bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A Crisis of Authority in Predominantly Black Schools?
Authors: Kelly Sean 
Published: November 2021

Background/Context Black students are no less engaged or more disruptive than other students of similar achievement levels and socioeconomic status. However, because Black students are more likely to have disadvantaged family backgrounds and lower levels of achievement, segregation concentrates the risk factors for problem behavior in predominantly Black schools. As a result of the behavioral climate in predominantly Black schools, teachers may rely on instructional methods that facilitate an orderly classroom and minimize the negative effects of disruptions, possibly resulting in an instructional approach that is less engaging for students in those classrooms. I rely on Metz's typology of developmental versus incorporative instruction and research on classroom discourse to identify instruction that may negatively impact student engagement. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study First, how do reports of problem behavior from teachers and administrators in predominantly Black schools differ from those in integrated and non-Black schools? Second, how does the prevalence of developmental instruction vary across schools with different racial compositions? Research Design This study uses the 2003–2004 Schools and Staffing Survey data to analyze reports of problem behavior from teachers and administrators. Logistic regression models are used to provide estimates of the prevalence of behavioral problems, adjusting for academic performance and socioeconomic status of the student body. The Chicago School Study (CSS) and the Partnership for Literacy Study (Partnership) data are then used to investigate the prevalence of developmental instruction. The CSS data contain student and teacher reports of the incorporation of student ideas into instruction. In the Partnership data, time summary statistics of observational records of teachers’ instructional activities (e.g., lecture, discussion, seatwork) and question property statistics from a coding of classroom discourse are presented. Conclusions/Recommendations Consistent with prior research, teachers are much more likely to report incidences of problem behavior in predominantly Black schools. Consequently, the instructional environment in predominantly Black schools and classrooms is tailored somewhat to reduce classroom disruptions and maintain an orderly environment. Specifically, the result is less interactive discourse and more seatwork. However, the differences in teachers’ instructional approach are relatively modest; there is no “crisis” of authority. Further research is needed on the effects of segregation on social relations in schools and how classroom instruction is affected.
Cracking the Code of Electronic Games: Some Lessons for Educators
Authors: Alexander Gadi , Eaton Isabelle , Egan Kieran 
Published: November 2021

Background/Context Students’ ready engagement in electronic games and the relative ease with which they sometimes learn complex rules have intrigued some educators and learning researchers. There has been growing interest in studying electronic gaming with the aim of trying to work out how learning principles that are evident in games can be harnessed to make everyday academic learning more engaging and productive. Many studies of students’ learning while gaming have yielded recommendations for teaching and learning in regular classrooms. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus The intent of this work is to describe various ways in which students’ ready engagement in, and quick learning when playing, electronic games have been assumed to provide useful guidance to educators. This goal is pursued by means of analysis of the relevant research and the prescriptions for classroom teaching and learning that have emerged it. Close critical examination of these attempts to infer educational practices from electronic gaming yields three general strategies that have been pursued. The focus of this study has been on evaluating the relative value of these three general strategies. Research Design This is an analytic article that provides a description of an array of attempts to derive educational principles from the perceived success of students’ learning while they are engaged in electronic games, a meta-analytic organization of these attempts into three general categories, and an evaluation of each of these categories’ success in contributing to education or failure to do so. Conclusions/Recommendations The analysis leads to the conclusion that the three main approaches to understanding the connection between gaming and education have included, first, seeing games as teaching desirable learning skills through the simple act of playing; second, a focus on the integration of curriculum content into games; and, third, an effort to abstract learning principles embedded in electronic games and applying these to educational content. Close examination of each of these three approaches in turn leads to the conclusion that the third approach is the one that holds the greatest potential value for educational practice.
Gendered Behavior Patterns in School Board Governance
Authors: Mountford Meredith , Brunner C. Cryss 
Published: November 2021

