bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Teacher Research Movement: A Decade Later
Authors: Cochran-Smith Marilyn , Lytle Susan L.
Published: June 2007

In this article, we discuss the latest renewal of interest in the U.S. in teacher research and other forms of practitioner inquiry, a movement that is now a little more than a decade old. We argue that part of what makes the current wave of interest a movement and not just the latest educational fad is that teacher research stems from several different, but in some ways compatible, intellectual traditions and educational projects. We identify five major trends that characterize the current U.S. movement: (a) the prominence of teacher research in teacher education, professional development, and school reform; (b) the development of conceptual frameworks and theories of teacher research; (c) the dissemination of teacher research beyond the local level; (d) the emergence of critique of teacher research and the teacher research movement; and (e) the transformative potential of teacher research on some aspects of university culture. Based on our own teacher research experiences and understandings of teacher research, we conclude with thoughts about the future of the movement in the face of the standards movement and other current reforms that create an educational climate quite different from that of a decade ago.
A Critical Appraisal of Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot's Portraiture as a Method of Educational Research
Authors: English Fenwick W.
Published: June 2007

Portraiture is a creative qualitative approach to engaging in research of leaders and groups in action and in telling the stories of individuals in life. It was first employed to great effect in Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot's 1983 AERA award-winning book, The Good High School. In an effort to expand and explain the application of portraiture as a method of scientific research, Lightfoot co- authored a second book with Jessica Hoffmann Davis entitled The Art and Science of Portraiture , released in 1997. This article critically examines the assumptions and methods of portraiture. It questions the authority of the portraitist in arbitrarily and unilaterally creating portraits, pointing out there is no external, independent referent for ascertaining the truth-telling capacity of the portraitist because the definition of truth is circular. Further more, the objective of portraiture to capture the "'essence" of the subject is implicitly a quest for a foundationaI and stable truth, which in turn requires the portraitist to become omniscient or else the resulting verbal canvas contains only a half or three-quarters truth. Portraiture represents an example of grand theory in the social sciences when such theories are on the decline. The article suggests that the problem with portraiture as a research method is to be found not in technique, but in its failure to interrogate what it conceals, i.e., the politics of vision.
The Strategic Education Research Program and the Public Value of Research
Authors: Willinsky John
Published: June 2007

The National Research Council seeks to obtain considerable federal funding for its proposal to improve student learning through its Strategic Education Research Program. With its focus on the effective translation of research into practice, however, the proposal fails to acknowledge or develop the public and professional value of research as a source of understanding, reflection, and action. In an effort to extend the proposal in this direction, this article presents the educational, political, and technological arguments for making the knowledge at issue more widely available and accessible, with an eye to increasing educational research’s contribution to the quality of public reason and deliberative democracy.
Teachers’ Work: Institutional Isomorphism and Cultural Variation in the U.S., Germany, and Japan
Authors: LeTendre Gerald K. , Baker David P. , Akiba Motoko , Goesling Brian , Wiseman Alex
Published: June 2007

Policy debates in the U.S. are increasingly informed by use of internationally generated, comparative data. Many arguments revolve around whether or not such comparison makes “cultural sense” or whether specific educational activities that appear successful in one nation are “culturally appropriate” in another. These arguments clash with the work of anthropologists and sociologists who demonstrate that global cultural dynamics influence national patterns of schooling around the world. Using both the survey and case study data from the Third International Math-Science Study (TIMSS), we examine the working conditions and beliefs of teachers in Japan, Germany, and the U.S. in order to assess the relative merits of competing theoretical perspectives. We find some differences in how teachers’ work is organized, but similarities in teachers’ belief patterns. We find that core teaching practices and teacher beliefs show little national variation, but that other aspects of teachers’ work (e.g., non-instructional duties) do show variation. We show that models of national cultures of learning or “national teaching scripts” may overemphasize cultural differences and underestimate the impact of institutional isomorphism in schooling. We argue that rather than change values, educational policy will be best served by identifying specific features of teacher work and analyzing how to improve these working conditions.
Educational Ethnography Past, Present, and Future: Ideas to Think With
Authors: Eisenhart Margaret
Published: June 2007

