bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Class Composition and Student Achievement in Elementary Schools
Authors: Burns Robert B. , Mason DeWayne A.
Published: June 2007

Principals and teachers sometimes intentionally use class formation procedures to create class compositions. This study examined the class distributional properties of 200 elementary school classes in two school districts. Fifty-six classes were combination classes—classes with students from two grade levels. The two districts differed in their policies toward gifted and talented classes and in principals’ preferences for heterogeneous student assignment. Students completed pretest measures of ability and independence and posttest measures of achievement. Hierarchical linear modeling procedures were used to estimate composition effects. The major findings were that (a) principals and teachers assigned higher ability and more independent students to combination classes; (b) these purposeful assignment procedures affected the class distributional properties and how achievement variation was allocated within and between classes; and (c) composition effects were observed for both ability and independence in the district with a commitment to gifted and talented classes, and these composition effects were strongest in combination classes. It is argued that evidence on both student assignment rules and substantive mechanisms for compositional effects are needed to properly interpret regression coefficients relating outcome to pretest in classroom studies.
Minds Stayed on Freedom: Politics and Pedagogy in the African-American Freedom Struggle
Authors: Perlstein Daniel
Published: June 2007

To examine how analyses and visions of American society shape the appeal of progressive pedagogy, this article focuses on the evolution of political and educational ideas among African-American civil rights activists who created alternative schools for Black children in the 1960s and 1970s. Activists developed, abandoned, recreated, and again abandoned open-ended, progressive approaches to the study of social and political life. The curricular shifts mirrored sea changes in the broader African-American freedom struggle. Rarely have Americans demanded with such insistence that education serve democratic purposes. The article concludes that support for progressive pedagogy depends on the expectation that students will be able to participate fully in the promise of civic life. The history of the freedom and liberation schools developed by Black activists suggests that no curricular project can fundamentally transform knowledge and its distribution if it is not part of a process of transforming social relations as well.
Teachers’ Pedagogical Stories and the Shaping of Classroom Participation: “The Dancer” and “Graveyard Shift at the 7-11”
Authors: Rex Lesley A , Murnen Timothy J , Hobbs Jack , McEachen David
Published: June 2007

This article illustrates how teachers’ pedagogical stories inscribe worlds, beliefs, and identities that position their students’ participation and performance. Based on a view of storytelling as a rich site for observing teaching as the joint social construction of “self” as successful academic performer and social actor, the article analyzes two teachers’ storytelling practices that, unbeknown to them, were integral to teaching and learning in their high school classrooms. The two teachers held contrasting visions of education and accomplishment. The analyses of the teachers’ object lesson stories illustrate the particular dispositions, beliefs, and values that they manifested for their own roles as teachers as well as for their students’ roles as learners. Each set of stories appealed to a particular demographic group of students. By juxtaposing these unique narrative repertoires, the article extends sociocultural theories of how successful student participation is a local, interactive accomplishment tied in complex ways to larger social narratives.
Black Women Beating the Odds From One Generation to the Next: How the Changing Dynamics of Constraint and Opportunity Affect the Process of Educational Resilience
Authors: O’Connor Carla
Published: June 2007

Relying on the life stories of three age cohorts of Black women who were first-generation college graduates, this article reveals how structural constraints shifted from one generation to another to differentially place the women at risk for limited educational attainment. In response to these shifting constraints and accordant changes in opportunities, the women’s strategies for negotiating the constraints on their educational mobility changed from one age cohort to the next in the production of educational resilience. These findings convey that the changing dynamics of social life must be accounted for in our efforts to improve the theoretical precision with which we understand educational resilience as a socio-historical and institutionally responsive process instead of as an individually determined phenomenon.
Dialogic Discussion and the Paideia Seminar
Authors: Billings Laura , Fitzgerald Jill
Published: June 2007

Discussion is currently at the center of educators’ attention, and Paideia Seminars are discussions that increasingly are being advocated. In particular, Paideia Seminars embody dialogic discussion. However, little is known about the extent to which principles of dialogic discussion are manifested in classrooms during the enactment of the seminars. The main purpose of this case study was to examine types of discussion in Paideia Seminars. Data were collected through observations, questionnaires, and interviews. “Grand case analysis,” “micro-examination” of the seminar discussions, and “narrative research” analyses were done. The overarching conclusion of the study was that the observed discussions reflected the teacher’s transitional status in conducting dialogic discussion, with some features of “ideal” Paideia Seminar dialogue represented and some features of “teacher-fronted” discussion represented.
What Is Tracking? Cultural Expectations in the United States, Germany, and Japan
Authors: LeTendre Gerald K. , Hofer Barbara K. , Shimizu Hidetada
Published: June 2007

