bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
High School Graduation Rates:Alternative Methods and Implications
Authors: Miao Jing , Haney Walt
Published: March 2015

The No Child Left Behind Act has brought great attention to the high school graduation rate as one of the mandatory accountability measures for public school systems. However, there is no consensus on how to calculate the high school graduation rate given the lack of longitudinal databases that track individual students. This study reviews literature on and practices in reporting high school graduation rates, compares graduation rate estimates yielded from alternative methods, and estimates discrepancies between alternative results at national, state, and state ethnic group levels. Despite the graduation rate method used, results indicate that high school graduation rates in the U.S. have been declining in recent years and that graduation rates for black and Hispanic students lag substantially behind those of white students. As to graduation rate method preferred, this study found no evidence that the conceptually more complex methods yield more accurate or valid graduation rate estimates than the simpler methods.
School Size, Achievement, and Achievement Gaps
Authors: McMillen Bradley J.
Published: March 2015

In order to examine the relationship between school size and achievement, a study was conducted using longitudinal achievement data from North Carolina for three separate cohorts of public school students (one elementary, one middle and one high school). Results revealed several interactions between size and student characteristics, all of which indicated that the achievement gaps typically existing between certain subgroups (i.e., more versus less-advantaged, lower versus higher-achieving) were larger in larger schools. Results varied across the grade level cohorts and across subjects, but in general effects were more common in mathematics than in reading, and were more pronounced at the high school level. Study results are discussed in the context of educational equity and cost-effectiveness.
Change and Continuity in Student Achievement from Grades 3 to 5: A Policy Dilemma
Authors: McCaslin Mary , Burross Heidi Legg , Good Thomas L.
Published: March 2015

In this article, we examine student performance on mandated tests in grades 3, 4, and 5 in one state. We focus on this interval, which we term "the fourth grade window," based on our hypothesis that students in grade four are particularly vulnerable to decrements in achievement. The national focus on the third grade as the critical benchmark in student performance has distracted researchers and policy makers from recognition that the fourth grade transition is essential to our understanding of how to promote complex thinking and reasoning that are built upon a foundation of basic skills that may be necessary, but are not sufficient, for the more nuanced learning expected in subsequent grades. We hypothesized that the basic skills that define a successful third grade performance do not predict successful performance in subsequent years. We examined student performance over time using two measures of student success: the Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS), a standards based test; and the Stanford 9 (SAT9), a norm-referenced test. Three groups of schools were included in these analyses. Schools were individually matched to the original sample of interest, which were schools serving students of poverty that received state funding to implement Comprehensive School Reform (CSR) models that emphasize continuity across grade levels. The first comparison sample includes schools that also serve students of poverty but did not receive CSR funding, "nonCSR" schools. The second comparison sample includes schools individually matched on all variables except economic status. These schools, which we term "ow poverty" schools, are the wealthiest public schools in the state, with less than 10% of attending students receiving free or reduced lunch. Student test scores in math, reading, and writing (AIMS) or language (SAT9) were analyzed for the years 2000-2003. These intervals allowed the analysis of two cohorts of the fourth grade window. Our results suggest that the reliance on third grade performance to label students and schools is untenable.
Globalization, statist political economy, and unsuccessful education reform in South Korea, 1993-2003.
Authors: Kim Ki Su
Published: March 2015

This article examines the relationship between globalization and national education reforms, especially those of educational systems. Instead of exploring the much debated issues of how globalization affects national educational systems and how the nations react by what kinds of systemic education reform, however, it focuses on what such a method often leaves out, viz., the internal conditions of a nation that facilitates or hampers reform efforts. Taking South Korea as an example, it explores that country's unique national context which restricts and even inhibits education reforms. Especially noted here is the established "statist" political economy in education. In the paper's analysis, although South Korea's statist political economy has made a substantial contribution to economic and educational development, it is now considered increasingly unviable as globalization progresses. Nevertheless, the internal conditions, resultant from the previous statist policies, set limits on policy makers' efforts to alter the existing educational system. The analysis suggests that a fuller assessment of globalization's impact upon national educational systems or their reforms requires a perspective which is broad enough to encompass not only the concepts and/or theories of globalization and nation states but also the power relations and ideological setup of individual nations.
Human Capital: its definition and scope in the Local and Regional Development
Authors: Navarro Abarzúa Iván
Published: March 2015