This paper addresses an issue that constantly plagues all social science research: How should we adjust our conceptual orientations and methodological priorities to take into account apparently changing human experiences and priorities? I take up this issue in the form of three “muddles,” or confusing situations, that confront me as an ethnographer trying to work in today’s contentious educational research atmosphere. In my case, the three muddles concern the meaning of “culture;” the enthusiasm (or not) for ethnography; and the researcher’s responsibility to those she writes about and hopes to help. First, I describe each muddle. Then I try to “tidy them up,” at least enough to give some direction to my future work. I find that some familiar ideas about culture, ethnography, and researcher responsibility are still very useful, but they should be thought about in new ways in light of present circumstances. [There are images that evoke] connections in the world today that make [those images] useful to think with. –Marilyn Strathern, Partial Connections
Racial and Ethnic Achievement Gap Trends: Reversing the Progress Toward Equity?
Authors: Lee Jaekyung
Published: June 2007

Racial and ethnic achievement gaps narrowed substantially in the 1970s and 1980s. As some of the gaps widened in the 1990s, there were some setbacks in the progress the nation made toward racial and ethnic equity. This article offers a look below the surface at Black-White and Hispanic-White achievement gap trends over the past 30 years. The literature review and data analysis identify the key factors that seem to have contributed to bifurcated patterns in achievement gaps. The conventional measures of socioeconomic and family conditions, youth culture and student behavior, and schooling conditions and practices might account for some of the achievement gap trends for a limited time period or for a particular racial and ethnic group. However, they do not fully capture the variations. This preliminary analysis of covariations in racial and ethnic gap patterns across several large data sets has implications for future research on the achievement of minority groups.
Response to K. Anderson-Levitt’s Rejoinder
Authors: LeTendre Gerald , Baker David , Akiba Motoko , Goesling Brian , Wiseman Alex
Published: June 2007

Anderson-Levitt raises several useful issues about our recent article on global versus national cultures, institutionalization, and comparative analysis of teaching in three nations.--In this response, we clarify some of our arguments and illustrate some of our differences in emphasis from Anderson-Levitt.
What Future Quantitative Social Science Research Could Look Like: Confidence Intervals for Effect Sizes
Authors: Thompson Bruce
Published: June 2007

An improved quantitative science would emphasize the use of confidence intervals (CIs), and especially CIs for effect sizes. This article reviews some definitions and issues related to developing these intervals. Confidence intervals for effect sizes are especially valuable because they facilitate meta-analytic thinking and the interpretation of intervals via comparison with the effect intervals from related prior studies. Several recommendations for the thoughtful use of such CIs are presented.
Reconsidering the Teacher Education Reform Debate: A Commentary on Cochran-Smith and Fries
Authors: Fenstermacher Gary D
Published: June 2007

In the November 2001 issue of Educational Researcher, Marilyn Cochran-Smith and Mary Kim Fries provided a penetrating analysis of the discourse that comprises the debate between those who advocate highly professionalized teacher preparation and those who seek simpler and more abundant routes to teacher training and certification. This commentary extends the Cochran-Smith and Fries analysis in several directions, inquiring into the democratic and anti-democratic features of the debate between those who would further professionalize teaching and those who would deregulate it. Among the matters probed here are the importance of thoughtful opposition, how and where on the political landscape that opposition is resolved, and who is engaged in the resolution.
Comment: Be Careful What You Wish For—You May Get It: Educational Research in the Spotlight
Authors: Pellegrino James W. , Goldman Susan R.
Published: June 2007

Two matters of deep concern in the Feuer, Towne, and Shavelson article are the focus of this commentary. First, the authors agree that legislative mandates reifying particular methodological approaches would be ill informed and misdirected. Rather, what is legislatively appropriate is a mandate for rigorous peer review of federally funded work combined with funding to support such a review infrastructure within federal agencies. Second, the authors argue that building a professional community poses a substantial challenge that demands action not only by individual researchers but also by institutions of higher education. A thorough reconsideration of researcher training is in order if the desired professional community is to be achieved.
Comment: Educational Research:The Hardest Science of All
Authors: Berliner David C.
Published: June 2007

Under the stewardship of the Department of Education, recent acts of Congress confuse the methods of science with the process of science, possibly doing great harm to scholarship in education. An otherwise exemplary National Research Council report to help clarify the nature of educational science fails to emphasize the complexity of scientific work in education due to the power of contexts, the ubiquity of interactions, and the problem of decade by findings interactions. Discussion of these issues leads to the conclusion that educational science is unusually hard to do and that the government may not be serious about wanting evidence-based practices in education
Examining Language in Context: The Need for New Research and Practice Paradigms in the Testing of English-Language Learners
Authors: Solano-Flores Guillermo , Trumbull Elise
Published: June 2007

