bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Occupational Certificates: Examining Student Characteristics and Enrollment Outcomes across the Public and For-Profit Sectors
Authors: McKinney Lyle , Burridge Andrea , Mukherjee Moumita 
Published: November 2021

Background/Context Sub-baccalaureate certificates can provide an accelerated pathway to gainful employment for the unemployed or underemployed. Certificates represented only 6% of postsecondary awards in 1980, but today they represent 22% of all credentials awarded and have superseded associate's and master's degrees as the second most common award granted by U.S. postsecondary institutions. Although enrollment in certificate programs has skyrocketed, empirical research on this student population is scarce. Focus of the Study The purpose of this study was to compare the demographic characteristics, college financing strategies, and enrollment outcomes of occupational certificate students across the three institutional sectors: community colleges, public career and technical centers, and sub-baccalaureate for-profit institutions. Research Design The data were derived from the Beginning Postsecondary Student Study (BPS:04/09) conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics. The sample included students across the three institutional sectors who enrolled in a sub-baccalaureate certificate program that was occupationally focused (unweighted n = 1,770). Data analysis included descriptive statistics, logistic regression, and multinomial regression techniques. Findings Six years after initial enrollment, certificate students beginning at for-profits had the lowest rates of credential completion but were much more likely than public sector students to have taken out loans and defaulted during repayment. Seventeen percent of certificate students beginning at a community college transferred to another institution at some point, suggesting that these programs can serve as a stepping stone to further education. Results from the regression models indicated that students’ race/ethnicity, income status, field of study, and institutional sector were associated with successful certificate completion and/or transfer. Conclusions Equipped with a better profile of certificate students and their educational outcomes, colleges can begin to design better support services and program structures that address the unique needs of this growing student population. These institutional efforts, along with well-designed public policies that boost the production of high-quality certificates, could help strengthen the U.S. workforce and increase educational attainment rates among students from less advantaged backgrounds.
In Translation: School Leaders Learning in and from Leadership Practice While Confronting Pressing Policy Challenges
Authors: Drago-Severson Eleanor , Maslin-Ostrowski Patricia 
Published: November 2021

Background/Context Worldwide, principals face enormous challenges while translating policies and mandates for which they are accountable into their mission and practice. While some of these school-level challenges are technical, many are adaptive (Heifetz), requiring leaders and those in their care to grow their cognitive and affective (emotional) capacities so that they can manage change. Principals are under pressure to decipher problems quickly and create conditions to build capacity at ground level. Purpose/Research Question This research examined how principals framed pressing challenges they confronted in leadership practice (technical, adaptive, or mixed), and in what ways, if any, learning was part of their response. A pressing challenge is defined as a difficult problem named by leaders that they—themselves—identified as one they are currently facing or have recently faced. We explored how they helped other adults (e.g., teachers and staff) and themselves to manage change associated with meeting these challenges. Additionally, we queried how prior and new learning helped them lead while overcoming pressing challenges. Setting We recruited principals working in urban K–12 public schools in the U.S. Eastern Seaboard and Bermuda, sites focused on educational reform. Participants A purposeful sample of 13 principals (eight male, five female) representing primary, middle, and secondary levels was used. State department leaders and educational leadership faculty recommended principals who they perceived were “effective”—in other words, based on their knowledge and by reputation, these were successful school leaders. Research Design This qualitative study used in-depth interviews to explore the experience and perceptions of principals leading through challenges. Data Collection and Analysis Principals participated in in-depth semistructured interviews. After member checking, interview transcripts were coded and categories developed to capture themes and patterns. Findings Leaders’ pressing challenges have elements of what Heifetz calls adaptive, technical, and mixed. There was a recurring theme of leading to support change. Regardless of how these principals conceptualized challenges, they responded by creating customized professional learning experiences—informational (aimed at increasing skills and knowledge) and transformational learning (aimed at internal growth and capacity building)—for teachers, staff, and for themselves. While appreciating formal leadership preparation, they emphasized learning from informal experiences and focused on job-embedded learning in their schools. Conclusions/Recommendations Understanding technical and adaptive work, the ways that adults learn and grow, and how strategically to create space and spaces for continuous, customized experiential learning in schools (informational and transformational) offers a potential pathway for principals to build capacity and surmount pressing challenges.
Cross-Border Mobility and Critical Cosmopolitanism among South Texas University Students
Authors: O'Connor Brendan H. 
Published: November 2021

