bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Is Teaching for Social Justice a “Liberal Bias”?
Authors: Applebaum Barbara 
Published: November 2021

Background/Context A charge heard repeatedly, especially in contemporary media by neo-conservatives such as David Horowitz and George Will, maintains that there is a “liberal bias” in North American academe. The primary grievance is that students in higher education are being indoctrinated into a left-wing ideology that discriminates against conservatives and that some professors are using their classrooms as a political podium at the expense of intellectual diversity. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study The purpose of this project is to analytically assess the charge of “liberal bias” as it is specifically leveled at those who make social justice education a requirement of higher education, and especially teacher education. Research Design Using conceptual analysis, this project highlights two aspects of the charge: the charge of “bias” and the charge of “ideology/imposition.” It is argued that the charge of bias is grounded in an assumption about teacher neutrality. The concept of teacher neutrality is examined and shown to be primarily concerned with evenhandedness. It is concluded that under conditions of systemic injustice, social justice education is evenhanded. The charge of ideology/imposition is then explored, and it is argued that the underlying concern revolves around the development of critical reflection. Four different readings of “ideology” are delineated. It is argued that social justice education, although ideological in some sense, does not in principle involve imposition because it promotes rather than arrests criticality. The type of criticality that social justice education promotes is then elucidated. Conclusions/Recommendations Making social justice education a requirement of higher education is both evenhanded and, although a type of ideology, it promotes rather than impedes criticality. Educational researchers are exhorted to be less concerned about bias and ideology in regard to social justice education and to turn their attention to how privileged students can be educated without recentering their privilege in ways that sacrifice the education of the marginalized. How can education recognize and repair not just the harm done by others but the harm that occurs under the name of education?1
Immigration, Language, and Education: How Does Language Policy Structure Opportunity?
Authors: Gándara Patricia , Rumberger Russell W. 
Published: November 2021

Background/Context According to U.S. Census figures, 11 million elementary and secondary students of immigrant families were enrolled in the public schools in October 2005, representing 20% of all students, and this figure is expected to grow in the coming years. Most of these students enter school as English learners (ELs), and most ELs have exceptionally low performance on measures of academic achievement and attainment. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study This article examines how language policy in the United States has shaped educational opportunities and outcomes for the nation's immigrant students. First, we examine the role of federal policy in shaping these students’ educational opportunities, showing how the changing political landscape in Washington has resulted in inconsistencies in funding and direction for states attempting to serve EL students. Then we focus on how two states with high concentrations of ELs— California and Texas—have responded to the needs of ELs, including the provision of bilingual education, the training and support of properly prepared teachers, and the assessments used to gauge their educational performance. Research Design The article uses secondary data sources. It draws on secondary data analysis to examine the growth of the immigrant and linguistic minority populations and their educational achievement; it draws on both historical analysis and secondary data analysis to review shifting federal policies; and it draws on demographic, achievement, and reclassification data in analyzing the education of ELs in California and Texas. Findings/Results We found that the changing political landscape in Washington has resulted in inconsistencies in funding and direction for states attempting to serve EL students. We also found that California and Texas appear to have different success rates with their EL students, with Texas reclassifying its ELs to fluent English status at higher rates and outperforming California with respect to National Assessment of Educational Progress scores for this same population. Conclusions/Recommendations The article concludes with the major recommendation that the federal government would do well to spearhead and fund a research agenda that addresses the truly important, and unanswered, questions around the education of ELs so that greater guidance can be given to the states in determining how to raise achievement and enhance the psychosocial development of these students.
Interests and Representation: Ethnic Advocacy on California School Boards
Authors: Fraga Luis Ricardo , Elis Roy 
Published: November 2021