Concerns about how to ensure the valid and equitable assessment of English-language learners (ELLs) and other students from culturally non-mainstream backgrounds are longstanding. This article proposes that new paradigms in the research and practice related to ELL testing are needed to address the complexities of language and culture more effectively. Three main areas are identified as key to this paradigm shift: test review, test development, and treatment of language as a source of measurement error. Research examples are provided that illustrate that the proposed paradigm shift is not only necessary but also possible. The authors propose the combined use of generalizability theory and research designs in which ELLs are given the same items in both English and their native languages—an approach that has the potential to reveal more fine-grained understandings of the interactions among first and second language profi-ciency, student content knowledge, and the linguistic and content demands of test items.
Mixed-Race School-Age Children: A Summary of Census 2000 Data
Authors: Lopez Alejandra M.
Published: June 2007

On the 2000 Census, people were allowed to identify themselves and their children by more than one race. This article examines these data to document the mixed-race population of children in the United States. Using data from California as an example, I consider various methods for tabulating or “counting” multiple-response race data, noting the impact of each strategy on demographic conclusions. I also discuss how federal guidelines on race classification will influence the collection and organization of race data in the field of education. Given the increasing prevalence of mixed-race youth, it is critical that we examine our ways of talking about and studying race and ethnicity in schools, allowing for fluidity and multiplicity in racial-ethnic identification.
Commentary: Reconceptualizing School Learning Using Insight From Expertise Research
Authors: Hatano Giyoo , Oura Yoko
Published: June 2007

Based on research on out-of-school expertise in workplaces and hobby activities, this commentary attempts to reconceptualize school learning and suggest desirable changes in it. Two topics are discussed in relation to the contributions of this special issue: (a) aspects of research on expert-novice differences and processes of gaining expertise that can be applied to school learning readily and profitably, and (b) situational and individual determinants of expertise differing in levels and types and their implications for learning in basic schooling.
Does No One Read Vygotsky’s Words? Commentary on Glassman
Authors: Gredler Margaret , Shields Carol
Published: June 2007

In the May 2001 issue of Educational Researcher, Michael Glassman proposed several commonalities in the thinking of John Dewey and Lev Vygotsky. However, in addition to general problems in the article (misstatements about scholars’ writings and a reliance on unsupported inferences), the discussion misconstrues major concepts and topics addressed by Vygotsky’s theory of cognitive development—psychological tools, the role of the cross-cultural study, the zone of proximal development, and the nature of conceptual thinking. In addition, Glassman attempted to force Vygotsky’s goals into a Deweyan framework. The result is a misportrayal of Vygotsky’s work.
Silent Listenings: Deconstructive Practices in Discourse-Based Research
Authors: Mazzei Lisa A.
Published: June 2007

In this article, I respond to Wanda Pillow’s (2000)challenge to Educational Researcher and other educational journals to provide more working examples of postmodern research not in an effort to contain such research, but in an effort to irrupt or break apart efforts at containment. Specifically, I present a methodological approach for listening to the “silences” revealed in my conversations with White teachers regarding their racial identity. Those silences, present both in the absence of speech and in speech acts, were “heard” through the use of a deconstructive practice for listening to the conversations. This deconstructive practice allowed the silences to disrupt the tranquil assurance of the spoken word.
What Good Is Polarizing Research Into Qualitative and Quantitative?
Authors: Ercikan Kadriye , Roth Wolff-Michael
Published: June 2007

In education research, a polar distinction is frequently made to describe and produce different kinds of research: quantitative versus qualitative. In this article, the authors argue against that polarization and the associated polarization of the “subjective” and the “objective,” and they question the attribution of generalizability to only one of the poles. The purpose of the article is twofold: (a) to demonstrate that this polarization is not meaningful or productive for education research, and (b) to propose an integrated approach to education research inquiry. The authors sketch how such integration might occur by adopting a continuum instead of a dichotomy of generalizability. They then consider how that continuum might be related to the types of research questions asked, and they argue that the questions asked should determine the modes of inquiry that are used to answer them.
Drawing New Maps: A Radical Cartography of Developmental Disabilities
Authors: Smith Phil
Published: June 2007

Developmental disability is explored using a post-disciplinary approach through social construction and cultural cartography metaphors. It is drawn on social maps as a cultural territory created by the totalizing, mystifying science of positivism. People described as "having" developmental disabilities inhabit landscapes that are pathologized and marginalized, surrounded by impermeable label borders created by processes of quantification and numbering. Although seen as necessary by some in order to obtain adequate services for their survival in schools and other institutions of modernist society, these borders do not benefit those they contain. Instead, cartographies created by special education and other human service practices become reified, commodified, and objectified, providing a rationale for continued de-humanization and oppression. Alternative metaphors to labeling and other educational practices are suggested as new ways of drawing cultural maps. Policy implications for those educational and research sites seeking to change professionalized discourse to include labeled, otherized persons are discussed.
The Relation Between Assessment Practices and Outcomes of Studies: The Case of Research on Prior Knowledge
Authors: Dochy Filip , Segers Mien , Buehl Michelle M.
Published: June 2007