On the basis of the TIMSS Case Study Project data collected in the United States, Japan, and Germany in 1994–1995, this article examines the phenomenon of tracking as part of curricular differentiation and student placement practices in public K–12 school systems. The authors document clear national differences in differentiation and placement measures and summarize the history of conflict over those measures. Analysis of respondent perceptions and beliefs about differentiation and placement (what people think “tracking” is) shows that nation-specific values and attitudes (i.e., cultures) determine which forms of curricular differentiation are legitimated and which contested. Dominant cultural beliefs about what students are capable of and the role that schools should play in educating them create different points of conflict over tracking.
Hugh Mehan’s Learning Lessons Reconsidered: On the Differences Between the Naturalistic and Critical Analysis of Classroom Discourse
Authors: Macbeth Douglas
Published: June 2007

This article begins with a review of the place of Hugh Mehan’s Learning Lessons in the development of the naturalistic study of classroom discourse studies, and especially the sequential analysis of naturally occurring classroom discourse. It then turns to the emergence of an alternative program for classroom discourse studies, in the particulars of critical discourse analysis. There we find a “formal–analytic” program for discourse studies. The middle section of the article takes up the characterization and the differences between these two programs through a critique of formal—and critical—studies of classroom discourse. The article then concludes with an analysis of a fourth-grade lesson on fractions, to suggest what the sequential analysis of naturally occurring classroom discourse may tell us about the work of instruction in the early grades. My aim throughout is to reaffirm the premise and program of naturalistic inquiry as the central innovation of classroom studies in the last 30 years.
From Social Ties to Social Capital: Class Differences in the Relations Between Schools and Parent Networks
Authors: Horvat Erin McNamara , Weininger Elliot B. , Lareau Annette
Published: June 2007

Focusing on parental networks—a central dimension of social capital—this article uses ethnographic data to examine social-class differences in the relations between families and schools. We detail the characteristics of networks across different classes and then explore the ways that networks come into play when parents are confronted by problematic school situations. The middle-class parents in our study tended to react collectively, in contrast to working-class and poor parents. The middle-class parents were also uniquely able to draw on contacts with professionals to mobilize the information, expertise, or authority needed to contest the judgments of school officials. We did not find substantial race differences. We affirm the importance of a resource-centered conception of social capital that grants the issue of inequality a predominant place.
Discussion-Based Approaches to Developing Understanding: Classroom Instruction and Student Performance in Middle and High School English
Authors: Applebee Arthur N. , Langer Judith A. , Nystrand Martin , Gamoran Adam
Published: June 2007

This study examines the relationships between student literacy performance and discussion-based approaches to the development of understanding in 64 middle and high school English classrooms. A series of hierarchical linear models indicated that discussion-based approaches were significantly related to spring performance, controlling for fall performance and other background variables. These approaches were effective across a range of situations and for low-achieving as well as high-achieving students, although interpretations are complicated because instruction is unequally distributed across tracks. Overall, the results suggest that students whose classroom literacy experiences emphasize discussion-based approaches in the context of high academic demands internalize the knowledge and skills necessary to engage in challenging literacy tasks on their own.
“The University of the Poor”: The University of Michigan’s Transition From Admitting Impoverished Students to Studying Poverty, 1870–1910
Authors: Nidiffer Jana , Bouman Jeffrey P.
Published: June 2007

During the late 19th century, universities subtly shifted their efforts from admitting poor students to conducting research on poverty. This transition occurred within a complex historical, sociological, and economic milieu of three national forces: universities’ quest for prestige; the relationship of expertise and professionalism to the middle-class ethos of universities; and Liberal Protestantism. Earlier than previously imagined, “class” became a determinant of access. The University of Michigan is a poignant illustration because of its long tradition of inclusion, from the early admission of women and African American students through its recent defense of affirmative action. Yet, while some doors creaked open for new groups of students, the number of poor undergraduates on campus waned—and remains woefully low.
Early Literacy Instruction and Learning in Kindergarten: Evidence From the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study—Kindergarten Class of 1998–1999
Authors: Xue Yange , Meisels Samuel J.
Published: June 2007

