bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
What Happened to the Promise of Brown? An Organizational Explanation and an Outline for Change
Authors: O'Brien Thomas V. 
Published: February 2022

Background/Context Scholars from a number of fields have offered explanations as to why Brown v. Board of Education came up short in fully integrating school and society. Some have argued that the decision was a result of flawed logic or misguided litigation. Others have held that Brown fell short of its promises due to a lack of federal pressure. Another school of thought contends that Brown's limited impact is a reflection of Americans’ unwillingness to live up to democratic ideals. Each of these analyses identifies important elements of post-Brown America and school opportunity. A limitation among these explanations, however, is that each views the school as a stable enterprise rather than as an organization undergoing development before and after Brown. Scholars have not recognized the evolution of the American public school vis-à-vis Brown, a history that helps us understand why Brown and the reforms associated with it failed to fundamentally change schools or society. Purpose/Research Design This study examines Brown through the lens of organizational change and reform. Making use of historical methods and organizational theory, this essay traces the institutional history of the public school in relation to Brown. It offers an alternative explanation of why Brown did not fundamentally alter the education enterprise or school opportunities for children of color. Finally, it concludes with a blueprint for school change that might allow for the promises of Brown to be realized. Even as schools have undergone change, they have stubbornly reinforced the status quo with regard to race. Nevertheless, the institution is capable of change, even with regard to race. Conclusions/Recommendations The promise of Brown failed to take hold in the public school system because it was not able to deeply penetrate an aging bureaucratic organization that had grown resistant to fundamental change. Consequently, the intended reforms, even when driven by an activist federal judiciary and committed reformers, were gradually downscaled and altered at the district and school levels, often resulting in only token desegregation and meager incremental change. I argue that despite its age and temperament, the school does have the capacity to bring about genuine, large-scale opportunities for students of color, but note that changes are not likely to occur quickly or without focused efforts. I conclude the essay with an outline of a three-tiered theory for change. The theory recommends that stakeholders develop and carry forward a long-term strategy that brings the culturally different together in the school, fosters a spirit of democratic collaboration, and advances programs that are explicitly antiracist.
Pathways in the Past: Historical Perspectives on Access to Higher Education
Authors: Gelber Scott 
Published: February 2022

Background/Context Although increasing numbers of scholars have begun to focus on student experiences, research on the history of underrepresented populations’ transition to college is still in its formative stage. The classic histories of higher education have tended to focus on university infrastructure and intellectual life rather than on student experiences. In addition, historians studying college enrollment generally have not used the policy frameworks of preparation, access, finance, and completion as their central analytical categories. Instead, most historians have organized their work around individual institutions and the categories of race, gender, and class. Purpose This article explores the question of what historical scholarship might contribute to current campaigns for equal access to higher education. Research Design This study was a literature review of all historical scholarship on college access produced in the last twenty five years. Literature was identified by searches on ERIC, Academic Search Premier, and JSTOR, and by consulting the references of the most commonly cited works in this field. For purposes of analysis, the review is divided into sections on “Preparation,” “Admissions,” “Finance,” and “Retention.” Each section highlights potential implications for contemporary thinking about college access and recommends future areas for historical inquiry. This essay does not claim to be an exhaustive survey of all historical scholarship on college access. Instead, the article focuses on work representing broad themes and major debates in the historiography as well as scholarship which touches most directly on transitions to college. Conclusions/Recommendations First, evidence from the nineteenth century suggests that even elite liberal arts colleges can take an active role in providing college preparation while still remaining true to other aspects of their academic mission. Secondly, although the increasing interest in “merit” once served to expand access to college by opening admissions to academically skilled but socially or economically marginalized students, it became a hurdle for equal access by the final third of the twentieth century. Since colleges have struggled to articulate a consistent measurement of student merit, it is unclear if it is possible to determine a coherent or constructive college mission based on this concept. Third, while market forces have occasionally motivated institutions to expand access to underrepresented populations, state intervention has generally been necessary to increase access to college. Finally, the most powerful lesson that history can provide may be reminding politicians that experts have typically underestimated the extent of the demand for higher education by both students and employers.
Transitions to College: Lessons from the Disciplines
Authors: Trent William T. , Orr Margaret Terry , Ranis Sheri H. , Holdaway Jennifer 
Published: February 2022