This article describes and analyzes the concept of Human Capital nor in a mechanical way nor using the neo-liberal definitions, but by linking the theory with practice in an specific territorial analysis. This is about superseding global theoretical models of social analysis, which generally sub-utilize the empirical data provided by territorial analysis, often falling into unhelpful generalizations and abstractions. Furthermore, this analysis is not centered in establishing causality, and it aims to be a contribution in the development of a theory of Human Capital and its impacts in the regional and local development.
Addressing the Disproportionate Representation of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students in Special Education through Culturally Responsive Educational Systems
Authors: Klingner Janette K. , Artiles Alfredo J. , Kozleski Elizabeth , Harry Beth , Zion Shelley , Tate William , Zamora Durán Grace , Riley David
Published: March 2015

In this article, we present a conceptual framework for addressing the disproportionate representation of culturally and linguistically diverse students in special education. The cornerstone of our approach to addressing disproportionate representation is through the creation of culturally responsive educational systems. Our goal is to assist practitioners, researchers, and policy makers in coalescing around culturally responsive, evidence-based interventions and strategic improvements in practice and policy to improve students’ educational opportunities in general education and reduce inappropriate referrals to and placement in special education. We envision this work as cutting across three interrelated domains: policies, practices, and people. Policies include those guidelines enacted at federal, state, district, and school levels that influence funding, resource allocation, accountability, and other key aspects of schooling. We use the notion of practice in two ways, in the instrumental sense of daily practices that all cultural beings engage in to navigate and survive their worlds, and also in a technical sense to describe the procedures and strategies devised for the purpose of maximizing students’ learning outcomes. People include all those in the broad educational system: administrators, teacher educators, teachers, community members, families, and the children whose opportunities we wish to improve.
On school choice and test-based accountability.
Authors: Betebenner Damian W. , Howe Kenneth R. , Foster Samara S.
Published: March 2015

Among the two most prominent school reform measures currently being implemented in The United States are school choice and test-based accountability. Until recently, the two policy initiatives remained relatively distinct from one another. With the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), a mutualism between choice and accountability emerged whereby school choice complements test-based accountability. In the first portion of this study we present a conceptual overview of school choice and test-based accountability and explicate connections between the two that are explicit in reform implementations like NCLB or implicit within the market-based reform literature in which school choice and test-based accountability reside. In the second portion we scrutinize the connections, in particular, between school choice and test-based accountability using a large western school district with a popular choice system in place. Data from three sources are combined to explore the ways in which school choice and test-based accountability draw on each other: state assessment data of children in the district, school choice data for every participating student in the district choice program, and a parental survey of both participants and non-participants of choice asking their attitudes concerning the use of school report cards in the district. Results suggest that choice is of benefit academically to only the lowest achieving students, choice participation is not uniform across different ethnic groups in the district, and parents' primary motivations as reported on a survey for participation in choice are not due to test scores, though this is not consistent with choice preferences among parents in the district. As such, our results generally confirm the hypotheses of choice critics more so than advocates. Keywords: school choice; accountability; student testing.
Does Teacher Preparation Matter? Evidence about Teacher Certification, Teach for America, and Teacher Effectiveness.
Authors: Darling-Hammond Linda , Holtzman Deborah J. , Gatlin Su Jin , Vasquez Heilig Julian
Published: March 2015

Recent debates about the utility of teacher education have raised questions about whether certified teachers are, in general, more effective than those who have not met the testing and training requirements for certification, and whether some candidates with strong liberal arts backgrounds might be at least as effective as teacher education graduates. This study examines these questions with a large student-level data set from Houston, Texas that links student characteristics and achievement with data about their teachers' certification status, experience, and degree levels from 1995-2002. The data set also allows an examination of whether Teach for America (TFA) candidates-recruits from selective universities who receive a few weeks of training before they begin teaching-are as effective as similarly experienced certified teachers. In a series of regression analyses looking at 4th and 5th grade student achievement gains on six different reading and mathematics tests over a six-year period, we find that certified teachers consistently produce stronger student achievement gains than do uncertified teachers. These findings hold for TFA recruits as well as others. Controlling for teacher experience, degrees, and student characteristics, uncertified TFA recruits are less effective than certified teachers, and perform about as well as other uncertified teachers. TFA recruits who become certified after 2 or 3 years do about as well as other certified teachers in supporting student achievement gains; however, nearly all of them leave within three years. Teachers' effectiveness appears strongly related to the preparation they have received for teaching.
Corrective Action in Low Performing Schools: Lessons for NCLB Implementation from First-generation Accountability Systems. Vol. 13 No. 48
Authors: Mintrop Heinrich , Trujillo Tina
Published: March 2015

