bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Social Epistemology and the Pragmatics of Assessment
Authors: Gergen Kenneth J. , Dixon-Román Ezekiel J. 
Published: November 2021

Background/Context The assessment of students, along with teachers and school systems, has largely taken place within a context of positivist science. An enormous range of scholarship now challenges the positivist paradigm, offering a social espistemological alternative. This alternative invites a reexamination of assessment processes and their policy implications. Purpose/Objective After sketching out the social constructionist alternative to positivist epistemology, the research centered on the pragmatics of existing assessment practices, including an analysis of who is helped or harmed but such practices. Setting The research included extended across a wide range of contemporary educational settings. Research Design The research was primarily analytic, drawing from wide-ranging sources in education and allied disciplines. Conclusions/Recommendations Among the general outcomes of current assessment practices are the fostering of social division and distrust, the creation of hierarchies of worth, and the diminution of pluralism. Within educational systems we find a sacrifice of curriculum and pedagogy for the production of higher test scores, and the diminution of teacher motivation and engagement. Within communities, there is a disregard for local needs and values, a loss in student motivation, and an increase in family tensions. Possible alternatives to current testing practices, along with recommendations for future policies, are considered.
“The University for the Poor”: Portrayals of Class in Translated Children's Literature
Authors: Forest Danielle E. , Garrison Kasey , Kimmel Sue C. 
Published: November 2021

Background Scholars of children's literature have been investigating portrayals of females and racial groups for several decades, yet few have examined depictions of social class. Research on social class depictions in children's literature is needed in order to identify books that affirm children's class identities and offer portrayals of socioeconomic diversity. Focus of the Study This study investigates portrayals of social class in 35 titles receiving the Batchelder Award or Honor between 2001 and 2013. The Batchelder Award recognizes outstanding translated books with international origins. International books for children were selected in this study because American titles are thought to be middle class in orientation; the researchers hypothesized that the international books might provide a more complex analysis of social class. Research Design The inductive approach to qualitative content analysis was utilized. At least two researchers read and coded each book in the sample. The researchers examined passages referencing social class as well as other cultural constructs such as race/ethnicity, gender, religion, and nationality. Findings The researchers identified several markers that served as indicators of social class status: living conditions, food, safety and protection, healthcare, leisure, education, occupation, residence, speech and mannerisms, clothing/dress, death rituals, and material possessions. Social class was often associated with other identities such as a character's religion or ethnicity. Characters from typically marginalized class groups, such as the poor and the working class, were portrayed sensitively and with dignity. Conclusions The markers of class identified in this study may serve as a framework for other researchers interested in examining class in children's literature or media. The findings may help teachers and teacher educators identify and select books that realistically and respectfully portray members of different social classes.
“So We Have to Teach Them or What?”: Introducing Preservice Teachers to the Figured Worlds of Urban Youth through Digital Conversation
Authors: Seglem Robyn , Garcia Antero 
Published: November 2021

Background Extant literature contends that it can be difficult for White preservice teachers to develop culturally relevant curriculum for the diverse students whom they will encounter in classrooms. Though there is a significant body of research about culturally responsive pedagogy, teacher education programs have struggled with how to best reconcile the needs of students of color with the experiences and misconceptions of White teachers. Purpose/Focus of Study Using a figured world framework, we explore how social interaction made possible through digital tools shaped the actions and identities of 16 preservice teachers. Research Design: This qualitative case study focuses on three preservice teachers from Illinois to illustrate the cumulative and different process of change that each went through during his or her interactions with 10th-grade students from Los Angeles. Beginning with a holistic coding of the corpus of data, we looked at chat room transcripts, preservice teacher reflections, and writing samples from approximately 3 months of interaction between the two groups for this study. Coding the data in multiple cycles, we explored how preservice teachers’ digital interactions with urban high school students contributed to preservice teachers’ figured worlds. Findings Providing preservice teachers with virtual access to urban youth's figured worlds allowed these future teachers to better understand the cultural artifacts of these students’ worlds. In doing so, they were forced to acknowledge the importance of maintaining the belief that all students, including those from urban backgrounds, can and want to engage in rigorous learning. The project also provided the preservice teachers with an opportunity to learn more about the discourse of these students, giving preservice teachers insights about how to navigate the language of their students’ cultures, to evaluate their students’ academic language needs, and to instruct their students about shifting their language use to communicate across settings and purposes. Finally, opportunities to interact with urban youth allow preservice teachers to begin to develop identities that are more culturally responsive in nature. Conclusions The results we explore in this article highlight the potential that virtual spaces offer for developing constructive dialogue between urban youth and preservice teachers, which can lead to reflective, culturally relevant teachers. “So we have to teach them or what? Well, they need to understand where we come from. We don't come from Illinois.”
Venture Philanthropy and Teacher Education Policy in the U.S.: The Role of the New Schools Venture Fund
Authors: Zeichner Kenneth , Peña-Sandoval César 
Published: November 2021

