bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Measuring Funds of Knowledge: Contributions to Latina/o Students’ Academic and Nonacademic Outcomes
Authors: Rios-Aguilar Cecilia
Published: November 2021

Background/Context

The educational performance of Latina/o students in the United States is becoming a central concern in education policy and reform. In an attempt to explain variation in the academic achievement of Latina/o students, considerable sociological and economic research has emerged. Even though the contributions of these studies are of great benefit, there remain important knowledge gaps.

Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study

The purpose of this study is to offer an alternative explanation for the variation in Latina/o students’ academic and nonaca-demic outcomes by using an integrated theoretical framework—funds of knowledge— that takes into consideration the many resources, skills, and knowledge inherent in Latino households.

Research Design

This study uses quantitative methods to examine the relationship between funds of knowledge and Latina/o students’ academic and nonacademic outcomes. A random sample of 212 Latina/o students enrolled in grades K through 12 was selected to examine the association between funds of knowledge and Latina/o students’ academic outcomes—reading and academic achievement, and nonacademic outcomes—literacy practices. The data for this study were drawn from the survey responses to the Latino/Hispanic Household Survey and from student achievement data.

Findings/Results

Results obtained from the factor analysis suggest the emergence of six theoretically relevant factors: social reciprocity, household frequent activities, parental educational philosophy, parental language acquisition, English literacy-oriented activities, and Spanish literacy-oriented activities. Multiple regression analyses indicated the existence of a significant association between some components of funds of knowledge and students’ academic and nonacademic outcomes.

Conclusions/Recommendations

This study's findings suggest that Latina/o students and families do engage in many different activities that contribute to students’ academic and nonacademic outcomes. So, instead of viewing Latino families as needing remediation services and lacking resources to support students’ learning, it is critical to build on their life experiences, knowledge, and skills. It is also clear that there is need to refine the approaches and methodologies used to explain and understand the academic and nonacademic outcomes of Latina/o students.
Information-Seeking Behaviors of Education Literature User Populations
Authors: Wright Carol
Published: November 2021

Background / Context

A thorough understanding of the information-seeking behaviors of specific disciplines, as well as distinct user groups within a discipline, is fundamental to the process of development of disciplinary informatics. Significant research has been conducted, largely by library and information science scholars across a range of disciplines, but none that has focused primarily on education. Existing studies of information-seeking behavior have not been communicated to education scholars and professionals. The lack of consensus on the nature, execution, and application of educational research and the fundamental disconnect between scholars and practitioners further complicate the question. Users of education literature are diverse, including a spectrum of scholars, professionals, practitioners, parents, and the general public. Patterns of information seeking and application must be better understood to successfully develop a structure for education informatics.

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to bring to the education community a higher level of awareness of the overarching dynamics of information structure, organization, and retrieval, as well as recognition of the relationship of those dynamics to the evolving nature, definition, and execution of education research, to the development of education informatics.

Research Design

This article consists of a literature review and synthesis of research, analysis of distinct user populations, and an issues analysis with recommendations.

Conclusions

Exacerbated by failed communication opportunities across all segments of the producer/user community, and in spite of legislative mandates for data-driven and scientifically based research, there remains a void in the collective ability to converse across subsets of the user community and to translate research into practice. Practitioners need to learn basic research design, concepts, methodologies, and assessment measures; means to interpret results, validity, and bias; and ways to understanding limitations of the study. Practitioners also must be able to incorporate findings into their practice. They must do teacher research that is collaborative, replicable, shared, and reviewable and become both effective producers and critical consumers of research. Academic researchers need to focus on the complex issues that teachers face on a daily basis; explain why questions are being asked and conducted in a particular way; present findings in a manner more accessible to practitioners; and demonstrate how findings can be made generalizable. Education informatics has the potential to be the dynamic that helps translate research into practice to facilitate the application of research findings within the context of individualized environments, to provide the common ground for collaborative work, and to create the necessary synergy between theory and practice.
Proposal for the Creation of a Subdiscipline: Education Informatics
Authors: Collins John W. , Weiner Sharon A.
Published: November 2021

Background/Context

Soon after the United States Department of Education began making changes to the Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) system, education librarians concluded that there was a need for a fresh approach to addressing education information needs. Considering the importance of information systems in education, they agreed that a new subdiscipline of education should be promoted called education informatics. This subdiscipline would incorporate new technologies and learning strategies to enhance the capture, organization, and utilization of education information. Some of the information challenges facing the discipline of education are: gaps in existing information resources; lack of a centralized body of education information experts to influence the development of new education resources; scarce resources for the development of concepts, models, theories, and techniques related to the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) for learning and teaching; minimal understanding of how people access and use education information and digital information resources, services, systems, environments, and media for learning; and lack of support for international and cross-cultural collaborations in education informatics.

Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study

The creation of a subdiscipline within the field of education that examines issues that fall at the intersection of education information and information technology is critical. Once there is a broader recognition of the existence of this subdiscipline, it is likely that research funding will increase, specialized expertise will be expanded, and new programs and systems related to education information will be developed.

Research Design

The research design for this article is an analytic essay.

Conclusions/Recommendations

The process of becoming an established discipline of education informatics could be advanced through an invited symposium. Grounding it in schools of education would establish an academic identity. Such an interdisciplinary field needs attention from funding agencies and research leadership; acceptance by faculty and students; and systemic implementation in universities. The establishment of a “center” for education informatics would address problems that require many resources, incubate new programs, facilitate cross-disciplinary collaboration, and attract outside funding. There is a need for a journal of education informatics that has a broader scope than educational technology. A research agenda could include the development and evaluation of concepts, models, theories, and techniques related to the use of ICT for learning; ways in which people use digital information resources, services, systems, environments, and communications media for learning; whether information literacy educators give adequate attention to teaching all aspects of information literacy; and how international and cross-cultural collaborations in education informatics can be supported.
Toward the Integration of Meditation into Higher Education: A Review of Research Evidence
Authors: Shapiro Shauna L. , Brown Kirk Warren , Astin John
Published: November 2021

Context

There is growing interest in the integration of meditation in higher education.

Purpose

Here, we review evidence bearing on the utility of meditation to facilitate the achievement of traditional educational goals and to enhance education of the “whole person.”

Research Design

We examine how meditation practices may help foster important cognitive skills of attention and information processing, as well build stress resilience and adaptive interpersonal capacities through a review of the published research literature.

Conclusions/Recommendations

We offer directions for future research, highlighting the importance of theory-based investigations, increased methodological rigor, expansion of the scope of education-related outcomes studied, and the study of best practices for teaching meditation in educational settings.
Moving beyond Brown: Race and Education After Parents v. Seattle School District No. 1
Authors: Donnor Jamel K.
Published: November 2021

Background

By a 5–4 margin, the U.S. Supreme Court in Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 declared that voluntary public school integration programs were unconstitutional. Citing the prospective harm that students and their families might incur from being denied admission to the high school of their choice, the Supreme Court declared that the plaintiffs, Parents Involved in Community Schools (PICS), had a valid claim of injury by asserting a interest in not being forced to compete for seats at certain high schools in a system that uses race as a deciding factor in many of its admissions decisions.

Purpose

The goal of the article is to discuss how conceptions of harm and fairness as articulated in Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 privilege the self-interests of White students and families over the educational needs of students of color.

Research Design

This article is a document analysis.

Conclusions

By referencing the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka decision of 1954 (Brown I) to buttress its decision, the U.S. Supreme Court has determined that programmatic efforts to ensure students of color access to quality learning environments are inherently ominous. The dilemma moving forward for policy makers and scholars concerned with the educational advancement of students of color is not to develop new ways to integrate America's public schools or reconcile the gaps in the Supreme Court's logic, but rather to craft programs and policies for students of color around the human development and workforce needs of the global economy.
Resisting Compliance: Learning to Teach for Social Justice in a Neoliberal Context
Authors: Picower Bree
Published: November 2021

Background/Context

This study examines education in the context of neoliberalism and how current educational policies such as high-stakes testing and mandated curriculum create schooling environments hostile to social justice education. Relying on education for liberation literature, teacher education for social justice scholarship, and work on critical pedagogy, this study explores how new teachers who teach from a social justice perspective navigate the challenges of their first year in teaching.

Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study

This study asks, What strategies do new teachers use to stay true to their vision of teaching for social justice despite the challenges they face in their school environments?

Population/Participants/Subjects

During the course of the study, 4 of the 6 participants were full-time classroom teachers. The 2 other participants were still taking education classes while student- and assistant teaching. All worked in a variety of urban elementary schools.