Using a nationally representative sample of 13,609 kindergarten children in 2,690 classrooms and 788 schools from the base year of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998–1999, along with three-level hierarchical linear models, this study investigates the impact of early literacy instruction on kindergarten children’s learning, as measured by direct cognitive test scores, indirect teacher ratings of children’s achievement in language and literacy, and indirect teacher ratings of children’s approaches to learning. Two composite measures of phonics and integrated language arts are constructed from teachers’ reports of their instructional practices. Findings show that classroom mean outcomes were significantly higher when classroom teachers reported using both integrated language arts and phonics more often. However, children with low initial performance benefited less from integrated language arts instruction, as measured by direct measures of achievement; such differential effects of instruction were not observed for teacher ratings of children’s achievement and learning style. Policy implications of the findings are discussed.
What Kind of Citizen? The Politics of Educating for Democracy
Authors: Westheimer Joel , Kahne Joseph
Published: June 2007

Educators and policymakers increasingly pursue programs that aim to strengthen democracy through civic education, service learning, and other pedagogies. Their underlying beliefs, however, differ. This article calls attention to the spectrum of ideas about what good citizenship is and what good citizens do that are embodied in democratic education programs. It offers analyses of a 2-year study of educational programs in the United States that aimed to promote democracy. Drawing on democratic theory and on findings from their study, the authors detail three conceptions of the “good” citizen—personally responsible, participatory, and justice oriented —that underscore political implications of education for democracy. The article demonstrates that the narrow and often ideologically conservative conception of citizenship embedded in many current efforts at teaching for democracy reflects not arbitrary choices but, rather, political choices with political consequences.
Test Scores, Dropout Rates, and Transfer Rates as Alternative Indicators of High School Performance
Authors: Rumberger Russell W. , Palardy Gregory J.
Published: June 2007

This study investigated the relationships among several different indicators of high school performance: test scores, dropout rates, transfer rates, and attrition rates. Hierarchical linear models were used to analyze panel data from a sample of 14,199 students who took part in the National Education Longitudinal Survey of 1988. The results generally support the notion of an alternative as opposed to a common view of school effectiveness: Schools that are effective in promoting student learning (growth in achievement) are not necessarily effective in reducing dropout or transfer rates. In fact, after control for student inputs, high schools exhibit relatively little variability in dropout rates but considerable variation in transfer rates. In addition, characteristics of schools that contributed to performance in one area often did not contribute to performance in another. Given these findings, the authors suggest that, along with test scores, dropout and transfer rates should be used to judge school performance.
Consequences of Employment During High School: Character Building, Subversion of Academic Goals, or a Threshold?
Authors: Marsh Herbert W. , Kleitman Sabina
Published: June 2007

This study showed that working during high school had negative effects on 15 of 23 Grade 12 and postsecondary outcomes such as achievement, course-work selection, educational and occupational aspirations, and college attendance. These effects were found with control for background variables and parallel outcomes from Grades 8 and 10 based on the 8-year (four-wave), nationally representative National Education Longitudinal Survey of 1988. The only benefit of working was a reduction in postsecondary unemployment, but even this effect was nonlinear. In the case of most outcomes, the effects of hours worked were primarily linear and negative and were consistent across ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, initial ability levels, and different types of work. Among continuing students who worked during high school, however, working to save money for college had mostly favorable effects.
Professing Passion:Emotion in the Scholarship of Professors at Research Universities
Authors: Neumann Anna
Published: June 2007

Interviews with 40 recently tenured university professors indicated that scholarly work is emotional in content; it draws on scholars’ emotional resources. Yet, discourse about scholarship’s personal and emotional meanings is uncommon, given historic separations (reified in university policy) between emotional and cognitive work and between personal and professional endeavors. This study blurs such distinctions by portraying academic work as anchored in a concept of “passionate thought”: as discrete and bounded peak experiences and as contextualization of these peak experiences in broader emotional processes, interactions, and remembrance. The study’s contributions include its representation of scholarly learning as emotional in content and as emotionally contextualized (and thereby as emotionally complex) and its implications for reform of policy discourses to account for the personal content of scholarly work.
Transcending Simple Forms of School Science Investigation:The Impact of Preservice Instruction on Teachers’ Understandings of Model-Based Inquiry
Authors: Windschitl Mark , Thompson Jessica
Published: June 2007

This study examined 21 preservice secondary teachers as they engaged in activities aimed at fostering an understanding of the epistemic roles that models, theory, and argument play in scientific inquiry. Findings indicate that instruction can help preservice teachers develop more sophisticated understandings of scientific models and promote incorporation of model-based lessons in their classrooms. However, even with scaffolding, the majority of these preservice teachers were unable to use theoretical models to ground their own empirical investigations. Two factors shaped participants’ thinking about these inquiries. One was previous school-related research experience, which influenced not only what they recognized as models but also the way they believed models could be incorporated into inquiry. The other was a widely held simplistic view of “the scientific method” that constrained the procedures and epistemic frameworks they used for investigations. On the basis of these findings, the authors offer a more focused, evidence-based design for instruction around model-based inquiry.
On the Nature of Educational Research
Authors: SOLTIS JONAS F.
Published: June 2007