Background & Purpose This article focuses on the growing role of venture philanthropy in shaping policy and practice in teacher education in the United States. Our goal is to bring a greater level of transparency to private influences on public policy and to promote greater discussion and debate in the public arena about alternative solutions to current problems. In this article, we focus on the role of one of the most influential private groups in the United States that invests in education, the New Schools Venture Fund (NSVF), in promoting deregulation and market-based policies. Research Design We examine the changing role of philanthropy in education and the role of the NSVF in developing and promoting a bill in the U.S. Congress (the GREAT Act) that would create a system throughout the nation of charter teacher and principal preparation programs called academies. In assessing the wisdom of the GREAT Act, we examine the warrant for claims that education schools have failed in their mission to educate teachers well and the corresponding narrative that entrepreneurial programs emanating from the private sector are the solution. Conclusions We reject both the position that the status quo in teacher education is acceptable (a position held by what we term “defenders”) and the position that the current system needs to be “blown up” and replaced by a market economy (“reformers”). We suggest a third position (“transformers”) that we believe will strengthen the U.S. system of public teacher education and provide everyone's children with high-quality teachers. We conclude with a call for more trenchant dialogue about the policy options before us and for greater transparency about the ways that private interests are influencing public policy and practice in teacher education.
Collective Pedagogical Teacher Culture and Teacher Satisfaction
Authors: Stearns Elizabeth , Banerjee Neena , Moller Stephanie , Mickelson Roslyn Arlin 
Published: November 2021

Background/Context Teacher job satisfaction is critical to schools’ success. As organizations, schools need teachers who are satisfied with their jobs and who work with one another to build school community and increase student achievement. School organizational culture shapes teacher job satisfaction in many ways, but it is still unclear which facets of organizational culture have the greatest influence on teacher job satisfaction and whether some of these facets may have moderating effects on others. Purpose of Study This study investigates the association among two aspects of organizational culture (professional community and teacher collaboration), teacher control over school and classroom policy, and teacher job satisfaction. We use the term Collective Pedagogical Teacher Culture to refer to those schools with strong norms of professional community and teacher collaboration. Research Design We use a nationally representative sample of U.S. kindergarten teachers from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey in 1998–1999 and hierarchical linear modeling to examine the association between aspects of school organizational culture and teacher job satisfaction. Findings We find that professional community, collaboration, and teacher control are predictive of satisfaction and they also have interactive influences. The association between teacher collaboration and job satisfaction, as well as that between control over classroom policy and job satisfaction, is most pronounced in schools with weaker professional communities. Recommendations Future reform efforts that foster greater professional communities, teacher collaboration, and control over classrooms can exist alongside more conventional reforms such as raising curricular standards and instituting greater accountability. Fostering a strong teacher pedagogical culture will help to bolster teacher job satisfaction.
Insights into Teachers’ Experiences Implementing Garden-Based Learning: Characterizing the Relationship between the Teacher and the Curriculum
Authors: Selmer Sarah J. , Luna Melissa J. , Rye James A. 
Published: November 2021

