bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The Long March toward Revitalization: Developing Standpoint in Curriculum Studies
Authors: Au Wayne 
Published: November 2021

Background/Context There historically exists significant epistemological and political tension within the field of curriculum studies. Further, although there is some application of standpoint theory in educational research generally, and little used within curriculum studies specifically, much of it is undertheorized at best and, in many cases, misapplied or misunderstood. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study The purpose of this article is to offer a potential resolution to the epistemological and political tension within the field of curriculum studies through the development of a conception of curricular standpoint that recognizes the dialectical relationship between the subjectivity of experience and the materiality of social and economic relations. Another purpose of this article is both to illustrate curricular standpoint as both a methodological tool for analysis and to justify a politics of social justice in classroom practice. Research Design This study is designed as an analytic essay that addresses critical issues within curriculum studies, develops a conceptual framework to address those issues, and analyzes concrete examples that illustrate the conceptual framework. Conclusions/Recommendations This study concludes that the framework for curricular standpoint can serve as a viable methodological tool for curriculum studies to overcome its ongoing epistemological and political tensions, and as an epistemologically strong orientation for the curriculum taught by classroom teachers.
Data, Dyads, and Dynamics: Exploring Data Use and Social Networks in Educational Improvement
Authors: Daly Alan J. 
Published: November 2021

Background In the past decade, there has been an increasing national policy push for educators to systematically collect, interpret, and use data for instructional decision making. The assumption by the federal government is that having data systems will be enough to prompt the use of data for a wide range of decision making. These policies rely on inducements to inspire local level changes; however, they leave the processes related to data use largely undefined. Objective In this article, I argue that many of the studies on data use either invoke or directly assess network-related concepts and, as such, network theory and analysis provides a useful analytic and complementary framework and methods for examining the social infrastructure in the use of data for educational improvement. Research Design This article reports on a literature review of the data use and social network literatures and the utility of intersecting both literatures for studies on data use for educational improvement. Conclusions Many data use studies report that the interpretation and use of data takes place both within and between individuals who, through social interaction, are both co-constructing and making sense of data and their use. Given the increasing role of social relationships in data use studies better theorizing and understanding the dynamics of social influence and processes on the interpretation and use of data is needed. Social network theory and analysis offers a useful conceptual framework and accompanying methods for describing and analyzing the structure of a social system in an effort to understand how social relationships support and constrain the interpretation and use of data in educational improvement.
College Students, Diversity, and Community Service Learning
Authors: Seider Scott , Huguley James P. , Novick Sarah 
Published: November 2021

Background/Context Over the past two decades, more than 200 studies have been published on the effects of community service learning on university students. However, the majority of these studies have focused on the effects of such programming on White and affluent college students, and few have considered whether there are differential effects for participants depending on their racial and ethnic backgrounds. This study considered these differential effects in both the academic and experiential components of such programming. Participants This study compared the experiences of 244 White students and 118 students of color participating in a community service learning program at Beacon University (a pseudonym) during the 2008–2009 academic year. Intervention The Social Action Program is a community service learning program sponsored by Beacon University's philosophy department that seeks to educate participating students about social injustice. The academic component of the program is a year long course that includes interdisciplinary readings from the humanities and social sciences as well as weekly lectures and a discussion section. Participating students also spend 10 hours each week for the entire academic year at one of approximately 50 different service placements focused on antipoverty efforts. Research Design Mixed-methods research design involving quantitative analyses (analysis of covariance) of pre-post surveys and qualitative analyses of hour-long semistructured interviews. Results Students of color participating in the community service learning program characterized the academic component of the program as offering a weaker sense of community than did their White classmates, and many expressed a reluctance to engage in race discussions with their classmates or to respond to perspectives they perceived as naïve, inaccurate, or offensive. Conclusions Even university courses and programming explicitly designed to disrupt White privilege can inadvertently be normed to serve the interests, experiences, and learning goals of White students. Such reification of White privilege comes with a significant cost; the learning of all students is diminished when diverse perspectives are not fully represented or heard.
Reframing the Conversation: Insights from the Oral Histories of Three 1990 TFA Participants
Authors: Rogers Bethany L. , Blumenreich Megan 
Published: November 2021