There are many different languages and logics of educational research. One helpful way to get some perspective on them is to see their roots in three dominant 20th century philosophical traditions (à la Bernstein): logical empiricism (positivism); interpretive theories (analytic, phenomenological, and hermeneutic); and critical theory (neo-Marxist). Another way is to demonstrate through an analysis of the universal phenomenon of pedagogy, that empirical (causal), interpretive (meaningful), and critical (normative) dimensions characterize pedagogy and hence all need to be studied if pedagogical research is to be honest to its subject matter. By extrapolation the same argument is made for educational research writ large, and researchers are urged to be openminded in their rational appraisal of research claims across traditions.
A Communication Network for Educational Researchers
Authors: PIERCE JEAN , COOLEY WILLIAM W.
Published: June 2007

Some computer networks permit educational researchers to use microcomputers, terminals, or communicating word processors for communication with colleages. Networking is defined, several examples are given, and the Educational Research Forum on CompuServe is used to illustrate the possibilities. The organization and structure of the Forum are discussed. Advantages and costs of computer networking are explained, and potential uses for AERA are highlighted.
Emerging Developments in Postsecondary Organization Theory and Research: Fragmentation or Integration
Authors: PETERSON MARVIN W.
Published: June 2007

Developments in theory and research on postsecondary institutions as organizations are proceeding in many different directions, threatening to fragment this critical area of research. This article examines the major developments and identifies dilemmas in theory development, research methods, organizational behavior context, relating theory to practice, and identifying professional colleagues. These areas need to be understood and addressed to assure the continued, integrated development of postsecondary organization theory and research.
The Cognitive Consequences of Programming Instruction in Classrooms
Authors: LINN MARCIA C.
Published: June 2007

The avowed purpose of most programming courses is to teach problem solving as well as to teach programming. How this purpose can be achieved is the topic of the first part of this paper. Drawing on recent research examining the cognitive demands of programming and the behavior of programmers, a chain of cognitive accomplishments culminating in increased problem solving skill is described. Whether and how this purpose is being achieved is the topic of the second part of this paper. Results of an integrated set of studies of middle school programming classes show how students start on this chain and how far they progress in introductory courses. These studies illustrate how "exemplary" instruction moves students much further along the chain than does "typical" instruction. Examination of the background characteristics of students in these courses reveals that general ability and out-of-school computer access are more associated with progress along the chain in typical classes than in exemplary classes.
Closing Down the Conversation: The End of the Quantitative-Qualitative Debate Among Educational Inquirers
Authors: SMITH JOHN K. , HESHUSIUS LOUS
Published: June 2007

The contention of this paper is that the claim of compatibility and the call for cooperation between quantitative and qualitative inquiry cannot be sustained. Moreover, these claims have the unfortunate effect of closing down an important conversation. To elaborate these points, this paper briefly reviews the transition from conflict to cooperation between the two perspectives and then notes how compatibility is based on a confusion over two different definitions of method. Finally, the discussion focuses on why this conversation, because it invokes issues crucial to our understanding of who we are and what we do as inquirers, must be reinvigorated.
The Computer as Educator: Lessons From Television Research
Authors: SALOMON GAVRIEL , GARDNER HOWARD
Published: June 2007

Research on the educational facets of television has been marred by a number of blunders that stand in danger of being repeated in the new wave of educational research on computers. Despite the clear differences in purpose and scope between television and computers, some useful lessons can be drawn from earlier assumptions about learning from television. In this paper, it is argued that "computer researchers" should do the following: (a) avoid asking whether computers teach better than some putatively comparable medium; (b) utilize holistic as well as standard experimental research paradigms, particularly during the early phases of research; (c) realize that learners bring many assumptions, proclivities, and active learning strategies to any encounter with a new medium or technology; and (d) expect a range of usages and experiences and a variety of outcomes from any encounter between an individual and a computer. It is particularly important to carry out background research during the period before computers became completely pervasive in the educational environment.
Ritual and Rationality in Teacher Education Reform
Authors: CORNBLETH CATHERINE
Published: June 2007