Background/Context This study seeks insights into teachers’ experiences implementing Garden-Based Learning (GBL) in an elementary school. The breadth of studies supporting the use of GBL in K–8 schools in the United States alongside the paucity of studies specific to teachers’ experiences implementing GBL highlights the importance of this work. Purpose Our study uses Remillard's framework for characterizing and studying teachers’ interactions with curriculum materials specifically in the context of GBL. We believe that exploring the dynamic relationship between teachers and a GBL curriculum may help those involved in supporting teachers in implementing GBL to gain a deeper understanding of the complexity of the teacher/GBL curriculum relationship. This research examined teachers’ GBL implementation experiences in order to answer the following research question: How do we describe and characterize teachers’ interactions with GBL curriculum materials? Research Design Twenty teachers employed from one elementary school were interviewed using a semistructured task-based protocol resulting in a teacher-created diagram of supports and challenges he/she encountered while implementing GBL over the past year. The diagram was used as a tool to stimulate and access teachers’ thinking about these supports and challenges in order to provide insight into the teacher and curricular resources at play when implementing GBL. Findings/Results Using a grounded theory analysis of each participant's diagram, we characterized each teacher's participatory relationship with GBL. We found 13% of supports and challenges elicited from all teachers had a teaching and learning focus. On an individual level, supports and challenges had a substantial teaching and learning focus for only two teachers. Thirteen teachers were characterized as having a pragmatic focus. Of the seven teachers characterized to have an experiential focus: supports and challenges focused more so on what students were doing for four teachers and more so on what teachers were doing for three teachers. Conclusions/Recommendations We used Remillard's framework to investigate and characterize the participatory relationship between teachers and the GBL curriculum. The resulting characterizations provide insight for supporting GBL teacher learning contexts and will help guide future research. Based on this study, it is critical that individuals involved in educational change continue trying to understand and develop spaces for teacher learning. These spaces should move beyond traditional professional development focused on teacher participation toward experiences focused on teacher learning within and across their teaching contexts.
Prekindergarten and Kindergarten Center-based Child Care and Students’ Early Schooling Outcomes
Authors: Gottfried Michael A. 
Published: November 2021

Background/Context In the United States, there has been an increased trend in parents’ utilization of center-based child care. Yet, though research has examined the effects of attending prekindergarten center-based care or the effects of attending center-based care during the kindergarten school year, little is known about the effects of having attended both. Purpose/Objective This study asks three questions: (a) Do children who attend both prekin-dergarten and kindergarten center-based care have different achievement outcomes, measured at the end of kindergarten? (b) Do children who attend both prekindergarten and kindergarten center-based care have different socioemotional outcomes, measured at the end of kindergarten? (c) Do these relationships differ by individual socio-demographic characteristics? Population/Participants This study utilizes data from the newly released Early Childhood Longitudinal Study – Kindergarten Class of 2011 (ECLS-K:2011). The ECLS-K:2011 represents the most contemporary national-level data available to study the educational experiences of young students in the United States. Information was first collected from kindergartners (as well as parents, teachers, and school administrators) from U.S. kindergarten programs in the year 2010–2011. Research Design This study combines secondary data analyses and quasi-experimental methods. There are two achievement outcomes: reading and math. There are five socioemotional outcomes: externalizing behaviors, internalizing behaviors, self-control, approaches to learning, and interpersonal skills. The study begins with a baseline, linear regression model. To address issues pertaining to omitted variable bias, the study employs various fixed-effects models. Findings The findings for the first research question indicated that academic outcomes do not differ for children in both years of center-based care compared to children who attended only one year of center-based care or none at all. As for the second research question, the findings show that multiple years of center-based care is related to increases in problem behaviors and decreases in prosocial behaviors—outcomes that are worsened by the number of years of center-based care attendance. The findings for the third research question suggest some minor differences between boys and girls in zero, one, or two years of center-based care. Conclusions/Recommendations This study has brought to surface new ways that center-based care attendance might influence children's short-term outcomes. Therefore, researchers, policymakers, and practitioners must base future questions on empirical work concerning how to address children's outcomes across multiple years of care, rather than simply focus exclusively on one year's influence.
The Association between Standards-Based Grading and Standardized Test Scores as an Element of a High School Reform Model
Authors: Pollio Marty , Hochbein Craig 
Published: November 2021

