bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A Maker Studio Model for High School Classrooms: The Nature and Role of Critique in an Electronic Textiles Design Project
Authors: Litts Breanne K. , Widman Sari A. , Lui Debora A. , Walker Justice T. , Kafai Yasmin B. 
Published: November 2021

Background/Context Though the maker movement has proliferated in out-of-school settings, there remains a design challenge of how to effectively integrate maker activities into K–12 classrooms. In other contexts, though, creative design and production have historically been successfully integrated in classrooms through studio models common to the arts, architecture, and engineering. Purpose/Objective In this paper, we leverage the features and practices of studio models from arts, architecture, and engineering education to integrate maker activities in a high school classroom. Within this Maker Studio model, students focus on designing a computational artifact and engage in practices more predominantly found in studio arts, architecture, and engineering classes such as feedback, critique, and reflection. Research Design We conducted a case study of how a class of 23 high school students participating in a STEM elective class in teams partnered with art students to develop an interactive installation. Our analyses focus on how the structure of the feedback, critique, and reflections in the Maker Studio informed and shaped students’ design processes. Conclusions We discuss affordances and implications of recognizing studio practices (particularly critique) as design features of maker activities, especially in high school classroom contexts, and present the Maker Studio as a viable model for integration of maker activities in classroom environments. We also characterize key features of the Maker Studio model, including the following: appreciation and support for maker processes in addition to or even above final products, integration of various structures for giving and receiving critique throughout the design process, support for interdisciplinary and collaborative project work, and engagement with diverse perspectives and expertise during critiques.
“Good Teaching” and “Good Teachers” for Whom? Critically Troubling Standardized and Corporatized Notions of Quality in Teacher Education
Authors: Souto-Manning Mariana 
Published: November 2021

Background Historically and contemporarily, dominant conceptualizations of quality teaching are and have been rooted in notions of the cultural deficiency and inferiority of intersectionally minoritized populations. Such conceptualizations of quality teaching have kept and continue to keep racial, cultural, and linguistic injustices in place. They are imposed on intersectionally minoritized populations—those who, even when numerically the majority, continue to be positioned as inferior to or lesser than the dominant population. Focus In this article, through the critical analysis of counter-narratives of early childhood teachers of color, I seek to trouble commonplace discourses of “good teaching” and “good teachers.” I take a close look at how such discourses are instantiated and propagated by the educative Teacher Performance Assessment (edTPA), a high-stakes assessment that purports to measure teacher quality and is tied to certification. I focus on early childhood teachers of color because although the percentage of young children of color is increasing, there is a reverse trend in the early childhood teaching force. This may be partly due to mounting certification requirements recently established for early childhood teachers. Thus, early childhood teachers of color are a critical group from whom the field can learn. Research Design Seeking to conversationally elicit personal narratives regarding edTPA from early childhood teachers of color, I interviewed 10 early childhood teachers of color who had graduated with master's degrees leading to early childhood education initial teacher certification since the 2014 implementation of edTPA as a requirement for licensure in New York State. Specifically, I sought to understand how edTPA as a phenomenon came to life in their lived experiences. I engaged critical narrative analysis to analyze their counter-narratives. Conclusions and Recommendations By listening closely to women of color seeking teacher licensure and learning from the critical analysis of their counter-narratives, I expose how institutional discourses of teacher quality serve to racialize the teaching profession, keeping White hegemonic discourses in place in the name of quality. Specifically, the counter-narratives of the 10 early childhood teachers of color who participated in this study unveiled how they perceived edTPA as (a) serving as an obstacle to access higher pay; (b) leading to mental health issues and stress; and (c) being antithetical to good teaching. Implications point toward the need for research that helps us move to a definition of good teaching grounded in justice as nonnegotiable if we are to (re)define teacher preparation in transformative and racially inclusive ways.
Following the Leader: The Evolving Network of Charter School Giving
Authors: Diehl David , Marx Robert A. 
Published: November 2021