Commissioned reports calling for the reform of U.S. secondary schools have been followed by reports and recommendations for the reform of teacher education. Within the broader framework of the calls for school reform and the relatively brief history of institutionalized teacher education, this article critically examines the nature and implications of these calls. The article focuses on meanings given to reform, including the possibility of reform as ritual, and the technical rationality that seems to underlie the reform proposals. Consideration is then given to how teacher education reform efforts might address critical questions–particularly questions of purpose, substance, and value–that are largely neglected by the recent calls. (Note: Unless otherwise indicated, teacher education refers to the initial or preservice preparation of teachers.)
Enduring Cognitive Effects of Public and Private Schools
Authors: WOLFLE LEE M.
Published: June 2007

Recent research by Coleman and his associates on the effectiveness of public and private schools has evoked a heated debate on the role of private schooling in U.S. education. All of the existing studies, however, have examined the short-term effects of school type–at most over a 2-year period. This study extends the debate on the effects of private schools to a longer term perspective. It appears from the present analysis that the enduring influence of school type on vocabulary achievement is nearly nonexistent, whereas the enduring influence on mathematics favors public school students. These results conflict with those of previous studies, and may be due to the longer term perspective of the research reported here. Examination of the enduring effects of private education should therefore be given a high priority in subsequent follow-ups of the High School and Beyond (HSB) study. Until that happens, it seems clear that any policy decisions based on HSB analyses to date are premature.
American Higher Education
Authors: Trow Martin
Published: June 2007

American higher education is unique in its size and diversity and in its openness to all who gain a high school diploma. This essay describes current trends in enrollments and finance in American colleges and universities, noting recent changes in the demography of the student body that have kept enrollments constant, despite dwindling traditional college-age cohorts. The sources of the unique characteristics of American higher education lie in its peculiar historical origins and development, especially in the central state authority's and the academic guilds' weakness, the college president's relative strength, and various markets' influence on an institution that elsewhere has been largely shielded from market forces. The discussion then turns to the functional relationships among some key structural characteristics which give rise to important, if generally unrecognized, contributions of mass higher education to American society.
Educational Defectors
Authors: Heyns Barbara
Published: June 2007

Teacher retention has become a policy issue of considerable concern; it is, however, a more complex topic than is generally recognized. The fifth follow-up of the National Longitudinal Study, 1972, completed in 1986, included a supplemental questionnaire that was sent to past and present elementary and secondary school teachers, as well as to those who had been trained but had never taught. The data permit the first analysis of teacher attrition based on a national sample that has been followed for a decade or more of professional experience. These data suggest that retention among teachers has increased during the last decade and that the ability and qualifications of teachers have not declined over time. Moreover, former teachers are more likely to have left relatively good schools, in favorable locations, rather than problem schools. Paradoxically, although enhancing teachers' professional status and improving public schools are indisputably worthwhile goals, they may not reduce teacher attrition.
Standards of Competence: Propositions on the Nature of Testing Reforms
Authors: Ellwein Mary Catherine , Glass Gene V , Smith Mary Lee
Published: June 2007

A multisite investigation of local school districts and states led to the formulation of five propositions that address the nature of competency testing reforms. Two propositions address the determination of standards and examine the extent to which such procedures are affected by political and practical considerations. Another pair of propositions center on implementation of such testing reforms; lopsided organizational activity and nominal attention to minority issues were witnessed at all five sites. In the final proposition, the authors assert that competency tests and standards function more as symbolic and political gestures than instrumental reforms. Five themes are discussed in support of this conclusion: the importance of the standard's image, the redundancy with preexisting standards, the loose coupling of test performance and decisions, the overemphasis on initial fail rates, and the striking contrast between early and late phases of competency testing reforms.
Qualitative Approaches to Evaluating Education
Authors: Fetterman David M.
Published: June 2007

Qualitative research approaches are part of the intellectual landscape in educational evaluation. The use of qualitative approaches in evaluation has been fruitful. Classic qualitative approaches, representing accepted innovations, include ethnography, naturalistic inquiry, generic pragmatic (sociological) qualitative inquiry, and connoisseurship/criticism. Metaphors and phenomenography represent novel approaches with roots in the classics. Efforts to establish standards commensurate with the mainstream of scientific inquiry serve to further institutionalize qualitative approaches, anchoring them in the fertile soil of educational evaluation.
Making Academic Presentations—Effectively!
Authors: Renfrow Donata , Impara James C.
Published: June 2007

This article excerpts topics from an AERA minicourse in San Francisco: It teaches how to improve the quality of both the content and the delivery of paper presentations.
New Directions and Initiatives at NCES: Implications for Educational Research, Policy, and Practice
Authors: Elliott Emerson J.
Published: June 2007

