bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Getting to the What, How, and Why of Diversity on Campus
Authors: Gurin Patricia , Nagda Biren (Ratnesh) A.
Published: June 2007

What kinds of diversity initiatives and cross-racial interactions foster learning among diverse students? In response to that question, the authors trace various social psychological theories that inform campus diversity programs. Making a case for moving beyond traditional intergroup harmony or intragroup solidarity approaches, the authors elaborate on a model that uses group identities as resources for intergroup understanding and collaboration. This model, which we call intergroup dialogue, engages students in exploring commonalities and differences in group identities and experiences, working constructively with intergroup conflicts, and building collective identities as socially just people. The article concludes with an agenda for future research addressing both substantive and methodological issues.
Epistemological Diversity and Education Research: Much Ado About Nothing Much?
Authors: Siegel Harvey
Published: June 2007

Research in education and the training of education researchers are often said to require attention to epistemological diversity: Researchers ought to be familiar with different ways of knowing and diverse epistemological perspectives. But the notion is unclear. What is “epistemological diversity”? What exactly is epistemological about it? Why is it important for education researchers to be knowledgeable about it? In addressing these questions, I will argue that the call for epistemological diversity is not, where justified, as radical or significant as it is often taken to be; and that, where it is radical or significant, it is not justified.
What Doesn’t Work: The Challenge and Failure of the What Works Clearinghouse to Conduct Meaningful Reviews of Studies of Mathematics Curricula
Authors: Schoenfeld Alan H.
Published: June 2007

An early version of this article, discussing curricular interventions in mathematics, was written for the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC). The Institute of Education Sciences (IES), which funds WWC, instructed WWC not to publish it. An expanded version, written at WWC’s invitation for a special issue of an independent electronic journal and a book to be published by WWC, argued that methodological problems rendered some WWC mathematics reports potentially misleading and/or uninterpretable. IES instructed WWC staff not to publish their chapters—thus canceling the publication of the special issue and the book. Those actions, chronicled here, raise important issues concerning the role of federal agencies and their contracting organizations in suppressing scientific research that casts doubt on current or intended federal policy.
Great Ethical Divides: Bridging the Gap Between Institutional Review Boards and Researchers
Authors: Hemmings Annette
Published: June 2007

This article addresses the difficulties that educational ethnographers and qualitative researchers have experienced with what appear to be great ethical divides between their research approaches and the approval processes of institutional review boards. The author begins with a brief discussion of ethical issues involving human subjects in education research, then explains the divides as largely a consequence of different ethical frameworks and orientations toward applications of the basic ethical principles of respect for persons, beneficence, and justice. She also discusses the challenges of bureaucratic arrangements established to ensure federal compliance. She concludes with strategies for bridging the divides, with emphasis on the importance of representation, communication, education, and practical academic acumen.
Disproportionate Representation of African American Students in Special Education: Acknowledging the Role of White Privilege and Racism
Authors: Blanchett Wanda J.
Published: June 2007

This article places the problem of disproportionate representation of African American students in special education in the context of the White privilege and racism that exist in American society as a whole. The author discusses how educational resource allocation, inappropriate curriculum and pedagogy, and inadequate teacher preparation have contributed to the problem of disproportionate representation. More important, she argues that remedies designed to address the disproportionality challenge must place the aforementioned structural forces at the center of education research, policy, and practice.
From Content to Context: Videogames as Designed Experience
Authors: Squire Kurt
Published: June 2007

Interactive immersive entertainment, or videogame playing, has emerged as a major entertainment and educational medium. As research and development initiatives proliferate, educational researchers might benefit by developing more grounded theories about them. This article argues for framing game play as a designed experience. Players’ understandings are developed through cycles of performance within the gameworlds, which instantiate particular theories of the world (ideological worlds). Players develop new identities both through game play and through the gaming communities in which these identities are enacted. Thus research that examines game-based learning needs to account for both kinds of interactions within the game-world and in broader social contexts. Examples from curriculum developed for Civilization III and Supercharged! show how games can communicate powerful ideas and open new identity trajectories for learners.
Preparing Teachers for Dialectally Diverse Classrooms
Authors: Godley Amanda J. , Sweetland Julie , Wheeler Rebecca S. , Minnici Angela , Carpenter Brian D.
Published: June 2007