Background/Context A growing body of literature addresses the experiences of transnational students, but relatively little research has focused on students who negotiate international border crossings on a regular basis. This study documents the role of cross-border mobility in the lives of university students in Brownsville, Texas (U.S.)/Matamoros, Tamaulipas (Mex.) and links students’ transnational experiences to their development of critical cosmopolitan identities and perspectives. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study This study explores South Texas university students’ lived experiences of cross-border mobility at a time of sociopolitical upheaval in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands and illuminates how specific forms of mobility can shape students’ educational and social subjectivities. Research Design An insider-outsider researcher and two undergraduate insiders collaborated to design and implement the study. An online survey was used to gather basic information about students’ cross-border mobility and educational experiences; subsequently, 16 focal participants were selected to participate in ethnographic interviews. Interview data were analyzed in NVivo using a two-cycle coding process and triangulated with survey data. Findings/Results Cross-border mobility offered academic and social benefits to the participants, but the benefits of mobility were inextricable from its drawbacks. Participants acknowledged the everyday difficulties associated with cross-border mobility; they also believed that these difficulties made them more responsible and successful. In addition, while participants spoke openly about the impact of violence on the borderlands, having to navigate this reality allowed them to develop a powerful form of insight connected to “knowing two versions” (one from each side of the border) of events. Conclusions/Recommendations The results invite researchers and educators to engage more critically with the cosmopolitan voices of students from areas often regarded as sites of marginality, poverty, and violence, such as the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. Participants’ cross-border experiences simultaneously challenged and benefited them; these experiences gave them opportunities to construct, traverse, and inhabit a wider range of emotional geographies where they could make sense of their relationships to people, events, and places on both sides of the border. On the border, conflict of the heart or of the nation has but one cure: recognition of jointness
How Does Practice-Based Teacher Preparation Influence Novices’ First-Year Instruction?
Authors: Kang Hosun , Windschitl Mark 
Published: November 2021

Background/Context Teacher preparation suffers from a lack of evidence that guides the design of learning experiences to produce well-prepared beginners. An increasing number of teacher educators are experimenting with practice-embedded approaches to prepare novices for ambitious instruction. This study examines the role of core instructional practices introduced during preparatory experiences in shaping novices’ first-year teaching. Research design Employing a mixed-methods approach, we compare the first-year teaching of two groups of individuals with secondary science certification, one of which comprises graduates from a practice-embedded preparation program, and the other graduates from programs that did not feature practice-embedded preparation. A total of 116 science lessons taught by 41 first-year teachers were analyzed, focusing on the quality of student opportunities to learn (OTL) observed during the lessons. Research questions This study sought answers to two research questions: 1) What are the characteristics of students’ OTL from first-year teachers, one group of whom learned a set of core instructional practices during their preparation program and the other group of whom were not exposed to core practices? 2) Who provides opportunities for students to engage in meaningful disciplinary practices as outlined in the Next Generation Science Standards, during the first year of teaching, if any? How did they create such opportunities? Findings Independent-sample t-tests showed that there are significant mean differences between the two groups (t=3.1∼8.9; p <.001), on four metrics associated with their students’ opportunities to learn. In-depth qualitative case studies reveal two ways that core practices shape instruction in new teachers’ classrooms: (a) they support novices in formulating an actionable curricular vision as advocated by the science education community, and (b) they appear to help novices notice, attend to, and build upon students’ ideas in classrooms with the use of strategies and tools recommended by the program. Conclusions/Recommendations A focus on a set of strategic and intentional practices, designed to help teachers achieve rigorous and equitable learning goals, has potential as a curricular frame for teacher preparation. But the emphasis should be placed on the vision and pedagogical goals that underlie the core practices, rather than the ungrounded use of strategies or tools themselves.
From Checklists to Heuristics: Designing MOOCs to Support Teacher Learning
Authors: Brennan Karen , Blum-Smith Sarah , Yurkofsky Maxwell M. 
Published: November 2021

