is summarized, including an account of his consideration of the relations between the individual and the social in sociomoral, affective, and intellectual development. His emphasis on the role of norms in development is discussed. Piaget's view of the identity of cognitive operations and social co-operations is explained with examples. Issues related to Piaget's social theory are raised. The co-operative context favoring operational development is discussed in terms of five general principles of teaching that apply to all levels of education
The Stories Educational Researchers Tell About Themselves
Authors: Smith John K.
Published: June 2007

In 1990, in the pages of Educational Researcher, McKenna, Robinson, and Miller and Edelsky engaged in an intensely argued debate over the research on language instruction. In this article, I revisit this important exchange because it remains the most important starting point we have for an attempt to characterize and clarify what is behind the increasing fragmentation of the educational research community. My claim is that the balkanization of our profession is a result of people engaging different vocabularies to tell different stories about research and the work of researchers. In examining this claim, I also examine what happened with the different vocabularies used to discuss qualitative research over the course of the 1980s and early 1990s. Finally, I end with a brief comment about what the proliferation of different vocabularies and different stories might mean for our profession.
The Connection Between Research and Practice
Authors: Kennedy Mary M.
Published: June 2007

This article reviews four hypotheses that have been put forward to account for a perceived lack of connection between research and practice: (a) research needs to be more authoritative, (b) research needs to be more relevant, (c) research needs to be more accessible, and (d) the education system itself is inherently too stable or too unstable and therefore unable to respond coherently to research findings. A brief history of thought within each of these hypotheses is offered, and the place of education researchers in the larger education context is discussed.
Methodology and the Research-Practice Gap
Authors: Robinson Viviane M. J.
Published: June 2007

A much neglected reason for the limited contribution of research to the understanding and improvement of educational practice is the mismatch between educational research methodologies and the generic features of practice. Increasing the match requires an account of practice that clarifies its methodological implications. I propose a problem-based methodology (PBM) in which practices are treated as solutions to practical problems and explained by inquiry into the problem-solving processes that gave rise to them. Such inquiry is guided in PBM by a constraint inclusion account of a problem and a set of criteria for debating solution adequacy. The implications of this account for the conduct and contribution of educational research are developed through a detailed discussion of recent research on school tracking.
Abilities Are Forms of Developing Expertise
Authors: Sternberg Robert J.
Published: June 2007

The goal of this article is to provide a link between the literatures on human abilities and on expertise. The main argument of this article is that human abilities are forms of developing expertise. In a sense, then, tests of abilities are no different from conventional tests of achievement, teacher-made tests administered in school, or assessments of job performance. Although tests of abilities are used as predictors of these other kinds of performance, the temporal priority of their administration should not be confused with some kind of psychological priority. Abilities, as they are measured by these tests, are as much forms of developing expertise as are any other forms of developing expertise measured in whatever way. There is no qualitative distinction among the various kinds of measures. The article presents a model that implies a shift away from educational practice grounded in traditional ability-achievement relationships and toward practice grounded in the development of knowledge-based expertise in all children.
Educational Performance Standards and the Economy
Authors: Levin Henry M.
Published: June 2007

One of the most prominent arguments for U.S. educational reform, generally, and for the establishment of student performance standards, specifically, has been the assertion that they will create a world-class workforce. Behind this expectation is the assumption that there is strong and demonstrable evidence that higher and better educational standards and student performance are keys to higher workplace productivity. But a review of available evidence suggests only a weak relationship between test scores and economic productivity and virtually no evidence on the predictive validity of the newer performance standards. This article suggests that the educational standards movement has relied on the economic rationale largely because of its persuasiveness in stimulating educational reform rather than any compelling evidence on the links between specific educational standards and economic performance.
Albert Shanker’s Advocacy Advertising
Authors: Scott Charlotte H.
Published: June 2007

Albert Shanker, president of the American Federation of Teachers until his death in February 1997, used advocacy advertising to increase public awareness of his views on how to improve the nation’s public schools and students’ learning. The “Where We Stand” advertisements, in effect, constitute a case study that highlights the importance of communicating research-based findings pertinent to specific educational policy issues to a general audience and not simply to professional educators. The need for broader communication continues to grow, pushing educational policy researchers to test new approaches and techniques for the dissemination of research findings.
The Epic and the Novel: Dialogism and Teacher Research
Authors: Coulter David
Published: June 2007