The purpose of this review was to (a) overview prior knowledge research and its role in student performance, and (b) examine the effects of prior knowledge in relation to the method of assessment. We selected 183 articles, books, papers, and research reports related to prior knowledge. While prior knowledge generally had positive effects on students' performance, the effects varied by assessment method. More specifically, prior knowledge was more likely to have negative or no effects on performance when flawed assessment measures were used. However, in some studies, flawed methods yielded informative results. Thus, in educational research the implications of assessment measures must be considered when examining the effects of prior knowledge.
A Deafening Silence: History Textbooks and the Students Who Read Them
Authors: Paxton Richard J.
Published: June 2007

This article provides a review and analysis of research targeting the rift separating history written for adults and the historical texts aimed at K-12 audiences––specifically history textbooks. The role of personal agency in historical writing, both for those who write and those who read, is emphasized as an important element separating the two rhetorical genres. A body of research exploring what students learn from reading and the complex process of reasoning that goes along with interpreting their history textbooks is reviewed. In particular, it focuses on how students learn from texts and on recent trends in the study of teaching and learning history that underscore the role of authorship in historical texts. The author discusses the relative silence of authorial voices within the discourse of history textbooks, arguing that this anonymous, authoritative style of writing may be an important contributing factor to the impoverished conception of history noted in the literature of school history reform.
The Principal's Role in Creating Inclusive Schools for Diverse Students: A Review of Normative, Empirical, and Critical Literature on the Practice of Educational Administration
Authors: Riehl Carolyn J.
Published: June 2007

Public schools in the United States are serving a more heterogeneous student population now than ever before. Drawing on normative, empirical, and critical literatures, this review explores the role of school administrators in responding to the needs of diverse students. Three administrative tasks are highlighted: fostering new meanings about diversity, promoting inclusive school cultures and instructional programs, and building relationships between schools and communities. Administrative work that accomplishes these tasks can be thought of as a form of practice, with moral, epistemological, constitutive, and discursive dimensions. Inclusive administrative practice is rooted in values of equity and social justice; it requires administrators to bring their full subjectivities to bear on their practice, and it implicates language as a key mechanism for both oppression and transformation.
Rescaling Ordinal Data to Interval Data in Educational Research
Authors: Harwell Michael R. , Gatti Guido G.
Published: June 2007

Many statistical procedures used in educational research are described as requiring that dependent variables follow a normal distribution, implying an interval scale of measurement. Despite the desirability of interval scales, many dependent variables possess an ordinal scale of measurement in which the differences among values composing the scale are unequal in terms of what is being measured, permitting only a rank ordering of scores. This means that data possessing an ordinal scale will not satisfy the assumption of normality needed in many statistical procedures and may produce biased statistical results that threaten the validity of inferences. This article shows how the measurement technique known as item response theory can be used to rescale ordinal data to an interval scale. The authors provide examples of rescaling using student performance data and argue that educational researchers should routinely consider rescaling ordinal data using item response theory.
Applications of Social Capital in Educational Literature: A Critical Synthesis
Authors: Dika Sandra L. , Singh Kusum
Published: June 2007

This critical synthesis incorporates both theoretical and empirical literature on social capital since its original conceptualization by Bourdieu (1986) and Coleman (1988) in the late 1980s. The focus of the review is on educational literature that studies social capital and educational outcomes. After outlining their approach, the authors briefly trace the intellectual history of the concept and its transport to the field of education. Next, they undertake a critical review of the literature by first examining trends in conceptualization, methods, and outcomes and then assessing empirical support for claims that social capital is positively linked to educational and psychosocial outcomes. Finally, they discuss gaps in the conceptualization, measurement, and analysis of social capital in educational literature.
A Review of the Research on Interventions for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: What Works Best?
Authors: Purdie Nola , Hattie John , Carroll Annemaree
Published: June 2007

This meta-analysis examined 74 studies in which there had been an intervention that aimed to improve the behavioral, cognitive, and/or social functioning of people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or attention deficit disorder (ADD). Overall, there were larger effects of the various interventions on behavioral than on educational outcomes. These overall effects were larger for medical interventions than for educational, psychosocial, or parent training interventions, but there was little support for flow-over effects, from the reduction in behavior problems to enhanced educational outcomes. The effects on educational outcomes were greater for educational interventions than for other types of intervention.
Credentials, Signals, and Screens: Explaining the Relationship Between Schooling and Job Assignment
Authors: Bills David B.
Published: June 2007