Background/Context Research on the patterns of philanthropic funding of charter schools has largely focused on the behavior of major foundations. This work has documented how the once diffuse giving by these major foundations has become increasingly concentrated on a small number of jurisdictional challengers in the form of charter schools, charter management organizations, and intermediary organizations. Purpose The current study examines whether this convergence in giving has spread to the entire network of foundations giving to charter-school-related organizations. We do so by extending current work and focus on the broader institutional field that includes the interactions between major foundations, smaller foundations, and grantees over time. Moreover, we look to see, if such a field-wide convergence is present, whether there is evidence consistent with the institutional process of isomorphism in which low-status foundations match the giving strategy of higher status ones. Research Design We test for these dynamics using exponential random graph models (ERGMs), a hypothesis-testing framework for network analysis. More specifically, we analyze the funding ties among 809 foundations that gave grants to California charter schools and charter-school-related organizations between 2003 and 2014, as available through the Foundation Directory Online. We constructed multiyear windows to examine funding ties between foundations and recipients, using organizational characteristics, such as foundation type, foundation year, professionalization, foundation size, organizational type, and location, and endogenous features of the network as independent variables. Findings Results indicate centralization of giving over time, as larger and newer foundations began practicing more targeted giving and the most connected recipients were involved in a disproportionate number of funding ties. We also found evidence consistent with institutionalization, as foundations with professional staffs played a larger role in giving, and smaller foundations increasingly engaged in behavior similar to their larger peers over time. Finally, we found evidence for the consistent effect of propinquity: We observe co-funding and co-receiving ties between foundations and grantees in geographical proximity to each other. Conclusions This work examines the network dynamics of charter school philanthropic giving and provides evidence for the centralization and institutionalization of the field. In turn, this may create inequity in funding for charter schools because it may be more difficult for smaller or less ideologically popular organizations to penetrate the field. Policy makers should be aware of these forces and should take them into account when making budgetary and funding decisions.
External Contextual Factors and Teacher Turnover: The Case of Michigan High Schools
Authors: Minor Elizabeth Covay , Saw Guan K. , Frank Kenneth , Schneider Barbara , Torphy Kaitlin T. 
Published: November 2021

Background/Context All organizations face turnover in their workforce; however, in schools high turnover can interfere with the effectiveness and efficiency of the school. While past research has examined school-related factors linked to teacher turnover, few studies have examined how external contextual factors are related to teacher turnover. This study examines the role of two external contextual factors in teacher turnover: economic downturns and changes in state curricular policy (the Michigan Merit Curriculum [MMC]). Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study This study asks the extent to which the economic crisis of 2009 and the implementation of the MMC are related to school-level teacher turnover rates and whether those relationships vary by school locale and within the school year. Population/Participants/Subjects The data include full-time high school teachers in the state of Michigan aggregated to the school level. Research Design Using eight years of statewide longitudinal data from Michigan, the study employs school fixed effects models to account for possible differences in unobservable school characteristics that are constant over time and may be related to teacher turnover. The study examines teacher turnover at both the mid-year and the end of the year as teachers leave schools at various points during the school year. Additionally, this study considers how turnover is experience differentially by urbanicity. Findings/Results Between 3.2% and 15.5% of teachers left their school over the eight-year period. The rates of turnover varied by the time of the school year with more teachers leaving at the end of the year than during mid-year. There was a significant increase in teacher turnover rates around the announcement of the MMC as well as the economic downturn. While all locations were impacted by the announcement of the MMC, the largest amount of turnover occurred in urban areas and the lowest for suburban areas. In terms of the economic downturn, towns were impacted the most, followed by rural and suburban schools. Urban areas did not see a significant increase in teacher turnover related to the recession. Conclusions/Recommendations The authors conclude that external contextual factors are related to increases in teacher turnover independent of each other. How these factors relate to teacher turnover does depend on school locale. While this study was based in Michigan, all states have their own policy and economic pressures to consider in related to school-level decision making and teacher turnover.
Discovering Together
Authors: Traynor John , Tully Deborah 
Published: November 2021