Teacher research has been concerned with the generation of knowledge and voice for more than 70 years; teachers are invited to join the academic dialogue by becoming researchers themselves. Yet the promised fusion of communities seems as distant as ever. I want to suggest that for these two solitudes to be brought together, the emphasis needs to change from the generation of knowledge to dialogue about what counts as knowledge. Using the work of the Russian literary theorist Mikhail Bakhtin (1895–1975), I argue for dialogic research. In making my case, I present a research problem that was investigated by a group of school administrators and teachers, sketch the previous response of the research community to that issue, take a brief detour through Bakhtin's literary theory, and then show how each of the conceptual resources that he supplies–polyphony, chronoscope and carnival–affected the research project and the ensuing dialogue about knowledge and its relationship to practice.
Beyond the Promise: A Perspective on Research in Moral Education
Authors: Bebeau Muriel J. , Rest James R. , Narvaez Darcia
Published: June 2007

Changing concerns and ideological shifts in American society produce different emphases in moral education. We argue that different approaches address different dimensions of development. If viewed as complementary rather than contradictory, we may be able to move beyond ideological and philosophical disputes to solid theory-building based on empirical findings. In proposing an action program for moral education that incorporates research, we draw upon lessons learned from the Head Start movement of the 1960s. In defining researchable variables, we recommend the Four Component Model (sensitivity, judgment, motivation, character) instead of the usual tripartite model (thinking, feeling, acting).
The Politics of Literacy Teaching: How “Research” Shaped Educational Policy
Authors: Allington Richard L. , Woodside-Jiron Haley
Published: June 2007

In this paper we trace the use of a “consensus” white paper as part of a successful educational advocacy campaign that reframed early literacy educational policies in two states. In addition we contrast the specific instructional recommendations offered in this white paper with the findings of the program of research that was purportedly “synthesized” in developing the recommendations. The successful use of this white paper as a policy lever is considered from both the “agenda-setting” and “political use of expertise” frameworks.
Why Innovations Come and Go (and Mostly Go): The Case of Whole Language
Authors: Stahl Steven A.
Published: June 2007

There are lessons to be learned from the rapid rise and descent of the whole language movement. This paper reviews three aspects of the whole language movement. First, it is unprecedented for a progressive education movement to be as accepted by mainstream educators as whole language was. Second, whole language filled a need for a shift in pedagogy, from word recognition and comprehension to motivation, and from Reading-to-Learn to Reading-to-Enjoy. Third, the whole language movement was political, both in the means used to promote itself and in its notions that whole language instruction can effect societal change.
The New Scholarship in Teacher Education
Authors: Zeichner Ken
Published: June 2007

This article, based on Ken Zeichner's 1998 Division K Vice-Presidential address, traces the development of teacher education research in the U.S. over the last 21 years. Five different segments of the new scholarship in teacher education are discussed together with their contributions to policy and practice in teacher education: survey research, case studies of teacher education programs, conceptual and historical research, studies of learning to teach, and examinations of the nature and impact of teacher education activities including self-study research. The development of Division K in AERA and the role and status of teacher education in research universities are discussed in relation to the development of this field of educational research.
Perspectives on Learning, Thinking, and Activity
Authors: Anderson John R. , Greeno James G. , Reder Lynne M. , Simon Herbert A.
Published: June 2007

We continue the discussion of cognitive and situative perspectives by identifying several important points on which we judge the perspectives to be in agreement: (a) Individual and social perspectives on activity are both fundamentally important in education; (b) Learning can be general, and abstractions can be efficacious, but they sometimes aren’t; (c) Situative and cognitive approaches can cast light on different aspects of the educational process, and both should be pursued vigorously; (d) Educational innovations should be informed by the available scientific knowledge base and should be evaluated and analyzed with rigorous research methods.
A Call for Equity in Reading Instruction for All Students: A Response to Allington and Woodside-Jiron
Authors: MATHES PATRICIA G. , TORGESEN JOSEPH K.
Published: June 2007