Scholarship on dialect diversity in classrooms has yielded two seemingly incompatible lines of research. Although numerous pedagogical approaches have been shown to provide productive alternatives to traditional responses to stigmatized dialects, research on public perceptions and teachers’ attitudes suggests that negative beliefs about stigmatized dialects and the students who speak them are deeply entrenched in U.S. society. The authors argue that teacher preparation grounded in socio-linguistic understandings of dialect diversity can help teachers develop productive pedagogical responses to students’ language choices. Drawing on previous research and their own work with teachers, the authors present a framework for preparing teachers for dialectally diverse classrooms. Recommendations include anticipating resistance, addressing issues of identity and power, and emphasizing pedagogical applications of sociolinguistic research.
Made in the (Multicultural) U.S.A.: Unpacking Tensions of Race, Culture, Gender, and Sexuality in Education
Authors: Asher Nina
Published: June 2007

The author discusses the challenges of educating teachers to engage, rather than deny or repress, differences that emerge at the dynamic, context-specific intersections of race, culture, gender, and sexuality. Although multicultural education discourse is well established, stereotypic representations and repressive silences persist in the sphere of practice. Interweaving postcolonial and feminist theories with reflections emerging from her multicultural teacher education practice, the author highlights tensions of doing multicultural work. She discusses how silencing forces operate even in seemingly “open” micro and macro contexts. To illustrate these arguments, the author engages two areas that have received limited attention in multicultural discourse itself: representations of Asian Americans and differences of sexuality. She recommends that the multicultural teacher education classroom serve as a site for modeling critical, self-reflexive engagement with difference and democratic participation, even as she acknowledges the limits of individual efforts in the process of educational and social change.
Equity Implications Based on the Conceptions of Science Achievement in Major Reform Documents
Authors: Lee Okhee
Published: June 2007

The construct of science achievement–what K-12 students should know and be able to do in science–is central to science education reform. This paper analyzes current conceptions of science achievement in major reform documents, and considers equity implications for science achievement and assessment in the context of standards-based and systemic reform. The paper reviews documents on science content standards (NSES and Project 2061), performance standards (New Standards), and large-scale assessment frameworks (1996 NAEP and TIMSS). Although the documents emphasize equity as the key principle, they present the assimilationist perspective by defining science and science achievement in terms of the Western science tradition with little consideration of alternative views of science and ways of knowing from diverse backgrounds. Based on the conception of equity in terms of social justice, the paper proposes the cultural anthropological perspective to develop a mare inclusive and broader view of science achievement and assessment for diverse students.
Telecommunication in the Classroom: Rhetoric versus Reality
Authors: Fabos Bettina , Young Michelle D.
Published: June 2007

Telecommunication exchange projects are currently marketed as curriculum supplements that conveniently satisfy three key K-12 educational reform objectives: better writing skills, enhanced multicultural awareness, and better job preparation for a rapidly expanding global economy. This paper analyzes the educational discourse surrounding telecommunication exchanges, and argues that much of the current research is contradictory, inconclusive, and possibly misleading. The paper also illustrates how the often overly optimistic claims about technology-based projects are problematic in light of the larger, exceedingly complex role of technology in society.
Toward a Theory of Anti-Oppressive Education
Authors: Kumashiro Kevin K.
Published: June 2007

This article reviews the developing literature on anti-oppressive education (i.e., education that works against various forms of oppression) by summarizing and critiquing the four primary approaches that educational researchers have taken in conceptualizing (1) the nature of oppression and (2) the curricula, pedagogies, and policies needed to bring about change. These four approaches to anti-oppressive education are Education for the Other, Education About the Other, Education that Is Critical of Privileging and Othering, and Education that Changes Students and Society. Engaging in anti-oppressive education requires not only. using an amalgam of these four approaches. In order to address the multiplicity and situatedness of oppression and the complexities of teaching and learning educators also constantly need to "look beyond" the field of educational research to explore the possibilities of theories that remain marginalized, including post-structuralist and psychoanalytic perspectives. This article concludes with implications for future research.
Student Peer Assessment in Higher Education: A Meta-Analysis Comparing Peer and Teacher Marks
Authors: Falchikov Nancy , Goldfinch Judy
Published: June 2007

Forty-eight quantitative peer assessment studies comparing peer and teacher marks were subjected to meta-analysis. Peer assessments were found to resemble more closely teacher assessments when global judgements based on well understood criteria are used rather than when marking involves assessing several individual dimensions. Similarly, peer assessments better resemble faculty assessments when academic products and processes, rather than professional practice, are being rated. Studies with high design quality appear to be associated with more valid peer assessments than those which have poor experimental design. Hypotheses concerning the greater validity of peer assessments in advanced rather than beginner courses and in science and engineering rather than in other discipline areas were not supported. In addition, multiple ratings were not found to be better than ratings by singletons. The study pointed to differences between self and peer assessments, which are explored briefly. Results are discussed and fruitful areas for further research in peer assessment are suggested.
Students' Need for Belonging in the School Community
Authors: Osterman Karen F.
Published: June 2007