Background/Context Researchers have examined the challenges of staffing urban, underserved classrooms primarily through large-scale data sets; policymakers have responded with strategies intended to recruit more or “better” teachers into the classroom through programs such as the popular Teach for America. Yet there is little qualitative evidence regarding the experiences of such teachers, which could enhance existing understandings of such challenges and current attempts to solve them. Purpose This research examines the professional choices and trajectories of Teach for America participants over a 20-year period, attending especially to individuals’ perceptions of their urban teaching experiences, their beliefs, and their reasons for staying in or leaving the urban classroom, with the aim of better understanding the experiences of such teachers and the implications for staffing urban schools. Participants/Subjects Research subjects included thirty participants from the inaugural cohort of Teach for America (1990–1992); this article focuses on the life stories of three such individuals. Research Design This study draws on oral histories conducted with 30 individuals who participated in the first cohort (1990–1992) of Teach for America. It analyzes their stories within the context of scholarly literature on teachers and teacher policy, urban teaching, and the historical period of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Conclusions/Recommendations This study suggests the nature of the contributions that nuanced, qualitative methodologies such as oral history can make. We found that, despite their initial differences from traditional-entry teachers, TFA participants’ reasons for staying in or leaving the urban classroom looked very similar to those of observed among the population of urban teachers at large. Our data thus raises a question of focus: is attending to the conditions under which all urban teachers work perhaps just as important as attracting new or purportedly better candidates into urban teaching?
What Do We Know About how Teachers Influence Student Performance on Standardized Tests: And Why Do We Know So Little about Other Student Outcomes?
Authors: Good Thomas L. 
Published: November 2021

Background/Context Since the 1970s, researchers have attempted to link observational measures of instructional process to student achievement (and occasionally to other outcomes of schooling). This paper reviews extensively both historical and contemporary research to identify what is known about effective teaching. Purpose/Objective Good, after reviewing what is known about effective teaching, attempts to apply this to current descriptions of effective teaching and its application value for practice. Good notes that much of the “new” research on effective teaching has simply replicated what has been known since the 1980s. Although this is not unimportant (since it shows that older findings still pertain to contemporary classrooms), it is unfortunate that research has not moved beyond the relationship between general teacher behavior (those that cut across subject areas) and student achievement (as measured by standardized tests). How this information can be applied and the difficulty in using this information is examined in the paper. Research Design The paper is a historical analysis and reviews research on teaching from the 1960s to today. Conclusion This paper has stressed that our data base on effective teaching is limited— still it has some implications for practice. Even though the knowledge base is limited, there is no clear knowledge that teachers-in-training learn and have the opportunity to practice and use. It would seem that teacher education programs would want to assure that their graduates, in addition to possessing appropriate knowledge, would also have clear conceptual understanding and skills related to active teaching, proactive management, communication of appropriate expectations for learning, and the ability to plan and enact instruction that balances procedural and conceptual knowledge. Future research on the use of this knowledge base and its effects in teacher education programs would be informative. If done correctly, research on teaching can improve instruction. However, the research must be applied carefully if it is to have useful effects. And, as noted often in this paper, research must consider outcomes of schooling other than achievement such as creativity, adaptability, and problem finding.
Beyond Academic Math: The Role of Applied STEM Course Taking in High School
Authors: Gottfried Michael A. , Bozick Robert , Srinivasan Sinduja V. 
Published: November 2021