The program of research on reading sponsored by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) is one important source of information for practitioners choosing best practices for early literacy instruction. On the basis of evidence from both normal and disabled readers, this research indicates that multiple factors are critical to early literacy success and that phonological knowledge and skill is one such element. The utility of this body of research was called into question by Allington and Woodside-Jiron in a November 1999 Educational Researcher article titled "The Politics of Literacy Teaching: How 'Research' Shaped Educational Policy." This response to that article is written to examine policymaking activities that are misrepresented, to correct mistakes made by Allington and Woodside-Jiron about the range and utility of NICHD research, to correct possible misperceptions of the NICHD-supported research effort that might arise in the minds of those who read the Allington and Woodside-Jiron article, and to present new evidence that clarifies the utility of much of this research.
New Directions in American Educational History: Problems and Prospects
Authors: Donato Rubén , Lazerson Marvin
Published: June 2007

This article, based on a Spencer Foundation sponsored conference on new directions in the history of education, examines the dilemma of audience and voice. It connects the "golden era" of American educational historiography to the education reforms of the 1960s and 1970s, and then discusses recent developments in the areas of people of color, history and policy, higher education, and a gender-based history. It suggests ways history might be connected to current educational research issues.
Dewey and Vygotsky: Society, Experience, and Inquiry in Educational Practice
Authors: Glassman Michael
Published: June 2007

John Dewey and L. S. Vygotsky share similar ideas concerning the relationship of activity and learning/development, especially the roles everyday activities and social environment play in the educational process. However, the two theorists are far apart in their conception of the relationship between process and goals in education. Dewey concentrates on means in education, believing that it is the ability of the individual to question through experience that is most important for the human community. Vygotsky, while recognizing the importance of (especially cultural) process in education, sees social and cultural goals as being integrated into social pedagogy. This paper compares Dewey and Vygotsky on three key points that relate directly to educational processes and goals. First, the two theorists are compared on the role of social history and the tools it produces. Dewey sees social history as creating a set of malleable tools that are of use in present circumstances. Vygotsky believes that tools developed through history have a far more lasting impact on the social community. Second, the two theorists are compared in their conceptualizations of experience/culture. Dewey sees experience as helping to form thinking, whereas Vygotsky, in his cultural historical theory, posits culture as the raw material of thinking. Third, the two theorists are compared on their perspectives on human inquiry. Dewey sees the child as a free agent who achieves goals through her own interest in the activity. Vygotsky suggests there should be greater control by a mentor who creates activity that will lead the child towards mastery. These differences are then explored in terms of how they might impact actual classroom strategies and curriculum.
Reshaping Graduate Preparation in Educational Research Methods: One School’s Experience
Authors: Page Reba N.
Published: June 2007

Questions about the proper preparation in research methodologies of doctoral students in education are again on the front burner, fed by deepening skepticism about the value of educational research as well as a revived “paradigms war” and broad criticism of the state of graduate education. Faculty struggle to decide whether or not to require all doctoral students to study both quantitative and qualitative research methods, regardless of students’ diverse talents, interests, and career aspirations. Should students be required to “appreciate” both methodologies or to be able to use both? How should research methodologies be taught, and what proportion of doctoral study should they occupy? This article describes the processes and circumstances in which the faculty in a school of education at a research university grappled with these questions and, in time, significantly redesigned its doctoral curriculum. Although the faculty’s experience is necessarily particular, their engagement in practical reasoning, local knowledge, and local politics may, as an instance of curriculum deliberation, inform reflections on graduate preparation in other schools of education.
School Choice Impacts: What Do We Know?
Authors: Gorard Stephen , Fitz John , Taylor Chris
Published: June 2007

We present here a summary of the findings of what so far is the largest study of school choice in publicly funded schools, and the first analysis of changes over time in the characteristics and performance of students in an entire national school system (that of England and Wales). Our finding, in contradiction to some smaller studies reported previously, is that the socio-economic stratification of school students declined after the introduction of choice policies. We also show that standards in publicly funded schools rose relative to those of private schools over the same period. The extent to which these changes can be attributed to the impact of market forces in education is the subject of our discussion.
Sticks, Stones, and Ideology: The Discourse of Reform in Teacher Education
Authors: Cochran-Smith Marilyn , Fries Mary Kim
Published: June 2007