Background/Context School–university partnerships, research–practice partnerships, and professional development schools represent three separate framings for the type of work outlined in this case study. These types of partnerships face various challenges as outlined in the literature, for the partnership as a collective and the partners at an institutional level. This case study contributes to this literature and provides potential policy implications through both the successes and challenges that are included. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study The research focused on a partnership that received funding through a grant provided by the state legislature. This study explored the partnership between a local, public K–6 elementary and two private institutions of higher education, their teacher preparation programs specifically. The research focused on ways in which the partnerships improved both student achievement and teacher candidate preparation while also improving the overall school culture. Research Design This research design is a mixed-methods case study and analyzes the partnership and the influences that resulted at the school and the institutions of higher education. This discussion draws on anecdotal, qualitative, and quantitative data and observations to reflect on the impact of the work of the partnership. Data Collection and Analysis The resulting profile uses several sources of data: interviews and surveys (current and past participants), documents (meeting note summaries, planning documents, etc.), performance data (academic, attendance, and behavior), and participation data (i.e., teacher candidates placed at schools, extended learning opportunity participation, etc.). Conclusions/Recommendations The partnership outlined in this article benefited where the personnel were consistent throughout the life span of the project. Challenges were more acute when there were changes to personnel assigned to the partnership. In addition, having additional student supports, either in classrooms during the school day (i.e., math and literacy instructional time) or in the extended learning program after school, met the dual purpose of positively impacting student development (academic and social/emotional) and providing authentic learning experiences for preservice teacher candidates. This is a promising organizing framework on which to build these types of partnerships.
“A Vicious Cycle of Disempowerment”: The Relationship Between Teacher Morale, Pedagogy, and Agency in an Urban High School
Authors: Dunn Alyssa Hadley 
Published: November 2021

Background/Context This research is framed by theories of teacher morale and teacher empowerment and contributes to the literature on neoliberal educational policies and teacher burnout and attrition. Purpose and Research Questions The purpose of this study is to understand the intersections of teachers’ experiences with neoliberal policies, at one high school in the urban south. The research questions include: (1) How is the morale of exceptional urban teachers affected by the contextual factors of a neoliberal school climate? (2) How does their morale relate to teachers’ reports of their pedagogy? Research Design This study utilized a qualitative case study design and, in addition to traditional analytic methods used in case studies, drew on grounded theory methodology. I collected quantitative data from approximately 30 staff members in the form of two surveys and qualitative data from eight focal participants. These participants were all (1) veteran teachers, (2) recognized as strong/exceptional teachers according to both neoliberal and non-neoliberal indicators, and (3) represented a diversity of other identity markers. My analysis here focuses on the qualitative data, and I use the quantitative results as a way to contextualize the data of my eight focal participants. Types of qualitative data include: interviews (semi-structured), a focus group, participant observations (of meetings at the district and school level), document analysis (of district-produced documents, school newspaper articles, local newspaper articles, and teachers’ written reflections), and researcher journals and memos. Findings/Results Results indicate that: (1) Morale is influenced by a variety of contextual factors at multiple levels, and being in a “good” school or being labeled an “exceptional” educator is not enough to keep one from feeling the effects of disempowerment brought about by top-down mandates, and (2) Teachers overwhelmingly reported that low morale impacted their view of their own pedagogy, contributing to a “vicious cycle” of low morale, disempowerment, and less effective pedagogy. The focal participants, even though they were hailed as successful educators, felt discouraged and unable to maintain quality pedagogy because of restrictive educational policies. Thus, I argue that educational policies at the school, district, state, and national level significantly decrease teachers’ morale and have a negative influence on their perception of their pedagogy. In a vicious cycle, low morale makes them feel like less effective teachers, and their belief that they are less effective lowers their morale.
STEM for All: Student Identities and the Paradox of STEM Democratization
Authors: Cipollone Kristin , Stich Amy E. , Weis Lois 
Published: November 2021