Background/Context Researchers have found that school districts with greater representation of Latinos and African Americans on their school boards tend to also have higher percentages of Latino and African American administrators and teachers. This increased presence of coethnics in the educational bureaucracy was then found to predict more favorable educational outcomes for these students. Purpose We determine if these relationships hold for Latinos in California, which has the largest Latino population in the United States and where Latino students make up just under half of all students enrolled in public schools. Research Design Using an original data set of all California school districts in the 2004–2005 school year, we tested these relationships for Latinos in California using multiple regression. Conclusion Contrary to previous research, we found that Latino representation on California school boards was not greater in systems of single-member district election. We did, however, find that the greater presence of Latinos on school boards did increase the likelihood that Latinos would be hired as administrators, but only in Latino-majority districts. After appropriate controls, districts with more Latino administrators also tended to have more Latino teachers. Last, and again contrary to previous research, we found no systematic impact of having more Latino teachers and administrators on enhancing student outcomes for either all Latino students or for English language learners.
School-Age Children in Immigrant Families: Challenges and Opportunities for America's Schools
Authors: Hernandez Donald J. , Denton Nancy A. , Macartney Suzanne 
Published: November 2021

Background/Context By the year 2030, when the baby boom generation born between 1946 and 1964 will be in the retirement ages, 72% of the elderly will be non-Hispanic Whites, compared with 56% for working-age adults, and 50% for children. As the predominantly White baby boomers reach retirement, they will increasingly depend for economic support on the productive activities and civic participation of working-age adults who are members of racial and ethnic minorities and, in many cases, children of immigrants. To prepare these young people for lives as productive workers and engaged citizens, we need to pay more attention to creating conditions that will foster their educational success. The profound shift taking place in the composition of the school-age population has implications for schools. Purpose/Objective/Research Questions/Focus of Study This article presents a demographic overview of school-age children in immigrant families and compares them with their peers in native-born families. After tracing the shift in the national origins of children of immigrants that has taken place over the past century, we consider the new challenges and opportunities presented to the education system by the socioeconomic, cultural, and religious diversity of this new and growing population of students and by their presence in a growing number of suburban and rural, as well as urban, communities. Population/Participants/Subjects This research uses data from Census 2000 to study children in immigrant families who have at least one foreign-born parent compared with children in native-born families who were born in the United States to U.S.-born parents. Research Design This research is a secondary analysis of data from Census 2000. Conclusions/Recommendations Immigration is transforming the demography of America. In less than three decades, a majority of children are likely to belong to race-ethnic minorities who are Hispanic, Black, Asian, or another non-White race, mainly because of immigration and births to immigrants and their descendants. The educational success achieved by immigrant groups, and their subsequent economic productivity, is important not only to the groups themselves but also to the broad American population because these groups will compose an increasingly important segment of the U.S. labor force during the next few decades; this labor force will be supporting the predominantly White baby boom generation throughout their retirement years. As we increasingly become a nation of minorities, with no single race-ethnic group in the majority, the educational success of all children, especially the rapidly growing population of children in immigrant families, merits increasing attention from teachers, school administrators, and public officials.
The Role of Advocacy in Shaping Immigrant Education: A California Case Study
Authors: Olsen Laurie 
Published: November 2021

Background Context Throughout United States history, immigrant education has been shaped and defined by political struggles over immigration, language rights, national security, and educational equity and access. Bilingual education has become the contemporary battleground for these struggles. In 1996, in California, a struggle ensued between supporters of bilingual education and the English Only movement, culminating in a public ballot initiative, Proposition 227, designed to end bilingual education. Purpose/Focus This article explores the ways in which advocacy groups engage in efforts to protect immigrant students’ access to, and inclusion in, schools, and how that engagement is shaped and seeks to impact on prevailing policies and ideologies. Design This qualitative case study is based on historical records from the Proposition 227 campaigns, analysis of media coverage, and interviews, and was written as a reflective piece by a social scientist who was active in the campaigns. Conclusions and Recommendations The battle over Proposition 227 was just one episode in a historically broader and deeper societal struggle between fundamentally different perspectives about the role of public schools in a diverse society. Although the explicit conflicts between English Only and bilingual education forces in California before, during, and after Proposition 227 were focused on English learner program design—the language to be used for instruction, materials, and credentialing—this was and is an ideological struggle. Advocates for bilingual education were unprepared for fighting this battle in the public arena of a ballot initiative. In the course of the Proposition 227 campaign, advocates drew lessons that informed a revised strategy: to shift the basic paradigm within which immigrant education is framed beyond the framework of civil rights and a compensatory program to redefine immigration schooling in an affirmative, additive 21st-century global vision. This has resulted in a renewed advocacy movement, illustrating the role that advocacy organizations play in adapting and reshaping the dialogues and policies over immigrant education.
The Significance of Relationships: Academic Engagement and Achievement among Newcomer Immigrant Youth
Authors: SuÁrez-Orozco Carola , Pimentel Allyson , Martin Margary 
Published: November 2021