Many highly politicized debates about reforming teacher education are embedded within two larger national agendas: the agenda to professionalize teaching and teacher education, which is linked to the K–12 standards movement, and the movement to deregulate teacher preparation, which aims to dismantle teacher education institutions and break up the monopoly of the profession. In this article, the authors analyze how these two agendas are publicly constructed, critiqued, and debated, drawing on public documents from each side and using the language and arguments of the advocates themselves. The authors argue that, despite very different agendas, the discourse of both deregulation and professionalization revolves rhetorically around the establishment of three interrelated warrants, which legitimize certain policies and undermine others. Taken together, what Cochran-Smith and Fries label “the evidentiary warrant,” “the political warrant,” and “the accountability warrant,” are intended by advocates of competing agendas to add up to “common sense” about how to improve the quality of the nation’s teachers. The authors conclude that in order to understand the politics of teacher education and the complexities of competing reform agendas, their underlying ideals, ideologies, and values must be debated along with and in relation to “the evidence” about teacher quality.
How the Question We Ask Most About Race in Education Is the Very Question We Most Suppress
Authors: Pollock Mica
Published: June 2007

The race question that appears perhaps most in American achievement talk ( “How and why do different ‘race groups’ achieve differently?”) is also our most often deleted race question, as it provokes our most difficult explanations. While Americans think about school achievement routinely in racial terms, this article suggests, whether or not we describe achievement publicly in racial terms depends upon who is listening. Expanding from an ethnographic study of a school and district in California, this article examines how adults both asked repetitively how achievement was linked to race and repetitively suppressed this very question. It also begins to explore the role educational research plays in these dynamics of talk and silence. An explanatory habit of framing isolated players as particularly responsible for racial patterns, I suggest, appears throughout both professional and lay analysis: Indeed, schooling analysts seem to name existing racial patterns primarily when holding other players responsible for them. In failing to frame racial achievement patterns as communal productions, however, we preclude joint discussions of how exactly these racial patterns might be avoided.
Deepening Democratic Curriculum Work
Authors: Henderson James G.
Published: June 2007

The longstanding argument between advocates of curriculum development and critical curriculum studies is examined from the perspective of democratic inquiry artistry. From this alternative vantage point, both advocacies possess certain strengths and limitations. A map of democratic inquiry artistry has been created to capitalize on the strengths of each position and to deepen democratic curriculum work. This map—an eclectic adaptation of seven ancient forms of inquiry—is designed to help educators negotiate the “terrain” of democratic wisdom, which is understood as a demanding professional challenge incorporating disciplined inquiry, democratic hermeneutics and human artistry. The daily enactment of democratic inquiry artistry can assist educational researchers by informing ethical-political decisions and by advancing the integration of the science and art of education.
Shifting Images of Developmentally Appropriate Practice as Seen Through Different Lenses
Authors: Dickinson David K.
Published: June 2007

Three position statements are reviewed with respect to their changing treatment of literacy: two versions of Developmentally Appropriate Practice ( Bredekamp, 1987 ; Bredekamp & Copple, 1997 ) and Learning to Read and Write: Developmentally Appropriate Practices for Young Children (IRA & NAEYC, 1998 ). Such position statements are then compared to the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Accreditation Criteria and Procedures (1984 , 1991a), the NAEYC Guide to Accreditation (1985, 1991b, 1998), and the two major research tools used to assess the quality of early childhood classrooms: Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scale (Harms & Clifford, 1980; Harms, Clifford, & Cryer, 1998), and Classroom Profile (Abbott-Shim & Sibley, 1987). While NAEYC has dramatically changed its recommendations regarding the importance of direct literacy instruction, accreditation procedures and research tools pay very little attention to such instruction. Programs can be accredited and even rated superior despite failing to provide the kind of rich language and literacy environment researchers have demonstrated to be necessary in order that all children learn to read and write. Alternative approaches to evaluating language and literacy instruction are described.
A Knowledge Base for the Teaching Profession: What Would It Look Like and How Can We Get One?
Authors: Hiebert James , Gallimore Ronald , Stigler James W.
Published: June 2007