Background/Context Educational leadership literature lacks research focused on how gender influences decision making, in particular at the highest level of school governance, the school board table. Consequently, whether gender makes a difference during decision making at the school board table has yet to be determined. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study This article examines the influence of gender during decision making at the school board table as related to board members’ perceived vocal space/influence and perceptions from others (board colleagues and superintendents) about board members’ vocal space/influence. Findings from one of the few studies of women school board members and some of the published literature on women superintendents are used to support discussions and to increase insight into how gender dynamics may play out at the school board table. Research Design This qualitative study is a secondary analysis of a larger study (Mountford, 2001) that investigated many factors related to board member decision-making styles, such as motivation for board service and conceptions of power. Conclusions/Recommendations The article concludes with a discussion of how decisions are impacted by gender dynamics prior to and during decision making and further suggests ideas for school board training and educational leadership programs of ways in which programs can be improved to address gender issues impacting decision making at the board table.
Film as Identity Exploration: A Multimodal Analysis of Youth-Produced Films
Authors: Halverson Erica Rosenfeld 
Published: November 2021

Background/Context Researchers have begun to document and understand the work youth do as they compose in multiple media including video games, online virtual worlds, participatory fan cultural practices, and in the digital media arts. However, we lack mechanisms for analyzing the products, especially when it comes to understanding the relationship between storytelling and identity. Objective In this article, I bring together prior research on youth-produced media, social semiotic analysis frameworks for analyzing these products and the formal analysis of films to construct an analytic framework for understanding youth-produced films as spaces for identity construction and representation. Research design The research reported on in this article is the design and illustration of an analytic framework for understanding how youth construct and represent their identities through the films they make. The framework design begins with Kress and van Leeuwen's (2006) work on the analysis of visual design as a set of semiotic resources for describing how we make meaning with multimodal texts. However, this work does little to depict how the specific tools of film both cinematic (e.g., editing, cinematography) and filmic (music, action) (Burn & Parker, 2003) are used to construct and communicate identities. Therefore, I turn to film theory to develop a coding scheme that can assist in the meaningful interpretation of the phases and transitions of youth-produced films. I then illustrate this framework in action by analyzing one youth-produced film, Rules of Engagement, as a multimodal product of identity. Conclusions/Recommendations This analysis demonstrates how films like Rules of Engagement display the construction of a viable social identity primarily through the interactions among filmic elements. Specifically it is in the transition spaces between phases of the film where youth actively insert their understanding of how to represent complex portraits of how they see themselves, how others see them, and how they fit into their communities. Analyzing the products of a rich, complex literacy practice is a critical way to make sense of how youth engage with issues of identity through the media they create. This is especially important for youth who feel marginalized in mainstream institutions and do not have opportunities to explore a positive sense of self in traditional institutional contexts. Understanding how the construction of multimodal representation supports identity development processes can help us to bring these new media literacy practices to youth who are most in need of alternative mechanisms for engaging in positive identity work.
Undergraduate Time Use and Academic Outcomes: Results from the University of California Undergraduate Experience Survey 2006
Authors: Brint Steven , Cantwell Allison M. 
Published: November 2021

Background/Context Previous research has established the significance of academic study time on undergraduate students’ academic performance. The effects of other uses of time are, however, in dispute. Some researchers have argued that students involved in activities that require initiative and effort also perform better in class, while students who engage in mainly passive entertainments perform less well. Other researchers have argued that students who are connected to the campus through residence, work, or extracurricular activities perform better, while those who are separated perform less well. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study The purpose of this study is to develop a theory-based framework for examining the academic consequences of student time and to test hypotheses drawn from this framework using survey data. Research Design The framework focuses on three dimensions of student time use: study/non-study, active/passive, and connecting/separating. The survey analysis is based on more than 6000 responses to the 2006 University of California Undergraduate Experience Survey (UCUES). Findings/Results Controlling for students’ socio-demographic backgrounds, previous academic achievements, and social psychological stressors, we find that study time is strongly connected to both academic conscientiousness and higher grade point averages. We find that “activating” uses of time, such as physical exercise and volunteering, are associated with higher levels of academic conscientiousness, but not directly to higher grade point averages. Time spent on “passive” entertainments show negative associations on academic conscientiousness. Uses of time that connect students to campus life showed relatively weak and inconsistent effects, as did uses of time that separate students from campus life. Off-campus work was an exception. It showed a strong net association with lower grade point averages. Conclusions/Recommendations Our findings have implications for theory: They lead to a stronger focus on academic study time as the central key to positive academic outcomes, and a renewed focus on off-campus work as a major obstacle to positive academic outcomes. They suggest further that college and university administrators should find ways to “unplug” male students from their computer entertainments and to help minority students who need to work to find employment on campus.
Network Search: A New Way of Seeing the Education Knowledge Domain
Authors: Mcfarland Daniel , Klopfer Eric 
Published: November 2021