Defining sense of community as a feeling of belongingness within a group, this article reviews research about students' sense of acceptance within the school community to address three questions: Is this experience of belongingness important in an educational setting? Do students currently experience school as a community? And how do schools influence students' sense of community? Conceptually, the review reflects a social cognitive perspective on motivation. This theoretical framework maintains that individuals have psychological needs, that satisfaction of these needs affects perception and behavior, and that characteristics of the social context influence how well these needs are met. The concern here is how schools, as social organizations, address what is defined as a basic psychological need, the need to experience belongingness. The findings suggest that students' experience of acceptance influences multiple dimensions of their behavior but that schools adopt organizational practices that neglect and may actually undermine students' experience of membership in a supportive community.
The Constitution of Bilingual/ESL Education as a Disciplinary Practice: Genealogical Explorations
Authors: Grinberg Jaime , Saavedra Elizabeth R.
Published: June 2007

This article provides a cultural and political critique of the constitution of bilingual/English-as-a-second-language (ESL) education as a disciplinary practice in the case of New Mexico. Using genealogy and postcolonial, post-structural, and critical frameworks, this article claims that the directions advanced by the Chicano/Chicana movement were lost. Instead, what emerged was a field that nurtured a mix of symbolic colonization and docilization through the construction of a settlement that controls thought and behavior, perpetuating misrecognition in a Bourdieuian sense. Illusion, collusion, and delusion have enabled the dominance of psycholinguistic approaches. Problematizing the constitution of bilingual/ESL education within a cultural and political sphere could foster an emancipatory education for marginalized students.
A Multidisciplinary Analysis of the Nature, Meaning, and Measurement of Trust
Authors: Tschannen-Moran Megan , Hoy Wayne K.
Published: June 2007

This multidisciplinary review draws on both theoretical and empirical literature on trust spanning the past four decades and brings that literature to bear on relationships of trust in schools. Studies involving a wide variety of methodologies have helped to clarify the meaning of trust in organizational settings. First, the authors examine the importance of trust for schools. Then they explore the nature and meaning of trust and the dynamics of trust (initiating, sustaining, breaking, and repairing trust). Finally, they synthesize the research on trust as it relates to organizational processes such as communication, collaboration, climate, organizational citizenship, collective efficacy, achievement, and effectiveness.
Extrinsic Rewards and Intrinsic Motivation in Education: Reconsidered Once Again
Authors: Deci Edward L. , Koestner Richard , Ryan Richard M.
Published: June 2007

The finding that extrinsic rewards can undermine intrinsic motivation has been highly controversial since it first appeared ( Deci, 1971 ). A meta-analysis published in this journal (Cameron & Pierce, 1994) concluded that the undermining effect was minimal and largely inconsequential for educational policy. However, a more recent meta-analysis (Deci, Koestner, & Ryan, 1999 ) showed that the Cameron and Pierce meta-analysis was seriously flawed and that its conclusions were incorrect. This article briefly reviews the results of the more recent meta-analysis, which showed that tangible rewards do indeed have a substantial undermining effect. The meta-analysis provided strong support for cognitive evaluation theory (Deci & Ryan, 1980), which Cameron and Pierce had advocated abandoning. The results are briefly discussed in terms of their relevance for educational practice.
If Meaning Is Constructed, What Is It Made From? Toward a Cultural Theory of Reading
Authors: Smagorinsky Peter
Published: June 2007

This essay explores the notion of meaning, particularly as applied to acts of producing and reading texts. The analysis is grounded in principles of activity theory and cultural semiotics and focuses on the ways in which reading takes place among readers and texts in a culturally mediated, codified experience characterized here as the “transactional zone.” The author builds on Vygotsky’s work to argue that meaning comes through a reader’s generation of new texts in response to the text being read. As a means of accounting for this phenomenon, examples are provided from studies illustrating, for instance, Vygotsky’s zones of meaning, the dialogic role of composing during a reading transaction, and the necessity of culturally constructed subjectivity in meaning construction. The author concludes by locating meaning in the transactional zone in which signs become tools for extending or developing concepts and the richness of meaning coming from the potential of a reading transaction to generate new texts.