To improve classroom teaching in a steady, lasting way, the teaching profession needs a knowledge base that grows and improves. In spite of the continuing efforts of researchers, archived research knowledge has had little effect on the improvement of practice in the average classroom. We explore the possibility of building a useful knowledge base for teaching by beginning with practitioners’ knowledge. We outline key features of this knowledge and identify the requirements for this knowledge to be transformed into a professional knowledge base for teaching. By reviewing educational history, we offer an incomplete explanation for why the United States has no countrywide system that meets these requirements. We conclude by wondering if U.S. researchers and teachers can make different choices in the future to enable a system for building and sustaining a professional knowledge base for teaching.
A Response to “Dewey and Vygotsky: Society, Experience, and Inquiry in Educational Practice”
Authors: O’Brien Leigh M.
Published: June 2007

In the May 2001 Educational Researcher, Michael Glassman presented an interesting comparison between the theories of two towering figures in educational thought, John Dewey and Lev Vygotsky. However, Glassman, in his use of the project approach (Katz & Chard, 1989) to make Dewey’s theory operational, misstates several points. This is unfortunate for at least two reasons. First, Glassman’s description of “Dewey-inspired” education is problematic in that it calls into question the premises for his comparison of Dewey and Vygotsky’s ideas. Second, and more troublingly, this interpretation perpetuates historical misunderstandings, misuses, and critiques of Dewey’s theory and related practices.
Service Learning as Scholarship in Teacher Education
Authors: Buchanan Alice M. , Baldwin Shelia C. , Rudisill Mary E.
Published: June 2007

This article describes how two teacher education service-learning programs illustrate alternative interpretations of scholarship. A tutoring–mentoring program in a teaching oriented masters institution and a motor skill development program in a land grant doctoral–research institution are described relative to how each illustrates forms of scholarship as interpreted by Boyer (1990) . We discuss how these forms of scholarship—the scholarship of discovery, integration, teaching, and application—relate to stated institutional mission and evaluation practices. Service-learning experiences for preservice teachers can have the multiple benefits of promoting an ethic of service and social responsibility, demonstrating excellence in teacher education, and exemplifying scholarly endeavors.
Recovering Curriculum Practice: Continuing the Conversation
Authors: Wraga William G.
Published: June 2007

After clarifying several misperceptions of my analysis of the theory–practice dualism manifest in reconceptualist curriculum theorizing, I reply to James Henderson’s inquiries about my perspective on curriculum practice by discussing the ideas of Ralph Tyler and Joseph Schwab and curriculum enactment. Recognizing that continued conversation holds the most promise for a mitigation of ideological conflict endemic to the curriculum field, I propose two topics for further deliberation among curriculum scholars.
Design Experiments in Educational Research
Authors: Cobb Paul , Confrey Jere , diSessa Andrea , Lehrer Richard , Schauble Leona
Published: June 2007

In this article, the authors first indicate the range of purposes and the variety of settings in which design experiments have been conducted and then delineate five crosscutting features that collectively differentiate design experiments from other methodologies. Design experiments have both a pragmatic bent—“engineering” particular forms of learning—and a theoretical orientation—developing domain-specific theories by systematically studying those forms of learning and the means of supporting them. The authors clarify what is involved in preparing for and carrying out a design experiment, and in conducting a retrospective analysis of the extensive, longitudinal data sets generated during an experiment. Logistical issues, issues of measure, the importance of working through the data systematically, and the need to be explicit about the criteria for making inferences are discussed.
Teacher Reflection in a Hall of Mirrors: Historical Influences and Political Reverberations
Authors: Fendler Lynn
Published: June 2007

This article traces the genealogy of reflection in teacher education by seeking the conditions of its emergence through the influences of Descartes, Dewey, Schön, and feminism. Drawing on the critical lenses of Foucaultian genealogy and the sociology of scientific knowledge, the analysis investigates how the complicated meanings of reflection get played out in complex and contradictory ways through research practices. The purpose of this article is to highlight the diversity of meanings that constitute understandings of the term and then to critique the effects of power that reverberate through current reflective practices.
Validity and Quality in Self-Study
Authors: Feldman Allan
Published: June 2007

In this response to Bullough and Pinnegar’s “Guidelines for Quality in Autobiographical Forms of Self-Study,” the author argues that in addition to criteria for the quality of research, researchers need to have ways to demonstrate its validity because of the moral and political aspects of educational research. The argument is based in part on the existential nature of self-study. The article concludes with some suggestions for increasing the validity of self-study.
The Best of Both Worlds: A Critical Pedagogy of Place
Authors: Gruenewald David A.
Published: June 2007