Background/Context Prior research on the challenges of college going and retention among adolescents today, particularly low-income, minority, and first-generation college-going youth, provide the context for this article. Purpose This article sets the stage for the special issue articles by framing the issue's purpose and content. The purpose is to synthesize existing research and knowledge about the adolescent college transition from multiple disciplines and fields, in order to develop a more robust foundation for further research and policy development. The article also describes the knowledge development process used by the Social Science Research Council and its advisory committee to support field and discipline based literature reviews and to synthesize their implications over an 18 month period. Results The article provides a summary of the articles presented in the special issue and a summary of the committee's recommendations, as framed in a separate publication, Questions That Matter. It explains that the six discipline and field-based essays (history, demography, anthropology, sociology, economics, and higher education) presented in the special issue reflect a discussion of the organization of research in each field and characterizes the contributions of each field to our understanding of transitions. Together these form a rich collection of essays that map the state of the respective fields by identifying key topics and the research questions posed. Conclusions The authors conclude by drawing attention to two primary points: key elements of the challenge to improvements in research and persisting conceptual issues that challenge research, policy and practice.
Software Infrastructure for Teachers: A Missing Link in Integrating Technology with Instruction
Authors: Sung Yao-Ting , Lesgold Alan 
Published: February 2022

Background Based on analyses of the difficulties encountered during the process of integrating technology into instruction and the efforts made by researchers to overcome barriers to such integration, we propose that the efforts made to date (e.g., increasing the availability of computer equipment and enhancing computer literacy, support, and training) are not sufficiently comprehensive to achieve the goals of improving teaching efficiency and developing innovative teaching methods. Objectives The objective of this research commentary is to highlight the importance of the software infrastructure for teachers (SIT) to promoting the integration of information technology into instruction. Research Method and Design A critical synthesis was conducted on the literature of using computer technology for learning, teaching, and teacher professional development. Conclusions This study points out the features of SIT, the benefits of using SIT, and the possible approach to the development of SIT, and highlights some problems that have yet to be solved.
Reflections on Race: Affirmative Action Policies Influencing Higher Education in France and the United States
Authors: Donahoo Saran 
Published: February 2022

Background/Context Although frequently associated with the United States, affirmative action is not a uniquely American social policy. Indeed, 2003 witnessed review and revision of affirmative action policies affecting higher education institutions in both France and the United States. Using critical race theory (CRT) as a theoretical lens, this text compares the affirmative action programs and lawsuits litigated in both nations in 2003 and their impact on the educational and social experiences of people who are racially or culturally non-White. Purpose This article examines and compares affirmative action policies and lawsuits directed at higher education in France and the United States. Faced with similar challenges, controversies, and racial concerns, these courts offered somewhat diverging opinions on the purpose, meaning, and impact that affirmative action policies should have in this millennium. Research Design This article employs legal hermeneutics, a specific form of documentary analysis, to examine affirmative action policies and related court decisions recently issued in both France and the United States. U.S. court decisions such as Gratz v. Bollinger (2003) and affirmative action program self-study reports published by L'institut d'etudes politiques, or Sciences Po, serve as the primary sources for the text. Conclusions The 2003 rulings in both France and the United States provide the legal impetus needed for affirmative action programs to continue. However, none of the court decisions or programs on either side of the Atlantic makes any real attempt to address the larger racial issues that created the need for affirmative action from the start. With the exception of the limited use allowed in affirmative action programs, all forms of diversity in the United States have basically the same value and, accordingly, have virtually the same impact on social arrangements. Likewise, France accepted the CEP (Conventions éducation prioritaire [Priority Convention Education]) program as an affirmative action measure while giving no thought to the need to reform the overall ideology of the nation, which dictates that all citizens are French and no forms of heterogeneity exist. In essence, the affirmative actions programs upheld in these court rulings fail to enforce the equality principles imparted in the French and U.S. constitutions by inhibiting discussion and deconstruction of racial inequalities.
Detracking in Context: How Local Constructions of Ability Complicate Equity-Geared Reform
Authors: Rubin Beth 
Published: February 2022