Intervention/Program/Practice

The participants were all members of a social justice critical inquiry project (CIP) group that met at the university from which they graduated.

Research Design

This was a qualitative study that used design-based research.

Data Collection and Analysis

Data were collected from three sources: transcripts from audio and videotaped CIP sessions, ethnographic interviews with participants, and participants’ written reflections. Data were analyzed using grounded theory method.

Findings/Results

The teachers developed four strategies for teaching for social justice. First, by participating in a critical inquiry project, the teachers supported each other by building a safe haven that protected their vision. Second, the participants camouflaged their critical pedagogy by integrating it with the mandated curriculum, which allowed them to teach from a social justice perspective without rousing the concerns of their administration. The third strategy was to develop their students as agents of change. Finally, in a few instances, the teachers went public with their work by rejecting or speaking against policies that they felt were not in the best interests of their students.

Conclusions/Recommendations

Although these four strategies allowed participants to successfully create critical classrooms, they did not impact the larger neoliberal forces that maintain unjust schooling experiences. This has implications for teacher education, and the author suggests recommendations for schools of education.
The Emotional Complexities of Teaching Conflictual Historical Narratives: The Case of Integrated Palestinian-Jewish Schools in Israel
Authors: Bekerman Zvi , Zembylas Michalinos
Published: November 2021

Background/Context

Emotions often accompany discussions of ethnic matters, yet there have been few sustained investigations in education of how, and with what implications, emotional responses are (de)legitimized in the classroom, especially when conflicting historical narratives are involved. Emotions have remained in the margins of educational research about the ways in which historical narratives are dealt with in schools, or at best, they are regarded as epiphenomena rather than constitutive components in teaching practice.

Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study

The main objective of this article is to help us better understand how both emotions and historical narratives are constituted and operate interactively at the level of both the individual and the social-political structures within school and the wider society. The particular event on which we focus the present analysis—a classroom activity on the death of Yasser Arafat—was chosen because it is representative of multiple other events in which similar phenomena were identified. Its analysis offers insights into how those involved in education (even in the context of integrated schools) draw selectively from formal and informal sources to support their emotional identification and sense of belonging within their particular political, national, and religious communities.

Research Design

The events presented are based on rich data gathered from a long-standing ethnographic research effort in the context of the Palestinian-Jewish integrated bilingual schools in Israel.

Conclusions/Recommendations

We highlight two main implications of the analysis developed in this article. The first concerns the importance of teachers critically analyzing the emotional discourses/practices through which historical narratives are authorized by, implied by, and embodied in schools; this position also entails the recognition that such discourses/practices have consequences for the ways in which affective spaces and communities are constituted within the classroom and beyond. The second is that the findings of this study concerning the teaching of controversial issues in the classroom suggest an imperative need among teachers working with multiethnic children to increase their competence in dealing with conflicting historical narratives at both the cognitive and emotional levels. This competence can be partly developed through preservice and in-service teacher education that pays attention to the emotional complexities of teaching conflicting historical narratives.
Ambitious Pedagogy by Novice Teachers: Who Benefits from Tool-Supported Collaborative Inquiry into Practice and Why?
Authors: Windschitl Mark , Thompson Jessica , Braaten Melissa
Published: November 2021

Background/Context

The collegial analysis of student work artifacts has been effective in advancing the practice of experienced teachers; however, the use of such strategies as a centerpiece for induction has not been explored, nor has the development of tool systems to support such activity with novices.

Purpose/Objective

We tested the hypothesis that first-year teachers could take up forms of ambitious pedagogy under the following conditions: 1) that reform-based practices introduced in teacher preparation would be the focus of collaborative inquiry throughout the first year of teaching, 2) that participants use analyses of their students’ work as the basis of critique and change in practice, and 3) that special tools be employed that help participants hypothesize about relationships between instruction and student performance.

Participants

Eleven secondary science teachers engaged in tool-supported collegial analysis of their students’ work over two years, spanning pre-service and in-service contexts.

Research Design

We used a qualitative multi-case study approach, incorporating videotapes of collaborative inquiry (CFG) sessions, classroom observations, student-created artifacts, interviews, and field notes. The primary cases were of the CFG sessions themselves. Analysis entailed identifying patterns of participation across CFG sessions and changes in classroom practice during induction.