“When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said in a rather scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.” (Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass )
Effects of Interventions to Promote Self-Determination for Individuals With Disabilities
Authors: Algozzine Bob , Browder Diane , Karvonen Meagan , Test David W. , Wood Wendy M.
Published: June 2007

Self-determination, the combination of skills, knowledge, and beliefs that enable a person to engage in goal-directed, self-regulated, autonomous behavior, has become an important part of special education and related services for people with disabilities. Research on the outcomes of self-determination interventions has been sparse. In this study, we conducted a comprehensive review of literature and used quantitative methods of meta-analysis to investigate what self-determination interventions have been studied, what groups of individuals with disabilities have been taught self-determination, and what levels of outcomes have been achieved using self-determination interventions. Fifty-one studies were identified that intervened to promote one or more components of self-determination; 22 were included in meta-analyses. The median effect size across 100 group intervention comparisons (contained in 9 studies) was 1.38. In contrast, 13 single subject studies included 18 interventions and produced a median percentage of nonoverlapping data (PND) of 95% with a range of 64% to 100%. Seven of the interventions had a PND of 100%, suggesting strong effects. Although all components of self-determination were reflected in this research, most focused on teaching choice making to individuals with moderate and severe mental retardation or self-advocacy to individuals with learning disabilities or mild mental retardation. The outcomes are discussed regarding the need to demonstrate that self-determination can be taught and learned, and can make a difference in the lives of individuals with disabilities.
Small Group and Individual Learning with Technology: A Meta-Analysis
Authors: Lou Yiping , Abrami Philip C. , d’Apollonia Sylvia
Published: June 2007

This study quantitatively synthesized the empirical research on the effects of social context (i.e., small group versus individual learning) when students learn using computer technology. In total, 486 independent findings were extracted from 122 studies involving 11,317 learners. The results indicate that, on average, small group learning had significantly more positive effects than individual learning on student individual achievement (mean ES = + 0.15), group task performance (mean ES = + 0.31), and several process and affective outcomes. However, findings on both individual achievement and group task performance were significantly heterogeneous. Through weighted least squares univariate and multiple regression analyses, we found that variability in each of the two cognitive outcomes could be accounted for by a few technology, task, grouping, and learner characteristics in the studies.
Preparation of Educational Researchers in Philosophical Foundations of Inquiry
Authors: Paul James L. , Marfo Kofi
Published: June 2007

In this article we examine the nature, scope, and significance of basic philosophical issues in the preparation of researchers. Following a brief review of the history of educational research and a discussion of the philosophy of science supporting much of this research, we present and discuss two central assertions in the context of the growing prominence of paradigmatic and methodological pluralism in education and the human sciences. The first assertion is that the curriculum for preparing researchers in education continues to be dominated by the epistemology of logical empiricism, the philosophy of science undergirding the quantitative research tradition. The second assertion is that research education tends to place a disproportionate emphasis on technical methods and procedures, with little attention given to the philosophical, moral, and political values that underpin procedural practices and that frame, however tacitly, the context for knowledge production. We argue that the hegemony of quantitative science and the narrow preoccupation with methodological rigor as the singular yardstick for judging good science are serious problems requiring immediate attention in research education programs. We present a case for expanding the research education curriculum to include a strong and broad foundation in the history, philosophy, sociology, and ethics of inquiry. To illustrate how this can be achieved, we propose two features of an intellectual culture that may be developed: (a) course work on philosophical issues in inquiry, which doctoral students should be required to take in preparation for—or as a supplement to—technical courses on statistical methods and research design; and (b) an atmosphere of interdisciplinary and multiparadigmatic collaborative research that provides an informal context for students to experience and practice the values fostered by such course work.
Computer-Assisted Instruction in Support of Beginning Reading Instruction: A Review
Authors: Blok H. , Oostdam R , Otter M. E. , Overmaat M.
Published: June 2007

How effective are computer-assisted instruction (CAI) programs in supporting beginning readers? This article reviews 42 studies published from 1990 onward, comprising a total of 75 experimental comparisons. The corrected overall effect size estimate was d = 0.19 (± 0.06). Effect sizes were found to depend on two study characteristics: the effect size at the time of pre-testing and the language of instruction (English or other). These two variables accounted for 61 percent of the variability in effect sizes. Although an effect size of d = 0.2 shows little promise, caution is needed because of the poor quality of many studies.
Evaluating Evaluations: The Case of Parent Involvement Programs
Authors: Mattingly Doreen J. , Prislin Radmila , McKenzie Thomas L. , Rodriguez James L. , Kayzar Brenda
Published: June 2007