This paper explores what lessons we can learn from the experiences of states that instituted NCLB-like accountability systems prior to 2001 (here called first-generation accountability systems). We looked at the experiences of three smaller states (Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina), four larger ones (California, Florida, New York, Texas), and two large districts (Chicago and Philadelphia). We analyzed evaluative reports and policy documents as well as interviews with state officials and researchers. We condensed the material into eight lessons: sanctions are not the fallback solution; no single strategy has been universally successful; staging should be handled with flexibility; intensive capacity building is necessary; a comprehensive set of strategies seems promising; relationship-building needs to complement powerful programs; competence reduces conflict; and strong state commitment is needed to create system capacity.
The Professional Culture of Teachers in Secondary Education: A Biographical Study
Authors: Rivas Flores José Ignacio , Sepulveda Ruiz Maria Del Pilar , Munoz Pilar Rodrigo
Published: March 2015

This work discusses the "voices" of teachers working "at the chalk face." We are interested in learning what teachers think and how they behave. Therefore, we conducted our research about their working conditions. We also developed teachers" professional biographies to learn how these educators construct concepts and practices related to their profession and what constitutes their "professional culture". We understand that thie professional culture characterizes teachers" professional frameworks and choices; therefore, any attempt to successfully promote an educational reform, must understand and pay attention to the "professional culture."
The relationship of high school graduation exams to graduation rates and SAT scores.
Authors: Marchant Gregory J. , Paulson Sharon E.
Published: March 2015

The current study examined the effect of high school graduation exams on states' graduation rates, states' aggregated SAT scores, and individual students' SAT scores. Three data sources were used: One source identified states requiring a standardized test for graduation; the NCES provided state aggregated data on graduation rates for the class of 2002; and the College Board provided its 2001 SAT database for all test-takers. After controlling for students' demographic characteristics (e.g., race, family education and income, GPA and class rank), regression analyses revealed that states requiring graduation exams had lower graduation rates and lower SAT scores. Individually, students from states requiring a graduation exam performed more poorly on the SAT than did students from states not requiring an exam. The impact of high stakes tests' on students' motivation to stay in school and on the teaching of critical thinking skills (tested by the SAT) are discussed.
Small schools and the pressure to consolidate.
Authors: Howley Aimee , Howley Craig
Published: March 2015

Positioned in relationship to reform literature calling for small schools “by design” and interpreting data from a case study of a high performing but low-SES district in a Midwestern state, this paper provides a basis for making sense of the apparent divergence in policies governing schooling structures in rural and urban places. Its interpretation examines the way educational reformers work to valorize a multidimensional set of practices constituting “small school reform.” This reform package is, ironically, to some extent unrelated to what is actually taking place naturally in small schools and districts, where more “traditional” practices are said to be more common. Reformers often regard such practices as deficient, but that judgment seems to disregard empirical findings about school and district size, which typically show that smaller scale itself confers advantages across locales. Moreover, they overlook dynamics such as those revealed in this case study, which demonstrate how smaller scale promotes a close-knit family atmosphere as well as shared commitment to a set of core values. In addition, with smaller scale come structural arrangements that support an ethos of self-sufficiency and openness to “outsiders”—transient as well as open-enrollment students. These dynamics enable a small district to weather substantial threats to its existence.
Examining instruction, achievement, and equity with NAEP mathematics data.
Authors: Lubienski Sarah Theule
Published: March 2015

The purpose of this article is two-fold. First, it reports on a study of the distribution of reform-oriented instructional practices among Black, White and Hispanic students, and the relationship between those practices and student achievement. The study identified many similarities in instruction across student groups, but there were some differences, such as Black and Hispanic students being assessed with multiple-choice tests significantly more often than were White students. Using hierarchical linear modeling, this study identified several significant positive—and no negative—relationships between reform-oriented practices and 4th-grade student achievement. Specifically, teacher emphasis on non-number mathematics strands, collaborative problem solving, and teacher knowledge of the NCTM Standards were positive predictors of achievement. An analysis of interaction effects indicated that the relationships between various instructional practices and achievement were roughly similar for White, Black and Hispanic students. The second purpose of this article is to make comparisons with another study that used the same NAEP data, but drew very different conclusions about the potential for particular instructional practices to alleviate inequities. A study published in EPAA by Wenglinsky (2004) concluded that school personnel can eliminate race-related gaps within their schools by changing their instructional practices. Similarities and differences between these two studies are discussed to illuminate how a researcher's framing, methods, and interpretations can heavily influence a study's conclusions. Ultimately, this article argues that the primary conclusion of Wenglinsky's study is unwarranted.
Keywords: equity, hierarchical linear modeling; mathematics achievement; mathematics instruction; NAEP.
Responding to the education reform agenda: A study of school superintendents' instructional leadership.
Authors: Bredeson Paul V. , Kose Brad W.
Published: March 2015