Background/Context From two decades of research on the grading practices of teachers in secondary schools, researchers discovered that teachers evaluated students on numerous factors that do not validly assess a student's achievement level in a specific content area. These consistent findings suggested that traditional grading practices evolved to meet the variety of educational stakeholder expectations for schools, teachers, and students. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study The purpose of this study was to examine the role of standards-based grading in a high school reform by assessing the relationships between differing grading approaches and standardized test achievement. Setting The study examined student performance from 11 high schools operating in a large metropolitan school district. Population/Participants/Subjects The sample of students included two cohorts of 1,163 and 1,256 11th grade students who completed an Algebra 2 course and the state standardized test. Intervention/Program/Practice Each of the high schools implemented a locally designed reform known as Project Proficiency. A key component of the reform included utilizing standards-based grading to assess student proficiency of the content. Research Design This study utilized a non-equivalent control group design and quantitative analyses to compare the association between classroom grades and standardized test scores. Data Collection and Analysis The data for the study included the students’ final grades, standardized test scores, and basic demographic information. Findings/Results Results indicated that the rate of students earning an A or B in a course and passing the state test approximately doubled when utilizing standards-based grading practices. In addition, results indicated that standards-based grading practices identified more predictive and valid assessment of at-risk students’ attainment of subject knowledge. Conclusions/Recommendations The article demonstrates the benefits of using standards-based grading in reforms attempting to improve the academic performance of secondary schools, but also notes how restriction of grades to mastery of standards will challenge educators’ perception of their abilities and students’ efforts. The article also notes the methodological limitations of prior grading research and suggests the need for more robust studies assessing grading practices, student achievement, and school performance.
Understanding Differences in Instructional Quality between High and Lower Value-Added Schools in a Large Urban District
Authors: Smith Thomas , Preston Courtney , Haynes Katherine , Booker Laura Neergaard 
Published: November 2021

Background/Context High schools are under increasing pressure to move beyond just graduating students, and many high schools today continue to have low rates of student retention and learning, particularly for students from traditionally low-performing subgroups. Differential dropout rates, wherein low-income students, minorities, and English language learners leave school at higher rates than other students, only compound the problem. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study In this study, we examine differences in instructional quality between two higher and two lower value-added high schools, as measured by the Classroom Assessment Scoring System – Secondary (CLASS-S). It explores (1) differences in levels of instructional quality, (2) differences in the proportions of students taking advanced courses, and (3) differences in the way teachers think and talk about their classroom challenges. Research Design This is a mixed methods study that combines data from classroom observation protocols with teacher interview data. We use multilevel statistical models to address the first two research questions and emergent, inductive coding to determine commonalities within schools in how teachers implement higher-quality instructional practices. Findings/Results We find that the average difference in instructional quality, as measured by the CLASS-S, was not very wide across our four case study schools and that the biggest differences were between the two higher value-added high schools. Our interview data suggest that teachers in the two higher value-added schools are more proactive about providing emotional support and preventing behavioral problems, and intentional about attending to content and engaging students in higher-order thinking. Conclusions/Recommendations The lack of variation in classroom instructional practice across schools also suggests the need to attend to the ways that schools support academic learning outside of the classroom. Qualitative findings signal that the quality of classroom instruction is not the only critical input to students’ learning gains when trying to identify what leads schools to place highly in value-added rankings.
Factors Associated with College Coping among High-Achieving Scholarship Recipients from Adverse Backgrounds
Authors: Wolniak Gregory , Rekoutis Panagiotis (Panos) 
Published: November 2021

Background/Context Studies have shown that students from low-income backgrounds are particularly at risk of not succeeding in college and that, once in college, students from the lowest socioeconomic groups complete college at a fraction the rate of student from the highest socioeconomic groups. College presents unique challenges for students from adverse backgrounds. To adequately support such students in college, we must first understand the kinds of programs and support services that enable students from adverse backgrounds to cope with stressors encountered during college. Purpose/Objective The purpose of the study was to improve understanding of the factors that enable students from adverse backgrounds to cope with the college environment in pursuit of a bachelor's degree. The analyses addressed the following research questions: (1) Among students from adverse backgrounds, do the services and supports encountered during college enhance their ability to positively cope with the college environment ? (2) Are the associations between college services and supports, and positively coping with the college environment conditional on gender, identifying as a student of color, year in college, or level of adversity experienced prior to college? Research Design The study utilized multivariate regression techniques to analyze survey data. The first analytic stage involved regressing each of the three Coping with the College Environment Scales on distinct blocks of variables. The second analytic stage tested for conditional effects by gender, identifying as a student of color, the number of adversities experienced prior to college, and HAA Scholarship application year as a proxy for year of initial college entry. Conclusions/Recommendations The study's main findings include: having a mentor while in college as well as during high school had a positive influence on college coping; self-efficacy significantly and positively influenced all three dimensions of coping with the college environment; and several relationships differed between females (vs. males) and first-year (vs. other) students. Overall, the study responds to calls for additional research in this arena, builds on the literature on college coping, readiness and success, and extends previous validation research on dimensions of coping with college through analysis of a robust sample of college students. The study reaffirms the importance of college scholarship programs in providing researchers a lens through which to study and learn from unique populations of students.