Background/Context Educational policymakers and researchers are concerned about the declining quantity and quality of U.S. students in line to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. As one policy response, a number of federal initiatives have been enacted to enhance STEM curriculum in schools. Part of this push has been to offer applied STEM courses in the K–12 curriculum to reinforce academic STEM material as well as motivate students to remain in these fields. Prior to this current study, no national-level research has evaluated the effectiveness of these courses. Purpose (a) What applied STEM courses are most commonly taken by high school students? (b) To what extent are high school students taking both academic math courses and applied STEM courses? (c) Do applied STEM courses in high school improve achievement in math? Participants To address the three research questions listed above, this study relies on a comprehensive longitudinal dataset: the Education Longitudinal Survey (ELS:2002). The present study is based on a sample of approximately 11,112 students who participated in the base-year (10th grade, 2002) and first follow-up (12th grade 2004) interviews, who completed math assessments in both years, and for whom valid transcript information was collected. Research Design This study begins with a descriptive analysis to evaluate which students have taken applied STEM courses and at which ability level. From this, a common set of applied STEM courses is determined across this nationally representative dataset. Next, this study relies on a linear regression model of math achievement where the dependent variable is a standardized math score. Independent covariates include measures as to whether or not a student had taken applied STEM courses, academic math courses taken by the student, and a range of controls. Findings Students who take an applied STEM course had higher math scores than their peers who did not take an applied STEM course, all else equal. These courses may be particularly beneficial for those students who are less oriented toward advanced math. Conclusions/Recommendations Applied STEM courses can be used to support learning in math instructed elsewhere in the curriculum, particularly for those students at the lower end of the math pipeline. In providing hands-on learning, often with technology and with direct application to concrete occupationally specific problems, applied STEM courses may serve as a critical means to support an understanding of concepts taught in lower level math pipeline courses.
Tiger Parents or Sheep Parents? Struggles of Parental Involvement in Working-Class Chinese Immigrant Families
Authors: Qin Desirée Baolian , Han Eun-Jin 
Published: November 2021

Background/Context Research on Chinese immigrant parents tends to focus on their high levels of educational involvement and its positive impact on their children's exceptional educational performances. Relatively little research has been conducted to understand the challenges Chinese immigrant parents face in helping their children with school and the resulting influence on parent-child relations and children's adaptation. Focus of Study In this paper, we examined how immigration reshapes parental involvement in these Chinese immigrant families and its subsequent influence on parent-child relations. Setting The research was conducted in the metropolitan area of a northeastern city in the United States. Participants Our participants were 72 Chinese immigrant children and their parents. Research Design Our study utilizes longitudinal interview data with open-ended questions. Open, axial, and selective coding procedures were used in qualitative data analysis. Findings/Results Our findings suggest that when parents face multiple challenges in their adaptation after migration, they often experience a feeling of powerlessness especially in dealing with their children's schooling. This then forces the children to be precociously independent. This dynamic puts strain on parent-child relations and has a negative impact on children's adaptation. Conclusions/Recommendations It is important for schools and other social institutions working with Chinese immigrant families to reach out to parents by providing them with more information and resources to be more involved in their children's education. Immigrant and local communities can also help by offering parent and youth programs to help improve parental involvement and parent-child relations in Chinese and other immigrant families.
Schools, Justice, and Immigrant Students: Assimilation, Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Perceptions of Fairness and Order
Authors: Peguero Anthony A. , Bondy Jennifer M. 
Published: November 2021

Background/Context Students’ perceptions of justice, fairness, and order within their schools are arguably key building blocks of socialization to participation within a democratic society. The ideals of justice, fairness, and order within their schools are particularly imperative because the educational system is founded on a belief of democracy and meritocracy. It is also known that students’ perceptions of school justice can vary by race, ethnicity, and gender. What remains uncertain is how the fastest growing segment of the United States, students in immigrant families, perceive the school justice, fairness, and order within their school. Purpose The aim of this study is to explore if straight-line assimilation, segmented assimilation, and immigrant optimism hypotheses explain the relationships between schools, justice, and immigration, as well as the potential role of gender, race, and ethnicity in immigrant youth perceptions of justice, fairness, and order. Participants/Subjects This study utilizes the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS), a nationally representative sample of high school sophomores. Research Design This study's research design includes statistical analysis of secondary data. Findings/Results Findings do suggest that the students’ perceptions of justice, fairness, and order are indeed moderated by immigrant generation, race, ethnicity, and gender. Conclusions/Recommendations Educators and educational researchers who are seeking to better understand the schooling experiences of immigrant youth might benefit from questioning assimilation and Americanization as processes that inevitably promote educational progress. Given that immigrant youth are and have historically been marginalized within U.S. schools, it appears that socialization, Americanization, gender, and immigrant generational status are germane to creating democratic education for all students. Attentiveness to democratic school justice, order, and fairness is, therefore, imperative.
Virtual Coaching for Instructional Leaders: A Multi-Method Investigation of Technology-Enabled External Assistance
Authors: Ermeling Bradley A. , Tatsui Timothy T. , Young Kelly R. 
Published: November 2021