Findings

More than one third of the group developed elements of expert-like teaching, with the greatest gains made in pressing their students for evidence-based scientific explanations, a practice that was the focus of their regular examinations of student work. For a majority— those who initially held the most problematized images of the relationships between teaching and learning—the system of tools (rubrics and protocol) was critical in allowing deep analyses of students’ work and supporting a shared language that catalyzed conversations linking “what counts” as scientific explanation with the re-calibration of expectations for students. This, in turn, helped participants envision more specialized forms of scaffolding for learners.

Conclusions

Those who begin their careers with a problematized view of the relationships between teaching and learning are not only more likely to appropriate sophisticated practices early, but also to benefit from evidence-based collaborative inquiry into practice. This study also highlights the potentially powerful role of tools and tool-based routines, tailored to the needs of beginning teachers, in fostering ambitious pedagogy. This success, we believe, can support the design of more robust systems of tools for early career teachers’ collaborative inquiry and can inform theory around the implementation of these tools.
Organizational Resources in the Service of School-Wide Ambitious Teaching Practice
Authors: Lampert Magdalene , Boerst Timothy , Graziani Filippo
Published: November 2021

Background/Context

“Ambitious teaching” is teaching that aims to teach all kinds of students to not only to know academic subjects, but also to be able to use what they know in working on authentic problems in academic domains. Studies of individual teachers have identified the challenges of this work. Resources are often provided at the school level with the purpose of making this kind of teaching more common. But as Cohen, Raudenbusch, and Ball (2003) point out, it is not making resources available to a school that matters in improving instruction, but getting those resources to be used in instructional interactions where teachers and students work together to get academic content learned.

Purpose/Objective

The purpose of this case study was to understand how the common use of resources across a school functions to enable those resources to make their way into the instructional stream.1 First, the use of shared social, intellectual, and material resources was investigated in consistently ambitious teaching across diverse classes and teachers in the school. Using a conceptual frame from social practice theory, we then examined how resources in use shaped teachers’ common interpretations of teaching problems and common assumptions about appropriate solutions.

Research Design

Qualitative case study based on extensive observation and interviews.

Conclusions/Recommendations

As a field, we need to provide images and narratives for ambitious teaching that is scaffolded in such a way that one can be a mere mortal and yet capably meet its routine demands. In this paper we have tried to provide one such image. We can offer several strong hypotheses based on this casework; the first is that ambitious teaching is more manageable when it is undertaken collectively, when it is supported by common materials, and when it has an intellectual underpinning that is useful and routinely used. Ambitious teaching is made more sustainable when a multiplicity of resources are drawn upon in concert, not installed one at a time and delivered to individual practitioners. We have tried to illustrate the strong role that an organization can play in the development of widespread ambitious teaching. In this image the organization supports ambitious teaching in such a way that most teachers can see, enact, and routinely articulate, this approach.
Absent Peers in Elementary Years: The Negative Classroom Effects of Unexcused Absences on Standardized Testing Outcomes
Authors: Gottfried Michael A.
Published: November 2021

Background/Context

This article addresses the classroom contextual effects of absences on student achievement. Previous research on peer effects has predominantly focused on peer socioeconomic status or classroom academic ability and its effects on classmates. However, the field has been limited by not discerning the individual-level academic effects of being in classrooms with absent peers.

Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of the Study

The purpose of this study is to determine the peer effects of absent students in urban elementary school classrooms.

Population/Participants/Subjects

The data set is longitudinal and comprises entire populations of five elementary school cohorts within the School District of Philadelphia, for a total of 33,420 student observations. Individual student records were linked to teacher and classroom data and to census block neighborhood information.

Research Design

To examine the educational effects of absent peers, this study employed an empirical specification of the education production function. The dependent variables were Stanford Achievement Test Ninth Edition (SAT9) reading and math scores.

Findings

Models differentiated between unexcused and total absence measures and indicated that the peer effect of absences was driven by negative effects associated with classroom rates of unexcused absences rather with rates of total absences. These findings were obtained after controlling for student, neighborhood, teacher, and classroom characteristics.

Conclusions/Recommendations

Not only are absences detrimental to the absentee, but they also have a pervasive effect on the achievement of other students in the classroom.
Confessions of a Mad Professor: An Autoethnographic Consideration of Neuroatypicality, Extranormativity, and Education
Authors: Smagorinsky Peter
Published: November 2021

Background/Context

This article considers issues related to the intersection of mental health and education. Typically, in both educational and noneducational settings, atypical mental health conditions are described and treated as “disorders.” The author challenges conventional understandings of mental health and how to address it, particularly in school settings.