Background/Context Recent sociocultural studies of detracking describe the ways in which notions of ability—local understandings of students’ intellectual capacities—are at play in these settings, shaping both the politics and the practice of the reform. This study extends this examination into the classrooms of detracking schools. Purpose This article considers the enactment of detracking in the ninth grade social studies classrooms of three public high schools. Through a detailed look at classroom life in racially and socioeconomically distinct public high school settings, it explores how local notions of ability shape the implementation of classroom practices in general and of detracking reform in particular. Setting The research took place in three public comprehensive high schools in a northeastern state with the following student populations: 1) low income and predominantly African American and Latino students; 2) high income and predominantly White students; 3) socioeconomically diverse and predominantly African American and White students. Research Design This study used an interpretive research methodology and a multiple case study design. Data Collection and Analysis Data was collected at each of the three schools over the course of an academic year in the following ways: 1) extensive observations of detracked ninth grade social studies classes; 2) interviews with students and teachers participating in those classes; 3) shadowing of students through the school day; 4) collection of school generated documents. Findings/Results At the low income, majority African American and Latino school, detracking reform was framed by a discourse of deficit that posited all of the school's students as unwaveringly low in ability, and classroom practices provided little opportunity for students to either display or develop competence. In contrast, detracking at the suburban, homogeneous school spurred a creative curriculum targeted to the needs of individual students in the heterogeneous classroom, all of whom were presumed to be bright, motivated and college bound despite varied skills. At the racially and socioeconomically integrated school, a community and school system in which people were highly concerned with issues of equity and diversity, teaching practices in the detracked classroom emphasized flexibility and personalization, providing opportunities for students to examine social and cultural issues in a discussion-centered framework. Students, both within and among the three schools, experienced detracking reform in ways that were distinct and not equally beneficial. Conclusions Translating a structural reform into change that is meaningful for students is a complex endeavor. Effective detracking involves changes at multiple levels: in institutional structures, classroom practices, and teacher and student beliefs about ability.
Who Really Cares? The Disenfranchisement of African American Males in PreK-12 Schools: A Critical Race Theory Perspective
Authors: Howard Tyrone C. 
Published: February 2022

Background/Context Despite recent gains from a number of students in U.S. schools, African American males continue to underachieve on most academic indices. Despite various interventions that have attempted to transform the perennial disenfranchisement, their school failure has persisted. Conversely, their failure in schools frequently results in poor quality of life options. Purpose/Objective/Focus of Study The objective of this study was to use critical race theory as a paradigmatic lens to examine the schooling experiences of African American males in PreK-12 schools. The focus of the study was to shed light on how African American males believe race and racism play as factors in their schooling experiences. Research Design The article includes qualitative data from a case study of African American males who offer counterstorytelling accounts of their schooling experiences. This article also explores the utility and appropriateness of critical race theory as a methodological tool to examine and disrupt the disenfranchisement of African American males in U.S. public schools. Findings/Results The results from this study revealed that the participants were keenly aware of how race shaped the manner in which they were viewed by their teachers and school administrators. The data also revealed how the participants explicitly fought to eradicate negative racial stereotypes held about African American males. Finally, the use of counter-storytelling within a critical race theory framework seemed to provide the participants a platform to discuss race-related issues in a manner that many of the participants felt was lacking in their school environments. Conclusion/Recommendations The findings from this study reveal some of the difficult obstacles that many African American males seek to overcome in order to become academically successful. Moreover, the findings suggest that educators must become more conscious of the role that race and racism plays in their schooling environments. Furthermore, educational researchers who are concerned with disrupting school failures of students of color and from low-income backgrounds should consider conceptual and methodological frames that place race, class, and gender at the center of their analysis.
A Culture of Collaborative Inquiry: Learning to Develop and Support Professional Learning Communities
Authors: Nelson Tamara Holmlund , Slavit David , Perkins Mart , Hathorn Tom 
Published: February 2022