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) has made significant changes following a severely critical evaluation by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in 1986. Improvements are under way to fill data gaps, raise technical standards, and expand staff resources. Sharply increased appropriations and new legislation indicate Executive Branch and Congressional support. Researchers are encouraged to advise the Center, use the newly enlarged data for analyses, and propose targeted supplements to NCES studies. The “new NCES” will persist because data are needed by the public and by decision makers.
Investment in Education
Authors: Jorgenson Dale W . , Fraumeni Barbara M.
Published: June 2007

The purpose of this paper is to present new measures of the benefits from education. These measures are based on the incremental effect on human wealth of participation in formal schooling. We define human wealth as the sum of lifetime labor incomes for all individuals in the U.S. population. These incomes include the value of time spent working and the value of nonmarket labor activities, which are defined to include parenting and the enjoyment of leisure. Our estimates of lifetime labor incomes are drawn from an extensive data base on income from work. We have enlarged this data base to incorporate the value of nonmarket activities. We compare our estimates of investment in education and human wealth with estimates based on the expenditures of educational institutions. We find that these expenditures are very much smaller than the benefits of education.
The Academic Life
Authors: Clark Burton R.
Published: June 2007

The American professoriate is enormously differentiated by discipline and type of institution on such primary dimensions of professionalism as patterns of work, identification, authority, career, and association. Integration across the professoriate no longer comes primarily from similarity of function and common socialization, but from the overlap of subcommunities and the mediating linkages provided by the ties of discipline and institution.
The Changing Nature of the Disadvantaged Population Current Dimensions and Future Trends
Authors: Pallas Aaron M. , Natriello Gary , McDill Edward L.
Published: June 2007

In this paper we identify the current state of the educationally disadvantaged population in the United States and consider their changing conditions and the implications for U.S. education. We also examine the likely course of sociodemographic changes in the disadvantaged population over the 35-year period between 1986 and 2020, that is, during the course of the working career of the average 35-year-old today. Finally, we consider the challenges likely to be presented to U.S. schools during this period.
New Directions in Educational Assessment
Authors: Nickerson Raymond S.
Published: June 2007

The need to develop policies and procedures that do a better job of evaluating educational progress, and especially the extent to which students are learning to perform tasks that require high-level cognitive abilities, is widely recognized. There is not a consensus, however, as to precisely what kinds of tests should be constructed or how they should be used. The contributors to this use of Educational Researcher address several aspects of the dual problem of assessing high-order cognitive functioning and doing so in such a way as to impact the educational system positively as a whole.
Corporate Mergers in the Publishing Industry: Helpful or Intrusive?
Authors: Rudman Herbert C.
Published: June 2007

Publishers have become important targets for takeovers, domestic and foreign. Has the extensive restructuring of ownership and control had a serious effect on the publication of books and tests of interest to academics? Have these changes been helpful or intrusive? These questions are addressed by examining the restructuring of publishing houses by domestic and foreign owners. Questions of cost and gain in both human and fiscal resources are analyzed in terms of changes in the psychological contracts between employers and employees as well as increased profits. The implications of these takeovers are discussed in terms of accumulated experiences in textbook publishing during the past three decades.
Coping with Communicentric Bias in Knowledge Production in the Social Sciences
Authors: Gordon Edmund W , Miller Fayneese , Rollock David
Published: June 2007

The authors examine several problems posed for emperical and theoretical research by the achievement of hegemony by one culture or system of thought over others. The issue is addressed from the special perspective of social scientists of African American descent who practice in a European /American dominant society. Several highly respected tenets of science, such as objectivity, positivism, and logical consistency, are questioned as to their universal utility when the life experiences, mores, and values of subjects studied are quite diverse. We suggest adapting the design and management of the conduct of inquiry to better accommodate cultural, class, ethnic, and gender diversity under conditions of subpopulation variance and cultural hegemony
The Extent to Which Critical Thinking Is Subject-Specific: Further Clarification
Authors: Ennis Robert H.
Published: June 2007

In this response to McPeck’s reply to my paper, I briefly summarize my earlier essay, and make four major points: (a) that the vagueness of the concepts, domain, field, and subject, is a problem when subject specificity serves as a basis for prediction, though not necessarily when it serves as a slogan or a vague warning; (b) that the distinction between the subject matter of schools and the subject matter of everyday life is a viable one, though not the mutually exclusive one that McPeck seems to attribute to me; (c) that the distinction between topic and school subject serves to help avoid a tempting equivocation that starts with the premise that all thinking is about some subject; and (d) that “relatively narrow” general thinking abilities can be very broad in the range of their application, and that many, though perhaps obvious at times to some, are not trivial, because numerous people seem not to employ them in important situations.