Background/Context Newcomer immigrant students are entering schools in the United States in unprecedented numbers. As they enter new school contexts, they face a number of challenges in their adjustment. Previous literature suggested that relationships in school play a particularly crucial role in promoting socially competent behavior in the classroom and in fostering academic engagement and school performance. Purpose The aim of this study was to examine the role of school-based relationships in engagement and achievement in a population of newcomer immigrant students. Research Design The Longitudinal Immigrant Student Adaptation Study (LISA) used a mixed-methods approach, combining longitudinal, interdisciplinary, qualitative, and quantitative approaches to document adaptation patterns of 407 recently arrived immigrant youth from Central America, China, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Mexico over the course of five years. Based on data from the last year of the study, we examine how the role of relationships mediates newcomers’ challenges with academic engagement and performance. We identify factors that account for patterns of academic engagement and achievement, including country of origin, gender, maternal education, English language proficiency, and school-based relationships. Findings Multiple regression analyses suggest that supportive school-based relationships strongly contribute to both the academic engagement and the school performance of the participants. Qualitative interview data and case studies serve to elucidate the relational processes inside and outside school that influence different academic outcomes.
Designing Transparent Teacher Evaluation: The Role of Oversight Panels for Professional Accountability
Authors: Goldstein Jennifer 
Published: November 2021

Background/Context Peer Assistance and Review (PAR), or peer review as it has historically been called, has existed in a handful of school districts since the early 1980s. In 1999, California became the first state to pass PAR legislation; at that time, a major district had not implemented the policy in over a decade. Setting This is an in-depth study of one urban district in California, given the pseudonym Rosemont, as it implemented PAR following California's legislation. Program With PAR, designated “PAR coaches”—teachers identified for excellence and released from teaching duties full-time for 2–3 years—provide mentoring to teachers new to the district or the profession, intervention for identified veteran teachers experiencing difficulty, and the formal personnel evaluations of both groups. These PAR coaches are not school based but rather report to an oversight panel composed of teachers and administrators from across the district. Research Questions A companion study previously found that the rate of dismissals increased dramatically after the implementation of PAR in Rosemont. This study examines one aspect of Rosemont's PAR program, its oversight panel. The study examines three questions that in turn address the design, process, and outcomes of PAR and the PAR panel in Rosemont: (1) How did the PAR panel work? (2) How, if at all, did the presence of an oversight panel affect the teacher evaluation process? (3) How, if at all, did the presence of an oversight panel affect personnel outcomes? Participants The study involved all PAR coaches (10) and all members of the PAR panel (9) for the first year of program implementation. Research Design The study employed an embedded single-case design in Rosemont over 1 1/2 years. Data Collection and Analysis The study relied on observations (311 hours of meetings) and semistructured interviews (39). I used QSR NVivo data management. I coded observation scripts and interview transcripts were coded to a schema developed from the progressive coding patterns that I observed, and analyzed them in response to the research questions. Findings The Rosemont data demonstrate that the PAR panel both supported the coaches to do their jobs and held them accountable. The community of educators created by PAR and the PAR panel appears to have proved a more rigorous, evidence-based check on classroom teaching performance. I also present data demonstrating the shortcomings of the PAR panel structure in the face of enduring norms against accountability in education. Conclusions Significant shifts in organizational structure occurred to support the PAR coaches in their role as evaluators. Making the typically solitary practice of teacher evaluation transparent to colleagues fundamentally altered the nature of educational accountability.
The Role of Intermediary Organizations in Sustaining Student Voice Initiatives
Authors: Mitra Dana L. 
Published: November 2021