Background/Context The type of professional development provided for teachers has been undergoing change from a one-time workshop approach to a more embedded, long-term, reflective, and collaborative structure. Although findings on the impact of new forms of professional development (PD) are beginning to emerge in the literature, there is little research on the professional development of those who design and support these PD efforts. Purpose/Focus of Study To better understand how to support secondary teachers’ engagement in collaborative inquiry, a group of 12 professional development providers deliberately set out to use the same processes and structures in their development and implementation of a PD model. This research examines what this group learned about fostering and sustaining a culture of collaborative inquiry and considers how this can inform PD providers’ support of teachers’ engagement in a collaborative inquiry cycle. Research Design A narrative case study design was used to examine the evolution of the professional development group from its inception in March 2004 through December 2005, halfway through the project's duration. The particular timeframe was targeted to explore the developmental phase of the group and critical decisions that shaped the group structure and direction. Data Collection and Analysis Traditional qualitative data sources were collected and analyzed in the construction of the narrative, including interviews with the professional developers, archived documents, and video and audio recordings of meetings. Conclusions/Recommendations The PD group's focus on how to foster and sustain a culture of collaborative inquiry provides insights into the structures and processes that support this kind of collaborative endeavor. Assuming an inquiry stance toward the work was challenged by the ongoing business of implementing a large-scale project and the demands of people's other work in school districts and universities. Difficulties related to communication between and during meetings also occurred. An explicit reliance on collaborative norms and explicitly using processes such as dialogue structured by protocols, distributing leadership responsibilities, and co-constructing an inquiry focus based on data analysis helped the group develop and maintain an inquiry stance. These findings inform the support of teachers undertaking collaborative inquiry for professional growth.
Speaking like a “Good American”: National Identity and the Legacy of German-Language Education
Authors: Kibler Amanda 
Published: February 2022

Background/Context As a case study in minority language restriction, the German example provides a useful historical counterpoint to more recent debates regarding the place of non-English languages in American schools. Focus of Study and Research Design This historical analysis examines the role of education in the changing discourse of minority languages and national identity, specifically analyzing the tradition of German-language education in the United States as it changed during World War I. Findings The establishment of German-medium public and private schooling in the United States prospered until the late 1800s as the result of practical considerations and German communities’ own commitments to linguistic, religious, and/or cultural maintenance. German use in some of these schools declined in relation to English as the result of demographic shifts and efforts in the 1880s and 1890s to restrict non-English languages in schools. The advent of World War I, however, dramatically altered the status of German in society generally, and in education specifically. Wartime federal rhetoric and involvement, educational and social policies, and debates within the educational community indicate not only a period of restricted non-English language use in schools, but they also signal the emergence of a new conception of American identity, one defined in linguistic terms and displayed through the exclusive use of English. Conclusions/Recommendations Shifts in rhetoric and policy offer significant insight into the relationships between minority languages and larger issues of power and social control; the restriction and subsequent loss of a seemingly privileged non-English language in the United States reveals the precarious position of any minority language in society. Contemporary discussions about immigration, official languages, and national identities continue to operate within a monolingual English paradigm, carrying significant implications for schools serving immigrant and language minority students.
The Influence of Multicultural Educational Practices on Student Outcomes and Intergroup Relations
Authors: Zirkel Sabrina 
Published: February 2022

Background How best to serve a racially and ethnically diverse student body has been a topic of intensive theory development for the past 30 or 40 years. We have strong theoretical models regarding the need for and practice of multicultural education, the goals of which include both increased educational achievement for students of color and improved inter-group relations. Nevertheless, there are few places where one can find a broad examination of the empirical support for the influence of multicultural educational practice on either student outcomes or intergroup relations. Purpose In this article, I use James A. Banks's widely used conceptualization of the five components of multicultural educational practice—content integration, knowledge construction, prejudice reduction, equity pedagogies, and empowering school cultures—to examine the empirical evidence for the influence of each of these five different components on the academic outcomes of students of color and intergroup relations in schools. Conclusions The empirical research reveals that all five components of multicultural educational practice outlined by Banks to have a strong, positive impact on the educational outcomes of students of color and to improved intergroup relations, although research has been stronger in some areas (e.g., prejudice reduction and some equity pedagogies such as cooperative learning) than others (e.g., the specific effects of content integration and knowledge construction). The evidence suggests several additional conclusions: (1) Multicultural educational practice has benefit for the academic outcomes of all students, not just students of color. (2) Multicultural educational practice is most effective when implemented with careful attention to issues of race and power. (3) The academic and intergroup relations outcomes are linked, such that efforts designed to improve one improve the other. Implications for future research on the effects of multicultural educational practice on students, as well as teacher and administrator education programs, are discussed.