This article analyzes 41 studies that evaluated K–12 parent involvement programs in order to assess claims that such programs are an effective means of improving student learning. It examines the characteristics of the parent involvement programs, as well as the research design, data, and analytical techniques used in program evaluation. Our examination of evaluations found little empirical support for the widespread claim that parent involvement programs are an effective means of improving student achievement or changing parent, teacher, and student behavior. We do not conclude that programs are ineffective. Rather, serious design, methodological, and analytical flaws inherent in studies evaluating the effectiveness of parent involvement programs must be addressed before definite conclusions about program effectiveness can be reached. The findings of this study are particularly significant given the substantial federal support for parent involvement.
Teachers’ Meanings Regarding Educational Practice
Authors: van den Berg Rudolf
Published: June 2007

In this article, a number of scientific schools of thought and research results are reviewed and found to show the importance of identifying the existential attributions of teachers. Important points of anchor are existential phenomenology and symbolic interactionism, the approach to organizations as emotional arenas, social-psychological theories, concerns theory, and, finally, a number of different perspectives on the professional identities of teachers. Next, those policy developments responsible for the emergence of specific existential attributions are considered. At the same time, the results of some recent studies attempting to explain the emergence of certain existential attributions are discussed: studies of the professional development of teachers, analyses of the feelings of uncertainty and concerns that occur among teachers during innovations, and research on tolerance of uncertainty among teachers during the current intensification of their jobs. Finally, redesigning the innovation process is discussed with an eye to just how the existential attributions of teachers can best be handled.
Secondary Career and Technical Education and Comprehensive School Reform: Implications for Research and Practice
Authors: Castellano Marisa , Stringfield Sam , Stone James R.
Published: June 2007

In the 1990s, federal legislation authorizing funding for secondary vocational education, increasingly called career and technical education (CTE), began to mandate accountability requirements such as improved academic achievement. These requirements have necessitated a search for ways to integrate CTE into broader school reforms that have improved student achievement as their goal. This review examines research on the effects of CTE reform efforts in general and on efforts to meld CTE with comprehensive secondary school reforms. The authors found that the intersection of CTE with comprehensive school reform is under-researched. However, the studies reviewed here reveal the potential benefit for research and practice in re-examining CTE as a means of preparing our nation’s youth for the future.
Playing Devil’s Advocate: Evaluating the Literature of the WAC/WID Movement
Authors: Ochsner Robert , Fowler Judy
Published: June 2007

This review considers evidence cited in support of and in opposition to Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) and Writing in the Disciplines (WID). After defining WAC and WID terms and concepts and reviewing the literature on key developments of the WAC/WID movement, the authors recommend that key terms be defined more precisely and that multimodal learning be adopted more consistently to address varied learning styles. Noting the complexities of affirming student achievement, specifically when success is attributed without qualification to WAC/WID initiatives, the authors question evidence cited in support of WAC/WID goals and pedagogies. They also consider the monetary costs of WAC/WID initiatives.
New Learning and the Classification of Learning Environments in Secondary Education
Authors: de Kock Adrianus , Sleegers Peter , Voeten Marinus J. M.
Published: June 2007

This article presents a new classification scheme for learning environments in secondary education, based on a review of recent literature on new learning and a review of existing classification schemes. This new classification scheme emphasizes new forms of learning and is organized around three main aspects of learning environments that may be assumed to influence such learning: (a) learning goals, (b) the division of teacher and learner roles, and (c) the roles of the learners in relation to each other. It is then argued that teachers might use this classification scheme to design and evaluate their own learning environments. In addition, the scheme provides a clear framework for a next generation of process–product research.
Improving Intergroup Relations in Higher Education: A Critical Examination of the Influence of Educational Interventions on Racial Bias
Authors: Engberg Mark E.
Published: June 2007

This study examines the influence of various educational interventions in higher education on students’ racial bias. The author reviews studies in four principle domains: multicultural courses, diversity workshops and training, peer-based interventions, and service-based interventions. He pays particular attention to the varied approaches, measures, and research designs used to assess the effectiveness of interventions. He concludes with specific recommendations for improving the quality of intervention studies, suggests a conceptual model for explaining student change, and points out gaps in the extant knowledge base. An appendix provides an overview of racial bias measures used in the reviewed studies.
The Web as an Information Resource in K–12 Education: Strategies for Supporting Students in Searching and Processing Information
Authors: Kuiper Els , Volman Monique , Terwel Jan
Published: June 2007

The use of the Web in K–12 education has increased substantially in recent years. The Web, however, does not support the learning processes of students as a matter of course. In this review, the authors analyze what research says about the demands that the use of the Web as an information resource in education makes on the support and supervision of students’ learning processes. They discuss empirical research focusing on the limitations of the actual search strategies of children, as well as theoretical literature that analyzes specific characteristics of the Web and their implications for the organization of education. The authors conclude that students need support in searching on the Web as well as in developing “information literacy.” Future research should focus on how the use of the Web in education can contribute to the development of deep and meaningful knowledge.
Educational Needs and Barriers for Refugee Students in the United States: A Review of the Literature
Authors: McBrien J. Lynn
Published: June 2007