Taking the position that “critical pedagogy” and “place-based education” are mutually supportive educational traditions, this author argues for a conscious synthesis that blends the two discourses into a critical pedagogy of place. An analysis of critical pedagogy is presented that emphasizes the spatial aspects of social experience. This examination also asserts the general absence of ecological thinking demonstrated in critical social analysis concerned exclusively with human relationships. Next, a discussion of ecological place-based education is offered. Finally, a critical pedagogy of place is defined. This pedagogy seeks the twin objectives of decolonization and “reinhabitation” through synthesizing critical and place-based approaches. A critical pedagogy of place challenges all educators to reflect on the relationship between the kind of education they pursue and the kind of places we inhabit and leave behind for future generations.
Rethinking Scale: Moving Beyond Numbers to Deep and Lasting Change
Authors: Coburn Cynthia E.
Published: June 2007

The issue of “scale” is a key challenge for school reform, yet it remains undertheorized in the literature. Definitions of scale have traditionally restricted its scope, focusing on the expanding number of schools reached by a reform. Such definitions mask the complex challenges of reaching out broadly while simultaneously cultivating the depth of change necessary to support and sustain consequential change. This article draws on a review of theoretical and empirical literature on scale, relevant research on reform implementation, and original research to synthesize and articulate a more multidimensional conceptualization. I develop a conception of scale that has four interrelated dimensions: depth, sustainability, spread, and shift in reform ownership. I then suggest implications of this conceptualization for reform strategy and research design.
Contestation and Change in National Policy on “Scientifically Based” Education Research
Authors: Eisenhart Margaret , Towne Lisa
Published: June 2007

In this article, we examine the definitions of “scientifically based research” in education that have appeared in recent national legislation and policy. These definitions, now written into law in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002, and the focus of the National Research Council’s 2002 publication, Scientific Research in Education, are being used to affect decisions about the future of education programs and the direction of education research. Perhaps because of the high stakes involved, there has been some tendency to lump together the definitions emanating from Washington sources. From our perspective as participants in some of this activity, we argue that there are important differences among these definitions and their purposes. Furthermore, we suggest that the various definitions, together with public input about them, can provide leverage for altering the meanings of scientifically based research and education research that are being operationalized in current public policy.
Can We Get There From Here?
Authors: Alexander Patricia A.
Published: June 2007

The goal of this theme issue is to reacquaint the educational research community with theory and research in expertise. Several recent, alternative perspectives on expertise that hold promise for educational theory and practice are considered in light of earlier generations of expert/novice investigations. Several common goals and shared themes within highlighted articles are described, and the contributions of a concluding commentary are overviewed.
The Development of Expertise: The Journey From Acclimation to Proficiency
Authors: Alexander Patricia A.
Published: June 2007

The Model of Domain Learning (MDL) is an alternative perspective on expertise that arose from studies of student learning in academic domains, such as reading, history, physics, and biology. A comparison of the MDL and traditional models of expertise is made. The key components and stages of the MDL are then overviewed. Discussion concludes with a consideration of evidence-based implications of this model for educational practice.
Political Science and Education Research: An Exploratory Look at Two Political Science Journals
Authors: Orr Marion
Published: June 2007

A systematic and longitudinal analysis of all of the education-related articles published in two of political science's oldest journals reveals that political science has aided our knowledge of education by focusing on the distribution of power in the decision-making process, the organization and governance of public school systems, and the outcomes and effects of education policy decisions. Moreover, the present data suggest that only a tiny fraction of the major articles published in traditional political science journals have focused on education and that those political scientists conducting education research turn to multidisciplinary education journals as outlets for their scholarship.
Critical Social Theory and Transformative Knowledge: The Functions of Criticism in Quality Education
Authors: Leonardo Zeus
Published: June 2007

Critical social theory is a multidisciplinary knowledge base with the implicit goal of advancing the emancipatory function of knowledge. It approaches this goal by promoting the role of criticism in the search for quality education. Through critical social theory in education, quality is proportional to the depth of analysis that students have at their disposal. As a critical form of classroom discourse, critical social theory cultivates students’ ability to critique institutional as well as conceptual dilemmas, particularly those that lead to domination or oppression. It also promotes a language of transcendence that complements a language of critique in order to forge alternative and less oppressive social arrangements. A critical social theory-based movement in education highlights the relationship between social systems and people, how they produce each other, and ultimately how critical social theory can contribute to the emancipation of both.
What Good are Statistics that Don’t Generalize?
Authors: Shaffer David Williamson , Serlin Ronald C.
Published: June 2007