Background Although much is known from educational research about factors that support K–12 teacher professional learning, it has been an ongoing challenge to incorporate these factors into practice in new contexts and environments. We argue that these factors are too often treated like a checklist of discrete elements, either present or not, insufficiently attending to the complexities of design and experience. To understand how Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) might support K–12 teacher learning, it is critical to move beyond application of discrete factors to nuanced navigation of the interplay among researcher examination and theorization, designer intention and implementation, and learner use and experience—balancing considerations of learning theory, instructional objectives and specific learning context, and the desires, needs, and experiences of participants. Focus of Study This study examines MOOCs as a medium for supporting teacher professional learning. What did K–12 teachers identify as meaningful about their participation in the Creative Computing Online Workshop (CCOW), a large-scale, constructionist, online learning experience for teachers? How do the teachers’ experiences relate to each other, to learning research, and to the affordances of MOOCs? Research Design This qualitative, interview-based study draws on 15 semistructured interviews with participants 1 year after they completed CCOW, as well as course artifacts. We used an iterative approach to develop common themes reflecting what teachers found meaningful and key tensions present in these themes. Findings Teachers described four qualities as most meaningful to their learning: activity, peers, culture, and relevance. Although these qualities were often mutually supporting, three key tensions among the qualities and the implications for the design of online teacher learning experiences are discussed: autonomy, with structure; diversity, with commonality; and experimentation, with validation. Conclusions This article challenges the notion that implementing successful professional development for K–12 teachers is simply a matter of following a checklist of design elements. This study presents qualities that teachers found meaningful in an online learning experience, offering heuristics that designers might consider when designing for their specific contexts. Future research might assess to what extent the qualities and tensions identified in this study apply to other contexts, and explore the reasons why contextual changes may or may not influence results.
African American Students’ Experiences in Special Education Programs
Authors: Craft Eleanor , Howley Aimee 
Published: November 2021

Background/Context Disproportionate placement of African American students into special education programs is likely to be a form of institutional racism, especially when such placement stigmatizes students. If placement also fails to lead to educational benefits, the practice becomes even more suspect. Some studies have explored disproportionate placement (i.e., over-representation) from the perspectives of policy makers and educators, but few have looked at the practice from the vantage of the African American students experiencing it. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study This study explored how nine African American students in secondary special education placements perceived their school experiences and the benefits, challenges, and detriments associated with their placements and accompanying disability labels. Setting Participating students attended one of three high schools in an urban district in the midwestern United States. Respectively, the schools had low, medium, and high percentages of students on individualized education programs (IEPs). Population/Participants/Subjects Three students from each of three schools participated in the study. With the help of school personnel, the researchers selected students who (a) were African American, (b) were juniors or seniors, (c) carried the label of learning disabilities or mild cognitive impairment, and (d) had received special education services for at least three years. Research Design The researchers used an in-depth interview design including three increasingly detailed interviews with each student. Verbatim transcripts of interviews provided the data the researchers analyzed using (a) inductive coding, (b) development of case-specific profiles, (c) organization of codes to identify patterns in the data, and (d) identification of emergent themes. Findings/Results Three emergent themes suggested that, in most cases, students found the negative consequences of their special education placement to outweigh any benefits. The limited benefits of placement included interactions with responsive teachers and, in a few cases, more suitable instructional pacing. The negative consequences included the experience of being stigmatized by peers, making limited academic progress because of a slow-paced curriculum, and confronting barriers that kept them from returning to general education placements. Conclusions/Recommendations The study found that traumatic events in the students’ lives led to academic difficulties, which subsequently led to placement in special education. Rather than supporting the students through a difficult phase of their lives, educators used special education referral and placement as a form of victim blaming. This response had the effect of excluding the students from engagement with the general education curriculum and from interaction with friends. The dynamics of victim blaming led the researchers to judge special education referral and placement of the nine African American students as a form of institutional racism.
“It's Different Here”: Complicating Concepts of College Knowledge and First Generation through an Immigrant Lens
Authors: Mwangi Chrystal A. George 
Published: November 2021