Education reforms have affected schools and the educators who work in them. Using state-wide survey data from 1993 and 2003, this study examines how the work of school superintendents has been affected over a ten-year period by these reform initiatives, especially increased demands for accountability. The general message from our data is that superintendents are interested in curriculum and instruction and believe these are important tasks, but the daily realities of their work often subvert even the most committed professional. Further, the data indicate that superintendents may be able to use external accountability mechanisms as levers to move the internal accountability systems to support improved teaching and learning.
Making use of what teachers know and can do: Policy, practice, and national board certification.
Authors: Koppich Julia E. , Humphrey Daniel C. , Hough Heather J.
Published: March 2015

This paper is the culmination of a three-year study that sought to frame an initial answer to the question, "What are the circumstances and conditions under which National Board Certified teachers (NBCTs) can have a positive impact on low-performing schools?" The study, funded by Atlantic Philanthropies, was part of the National Board's more comprehensive effort to answer a number of research questions about the impacts of board certification and board certified teachers in schools and districts across the country.
Using administrative data to estimate graduation rates: Challenges, Proposed solutions and their pitfalls.
Authors: Roy Joydeep , Mishel Lawrence
Published: March 2015

In recent years there has been a renewed interest in understanding the levels and trends in high school graduation in the U.S. A big and influential literature has argued that the “true” high school graduation rate remains at an unsatisfactory level, and that the graduation rates for minorities (Blacks and Hispanics) are alarmingly low. In this paper we take a closer look at the different measures of high school graduation which have recently been proposed and which yield such low estimates of graduation rates. We argue that the nature of the variables in the Common Core of Data, the dataset maintained by the U.S. Department of Education that is the main source for all of the new measures, requires caution in calculating graduation rates, and the adjustments that have been proposed often impart significant downward bias to the estimates.
The cost-effectiveness of comprehensive school reform and rapid assessment.
Authors: Yeh Stuart S.
Published: March 2015

Analysis of the cost-effectiveness of 29 Comprehensive School Reform (CSR) models suggests that all 29 models are less cost-effective than an alternative approach for raising student achievement, involving rapid assessment systems that test students 2 to 5 times per week in math and reading and provide rapid feedback of the results to students and teachers. Results suggest that reading and math achievement could increase approximately one order of magnitude greater for every dollar invested in rapid assessment rather than CSR. The results also suggest that reading and math achievement could increase two orders of magnitude for every dollar invested in rapid assessment rather than class size reduction and three orders of magnitude for every dollar invested in rapid assessment rather than high quality preschool.
Avoidable losses: High-stakes accountability and the dropout crisis.
Authors: McNeil Linda McSpadden , Coppola Eileen , Radigan Judy , Vasquez Heilig Julian
Published: March 2015

In the state of Texas, whose standardized, high-stakes test-based accountability system became the model for the nation's most comprehensive federal education policy, more than 135,000 youth are lost from the state's high schools every year. Dropout rates are highest for African American and Latino youth, more than 60% for the students we followed. Findings from this study, which included analysis of the accountability policy in operation in high-poverty high schools in a major urban district, analysis of student-level data for more than 271,000 students in that district over a seven-year period under this policy, and extensive ethnographic analysis of life in schools under the policy, show that the state's high-stakes accountability system has a direct impact on the severity of the dropout problem. The study carries great significance for national education policy because its findings show that disaggregation of student scores by race does not lead to greater equity, but in fact puts our most vulnerable youth, the poor, the English language learners, and African American and Latino children, at risk of being pushed out of their schools so the school ratings can show "measurable improvement." High-stakes, test-based accountability leads not to equitable educational possibilities for youth, but to avoidable losses of these students from our schools.
Basic education teachers in Brazil in one possible reading of educational policies
Authors: Souza Angelo Ricardo , Gouveia Andréa Barbosa
Published: March 2015

This article presents a reading of educational policies which have impact and/or relate to teachers’ work. Using data from Basic Education Assessment System (SAEB) and Brazilian National Education Census, this work builds a personal, professional and training profile of basic public education teachers in Brazil, and compares this profile with the demands for jobs in basic education and with the current national educational policies, so as to consider the challenges for public education in the country.
The SAS Education Value-Added Assessment System (SAS® EVAAS®) in the Houston Independent School District (HISD): Intended and Unintended Consequences
Authors: Amrein-Beardsley Audrey , Collins Clarin
Published: March 2015