Background The educational knowledge domain may be understood as a system composed of multiple, co-evolving networks that reflect the form and content of a cultural field. This paper describes the educational knowledge domain as having a community structure (form) based in relations of production (authoring) and consumption (referencing), and a cognitive structure (content) based in relations of ideas and concepts. Purpose We propose developing an online interactive system whereby the vast array of available knowledge artifacts can be mined for information reflective of these networks, and which can be visualized, measured, and explored over time. We argue that the creation of such a system will benefit the field of education manifold: it will greatly enhance individual learning of online materials; create more efficient searches; open access to knowledge creation and consumption to a wider public; enable greater practitioner involvement; facilitate direct study of the educational knowledge domain; and identify various means towards accelerated innovation. Design Building on the ideas of online communities, network visualizations, e-commerce, and advanced search engines, Scholar Practitioner Information Networks for Education (SPINE) not only facilitates access to education information resources, but also allows the community to view multiple sources of information in a relational context. At the heart of SPINE are multiple sources of information (journal articles, case studies, reviews, etc.), reviews of information, and ratings of reviewers. Connecting these sources are advanced analyses of production and consumption, allowing unique insights into established fields. Conclusion We illustrate that such a system is being developed in piecemeal fashion within other disciplines and propose a means by which they can be synthesized into a multi-network, interactive system for the field of education.
Listening to Strangers: Classroom Discussion in Democratic Education
Authors: Parker Walter 
Published: November 2021

Background/Context The literature on classroom discussion often undercuts itself by treating discussion only as an instructional method, confining its role to the instrumental. Although discussion does serve as an effective means to other curricular ends (teaching with discussion), the capable practice of discussion can also be considered a curriculum objective in its own right (teaching for discussion). The latter is justified on the grounds that listening and speaking to what Danielle Allen called “strangers” about powerful ideas and public problems is crucial to democratic citizen formation; indeed, it defines democracy, signaling a citizen's coming of age while at the same time creating the public sphere that democracy requires—a space where political argument and action flourish. Purpose /Focus of Study The author outlines a discursive approach to the cultivation of enlightened political engagement in schools. He argues that schools are the best available sites for this project because they have the key assets: diverse schoolmates (more or less), problems (both academic and social), “strangers” (schoolmates who are not friends or family), and curriculum and instruction (schools are intentionally educative places). Ambitious classroom discussion models—for example, seminars and deliberations—can mobilize these assets; but new habits, especially those that build equity and trust, are needed. Setting Two empirical cases of classroom discussion ground the argument in classroom practice. In one, high school students deliberate whether physician-assisted suicide should be legalized in their state. In the other, suburban middle school students conduct a seminar on Howard Fast's novel of the American revolution, April Morning. Research Design This is an analytic essay/argument. Conclusions/Recommendations Schools in societies with democratic ideals are obligated to cultivate enlightened and engaged citizens. Helping young people form the habits of listening to strangers, at that very public place called school, should advance this work.
Listening to a Challenging Perspective: The Role of Interruption
Authors: Haroutunian-Gordon Sophie 
Published: November 2021