Background/Context Children of immigrants are the fastest growing segment of the U.S. child population, and these children are increasingly entering the U.S. educational pipeline and seeking access to college. Gaining access to college in the United States requires college knowledge. Yet, obtaining college knowledge can be difficult for immigrant families, who may lack familiarity with the U.S. education system. Although one third of all immigrants possess a college degree, many earned their degree abroad or in the United States as international students and/or adult learners. Therefore, the children of college-educated immigrants may be the first in their family to seek access to college via the U.S. K–12 system. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study This study explores how African immigrant multigenerational families engage in college preparation. All families had at least one parent who had attained a college degree. In each family, the college-educated parent(s) either received their degree abroad or received their degree in the United States as an international student or adult returning student. The research questions are: How do immigrant families explain navigating the college-going process when their children are first in the family to prepare for college via the U.S. K–12 system? How do immigrant families describe their level of comfort with college preparation when their children are first in the family to prepare for college via the U.S. K–12 system? Research Design A qualitative, multiple case design was used. Findings/Results The findings demonstrate that although the children in this study were not first generation to college in a traditional sense, they experienced many of the same challenges. For the families in this study, the parents possessed institutionalized capital but often lacked what emerged as “U.S.-based college knowledge,” which impacted their experience with the college choice process. Conclusions/Recommendations Families’ lack of familiarity with the U.S. college preparation process (college testing, academic tracking, cost of college/financial aid) leads to a call for complicating concepts of “college knowledge” and “first generation” to college in a globalized society.
A History of Achievement Testing in the United States Or: Explaining the Persistence of Inadequacy
Authors: Hutt Ethan , Schneider Jack 
Published: November 2021

Background/Context For more than a century, standardized achievement tests have been a feature of American education. Throughout that time, critics of standardized tests have argued that their use has detrimental effects on students, schools, and curriculum. Despite these critiques, the number and uses of standardized tests have increased steadily. Though a great deal of research has focused on the technical design of tests, the history of individual tests, and general critiques of testing, there is little research that helps explain the continued use of standardized tests in American education despite near constant criticism. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study This article develops a framework for understanding a basic paradox in the history of standardized testing in American education: the durability of standardized testing in the face of persistent criticism. Seeking to address this paradox, the article asks why tests have persisted and proliferated even though students dislike taking tests, educators believe that tests distort the learning process, and experts challenge the validity of test results. Research Design This article involves a historical analysis of structural and cultural aspects of American education that help explain the particular uses and durability of testing. Conclusions/Recommendations First, we identify three master critiques of standardized tests: distortion, waste, and misclassification. We find that, despite these persistent critiques, four important contextual features of the American education system help explain the continuous hold that standardized tests have had on American education: that the American education system is decentralized, avowedly meritocratic, publicly funded, and central to aspirations of upward mobility. These contextual factors, along with the historically contingent development of testing expertise, testing culture, and development of testing infrastructure, provide a framework for understanding the persistence of testing. Together, these factors create a dynamic system in which critiques of tests lead not to the elimination of testing, but to its further elaboration and evolution.
The Snare of Systemic Racism and Other Challenges Confronting Hip-Hop-Based Pedagogy
Authors: Mutegi Jomo W. , Phelps-Moultrie Jada A. , Bannister Vanessa R. Pitts 
Published: November 2021

Background Although there has been a pronounced growth in hip-hop-based pedagogy (HHBP) scholarship in recent years, there has not been a concomitant critique of this growing body of work. As a consequence, much of this scholarship is best characterized as advocacy of HHBP. Purpose/Objective The objective of this article is to promote critical discourse around the conceptualization and implementation of HHBP by (a) identifying a set of challenges presented in the conceptualization of HHBP scholarship, (b) describing the narrative that these challenges converge to support, and (c) suggesting an alternative narrative aimed at fostering a more empowering use of HHBP. Research Design To accomplish this objective, we provide an in-depth critique of Emdin and Lee's (2012) article, “Hip-hop, the ‘Obama effect,’ and urban science education.” Through this critique, we first identify eight challenges posed by the authors’ argument, as well as the narrative that is the foundation of this argument. Conclusions/Recommendations We conclude by presenting an alternate narrative of hip-hop as an instrument of systemic racism and offering suggestions as to how HHBP can be used in both research and practice to both avoid and counter systemic racism.