The empirical relationship between educational attainment and credentials with socioeconomic attainment is well established, but why this relationship arises remains in doubt. The author of this article discusses seven types of middle-range theories meant to explain the relationship: human capital, screening (including filtering), signaling, control, cultural capital, institutional, and credentialist theories. In each, the central causal mechanism concerns how employers and job seekers acquire and use labor market information. The author argues that occupational status attainment and wage determination models are not adequate to explain the mechanisms underlying the process whereby the highly schooled become the highly placed in job hierarchies. He indicates the implications of transformations of the American labor market for further assessment of the relationship between educational credentials and job assignment.
Becoming Mathematicians: Women and Students of Color Choosing and Leaving Doctoral Mathematics
Authors: Herzig Abbe H.
Published: June 2007

Few women and even fewer African Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans complete doctoral degrees in mathematics in the United States. This article proposes a framework for understanding the small numbers of women and students of color who persist in doctoral mathematics based on the notion that academic and social integration are critical to persistence and that integration develops through particular types of participation in the communities of practice of graduate school. An integrated summary of previous research on attrition and persistence of doctoral students identifies particular obstacles faced by women and students of color in doctoral mathematics and directs attention to ways in which faculty and others involved in doctoral education can work to improve the persistence rates, experiences, and diversity of their doctoral students.
Personal Epistemology and Mathematics: A Critical Review and Synthesis of Research
Authors: Muis Krista R.
Published: June 2007

This review critically examines 33 studies on students’ epistemological beliefs about mathematics. Five categories were identified: beliefs about mathematics, development of beliefs, effects of beliefs on behavior, domain differences, and changing beliefs. Studies examining beliefs about mathematics revealed consistent patterns of nonavailing beliefs at all educational levels. Mathematics instructional environments were inferred to influence the development of beliefs about mathematics. All studies revealed significant relationships between beliefs and cognition, motivation, and academic achievement. Descriptive studies found relationships between beliefs and learning behaviors. Studies examining domain differences found significant variations in beliefs across disciplines. Studies focusing on changing beliefs were successful, which was attributed to appropriate changes in instructional style. The article concludes with suggestions for future research.
Missing Data in Educational Research: A Review of Reporting Practices and Suggestions for Improvement
Authors: Peugh James L. , Enders Craig K.
Published: June 2007

Missing data analyses have received considerable recent attention in the methodological literature, and two “modern” methods, multiple imputation and maximum likelihood estimation, are recommended. The goals of this article are to (a) provide an overview of missing-data theory, maximum likelihood estimation, and multiple imputation; (b) conduct a methodological review of missing-data reporting practices in 23 applied research journals; and (c) provide a demonstration of multiple imputation and maximum likelihood estimation using the Longitudinal Study of American Youth data. The results indicated that explicit discussions of missing data increased substantially between 1999 and 2003, but the use of maximum likelihood estimation or multiple imputation was rare; the studies relied almost exclusively on listwise and pairwise deletion.
Effects of Problem-Based Learning: A Meta-Analysis From the Angle of Assessment
Authors: Gijbels David , Dochy Filip , Van den Bossche Piet , Segers Mien
Published: June 2007

This meta-analysis investigated the influence of assessment on the reported effects of problem-based learning (PBL) by applying Sugrue’s (1995) model of cognitive components of problem solving. Three levels of the knowledge structure that can be targeted by assessment of problem solving are used as the main independent variables: (a) understanding of concepts, (b) understanding of the principles that link concepts, and (c) linking of concepts and principles to conditions and procedures for application. PBL had the most positive effects when the focal constructs being assessed were at the level of understanding principles that link concepts. The results suggest that the implications of assessment must be considered in examining the effects of problem-based learning and probably in all comparative education research.
The Role of School-Based Extracurricular Activities in Adolescent Development: A Comprehensive Review and Future Directions
Authors: Feldman Amy F. , Matjasko Jennifer L.
Published: June 2007