An underlying concern is McPeck’s apparent assumption that showing something (e.g., subject-matter knowledge) to be a necessary condition for critical thinking establishes that it is essentially a sufficient condition, or at least that all other things (e.g., general abilities) are unimportant. There is yet much research to be done before the basic issues can be resolved; I hope that this conceptual clarification will facilitate this research.
Expert Knowledge and Expert Thinking in Teaching: A Response to Floden and Klinzing
Authors: Lampert Magdalene , Clark Christopher M.
Published: June 2007

In their article “What Can Research on Teacher Thinking Contribute to Teacher Preparation? A Second Opinion” (Educational Researcher, June/July, 1990), Floden and Klinzing contend that teacher education would be improved if it were informed by research on practicing teachers's expertise. We do not disagree. However, other questions must be answered if such reforms are to be effective: What is expertise in teaching? How is expertise communicated? Who are the experts? This article attempts to address these questions and further the discussion of expert thinking in teaching.
Jobs of the Future and the Education They Will Require: Evidence From Occupational Forecasts
Authors: BAILEY THOMAS
Published: June 2007

Analyses of occupational forecasts have played a prominent role in this debate about the skill and educational implications of changes in technology and other developments in the economy. Unfortunately, some analysts and commentators have used the data to argue that skill and educational demands are rising while others rely on occupational data to support the argument that skills are unchanged or falling. Although the latest occupational data suggest that a dramatic educational upgrading of the occupational structure is not taking place, they do indicate that at the very least there is a steady increase in those occupations that currently employ more highly educated workers. Moreover, there is a case to be made that the projections underestimate the extent of upgrading. In the end, there are severe limitations to the usefulness of occupational forecasting for guiding educational reform. Many of the most significant changes may be taking place within occupational categories, yet occupational forecasts can tell us little about these changes. Moreover, while the occupational data may tell us something about needed changes in the amount of schooling, the most important issues for educational reform probably concern the content, not the amount, of education.
A Narrative of Enhanced Professionalism Educational Researchers and Popular Storybooks About Schoolpeople
Authors: Barone Thomas E.
Published: June 2007

Three narratives about the history, current status, and future of educational researchers as professionals are discussed. The prevailing collective self-portrait portrays educational researchers as social scientists with maximum autonomy for setting their research agenda and for quality control of their products. A counternarrative of deprofessionalization posits limited autonomy: Research often follows available funding, and government-sponsored grants generally reflect a popularly held view of schools and schoolpeople as the sources of social ailments and undeserving of additional financial support. This view is implicitly reinforced as research findings based on this premise are disseminated to members of the general public through intermediaries, especially members of the press. A third narrative accepts the countercritique but, in a more hopeful vein, foresees educational researchers challenging this view of schoolpeople by speaking directly to the polity. This is accomplished through the creation of research texts in the form of accessible, compelling, morally responsible stories about the lives of schoolpeople, texts that are at once popular and excellent. In this manner is professionalism enhanced as educational researchers move to gain greater control over their research agenda by persuading members of the public and governmental funding agencies to increase support of research based on a more enlightened vision of schoolpeople as victims of difficult social conditions.
Beyond Common Sense in Educational Restructuring
Authors: NEWMANN FRED M.
Published: June 2007

Common sense proposals for restructuring schools suggest promising directions, but in order for this potential to be fulfilled, two major issues must be addressed: What content is needed to give educational direction to the structures, and how can the many factors that influence this content be linked? This article proposes an agenda of content for teacher commitment and competence, and it identifies four problems of systemic linkage that restructuring "theory" has yet to address. Solutions to each of these issues will require resolution of persisting conflict over education goals.
Alternative Arguments for Generalizing From Data as Applied to Qualitative Research
Authors: FIRESTONE WILLIAM A.
Published: June 2007

One criticism about qualitative research is that it is difficult to generalize findings to settings not studied. To explore this issue, I examine three broad arguments for generalizing from data: sample-to-population extrapolation, analytic generalization, and case-to-case transfer. Qualitative research often uses the last argument, but some efforts have been made to use the first two. I suggest that analytic generalization can be very helpful for qualitative researchers but that sample-to-population extrapolation is not likely to be.
Realism, Deweyan Pragmatism, and Educational Research
Authors: Garrison Jim
Published: June 2007