Background Education reforms over the last several decades have relied heavily on external assistance to help schools increase capacity for improving outcomes, but investing in sustained outside coaching and support is increasingly difficult with diminishing federal, state, and district resources. One under-investigated possibility for maintaining affordable external assistance is to leverage new virtual technologies. Purpose This proof-of-concept study explored the potential of virtual coaching as a means for providing a cost-effective, alternative model of ongoing external assistance to principals and leadership teams engaged in collaborative instructional improvement. Intervention Researchers adapted an existing assistance framework from an established instructional improvement model, with published studies of effectiveness in the traditional face-to-face context, and substituted virtual methods of coaching and support for ongoing monthly settings with school leaders. Research Design The study used a mixed-methods design, including video-recorded meetings, rubric-based coding and ratings, interviews, focus groups, and coaching logs to investigate implementation at three elementary and two middle schools during one full academic year. Findings Evidence suggests that the blended coaching model served as an adequate and cost-effective substitute for traditional face-to-face coaching at all five pilot schools. The virtual coaching format was particularly effective for conducting one-on-one planning meetings with principals and served as a catalyst to expand principals’ growth and ownership of the instructional improvement process. The authors also document several challenges that emerged related to limitations of human interaction in the virtual context. Conclusions Findings suggest that blended or virtual models are worth consideration as one potential solution for maintaining external support in the midst of diminishing fiscal resources. For schools with verified leadership and technology readiness, the availability of virtual models might translate to greater distribution of outside expertise across a wider number of schools, or enable some funds to be repurposed for other critical priorities. Findings also have implications for the design of external assistance programs and services. Evidence from the study highlights distinct benefits of the virtual format, which might enable more strategic distribution of monthly support, increase capacity building, and improve access to high-quality expertise. Lastly, findings provide guidance for research and policy around technology-supported professional learning, pointing to the importance of aligning solutions with contexts, attending to sound quality and room configuration, and addressing challenges with the naturalness of interaction.
African American Males Navigate Racial Microaggressions
Authors: Hotchkins Bryan K. 
Published: November 2021

Background/Context High school educational environments find Black males experience systemic racial microaggressions in the form of discipline policies, academic tracking and hegemonic curriculum. Black males in high school are more likely than their White male peers to have high school truancies and be viewed as intentionally sinister. African American males are labeled by White teachers and administrators as deviant for issues like talking in class, dress code violations and being tardy. Deficit perceptions about African American students as held by White teachers and administrators serve as racial microaggressions within K–12 context. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study Racial microaggressions based on prejudicial White beliefs of teachers impedes the learning process of participants. Racial microaggressive acts are problematic due to being a symptom of the overarching campus racial climate, which is often indicative of the negative historic treatment of Black males by Whites. The cumulative impact of racial microaggressions on Black males negatively impacts self-image, academic performance, and social navigation skills. Examining how Black males responded to racial microaggressions by White teachers and administrators at culturally diverse high school settings was the impetus for this study. Research Design To understand how African American male students responded to racial microaggressions qualitative research was used. Conducting a study that focuses on multiple individualistic lived experiences, I am mindful that “human actions cannot be understood unless the meaning that humans assign to them is understood.” This comparative case study allowed for narrative expression, which informed the experiential meanings participants assigned to enduring racial microaggressions by gathering in-depth information through multiple sources to understand participants’ real life meanings to situations. Conclusions/Recommendations Participants’ engaged in pro-active navigation strategies to minimize and counter racial microaggressions. Navigation strategies were influenced by in- and out-of-class interactions with White teachers and student peers. Analysis of the data gathered during interviews, focus groups, and observations confirmed the racial microaggressive lived experiences of participants. Three themes emerged: (1) monolithic targeting; (2) integrative fluidity; and (3) behavioral vacillation. Participants avoided monolithic targeted racial microaggression(s) by creating meaningful alliances within other racialized student populations by utilizing social and extracurricular relationships as protective barriers to lessen the adverse effects of racial microaggressive experiences.