This article reviews the contemporary literature on school-based activity participation, focusing on patterns of participation, academic achievement, substance use, sexual activity, psychological adjustment, delinquency, and young adult outcomes. Also, the authors discuss possible mediators and moderators of extracurricular activity participation in regard to adolescent development. The review indicates that the associations between school-based activity participation and these outcomes are mostly positive but that the picture becomes mixed once moderator variables are included. The authors suggest areas for future research that include using new methods for measuring activities and applying an overarching theoretical framework to investigations of extracurricular activities and adolescent development. Finally, to move toward a causal model of activities and adolescent functioning, future research must consider the mechanisms through which activities exert their influence on development. The authors propose several possible mechanisms of participation in terms of adjustment during adolescence and young adulthood.
A Synthesis of Research on Language of Reading Instruction for English Language Learners
Authors: Slavin Robert E. , Cheung Alan
Published: June 2007

This article reviews experimental studies comparing bilingual and English-only reading programs for English language learners. The review method is best-evidence synthesis, which uses a systematic literature search, quantification of outcomes as effect sizes, and extensive discussion of individual studies that meet inclusion standards. A total of 17 studies met the inclusion standards. Among 13 studies focusing on elementary reading for Spanish-dominant students, 9 favored bilingual approaches on English reading measures, and 4 found no differences, for a median effect size of +0.45. Weighted by sample size, an effect size of +0.33 was computed, which is significantly different from zero (p < .05). One of two studies of heritage languages (French and Choctaw) and two secondary studies favored bilingual approaches. The review concludes that although the number of high-quality studies is small, existing evidence favors bilingual approaches, especially paired bilingual strategies that teach reading in the native language and English at different times each day. However, further research using longitudinal, randomized designs is needed to determine how best to ensure reading success for all English language learners.
K–12 Race-Conscious Student Assignment Policies: Law, Social Science, and Diversity
Authors: Welner Kevin G.
Published: June 2007

This fall, the Supreme Court will consider the constitutionality of race-conscious K–12 student assignment policies. At a time when schools nationwide have become more racially isolated, some districts have used such policies to mitigate segregation. This article examines these policies in light of the Supreme Court’s recent decisions concerning affirmative action at universities. It explores the legal implications of differences between higher education and K–12 schooling, considering what the differences might mean for particular diversity goals and for policies designed to meet those goals. Beginning with a concise summary of research on the effects of K–12 student diversity, the article places the research in a current legal context, explaining relevant law, what the courts consider important, and how research addresses evidentiary issues.
Contemporary Discourses of Citizenship
Authors: Abowitz Kathleen Knight , Harnish Jason
Published: June 2007

Meanings of “citizenship,” a concept that has informed teaching practices since nation-states first institutionalized schooling, are shaped over time and through cultural struggles. This article presents a conceptual framework for the discourses that currently construct the meanings of citizenship in contemporary Western cultures, particularly the United States. Using discourse analysis, the authors examine texts related to citizenship and citizenship education from 1990 through 2003, identifying seven distinct but overlapping frameworks that ascribe meaning to citizenship. The “civic republican” and “liberal” frameworks are the most influential in shaping current citizenship education; five others are the most active in contesting the terrain of citizenship practices in lived political arenas. The “transnational” and “critical” discourses have yet to significantly challenge the dominant discourses that shape citizenship education in schools. This article questions the view of political life in Western democracies that is promoted by the dominant discourses of citizenship in K–12 schooling.
The Long-Term Effects of Small Classes: A Five-Year Follow-Up of the Tennessee Class Size Experiment
Authors: Nye Barbara , Hedges Larry V. , Konstantopoulos Spyros
Published: June 2007

Reduction of class size to increase academic achievement is a policy option that is currently of great interest. Although the results of small-scale randomized experiments and some interpretations of large-scale econometric studies point to positive effects of small classes, the evidence has been seen by some scholars as ambiguous. Project STAR in Tennessee, a 4-year, large-scale randomized experiment on the effects of class size, provided persuasive evidence that small classes had immediate effects on academic achievement. However, it was not clear whether these effects would persist over time as the children returned to classes of regular size or would fade, as have the effects of most other early education interventions. This article reports analyses of a 5-year follow-up of the students in that experiment. The analyses described here suggest that class size effects persist for at least 5 years and remain large enough to be important for educational policy. Thus, small classes in early grades appear to have lasting benefits.
Does Teacher Certification Matter? High School Teacher Certification Status and Student Achievement
Authors: Goldhaber Dan D. , Brewer Dominic J.
Published: June 2007

We empirically test how 12th-grade students of teachers with probationary certification, emergency certification, private school certification, or no certification in their subject area compare relative to students of teachers who have standard certification in their subject area. We also determine whether specific state-by-state differences in teacher licensure requirements systematically affect student achievement. In mathematics, we find teachers who have a standard certification have a statistically significant positive impact on student test scores relative to teachers who either hold private school certification or are not certified in their subject area. Contrary to conventional wisdom, mathematics and science students who have teachers with emergency credentials do no worse than students whose teachers have standard teaching credentials.
Inside Large and Small High Schools: Curriculum and Social Relations
Authors: Lee Valerie E. , Smerdon Becky A. , Alfeld-Liro Corinne , Brown Shelly L.
Published: June 2007