In a recent exchange, Cleo H. Cherryholmes (1992) opposed Rortyan pragmatism to the “scientific realism'” of Ernest R. House (1991 , 1992) . In my article, I hope to find a middle ground between Cherryholmes and House that might be more attractive to many in the field of education. My article emphasizes some of the most important aspects of Dewey's philosophy, including his social behaviorist theory of meaning, his naturalistic metaphysics, philosophy of nature, social constructivism, and transactional realism. For some reason, most educational theorists, researchers, and practitioners have almost entirely ignored these crucial Deweyan themes, often with disastrous consequences. I will conclude by trying to show how all of these themes converge into Dewey's defense of democracy as not only the best form of government but also the best way for the community of educators to conduct and consume educational research.
Can There Be Validity Without Reliability?
Authors: Moss Pamela A.
Published: June 2007

Reliability has traditionally been taken for granted as a necessary but insufficient condition for validity in assessment use. My purpose in this article is to illuminate and challenge this presumption by exploring a dialectic between psychometric and hermeneutic approaches to drawing and warranting interpretations of human products or performances. Reliability, as it is typically defined and operationalized in the measurement literature (e.g., American Educational Research Association [AERA], American Psychological Association, & National Council on Measurement in Education, 1985 ; Feldt & Brennan, 1989 ), privileges standardized forms of assessment. By considering hermeneutic alternatives for serving the important epistemological and ethical purposes that reliability serves, we expand the range of viable high-stakes assessment practices to include those that honor the purposes that students bring to their work and the contextualized judgments of teachers.
The Use of Quantitative Evidence in Research: A Comparative Study of Two Literatures
Authors: Pickett William , Burrill Donald F.
Published: June 2007

Random samples of 50 articles each were selected from the education and health sciences literatures to compare their use of quantitative evidence. While proportionally fewer articles from the educational literature cited quantitative evidence in support of research questions and conclusions, the study designs and approaches to analysis represented by these samples were similar. Our results do not provide convincing evidence to support the idea that educational research is somehow less “rigorous” than that of the health sciences.
Constructing Scientific Knowledge in the Classroom
Authors: Driver Rosalind , Asoko Hilary , Leach John , Scott Philip , Mortimer Eduardo
Published: June 2007

The view that knowledge cannot be transmitted but must be constructed by the mental activity of learners underpins contemporary perspectives on science education. This article, which presents a theoretical perspective on teaching and learning science in the social setting of classrooms, is informed by a view of scientific knowledge as socially constructed and by a perspective on the learning of science as knowledge construction involving both individual and social processes. First, we present an overview of the nature of scientific knowledge. We then describe two major traditions in explaining the process of learning science: personal and social constructivism. Finally, we illustrate how both personal and social perspectives on learning, as well as perspectives on the nature of the scientific knowledge to be learned, are necessary in interpreting science learning in formal settings.
Challenges Confronting the Researcher/Teacher: Conflicts of Purpose and Conduct
Authors: Wong E. David
Published: June 2007

An increasing number of university faculty appreciate that the role of classroom teacher offers a valuable research perspective ( Richardson, 1994 ). However, striving to be both a researcher and a teacher presents unique and serious challenges. I refer to the Aristotelian distinction between the theoretical and practical "sciences" to characterize the nature of the conflicts I experienced as a researcher/teacher. I go on to describe how it became necessary to renegotiate traditional classroom values and expectations so that the activity of research might become a more productive part of the instructional experience. I suggest that similar kinds of tensions may be inherent to any responsible, inquiry-oriented teaching and that these challenges create opportunities to contemplate important issues about the nature of research, teaching, and curriculum.
This Is Not a Paper
Authors: Burbules Nicholas C. , Bruce Bertram C.
Published: June 2007

This article explores some of the prospects for electronic publishing in educational research.1 Some scholars have predicted that paper journals and other periodicals will disappear within a decade. Others insist that electronic and paper publishing can and should coexist, each serving distinct purposes suited to their respective media. In assessing this debate, we argue, educational researchers and others concerned with publishing should weigh the special relevance of electronic publishing to educational scholarship and practice.
Situated Learning and Education
Authors: Anderson John R. , Reder Lynne M. , Simon Herbert A.
Published: June 2007

This paper provides a review of the claims of situated learning that are having an increasing influence on education generally and mathematics education particularly. We review the four central claims of situated learning with respect to education: (1) action is grounded in the concrete situation in which it occurs; (2) knowledge does not transfer between tasks; (3) training by abstraction is of little use; and (4) instruction must be done in complex, social environments. In each case, we cite empirical literature to show that the claims are overstated and that some of the educational implications that have been taken from these claims are misguided.