The SAS Educational Value-Added Assessment System (SAS® EVAAS®) is the most widely used value-added system in the country. It is also self-proclaimed as “the most robust and reliable” system available, with its greatest benefit to help educators improve their teaching practices. This study critically examined the effects of SAS® EVAAS® as experienced by teachers, in one of the largest, high-needs urban school districts in the nation – the Houston Independent School District (HISD). Using a multiple methods approach, this study critically analyzed retrospective quantitative and qualitative data to better comprehend and understand the evidence collected from four teachers whose contracts were not renewed in the summer of 2011, in part given their low SAS® EVAAS® scores. This study also suggests some intended and unintended effects that seem to be occurring as a result of SAS® EVAAS® implementation in HISD. In addition to issues with reliability, bias, teacher attribution, and validity, high-stakes use of SAS® EVAAS® in this district seems to be exacerbating unintended effects.
Acreditacion de la calidad y financiamiento. Potenciando el cambio a universitario vía programas no competititivos de mejora
Authors: García de Fanelli Ana María
Published: March 2015

Este artículo analiza una política pública novedosa incorporada en el 2004 en la Argentina que vincula el financiamiento público con la acreditación de la calidad de las carreras de grado. El Ministerio de Educación asignó fondos trianuales no competitivos a las universidades públicas para que las carreras de grado acreditadas por tres años, bajo el compromiso de realizar planes de mejora, los llevaran adelante. El estudio de esta política se realiza utilizando el método de estudios de caso, seleccionando el proyecto de mayor relevancia por el monto asignado y la cantidad de carreras comprometidas: el Proyecto de Mejoramiento de la Enseñanza de las Ingenierías (PROMEI). Se analizaron documentos y datos cuantitativos y se realizaron entrevistas en profundidad a informantes claves y semiestructuradas a autoridades de las unidades académicas. Los resultados muestran que la mayoría de las carreras que recibieron fondos del PROMEI lograron acreditar en la segunda fase.  Además, las autoridades evaluaron positivamente el impacto de este proyecto para solucionar las debilidades de las carreras de ingeniería detectadas durante los procesos de acreditación. La evaluación positiva de esta política pública es atribuible a dos factores: primero, su formulación se realizó con la participación de diversos actores de la comunidad disciplinaria de las ingenierías; segundo, los componentes financiables contemplaron los múltiples factores que intervienen en la mejora de la calidad de la enseñanza. Finalmente, ha tenido un efecto adicional no esperado al contribuir con la legitimación de los procesos de acreditación de la calidad.
District-Wide Effects on Data Use in the Classroom
Authors: Wayman Jeffrey C. , Cho Vincent , Jimerson Jo Beth , Spikes Daniel D.
Published: March 2015

In the present study, an examination is conducted in three school districts of how data are used to improve classroom practice.  In doing so, we explore the effects that attitudes toward data, principal leadership, and computer data systems have on how data are used to affect classroom practice.  Findings indicate that educators are ambivalent about data: they see how data could support classroom practice, but their data use operates in the presence of numerous barriers.  Many of these barriers are due to principal leadership and computer data systems; these barriers often have negative effects on attitudes toward data and disrupt the progression from using data to inform classroom practice.  It is hypothesized that many of these barriers can be removed through effective district policies to improve structures and supports for using data.
Personal development in secondary education: the Irish Transition Year
Authors: Clerkin Aidan
Published: March 2015

Secondary education in Ireland includes an optional Transition Year (TY) between the junior and senior examination cycles, when students are typically about 15 years old. Transition Year is an innovative programme, unique to Irish education, which is intended as a non-academic year devoted to personal and social development in the absence of examination pressure. Slightly more than half of the eligible student cohort take part in the programme, with the remainder skipping TY and progressing directly to senior education. Qualitative evidence suggests that TY is generally viewed as a positive experience for students, although competing perspectives regard the programme as a luxury that is no longer worth sustaining. This article discusses the development of the programme and its relevance to the Irish education system, reviews previous and related research, and identifies future directions and areas where further attention is warranted.
Developmental State Policy, Educational Development, and Economic Development: Policy Processes in South Korea, 1961-1979
Authors: Kim Ki Su
Published: March 2015