Since 1975, the United States has resettled more than 2 million refugees, with approximately half arriving as children. Refugee children have traumatic experiences that can hinder their learning. The United Nations has specified in conventions, and researchers have concurred, that education is essential for refugee children’s psychosocial adjustment. However, government officials, public opinion, and researchers have often differed about what is best for refugees’ healthy acculturation. On the basis of a large-scale longitudinal study of the children of immigrants and refugees, Portes and Zhou (1993) suggested the theory of segmented assimilation, which accounts for diverse entry situations and receptions of immigrant and refugee populations. This review uses their theory to consider the needs and obstacles to education for refugees, and interventions for success.
Schema Theory Revisited
Authors: McVee Mary B. , Dunsmore Kailonnie , Gavelek James R.
Published: June 2007

During the 1970s, schema theory gained prominence as reading researchers took up early work by cognitive scientists to explore the role of schemas in reading. In the 1980s and ’90s, the field shifted as researchers increasingly used sociocultural theories, particularly the work of L. S. Vygotsky, to frame investigations of literacy. This article provides a brief review of schema theory as situated in literacy studies. The authors review various conceptions of schema theory to consider how recent social and cultural perspectives might prompt reconsideration of schemas as transactional and embodied constructs. Concomitantly, they explore how earlier conceptions of schema theory may assist researchers in their articulation of concepts such as ideal and material tools and the role of activity in Vygotsky’s work. The article concludes with considerations of implications for future work.
Does Homework Improve Academic Achievement? A Synthesis of Research, 1987–2003
Authors: Cooper Harris , Robinson Jorgianne Civey , Patall Erika A
Published: June 2007

In this article, research conducted in the United States since 1987 on the effects of homework is summarized. Studies are grouped into four research designs. The authors found that all studies, regardless of type, had design flaws. However, both within and across design types, there was generally consistent evidence for a positive influence of homework on achievement. Studies that reported simple homework–achievement correlations revealed evidence that a stronger correlation existed (a) in Grades 7–12 than in K–6 and (b) when students rather than parents reported time on homework. No strong evidence was found for an association between the homework–achievement link and the outcome measure (grades as opposed to standardized tests) or the subject matter (reading as opposed to math). On the basis of these results and others, the authors suggest future research.
Zoom: A Review of the Literature on Marginalized Adolescent Readers, Literacy Theory, and Policy Implications
Authors: Franzak Judith K.
Published: June 2007

The achievement of adolescent literacy learners has become a significant topic of research and policy. This review of literature links current literacy learning theories, research that addresses the individualized nature of adolescent readers, and the literature delineating adolescent literacy policy. Researchers using naturalistic inquiry have studied adolescent readers from a variety of perspectives; interview-based studies show adolescents having some commonalities in reading preferences. Current pedagogical models include reader response, strategic reading, and critical literacy; each model has benefits and drawbacks for marginalized readers. Adolescent literacy policy fosters the belief that we are in a crisis that calls for intervention. The article concludes with recommendations for policy and research that would better serve marginalized adolescent readers.
Learning With Concept and Knowledge Maps: A Meta-Analysis
Authors: Nesbit John C. , Adesope Olusola O.
Published: June 2007

This meta-analysis reviews experimental and quasi-experimental studies in which students learned by constructing, modifying, or viewing node-link diagrams. Following an exhaustive search for studies meeting specified design criteria, 67 standardized mean difference effect sizes were extracted from 55 studies involving 5,818 participants. Students at levels ranging from Grade 4 to postsecondary used concept maps to learn in domains such as science, psychology, statistics, and nursing. Posttests measured recall and transfer. Across several instructional conditions, settings, and methodological features, the use of concept maps was associated with increased knowledge retention. Mean effect sizes varied from small to large depending on how concept maps were used and on the type of comparison treatment. Significant heterogeneity was found in most subsets.
African American Male Adolescents, Schooling (and Mathematics): Deficiency, Rejection, and Achievement
Authors: Stinson David W
Published: June 2007