Quantitative and qualitative inquiry are sometimes portrayed as distinct and incompatible paradigms for research in education. Approaches to combining qualitative and quantitative research typically “integrate” the two methods by letting them co-exist independently within a single research study. Here we describe intra-sample statistical analysis (ISSA) as a general technique for using quantitative tools to support qualitative inquiry so as to simultaneously provide warrants from qualitative and quantitative traditions. In certain circumstances ISSA makes it possible to relax the requirement that individual participants be treated as the unit of analysis in statistical models, and thus provides justification for coding qualitative observations and drawing statistically based conclusions about observations in a qualitative context. We developed ISSA and describe it here both because it can be used as a tool for qualitative research, and because it illuminates the relationship between method and interpretation in the research traditions that it bridges. In this article, we (a) summarize key features of qualitative and quantitative research relevant to ISSA; (b) describe ISSA as an analytical technique; (c) discuss the quantitative and qualitative justification for ISSA and the nature of the conclusions that can be drawn based on it; and (d) explore the more general implications of ISSA for qualitative and quantitative inquiry.
Unlabeling the Disabled: A Perspective on Flagging Scores From Accommodated Test Administrations
Authors: Sireci Stephen G.
Published: June 2007

Accommodations to standard test administrations are granted on many tests for students who have one or more disabling conditions. In some instances, students’ scores from these nonstandard administrations are “flagged” to caution those who interpret the test score that the test was not administered under typical conditions. The practice of flagging such test scores is contentious. Some argue that it essentially informs others that a student has a disability and creates the opportunity for bias against the student. Others argue that such scores must be flagged to be fair to those who took the test under standard conditions and to promote valid test score interpretations. This article reviews the psychometric issues regarding the flagging issue and discusses the guidance provided by the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing. Research in this area related to college admissions testing is also reviewed and suggestions for avoiding the flagging issue in the future are provided. This review lends support to the recent decisions by several testing agencies to discontinue flagging practices.
Data-Mining Journals and Books: Using the Science of Networks to Uncover the Structure of the Educational Research Community
Authors: Carolan Brian V. , Natriello Gary
Published: June 2007

To investigate the process through which the educational research community can become more vibrant and cohesive, the authors of this article ask: How can the numerous networks that constitute the field of educational research be analyzed in an effort to understand and influence the pattern through which knowledge of educational phenomena are exchanged? The authors contend that understanding these complex networks will illuminate the dynamic processes through which community members identify with one another, researchers collaborate, and ideas connect—three social processes that shape replication and generalization efforts. The authors outline three ways in which examining the field’s members and products can be used to move closer to the ambitious yet attainable goal of establishing an academic community that exchanges information in ways that allow others to confirm, extend, and generalize research findings.
How to Publish in Scholarly Journals
Authors: Klingner Janette K. , Scanlon David , Pressley Michael
Published: June 2007

This article is based on an invited talk entitled “Getting Published While in Grad School,” which was presented for the Graduate Student Council of the American Educational Research Association at the association’s 2005 annual meeting. The authors discuss issues to consider when one is planning and writing a scholarly manuscript, and they offer several suggestions about substance, organization, and style. They also describe the journal submission and peer review process, including what to do if a journal editor’s decision is “revise and resubmit,” “accept pending revisions,” or “reject.”
Toward a Deeper Understanding of the Diversity Rationale
Authors: Moses Michele S , Chang Mitchell J
Published: June 2007

How did “diversity” come to occupy such a key position in public discourse, particularly concerning education policy? Given the widespread recognition of diversity, is there an intellectual tradition or philosophical orientation that informs its application to education? And, based on the traditions examined, what is gained and lost by focusing on the diversity rationale? This article examines the legal history of using the diversity rationale to justify affirmative action and the philosophical foundation of the ideal of diversity. This foundational analysis not only adds a new direction to the scholarship on the educational benefits of diversity but also illuminates the tensions associated with affirmative action in general and with this rationale in particular. The authors aim to influence educational practice in a direction that well serves a multi-racial/ethnic democratic society