Background/Context Taking up an issue explored by John Dewey, Austin Sarat, and Walter Parker, as well as many others, I continue my study of the conditions under which people choose to listen to a perspective that challenges their own beliefs. Research Question In my book, Learning to Teach Through Discussion: The Art of Turning the Soul (2009), I present a case study that shows students and teachers learning to listen. The reader sees that as they engage in what I call “interpretive discussion”—that is, discussion about the meaning of texts—they become more eager to understand their meaning and to understand the ideas of others in the group. In some instances, people work to listen to ideas that challenge their own, rather than eschewing them. The present article continues my investigation into the conditions under which people try to listen to a challenging perspective and draws implications for the challenge of so doing for teachers. Research Design The research described in Learning to Teach Through Discussion moved me to examine a fictional case and assert five hypotheses about the conditions under which listening to a challenging perspective occurs. Then, I examined a nonfictional, introspective case that focused my attention on the second of the five hypotheses. Next, with Elizabeth Meadows and others, I studied two nonintrospective, nonfictional cases. These analyses helped to clarify four conditions that obtain at the point identified by the second hypothesis. Clarification of the four conditions enabled me to identify a challenge that teachers face in trying to help students and themselves listen to challenging perspectives. Conclusions The evidence that I have collected suggests that when one listens to a challenging view, it is because one is trying to resolve a question and seeks help in doing so. Then, one allows one's listening to be interrupted; that is, one stops trying to answer the initial question and starts trying to resolve a new question. The shift occurs because one hears, in the other's words, an idea that challenges a heretofore tacit belief. The listener then starts listening to determine whether the belief should be accepted or rejected. I argue that when teachers allow their listening to be interrupted by a challenging perspective, they open themselves to recognition of heretofore tacit beliefs, to new questions, and to new ideas about the resolution of those questions.
The Role of Psychological and Developmental Science in Efforts to Improve Teacher Quality
Authors: Rimm-Kaufman Sara E. , Hamre Bridget K. 
Published: November 2021

Background Theory, methods, and knowledge gained from years of study in psychological science and human development apply to the understanding and improvement of teacher quality and, ultimately, student achievement and social and emotional outcomes. With these applications, educational research has stronger potential to make more effective and systematic contributions to the improvement of teaching in American schools. This potential can be realized by linking the scientific study of psychology and teachers’ development (social, relational, psychological, and cognitive) to teachers’ classroom behaviors (the mechanisms and processes underlying quality) and student achievement of educational and social and emotional objectives (the outputs of quality). New funds of knowledge in developmental and psychological science can serve as a basis for future research on inputs into teacher quality. Purpose The present article advances an interdisciplinary perspective on the factors influencing teacher quality, specifically defined as teachers’ practices and their interactions with students that can be shown to relate to student achievement. The article (1) offers a view of teacher quality focused on teacher–child interactions that serve as explanatory mechanisms in predicting children's achievement; (2) introduces key principles of human adult development that offer insights to link developmental research on teachers to teacher quality and, ultimately, to student achievement and social and emotional outcomes; and (3) discusses two bodies of research from psychological science that illustrate the ways in which psychological principles and an overarching view of teachers as developing people may contribute to current debates about teacher quality. Research Design The article synthesizes research from the fields of education and psychology. Conclusions The article closes with recommendations for basic, developmentally oriented research on teacher quality and student achievement.
Policy, Technology, and Practice in Cyber Charter Schools: Framing the Issues
Authors: Ahn June 
Published: November 2021

Background Online learning in K-12 education has grown rapidly in the past decade. Cyber charter schools (CCSs) have been a particularly controversial form of online school, but there is very little scholarly examination of these new organizations. As CCSs expand, policymakers and stakeholders have a critical need to understand how to evolve the charter school policies that govern these new school forms. Focus of Study Through a three-site case study, this paper (1) explores what current charter policies govern CCSs and (2) outlines the practices in these schools that might illuminate future policy needs. Specifically, the findings highlight how cyber charters problematize existing charter school policies in the areas of authorizers and governance, teacher policy, and student achievement. Research Design The study presents an exploratory, comparative case study. The exploratory analyses illuminate implications for how policymakers understand governance, teacher policy, and the evaluation of student achievement in cyber charters. The comparative case design also highlights how different state policy contexts might influence the practices of CCSs. Conclusions Cyber charter schools introduce new ways of delivering public schooling. The study shows how state leadership is vital to coordinate student enrollment across geographic boundaries, funding mechanisms, and conflicts between CCSs and established stakeholders. This paper also illuminates how teaching and learning practices differ in an online environment and introduces questions of teacher preparation and professional practices. Finally, CCSs in this study serve unique, niche student populations that opt out of the traditional school system. These considerations are vital for evaluating student achievement in cyber charters.