The academic achievement gap, particularly the mathematics achievement gap, between Black students and their White counterparts has been well documented with numerical facts. As mathematics education researchers attempt to develop theories and practices that assist in eradicating the gap, they would serve mathematics education well if they would expand the sphere of their research into the sociocultural arena. To assist in expanding the sphere, this article presents a review of key historical and current theoretical perspectives regarding the schooling experiences of African American students, with an emphasis on African American male students, borrowed from the disciplines of anthropology, social psychology, and sociology. The review is organized around three discourse clusters: the discourse of deficiency, the discourse of rejection, and the discourse of achievement. The author suggests that researchers move away from the discourses of deficiency and rejection and toward the discourse of achievement when developing sound education theories and classroom practices that assist in eradicating the academic (and mathematics) achievement gap.
Adolescent Work, Vocational Development, and Education
Authors: Zimmer-Gembeck Melanie J. , Mortimer Jeylan T.
Published: June 2007

This article examines the consequences of adolescents’ employment experiences for vocational development and educational pursuits within varying historical and social contexts. Attention is directed to the changing social and cultural context for adolescent paid work, the balance of school and work, the influence of work experience on adolescent vocational development and educational/career achievement, and theoretical approaches that guide contemporary vocational development and career maturity studies. In light of current theories, research directions are suggested to enhance understanding of the influences of adolescent employment and work experiences on future educational pursuits and vocational pathways. School-based strategies and programs to promote adolescents’ initiative, engagement, and vocational development also are considered.
Understanding Achievement (and Other) Changes Under Chicago School Reform
Authors: Hess G. Alfred
Published: June 2007

This article focuses on changes in student achievement in Chicago schools since the passage of the 1988 Chicago School Reform Act, and notes corresponding changes in funding, staffing, and leadership. At the center is a 5-year longitudinal study of 14 Chicago schools (10 elementary and 4 high schools) that were chosen through a stratified, random selection process. The schools were studied intensively, with particular concern for tracking the effects of changes in the governance structure of the schools resulting from the 1988 reforms. Changes in the principalship in these schools had a significant impact on achievement scores. The results of this study are linked to achievement changes that have occurred since the adoption of the 1995 amendments to the reform act that put primary responsibility for the administration of the school district in the hands of the city's mayor.
Evaluating the SAGE Program: A Pilot Program in Targeted Pupil-Teacher Reduction in Wisconsin
Authors: Molnar Alex , Smith Philip , Zahorik John , Palmer Amanda , Halbach Anke , Ehrle Karen
Published: June 2007

Wisconsin's Student Achievement Guarantee in Education (SAGE) program was designed as a 5-year K–3 pilot project that began in the 1996–97 school year. The program requires that participating schools implement 4 interventions including reducing the pupil-teacher ratio within classrooms to 15 students per teacher. The SAGE evaluation uses a quasi-experimental, comparative change design utilizing descriptive statistics, linear regression, and hierarchical linear modeling. In addition, qualitative analyses of life in SAGE schools and classrooms are conducted. Results of the 1996–97 and 1997–98 first grade data reveal findings consistent with the Tennessee STAR class size experiment. Also, individualization emerged as a key characteristic of instruction in SAGE classrooms.
Changing Core Beliefs and Practices Through Systemic Reform: The Case of Germany After the Fall of Socialism
Authors: Mintrop Heinrich
Published: June 2007

This article tries to make the German experience with large-scale systemic reform fruitful for an American audience. The effect of state policies in the areas of tracking, content, and pedagogy on the faculties of eight secondary schools is investigated Teachers forcefully adjusted beliefs to the new tracking structure, but not necessarily teaching standards. Teachers remained committed to canonical views of subject matter despite the recent dismantling of old "truths." Strong, but less desired, change in textbooks and content contrasts with weak, but more desired, change in instructional methods. Policy responses are interpreted with three frames of reference (institution, self, teachers' students). Inconsistencies between these frames is the rule, but when they overlap, change can be forceful. The author concludes that successful systemic policies may not be those that are inherently aligned packages, but those that align the frames of reference teachers use to make sense of policies.
The Role of Social Capital in Youth Development: The Case of “I Have a Dream” Programs
Authors: Kahne Joseph , Bailey Kim
Published: June 2007

This paper presents findings from a 2 ½-year study that focused primarily on two “I Have a Dream” (IHAD) programs. To better comprehend the implications of bringing this youth development strategy model to scale, we also collected more limited interview, focus group, and student performance data from the 10 other IHAD sites in Chicago. Each IHAD sponsor “adopts” an entire sixth grade class and together with a project coordinator provides these students long-term financial, academic, and social support with the hope that they will graduate from high school and attend college. Because IHAD sponsors “adopted” all of the sixth graders at a given school, we compared their graduation rate with the graduation rates of students who were in the sixth grade at the school the previous year. We found that the two IHAD programs were enormously successful. Their graduation rates (71% and 69%) were roughly twice those of their respective comparison groups (37% and 34%). This study examines the programmatic features of IHAD that appear most responsible for its success and the implications for policy and practice. From a theoretical standpoint, our analysis of these cases focuses on the significance of differing forms of social capital (social trust, social networks, and social norms with effective sanctions) in enabling meaningful support of youth in inner-city contexts.
Dropping Out of Advanced Mathematics: How Much Do Students and Schools Contribute to the Problem?
Authors: Ma Xin , Willms J. Douglas
Published: June 2007