Purpose

The argument in this article is designed to make a case for greater understanding of extranormal mental health makeups and reconsider current understandings of normalcy. Focusing in particular on the experience of living with Asperger's syndrome, this article orchestrates narrative data and prior scholarship to argue that conventional notions of normalcy require reconsideration as more is understood about the spectrum of possible makeups in broad and diverse populations. The author argues that notions of normalcy are social constructions and that reconstructions of conventional notions of normalcy could provide more inclusive settings for a wider range of people.

Research Design

This article employs a version of narrative inquiry, autoethnography, to explore issues related to the intersection of mental health and education. The author describes, reflects on, and interprets a body of experiential knowledge both to illuminate the experience of living with an extranormative mental health makeup and consider the degree to which it serves as a deficit or disorder, as is commonly presumed. These experiences are placed in the context of empirical data from other studies to frame an argument regarding the spectrum of neurological makeups and its place in efforts toward inclusive and multicultural education.

Conclusions/Recommendations

The article closes with an argument for constructing contexts for supporting, understanding, appreciating, and respecting a wider range of neurological conditions in school settings.
[Re]conceptualizing Inclusion: Can Critical Race Theory and Interest Convergence be Utilized to Achieve Inclusion and Equity for African American Students?
Authors: Zion Shelley , Blanchett Wanda
Published: November 2021

Background/Context

Even though not fully realized, in legislation and theory, the requirements of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act and the No Child Left Behind Act have created pressure to address the historical inequity in educational opportunity, achievement, and outcomes, as well as disparities in achievement between students of color and White students; disproportionality in special education referral, identification, and placement; high dropout rates for students of color; and disproportionate discipline and referrals for students of color, students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, students from immigrant families, and students in urban areas.

Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study

The authors argue that inclusive education never had the potential to be truly inclusive because it is built on the premises of an inferiority paradigm. Issues of race, class, and privilege have rarely been incorporated into the inclusive education definitions or debates in the United States, and certainly not in practice. The purpose of this article is to examine: (a) the historical context of public schooling in America; (b) inclusive education in practice: segregation of African American and other students of color; (c) [re]conceptualizing inclusion: the importance of a social justice lens and critical theory; and (d) the relevance of interest convergence.

Research Design

Analytic essay.

Conclusions/Recommendations

The authors contend that the inclusive education movement has not resulted in positive outcomes or inclusion in general education for African American students because the movement was built on faulty assumptions that centered on ability and placement and did not look at the intersection of ability/disability with race, class, culture, and language. More important, the movement did not address issues of racism, White privilege, White dominance, and social class dominance. The authors assert that social justice, critical race theory, and interest convergence are powerful tools with which to [re]conceptualize inclusion and inclusive education in America.
Addressing Racial/Ethnic Disproportionality in Special Education: Case Studies of Suburban School Districts
Authors: Ahram Roey , Fergus Edward , Noguera Pedro
Published: November 2021

Background/Context

The last two reauthorizations of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act established a policy mandate for districts to take action to reduce high rates of minority overrepresentation in special education.

Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study

The overrepresentation of Black and Latino students in special education suggests a convergence of two distinct processes: (1) assumptions of cultural deficit that result in unclear or misguided conceptualizations of disability and (2) the subsequent labeling of students in special education through a pseudoscientific placement process. This article explores how the social construct of the “normal child” became racialized through the special education referral and classification process, and subsequently produces disproportionality.

Setting

This research was conducted in two multiracial suburban school districts in New York State that were identified as having an overrepresentation of students of color.

Population/Participants/Subjects

Participants in the study consist of teachers and administrators within the two identified districts.

Intervention/Program/Practice

Intensive technical assistance was provided to these districts to identify the root causes of disproportionality and was subsequently followed by customized professional development. Three overarching activities of technical assistance were: observing in classrooms in each of the school districts; providing root cause analyses of disproportionality; and providing culturally responsive professional development.

Research Design

This research used mixed methods in collating district data, conducting technical assistance sessions with districts to identify the factors contributing to disproportionality, and creating 3-year professional development plans to address overrepresentation. In addition, researchers facilitated culturally responsive professional development to targeted groups of practitioners on topics related to improving teacher and district effectiveness in meeting the academic needs of children of color.