This paper explores two inter-connected issues – the state’s role in educational development and educational contribution to economic development – in the policy processes entailed by the South Korean state’s pursuit of economic development during the Park Chung Hi era, 1961-1979. It disputes the statist view that South Korea’s economic development was the outcome of a strong state’s imposition of developmental policies. It also denies the human capital account that central to the South Korean state’s education policy was the skills formation agendum. In this paper’s process analysis, educational contribution to economic development was made most importantly in the entrance competition-swept schools by virtue of their equipping South Koreans with basic knowledge and intellectual skills and the most important educational asset for economic development was those schools’ explosive growth. The latter took place as an unexpected effect of the state’s developmental policy of containment which aimed to secure scarce funds for strategic developmental projects. This policy intensified entrance competitions, boosted demand for education, and provoked public call for state commitment to educational expansion. The legitimacy-deficient regime responded politically and compromised on the developmental education policy from one level of formal schooling to another. The image of the developmental state thus portrayed is quite contrary to that provided by the statist-human capital perspective.
Desafios da arte contemporânea para a educação: práticas e políticas
Authors: Loponte Luciana Gruppelli
Published: March 2015

O presente artigo apresenta discussões em torno dos desafios que as artes podem trazer ao campo da educação, problematizando especialmente os modos pelos quais as produções da arte contemporânea podem instigar processos de formação menos lineares e mais abertos, menos rígidos e mais flexíveis, menos racionais e mais poéticos, que sejam capazes de produzir um pensamento contemporâneo que nos ajude a enfrentar a complexidade que é educar no nosso tempo. A relação e tensão entre arte e educação são exploradas no texto, além de seus possíveis efeitos em práticas e políticas educacionais mais amplas. Como principal companhia teórica, utilizam-se os aportes filosóficos de Friedrich Nietzsche, teóricos das artes tais como Arthur Danto, além da discussão a partir da produção de três artistas contemporâneas.
Public Speech: The DeGarmo Lecture for 1993
Authors: Green Thomas F.
Published: March 2015

he State is constituted by law; the public by public speech. But "What makes public speech public?" Two views are contrasted: the forum view by which speech is public only if it is truth functional, and the idea of umbilical narratives in which speech is public when placed in some community of memory. Offered instead is the auditory principle, namely that speech is public when what is said by A is heard by B as candidate for B's speech. This principle is explored and applied and currently popular fallacies of public speech are exposed.
Inclusion in Elementary Schools
Authors: Galis Susan Allan , Tanner C. Kenneth
Published: March 2015

This study of reform policy focused on inclusive education in the 1990s in the state of Georgia, United States of America. Program modifications including, individualizing instructional methods, adapting the instructional environment, and lowering maximum class size emerged as significant issues. We found that policies related to these areas were compounded by the less experienced educators not readily accepting change strategies for serving students. Apparently younger educators are engrossed in surviving daily routine and have difficulty coping with the complex demands of change. Regular education teachers have difficulty with the idea of inclusion. Legal aspects dealing inclusion need clarification, especially for regular education teachers.
The Matthew Principle
Authors: Howley Craig
Published: March 2015

This study extends and interprets a regression technique used to examine the possible role that socioeconomic status may have in regulating the effects of school and district size on student achievement. The original study (Friedkin & Necochea, 1988), with data from California, confirmed an interaction between size and SES such that large schools benefitted affluent students, whereas small schools benefitted impoverished students. This replication applies the model to a very different state, West Virginia. Results are similar, except that the pattern of effects is shown to derive in part from the fact that in West Virginia impoverished students were shown actually to attend small schools in 1990. Small schools are shown to disrupt the usual negative relationship between socioeconomic status and student achievement. These results would be cause for celebration except that since 1988 West Virginia has, under a successful consolidation scheme facilitated by the state, closed nearly 20 percent of its schools, most of them small schools that had served rural communities in this mostly rural state. The discussion interprets findings with respect to this context and interprets the practical significance of studying structural variables such as those used in the study.
Brave New Reductionism: TQM as Ethnocentrism
Authors: Dennis Dion
Published: March 2015

At century's end, practices at institutions of higher education are regularly subjected to a numbing array of stresses. Under the umbrella of fiscal austerity, intensified regimes of surveillance, in the form of corporatist management philosophies such as Total Quality Management (TQM), have been widely imposed. TQM proponents now advocate the total managementof human thought and identity. In a blatantly econometric and ethnocentric discourse where human variability is a "virus" to be "eliminated" under a war metaphor, nothing less than the future of independent intellectual work is at stake. This essay primarily explores how the theoretical roots and contemporary tropes of TQM shape a range of TQM-effects.
School Reform: Lessons from the Departed
Authors: Marshall J. Dan , Valle James P.
Published: March 2015