Research on mathematics achievement has paid relatively little attention to exposure—the amount of instruction received by students and tire number of courses they take. This stud)' employs data from 6 waves of the Longitudinal Study of American Youth to discern when and why students drop out of advanced mathematics. The findings indicate that there are two critical transitions when large proportions of students drop out of advanced mathematics. The first is from Grade 8 to Grade 9, and at this point prior achievement plays a more important role than either attitude towards mathematics or socioeconomic status. The second transition is from Grade 11 to Grade 12, when students' attitude towards mathematics is tire most important factor. The findings support calls to raise mathematics standards for graduation anti to enrich the content of mathematics courses.
All That Glitters is Not Gold: School Reform in Charlotte-Mecklenburg
Authors: Smith Stephen Samuel , Mickelson Roslyn Arlin
Published: June 2007

In the early 1990s, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system (CMS) began a sweeping program of school reform that involved revamped standards, a comprehensive system of benchmark goals, increased autonomy for principals, and a high-stakes accountability system. This program has been lauded in prestigious education journals, praised by reform advocates in business and government, and cited as a model in a recently published handbook of school reform. Such national publicity notwithstanding, there has been no systematic investigation of the effects of CMS's program on academic outcomes. This article provides such an assessment by comparing CMS's progress in improving outcomes for both Black and White students with that of two other North Carolina urban districts and the state itself. With the exception of some outcomes for Advanced Placement (AP) and other higher level courses, we find no evidence that CMS's program improved academic outcomes. Trends in CMS's dropout rate—one of North Carolina's highest—generally paralleled those of the controls as did trends in SAT scores and proficiency in core high school courses. Moreover, CMS's progress in improving reading and math proficiency in Grades 3–8 lagged behind the controls'. Finally, racial imbalance in CMS increased during this time period. The many shortfalls of CMS's program raise questions whose answers will further the national dialogue about school reform and the role of standards, accountability, and assessment in such reform.
Algebra for Everyone? Benefits of College-Preparatory Mathematics for Students With Diverse Abilities in Early Secondary School
Authors: Gamoran Adam , Hannigan Eileen C.
Published: June 2007

Both the research literature and the experiences of many educators indicate that unequal access to academic curricula produces inequities in student learning of mathematics. "Algebra for everyone" has become a popular slogan of reform in response to these inequalities. Do all students benefit from taking algebra, regardless of their prior math performance? If so, then systems that track students away from algebra are preventing students from realizing their potential for learning. This study uses national survey data to examine the impact of high school algebra among students who differ in their math skills prior to entering high school. Regression analysis with over 12,500 students indicates that all students benefit from taking algebra; among those with very low prior achievement, the benefits are somewhat smaller, but algebra is still worthwhile for all students. These results do not derive from unwarranted extrapolation, and they are not an artifact of ceiling effects. The analysis suggests that a given student who has not taken algebra would have achieved more by doing so, but it does not say what would happen if the whole system were changed to include all students in high school algebra. However, additional analysis indicates that students gain no less from algebra when their schools include more diverse populations of algebra-takers, compared to schools with more homogeneous populations of students taking algebra.
Power and Politics in the Adoption of School Reform Models
Authors: Datnow Amanda
Published: June 2007

States, districts, and schools are promoting and attempting whole school improvement through the use of externally developed reform designs. This article examines how and why schools adopt reforms and the consequences of those processes for reform implementation and sustainability. Case study data are presented on 22 schools, and three types of reform adoption processes are discussed: (a) districts encouraging schools to choose among a set of reforms; (b) districts pushing schools to adopt a particular reform; and (c) principals bringing reform designs to their schools. In no case did the impetus for reform adoption arise among teachers in these schools. Because a hierarchical approach is evident in each of these reform adoption scenarios, data are analyzed in terms of a micropolitical perspective. Findings show that the power relations surrounding reform adoption often thwarted genuine initial buy-in and interest in change among local educators, as well as in some cases, their subsequent implementation efforts. Educators often also had varying perspectives on how the adoption process occurred, suggesting differences in perspective on the reform itself. Recommendations for how the reform adoption process could be improved are discussed.