Background/Context Calls to increase participation in and access to STEM education have been loud and frequent. These democratizing efforts have targeted the aspirations and expectations of non-dominant students attending U.S. secondary schools, promising pathways to college and opportunities for social mobility, yet the results have been mixed. While some exemplars exist, recent research has identified a number of social and structural challenges that undermine the stated goals of policy initiatives and fail to yield positive student outcomes. Purpose Drawing upon the authors’ notion of shadow capital, an extension of Bourdieu's theoretical framework, and Holland, Lachincotte, Skinner, and Cain's theory of figured worlds, this article explores how high-achieving students from non-dominant backgrounds construct their academic identities amid limited STEM material and discursive structures in two urban, non-selective, public, STEM-focused schools. In so doing, we aim to extend and complicate the literature on STEM reform and its ability to provide opportunity and improve outcomes for non-dominant students. Research Design The findings reported herein are part of a larger ethnographic, longitudinal, and comparative study of eight non-selective, urban public high schools serving primarily economically and racially non-dominant students. Data consist of interviews with multiple stakeholders, sustained participant and non-participant observation, and document analysis. In this article we focus on two STEM-focused schools, STEM Academy and Broadway Science Academy (BSA), and primarily draw upon interview data given our emphasis on student identity development. Findings/Results As a result of a mismatch between the intention and outcome of STEM reform as it plays out in this study, each school provided students with shadow capital. Given the different school contexts, the effects of this shadow capital on students’ STEM identities vary across site. In the case of STEM Academy, students develop conflicted STEM identities amid the school's own conflicted institutional identity as both STEM-focused and college preparatory. In the case of BSA, students are provided opportunities that are seen as more “connected” to student-lived experiences, resulting in vocational pathways devoid of the elements that truly bridge home and school in ways that create opportunity, complicating students’ ability to actualize their college and career aspirations. Conclusions/Recommendations In order to create authentic and meaningful connected STEM opportunities that allow students to draw from their own stores of capital and nurture STEM identities, we need to reevaluate and re-envision the “good intentions” undergirding the democratization of education and ask whether efforts to democratize STEM are plausible within our deeply stratified system.
Metropolitan Public School District Segregation by Race and Income, 2000–2011
Authors: Richards Meredith P. , Stroub Kori J. 
Published: November 2021

Background Recent work has documented declining public school racial/ethnic segregation, as students have become more evenly distributed across schools and districts since the turn of the century. However, we know little about how declines in school racial/ethnic segregation have affected students of different levels of economic resources. While some evidence suggests that class may be supplanting race as the defining force in structuring residential segregation, it is unclear whether this trend toward spatial assimilation is mirrored in schools. Objective In this study, we provide initial evidence linking racial/ethnic and socioeconomic segregation in schools. First, we disaggregate patterns and trends in metropolitan segregation by student race/ethnicity and household income to examine how changes in racial/ethnic segregation are experienced by students of different income levels. Second, drawing on theories of spatial assimilation and place stratification, we examine the relative importance of race/ethnicity vis-à-vis income in structuring patterns of segregation. Research Design We use unique data on the joint distribution of student race/ethnicity and family income from the National Center of Education Statistics’ Education Demographic and Geographic Estimates (NCES EDGE) system. For each U.S. metropolitan area, we calculate measures of between-district segregation from 2000 to 2011. We compute measures of racial/ethnic and socioeconomic segregation using the dual-group index of dissimilarity and the rank-order information theory index. We focus on two key comparisons: the segregation between non-White and white students in the same income quintile, and the segregation between non-White students in each income quintile and all White students. Findings We find that recent declines in racial/ethnic segregation were unevenly distributed across the income distribution. For example, while Black students of all income levels experienced declines in segregation from Whites, decreases were particularly pronounced for affluent Blacks. In addition, poor White students became more segregated from non-White students of all income levels. We also document shifts in the contributions of race/ethnicity and income to segregation: While income is increasingly implicated in Black–White and Hispanic–White segregation, Asian–White segregation is increasingly attributable to race/ethnicity. Conclusions Findings highlight the complexity of student experiences of segregation by race/ethnicity and income. Focusing exclusively on declines in racial/ethnic segregation or increases in income segregation may lead scholars to neglect phenomena such as the worsening segregation of poor White students, or improving segregation among affluent non-Whites. In addition, while racial/ethnic segregation remains high, segregation between non-Whites and Whites is increasingly attributable to income differences between racial/ethnic groups (i.e., spatial assimilation), with the exception of Asian students.