In this article, the authors present data from a small study of 19 families who educate their children at home in rural Pennsylvania. Findings relative to why they opted out of the public education system and whether they would return are analyzed in light of a previously established construct (Idealogue/Pedagogue) before being used to critique and expand it in light of broader cultural concerns. The authors argue, overall, that home educators are asserting their historical option of cultural agency and schooling. (Note 1)If "school reform" is a bandwagon, then the parade is still in progress. Most of the grand proposals earlier composed by politicians, pundits, policy wonks, and professors have evolved into smaller, more locally pertinent endeavors by actual change participants (educators, students, parents and community members). In the worst case, the continuing accumulation of school reform efforts is understood as succeeding waves of perpetual hassle and silliness which disturb the basic soundness of business-as-usual. In the best case, such efforts become a representation of participants' commitment to the repetitive nature of the learning process: desiring to know and understand - acting upon these desires - making sense of and reflecting upon those actions - identifying new or different desires to know and understand. Thus, in the best case, school reform efforts should be here to stay.Those who care about examining and acting upon the quality of their local schools seek information from numerous sources, including their own experiences, outside consultants, beliefs and opinions collected from local, state, and national polls, and "the literature" of academia. But they seldom tap the one segment of their community which may provide the most unique perspective: parents who have opted out of the local public school system. We suspect that this group -- particularly those families who have taken it upon themselves to provide education at home -- may have something important to offer those working to change public education. In this article, we discuss our preliminary foray into the lives of several Pennsylvania home educators in light of public school reform efforts.
Standard Errors in Educational Assessment
Authors: Camilli Greg
Published: March 2015

In many educational settings, educational gains are measured and evaluated rather than absolute levels of achievement. Gains might be estimated for individual students,teachers, schools, districts, and so forth. In some educational programs, schools are required to make "statistically significant" progress over the course of one school year. This would typically require and estimate of the standard error (SE for short) of the gain, which is a number representing the precision of the gain similar to the "margin of error" in polls. Because SEs can be used to define educational targets, it is important to understand precisely what a standard error is -- and this requires going beyond the simple textbook definition. Statistical methods are tools for understanding social processes, but there is no necessary connection between a statistical method and an empirical outcome. A policy analyst must ask how closely features of the statistical theory correspond to aspects of the measured outcomes for a given purpose. For example, how much does it matter if the assumption of random sampling is violated in certain ways? Can one assume that the children or educators at a particular school during a given year constitute a random sample of some population that is perhaps spread across time, space, as well as cultural and institutional dimensions?
Studying the Rural in Education
Authors: Howley Craig B.
Published: March 2015

This essay maintains that nation-building, partly through systems of schooling, has served rather more to debase than improve the rural circumstance. It suggests that a different logic of improvement is needed in rural education, but refrains from prescriptions. Instead, it focuses its attention on the sort of questions that researchers (and school improvers, for that matter) might ask to discover or invent that logic variously. It draws a distinction between cosmopolitan and local interests and provides examples of issues that exhibit the distinction. Finally, it suggests and provides hypertext links to sources in sociology, literature, philosophy, and education that might help educational researchers (and anyone else with an interest in "the rural") ground their studies and their actions in issues that honor rural interests. I remind readers that the very word "essay" means "tentative."
Use & Abuse of Socrates in Teaching
Authors: Rud Anthony G.
Published: March 2015

The Greek philosopher Socrates is used as an example of a master teacher in in many contexts, from elementary school discussions, to college philosophy classes, to law school. I examine a number of current uses of Socratic teaching, and expose inconsistencies among them. I analyze critically recent practitioners of Socratic teaching, such as Mortimer Adler, and I consider how the celebrated primary teacher Vivian Gussin Paley enacts the Socratic legacy in a novel way. I argue that the misuse, or abuse, of the Socratic legacy occurs chiefly when his teaching is interpreted narrowly as a pedagogical technique devoid of context and irony.
Academic Freedom, Tenure, and Student Evaluation of Faculty
Authors: Haskell Robert E.
Published: March 2015