Background/Context The sustainability of change efforts continues to be an important and challenging question in educational research. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study By examining 13 programs aimed at increasing student voice in school reform, this article examines conditions that enable and constrain the sustainability of this challenging form of educational change. Population/Participants/Subjects The 13 high schools in this study all received grant funding from a local foundation in the San Francisco Bay Area to work on building a student voice initiative in their school. All the grant recipients and their schools in the sample were situated within an urban environment, either within an inner city or a bedroom community in the Bay Area that possessed urban characteristics of the region. These characteristics include an ethnically diverse population comprising students of Asian, Latin, African, and European descent, insufficiently funded public schools, and high concentrations of poverty. Intervention/Program/Practice When placed into practice, student voice initiatives provide youth with opportunities to participate in school decision-making that will shape their lives and the lives of their peers. Student voice can range from the most basic level of youth sharing their opinions of problems and potential solutions, to allowing young people to collaborate with adults to address the problems in their schools, to youth taking the lead on seeking change. Research Design This study consists of a multiple case study designed for the purpose of explanation building. Data Collection and Analysis Semistructured telephone interviews served as the primary data source for this article. Observations, documents, and external evaluations served as validity checks and sources of triangulation for this study. Findings/Results The data indicate that the persistence of a student-voice effort after the initial influx of funds and support disappeared requires support from an intermediary organization (IO)—an organization located outside the auspices of school walls. IOs can help with fostering a clear and long-term vision, providing a more stable source of leadership, identifying ongoing financial and collaborative resources, and building a network for knowledge generation and sharing. Conclusions/Recommendations Although they are a part of many reform initiatives, partnerships with IOs are usually considered to be short-term relationships during the implementation phase of an initiative. This research instead suggests that IOs might be better suited as long-term partners in many change efforts. An awareness of the important roles that IOs can play in the long-term work toward change could help researchers, practitioners, and policy makers think more intentionally about how to plan for stabilizing such partnerships as an avenue toward sustaining reform initiatives.
Relation of Instruction and Poverty to Mathematics Achievement Gains during Kindergarten
Authors: Georges Annie 
Published: November 2021

Background Policy discussion to change the nature of teaching practices overshadows how social and economic inequalities contribute to unequal education outcomes. Research on how teaching practices contribute to the variance in test scores on a broad scale or on whether the relation of instruction to test scores is moderated by social and economic inequalities among students is thin. This is the focus of this article. Purpose Two questions are addressed. The first question has to do with the relation of instruction and poverty at the individual and classroom levels to mathematics scores. The second question has to do with whether the relation between instruction and mathematics scores is moderated by poverty among students. This article examines test scores in five mathematics subtests. Research Design The sample consists of 13,054 students in 822 public and private kindergarten programs from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten Cohort data. The statistical model accounts for the unobserved heterogeneity among students who are taught by the same teacher using a fixed effect model of students nested in the same classrooms. Results The portion of the variance attributable to actions occurring in the classroom (between-classroom variance) ranges from 15% to 25%, depending on the subtest examined. Of this estimated variance, instruction explains 4%; the concentration of poverty in the classroom explains about 20%; and teacher characteristics (education, professional development, experience) explain about 2%. For the first question, the results show that activities with worksheets, building students’ analytic and reasoning abilities, and activities in collaborative groups are significantly associated with mathematics scores. Worksheets are not very effective in improving scores in the addition and subtraction subtest, whereas building students’ analytic and reasoning abilities does improve scores in that subtest. The adverse effects of poverty on test scores are larger than the positive effects associated with instruction. For the second question, the results show that analytic and reasoning activities are significantly related to the test scores of students in high-poverty classrooms, but this is not the case with students in low-poverty classrooms. The findings suggest that students in poverty would benefit to be in classrooms that emphasize problem-solving and reasoning skills with greater frequency. Conclusions The relation of instruction to test scores is generally modest when compared with poverty, suggesting that minimizing the social inequities that contribute to the adverse effects of poverty will play a greater role in closing the poverty score gaps in mathematics in elementary grades.