Findings/Results

Findings were: (1) cultural deficit thinking in educators’ construction of student abilities; (2) the existence of inadequate institutional safeguards for struggling students; and (3) attempts at addressing disproportionality often result in institutional “fixes” but not necessarily changes in the beliefs of education professionals.

Conclusions/Recommendations

The implementation of a culturally responsive framework can produce a shift in the special education placement process and lead to a reduction in disproportionality rates. Of note is confirmation that teacher–student interactions that begin the procedures triggering disproportionality are mired in teachers’ cultural deficit thinking. However, although teachers’ beliefs about students may change extremely slowly, effective school practices can interrupt the influence of deficit thinking.
Teaching's Conscientious Objectors: Principled Leavers of High-Poverty Schools
Authors: Santoro Doris A. , Morehouse Lisa
Published: November 2021

Background/Context

Most accounts of teacher attrition fall into one or both of the following categories: teacher life cycle and workplace conditions. Many educational researchers have described and analyzed teaching in moral and ethical terms. Despite the numerous articles and books that study the personal convictions of teachers, a sustained consideration of how moral and ethical factors may contribute to educators’ decisions to leave the profession is absent from nearly all the literature on teacher attrition and on the moral life of teaching. This article couples these two literatures to highlight the moral and ethical dimensions of teacher attrition through the experiences of 13 experienced and committed former teachers from high-poverty schools.

Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study

This study asks: Why do experienced and committed teachers in high-poverty schools leave work they love? This article explores how the former teachers in this study weighed the competing calls to teach “right” and their responsibilities to society, the profession, their institutions, their students, and themselves. The participants’ principles, or core beliefs, are analyzed in light of John Dewey's description of a “moral situation.” Following Dewey, it is shown that in deliberating on their moral dilemmas, principled leavers ask not only, “What shall I do?” but also “What am I?”

Population/Participants/Subjects

The research participants are 13 former teachers from high-poverty schools with tenures ranging from 6 to 27 years of service.

Research Design

The study is a philosophical inquiry combined with qualitative analysis of “portraits” of former teachers.

Conclusions/Recommendations

This article introduces a category of teacher attrition that is rooted in the moral and ethical aspects of teaching: principled leavers. Akin to conscientious objectors who refuse to fight wars they deem unjust, principled leavers resign from teaching on grounds that they are being asked to engage in practices that they believe are antithetical to good teaching and harmful to students. The category of principled leaver enables teachers to call on a tradition of resigning for moral and ethical reasons rather than viewing their departures as personal failures and the result of individual weakness. Principled leaving, as a category of teacher attrition, provides a vocabulary for such resignations and may enable community to arise rather than isolation to prevail. Just as principles may motivate teachers to enter the profession, principles may provide justification for leaving, even for teachers who envisioned themselves as committed, long-term educators. When experienced teachers who expected to work in high-poverty schools for the “long haul” leave, it should command attention. Policy makers and educational leaders need to attend to the moral and ethical dimensions of teaching when developing pedagogically related policies and in crafting retention efforts.
Virtual Constructions: Developing a Teacher Voice in the 21st Century
Authors: Casey Heather
Published: November 2021

DEVELOPMENT OF TEACHER IDENTITY

“Good teaching cannot be reduced to technique; good teaching comes from the identity and integrity of the teacher” (Parker, 1997, p. 10)
Response to Section IV: What's Needed Now: Issues of Professional Development School Accountability and Sustainability in Today's Complex Educational Environment
Authors: Wiseman Donna L.
Published: November 2021

The concept of Professional Development Schools assumes that improving teaching ultimately depends on providing teachers with opportunities to contribute to the development of knowledge in their profession, to form collegial relationships beyond their immediate working environment, and to grow intellectually as they mature professionally. The idea of such collaborative sites also recognizes that the university-based research and instruction in education must have strong roots in the practice of teaching if they are to maintain their intellectual vitality and credibility with the profession. Professional Development Schools, then, would provide a structured partnership for developing the teaching profession and ultimately improving students’ learning. (Holmes Group, 1986)
“I Had Made a Mistake”: William H. Kilpatrick and the Project Method
Authors: Knoll Michael
Published: November 2021

Background/Context

William H. Kilpatrick is known worldwide as “Mr. Project Method.” Despite considerable scholarship by Lawrence A. Cremin, Herbert M. Kliebard, Milton A. Bleeke, John A. Beineke, and others, the origin of Kilpatrick's celebrated paper of 1918 has never been explored in depth and its historical context.