This paper investigates how enrollment size influences two organizational features of schools: curriculum and social relations. We interview teachers, principals, guidance counselors, and students in six public high schools (large and small schools in urban, suburban, and rural locations) and three schools of choice: two Catholic schools (one large, one small) and a small public school. All school members saw size as important. In small schools, student head counts translated directly into revenue that "bought" faculty and facilities. In large schools, members worried about anonymity. Social relations were more personal in the small high schools, although sometimes to students' detriment. Curriculum offerings in the small public schools, necessarily modest, were targeted toward the middle of the ability distribution. Although students in the large and small public schools were free to choose among a broad array of courses, the Catholic high schools offered a mostly academic curriculum to all students. Policy issues, especially about making schools smaller and basing the high school curriculum on a full "student choice model," are discussed.
Employment During Middle School: The Effects on Academic Achievement in the U.S. and Abroad
Authors: Post David , Pong Suet-ling
Published: June 2007

An international debate over student employment turns on the question of whether work generally helps or harms children's development. This article focuses on two indicators of child development that are goals in all education systems: math and science achievement. After reviewing the major theoretical perspectives on school achievement and employment, we propose a general framework for analyzing their relationship. We then present the results of our cross-national study. From the U.S., we use cross-sectional and longitudinal NELS data. In the U.S. and in 22 other nations, we use cross-sectional TIMSS data to examine the effects of after-school work during the eighth grade. Our findings from each investigation are consistent: For boys, and to a lesser extent for girls, there are negative effects on math and science achievement that are associated with adolescent employment, even after controlling for family background and, in the NELS, after controlling for prior achievement.
The Federal Government as First Creditor on Student Loans: Politics and Policy
Authors: Somers Patricia , Hollis James M. , Stokes Tim
Published: June 2007

Are federal student loans social policy or big business? We explore that question by examining whether, among other debts, student loans should be non-dischargeable in bankruptcy. Should the federal government be the first creditor in line for bankruptcies that involve student loans? We examine the debate over this question, from its beginning in the 1970s to the present. We find considerable dissonance between the notions of student loans as social policy and as a business proposition.
Leadership of Inquiry: Building and Sustaining Capacity for School Improvement
Authors: Copland Michael A.
Published: June 2007

This article reports on findings from a longitudinal study of leadership in the context of a region-wide school renewal effort entitled the Bay Area School Reform Collaborative (BASRC). BASRC's theory of action is multifaceted, incorporating a focus on distributed leadership, continual inquiry into practice, and collective decision-making at the school. Analysis of qualitative and quantitative data sources suggests the use of an inquiry process is centrally important to building capacity for school improvement, and a vehicle for developing and distributing leadership. Within a sample of 16 schools where reform processes are most mature, the principal's role shifts to focus more narrowly on key personnel issues, framing questions and supporting inquiry processes. Findings provide evidence of the efficacy of policy strategies rooted in new understandings of school leadership.
Are We Asking the Right Questions? Using Cognitive Interviews to Improve Surveys in Education Research
Authors: Desimone Laura M. , Le Floch Kerstin Carlson
Published: June 2007

Improving the validity and reliability of surveys is a critical part of the response to the call for improved rigor of education research, policy analysis and evaluation. Too often we create inquiry tools without validating our measures against how respondents interpret our questions, and therefore collect data of questionable quality. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how cognitive interviews can be a useful method for improving the reliability and validity of surveys used in education research. The cognitive interviews described in this article reveal the complex thought processes in which our respondents engaged as they discussed their responses to questions concerning standards, assessments and professional development, and the unanticipated interpretations of seemingly straightforward constructs. We present a number of examples to illustrate complexities that education researchers face in trying to design large-scale surveys to answer critical educational policy questions, and the substantive insights that can be gained from the use of cognitive interviews. The use of cognitive interviews in the development of surveys has been for the most part neglected by the educational research community, and we suggest that more attention be paid to this methodology as a way of improving survey research.
Shaping Policies Related to Developmental Education: An Evaluation Using the Regression-Discontinuity Design
Authors: Moss Brian G. , Yeaton William H.
Published: June 2007