Despite a history of conflicting research on the reliability and validity of student evaluation of faculty (SEF) it has typically not been viewed as an infringement on academic freedom. When it is suggested that SEF may impinge on academic freedom, it is often considered an attack on either student rights, or on the process of evaluating faculty performance in general. Faculty and educational administrator views and surveys are reviewed as SEF is used in salary, promotion and tenure decisions. It is suggested that the literature shows that SEF infringe on instructional responsibilities of faculty by providing a control mechanism over curricular, course content, grading, and teaching methodology. It is further suggested that SEF play a significant role in current attacks on tenure, and that its role in a demographically diverse 21st century educational system has changed from its benign historical origins. It is concluded that contrary to current views, SEF is a serious unrecognized infringement on academic freedom.
Educational Research in Latin America
Authors: Akkari Abdeljalil , Perez Soledad
Published: March 2015

The present paper consists of four primary sections. First, we describe the historical context of educational research in Latin America. In the second section, we focus on various theoretical frameworks that are applied to educational research in the region. We identify the main institutions involved in this research in the third section. Finally, in conclusion we offer suggestions that we consider to be of greatest priority for the future of educational research in Latin America.
Teachers in Charter and Traditional Schools
Authors: Bomotti Sally , Ginsberg Rick , Cobb Brian
Published: March 2015

Teachers from charter and traditional schools in Colorado were queried about their perceptions of their level of empowerment, school climate, and working conditions. Using a cluster sampling design, approximately 100 teachers from 16 charter schools and 100 teachers from seven traditional schools were surveyed by combining several well-established instruments to measure empowerment, school climate, and working conditions. Factor analyses yielded three composite variables each for the three constructs. One-way analyses of variance were used to explore these teachers' differences in perceptions. Results yielded consistent and practically significant differences in these charter and traditional school perceptions of empowerment, school climate, and working conditions. Not all of these differences, however, were consistent with expectations given the educational and legislative contexts driving Colorado's charter school movement. Implications and recommendations for future research are given.
Quality of Researchers' Searches of the ERIC Database
Authors: Hertzberg Scott , Rudner Lawrence
Published: March 2015

During the last ten years, end-users of electronic databases have become progressively less dependent on librarians and other intermediaries. This is certainly the case with the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) Database, a resource once accessed by passing a paper query form to a librarian and now increasingly searched directly by end-users. This article empirically examines the search strategies currently being used by researchers and other groups. College professors and educational researchers appear to be doing a better job searching the database than other ERIC patrons. However, the study suggests that most end-users should be using much better search strategies.
Solving the Policy Implementation Problem
Authors: Garn Gregg A.
Published: March 2015

When Republican legislators in Arizona failed to approve educational vouchers in four consecutive legislative sessions, a charter school program was approved as a compromise. The charter school policy was written during a special summer session and within three years, over 30,000 students were enrolled in 260 charter schools across the state. Republican policy makers, who failed to enact voucher legislation, proclaimed the charter school program to be an overwhelming success and protected it from amendments by Democrats and potential actions of bureaucrats that could have altered the policy intent. Research on the implementation of policy indicates that state and local implementors frequently undermine or alter legislative intentions. However, when Arizona policy makers approved the charter school policy, they overcame this persistent implementation phenomenon and, in fact, succeeded in preserving the legislative intentions in the working program. This policy study analyzes how they were able to achieve this elusive result. Key policy makers attended to four significant features of policy implementation in creating the charter school policy: communication, financial resources, implementor attitudes, and bureaucratic structure. Manipulating these key variables allowed policy makers to reduce implementation slippage.
Homeschooling and the Redefinition of Citizenship
Authors: Arai A. Bruce
Published: March 2015

Homeschooling has grown considerably in many countries over the past two or three decades. To date, most research has focused either on comparisons between schooled and homeschooled children, or on finding out why parents choose to educate their children at home. There has been little consideration of the importance of homeschooling for the more general issue of citizenship, and whether people can be good citizens without going to school. This paper reviews the research on homeschooling, as well as the major objections to it, and frames these debates within the broader issues of citizenship and citizenship education. The paper shows that homeschoolers are carving out a different but equally valid understanding of citizenship and that policies which encourage a diversity of understandings of good citizenship should form the basis citizenship education both for schools and homeschoolers.
Whither Advanced Placement?
Authors: Lichten William
Published: March 2015

This is a review of the Advanced Placement (AP) Program. In disagreement with claims of the College Board, there is firm evidence that the average test performance level has dropped. The College Board's scale and claims for AP qualification disagree seriously with college standards. A majority of tests taken do not qualify. It appears that "advanced placement" is coming closer to "placement." This article recommends that the College Board's policy of concentrating on numbers of participants should be changed to an emphasis on student performance and program quality.