Focus of Study

The reconstruction reveals that the concept of teaching by “projects” arose in seventeenth-century Italy and reached the United States in 1865 where it served as an instructional device in manual training, agricultural education, and general science. Kilpatrick came into contact with the project method movement in 1915. He jumped on the bandwagon, adopted the two-hundred-year-old concept, and used it in a provocative new way to be not only remembered as a genial teacher but as an “originator” as well. Supported by the “Project Propaganda Club,” he had already initiated in 1917 and which became known as the National Conference for the Promotion of Educational Method in 1921, Kilpatrick advocated a decidedly child-centered approach that in New York, Milwaukee, and Bethpage, Missouri, failed the practice test and evoked fierce criticism from friend and foe, including Boyd H. Bode, Ernest Horn, Guy M. Wilson, and John Dewey. In the late 1920s, Kilpatrick decided that in defining the project as a subjective “philosophy” of education and not as an objective “method” of instruction he “had made a mistake.” Subsequently, he gave up the term and spoke of “activities” when the students carried out their plans and ideas “heartily” and “purposefully.”

Conclusions

Historians worldwide have fallen victim to an error. Contrary to conventional wisdom, Kilpatrick is not the classic of the project method, but rather the classical outsider. Next to deadness and dullness, formalism and routine, our education is threatened with no greater evil than sentimentalism. —John Dewey
Educational Research: The Challenge of Using an Academic Discipline
Authors: Hill Clifford
Published: November 2021

Background/Context

In 2010, I was invited to give the annual lecture that honors Lawrence Cremin, the historian of American education who became the seventh president of Teachers College, Columbia University. To pay tribute to the way in which Cremin used an academic discipline to bring rigor and depth to educational research, I described my own use of an academic discipline—linguistics and its varied tools of discourse analysis—in conducting research at the College.

Focus of Research

I focused on two major areas of research: (a) ethnocultural variation in processing spatio-temporal information in languages throughout the world and (b) children's interaction with multiple-choice tests of reading comprehension, with particular attention to the ways in which their ethnocultural background affects how they respond.

Research Design and Findings

The first area of research used experimental methods developed by a research team that I directed. The major finding was that distinctive patterns of processing spatiotemporal information by speakers of African languages (e.g., Hausa) and Asian languages (e.g., Chinese) are preserved when African Americans and Chinese Americans speak English in the Western hemisphere. In addition to ethnocultural identity, our research team uncovered other factors such as age and gender that are reflected in the preservation of these patterns. I draw on the model structured heterogeneity (Herzog, Weinrich, & Labov, 1968) to show that what may appear to be random variation in language use can be accounted for by attending to sociocultural factors. The second area of research used quantitative methods (experimental probes) and qualitative methods (interviews). Our major finding was that children, especially African Americans who live in the inner city, often make inferences when responding to a multiple-choice task, which, although stimulated by features in the test item, lead them to select a choice, which, given the test makers’ highly restricted model of literacy, cannot be justified. Our research team drew on the model ethnography of communication (Hymes, 1962) in identifying the contrasting interpretive norms used by test makers and test takers. We then developed a model grounded constructivism (Hill, 2004) that was used to build an alternative approach to assessment in which children respond to an integrated set of tasks that call for three different kinds of response: factual, inferential, and experiential.

Recommendations

An academic discipline can provide greater depth and rigor in educational research, but those who draw on one must seek, much like Lawrence Cremin, to make their research intelligible to an informed public concerned with educational policy.
How We Think We Think
Authors: Jackson Philip
Published: November 2021

Background

The intellectual context of this essay is the nature of human thought as examined by philosophers and psychologists past and present.

Focus of study

The study focuses on the treatment of thinking by John Dewey in his two editions of ‘How We Think’ and by William James in his ‘Talks to Teachers’.

Research Design

This is a philosophical/interpretive essay.