Utilizing the regression-discontinuity research design, this article explores the effectiveness of a developmental English program in a large, multicampus community college. Routinely collected data were extracted from existing records of a cohort of first-time college students followed for approximately 6 years (N = 1,473). Results are consistent with a conclusion that students’ participation in the program increases English academic achievement to levels similar to those of students not needing developmental coursework. The findings are also consistent with a conclusion that those students in greatest need of developmental English benefit the most from the program. This study provides an inexpensive, inferentially rigorous, program evaluation strategy that can be applied with few additional efforts to assess existing programs and to guide policy decisions.
Estimation of Causal Effects via Principal Stratification When Some Outcomes are Truncated by “Death”
Authors: Zhang Junni L. , Rubin Donald B.
Published: June 2007

The topic of “truncation by death” in randomized experiments arises in many fields, such as medicine, economics and education. Traditional approaches addressing this issue ignore the fact that the outcome after the truncation is neither “censored” nor “missing,” but should be treated as being defined on an extended sample space. Using an educational example to illustrate, we will outline here a formulation for tackling this issue, where we call the outcome “truncated by death” because there is no hidden value of the outcome variable masked by the truncating event. We first formulate the principal stratification ( Frangakis & Rubin, 2002 ) approach, and we then derive large sample bounds for causal effects within the principal strata, with or without various identification assumptions. Extensions are then briefly discussed.
Discrete-Time Survival Mixture Analysis
Authors: Muthén Bengt , Masyn Katherine
Published: June 2007

This article proposes a general latent variable approach to discrete-time survival analysis of nonrepeatable events such as onset of drug use. It is shown how the survival analysis can be formulated as a generalized latent class analysis of event history indicators. The latent class analysis can use covariates and can be combined with the joint modeling of other outcomes such as repeated measures for a related process. It is shown that conventional discrete-time survival analysis corresponds to a single-class latent class analysis. Multiple-class extensions are proposed, including the special cases of a class of long-term survivors and classes defined by outcomes related to survival. The estimation uses a general latent variable framework, including both categorical and continuous latent variables and incorporated in the Mplus program. Estimation is carried out using maximum likelihood via the EM algorithm. Two examples serve as illustrations. The first example concerns recidivism after incarceration in a randomized field experiment. The second example concerns school removal related to the development of aggressive behavior in the classroom.
Computational Tools for Probing Interactions in Multiple Linear Regression, Multilevel Modeling, and Latent Curve Analysis
Authors: Preacher Kristopher J. , Curran Patrick J. , Bauer Daniel J.
Published: June 2007

Simple slopes, regions of significance, and confidence bands are commonly used to evaluate interactions in multiple linear regression (MLR) models, and the use of these techniques has recently been extended to multilevel or hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) and latent curve analysis (LCA). However, conducting these tests and plotting the conditional relations is often a tedious and error-prone task. This article provides an overview of methods used to probe interaction effects and describes a unified collection of freely available online resources that researchers can use to obtain significance tests for simple slopes, compute regions of significance, and obtain confidence bands for simple slopes across the range of the moderator in the MLR, HLM, and LCA contexts. Plotting capabilities are also provided.
Resistance Heating
Authors: Spannhake Jan , Helwig Andreas , Friedberger Alois , Müller Gerhard , Hellmich Wolfgang
Published: June 2007

In this article, we focus on resistance heating in miniaturized electronic devices, i.e., thermal sensors and thermal actuators. Such devices are transducers of energy, which involve thermal energy conversion on an intermediate stage. In such devices, heat dissipation is not an unwanted by‐product of the energy conversion process but constitutes the central mechanism that underlies device operation. Some industrially important kinds of such sensor and actuator devices are explained in more detail.

Introduction

Thermal Sensors and Actuators

Thermal Microstructures

Specific Sensor Applications

Specific actuator applications

Mathematical modeling of thermal microstructures
Reconfigurable Computing
Authors: Chung‐Kuan Cheng , Kahng Andrew B. , Leong Philip H.W.
Published: June 2007

Reconfigurable computing is the application of adaptable fabrics to solve computational problems, often taking advantage the flexibility available in the fabric to produce problem‐specific architectures that achieve high performance because of customization. Reconfigurable computing has been successfully applied to fields as diverse as digital signal processing, cryptography, bioinformatics, logic emulation, CAD tool acceleration, scientific computing, and rapid prototyping.

Although Estrin‐first proposed the idea of a reconfigurable system in the form of a fixed plus variable structure computer in 1960it has only been in recent years that reconfigurable fabrics have reached sufficient density to make them a compelling implementation platform for high Performance applications and embedded systems. In this article, intended for the non‐specialist, we describe some of the basic concepts, tools and architectures associated with reconfigurable computing.