Conclusions

The essay concludes that both James and Dewey addressed the nature of thinking too narrowly. A broader conception of thinking is urged. The implications for teachers are briefly discussed.
Accommodation Practices for English Language Learners in States’ Mathematics Assessments
Authors: Wolf Mikyung Kim , Kao Jenny C. , Rivera Nichole M. , Chang Sandy M.
Published: November 2021

Background/Context

Testing accommodations have been widely utilized as a way of increasing the validity of content assessments for English language learner (ELL) students. However, concerns have also arisen regarding the appropriateness of accommodation use, including the accessibility and fairness of accommodations. While many states have developed ELL-specific accommodation policies and guidelines, little research has been available on how the accommodation policies are carried out in practice.

Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study

The present study investigated two states’ accommodation policies, specifically for the states’ respective large-scale Grade 8 math assessments, and conducted a case study to examine teachers’ understanding of the policies and uses. The study aimed to identify issues to consider for an appropriate use of accommodations and provide useful information for policymakers to improve their accommodation policies.

Research Design

The study utilized a qualitative method employing teacher surveys and interviews. The survey and interview instruments were developed based on previous literature and experts’ feedback. The interview transcripts were coded by two researchers using a systematic coding scheme. Descriptive statistics of the responses were computed to observe trends across and within districts and schools. The results were also compared between states or between ELL and math teachers when applicable.

Conclusions/Recommendations

Despite the limitation of the small sample in this study, the findings of the study offer practical implications for policymakers and educators in the use of accommodations for ELL students. The study found considerable variation reported by teachers with regard to the perception of accommodation decision makers, selection criteria, and the types of accommodations allowed in each state's math assessment. This variation raised serious concerns regarding the adequacy of the accommodation uses and the comparability of accommodated test results across schools. In this paper, we discussed a number of possible reasons for teachers’ reported difficulty in keeping up with state policies: (a) lack of clear guidelines in making accommodation decisions and implementing accommodations in a standardized way, (b) lack of or limited opportunities in receiving information and communicating about accommodations among decision makers and teachers, and (c) limited resources and logistical difficulties. To support an appropriate use of accommodations for teachers, we recommend that states make efforts to provide comprehensive, operationalized guidelines for ELL accommodations, monitor the use of the guidelines, and hold regular professional meetings for ELL and content teachers.
How Does Location Impact Meaning and Opportunity? Rural Schools and the NCATE Diversity Standard
Authors: Miretzky Debra , Stevens Sharon
Published: November 2021

Background/Context

While there is ample evidence that the K–12 student population is becoming increasingly diverse and the teacher workforce is not, very little literature addresses the specific problems rural teacher education programs may experience attempting to meet the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) diversity standard. A 2005 NCATE-sponsored survey found that an unknown number of respondents indicated difficulty in meeting the requirements of the standard and that “geographically isolated” programs were especially affected. The existing research that targets rural programs tends to describe specific practices. As NCATE and TEAC, the two major teacher education accreditation programs, move toward consolidation, revisiting the expectations regarding diversity is critical.

Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study

The purpose of this study was to explore rural SCDEs’ experiences with the diversity standard as well as the implications of these experiences, with the aim of reporting and suggesting possible strategies for enhancing the application of the standard at the institutional and agency levels. We hypothesized that rural schools experience difficulty with meeting aspects of the standard due to the potential limitations associated with the schools’ locations. Research questions focused on how rural programs define diversity, identification of obstacles, priorities for programs, and adaptations. One hundred and sixteen NCATE coordinators and/or deans participated in the study's online survey.

Research Design

This research was an exploratory study that used qualitative and quantitative methods. The instrument included survey questions and items for open-ended responses.

Conclusions/Recommendations

Rural teacher education programs do experience difficulties with meeting the requirements of the NCATE diversity standard. Respondents singled out recruitment and retention of diverse faculty and candidate's inability to provide high-quality diversity experiences, and location as the biggest issues. Respondents perceived that NCATE focuses on race and ethnicity to the exclusion of other categories. In particular, respondents reported strong beliefs that SES and exceptionalities are more universal and more locally relevant and deserve to be recognized as critical priorities for educating candidates who could build on this competence in working with other diversities—a kind of “transferable skills” perspective. Programs would like to see recognition for “good faith” efforts and would value the opportunity to demonstrate the strengths and generalizability of their diversity programs. As NCATE and the Teacher Education Accreditation Council (TEAC) move toward consolidation, new frameworks for assessing these frameworks should be considered.