ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Respecting the Struggle: Deciding What to Research and Why
Author: Rex, Lesley A.
Date: 2010-04-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Educational Research,Educational Researchers,Information Dissemination,Innovation,Postmodernism,Foreign Countries,Stakeholders

In this paper, the author addresses the circumstances of education research knowledge at this time in history. She begins by referring to the keynote talks by Erika McWilliams and Bill Green, who take up the issue of knowledge-building through research in education and how to regard it productively and hopefully as researchers move forward. She speaks to the conference theme--&quot;Inspiring Innovative Research by Creating Global Networks&quot;. She launches an argument for not only the inevitability but also the ethical imperative for researchers to disseminate their research-produced knowledge to education stakeholders through accessible global resource networks. Drawing from philosophy, research and her own work, the author explains the stance she advocates researchers should assume to do so, and the difficulties of that charge. She asserts that researchers are well advised, and should not be disheartened, to describe what they do as &quot;standing on quicksand&quot; and &quot;twisting in the wind&quot;. There is opportunity to be seen and seized in this condition. (Contains 2 figures.)
Defining Educational Research: A Perspective of/on Presidential Addresses and the Australian Association for Research in Education
Author: Lingard, Bob
Date: 2010-04-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Educational Research,Relevance (Education),Social Sciences,Foreign Countries,Educational Policy,Professional Associations,Definitions,Presidents,Research Problems,Speeches,Position Papers,Political Influences

This paper is concerned with the definition of the field of educational research and the changing and developing role of the Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE) in representing and constituting this field. The evidence for the argument is derived from AARE Presidential Addresses across its 40-year history. The paper documents the enhanced complexity and diversity of the field over these 40 years, including the emergence of a global educational policy field, theoretical and methodological developments in the social sciences and new research accountabilities such as the Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) measure. Specifically, the paper suggests that the evidence-based movement in public management and education policy, and the introduction of the ERA, potentially limit and redefine the field of educational research, reducing the usefulness and relevance of educational research to policy makers and practitioners. This arises from a failure to recognise that &quot;Education&quot; is both a field of research and a field of policy and practice. Located against both developments, the paper argues for a principled eclecticism framed by a reassessment of quality, which can be applied to the huge variety of methodologies, theories, epistemologies and topics legitimately utilised and addressed within the field of educational research. At the same time, the paper argues the need to globalise the educational research imagination and deparochialise educational research. This call is located within a broader argument suggesting the need for a new social imaginary (in a post-neoliberal context of the global financial crisis) to frame educational policy and practice and the contribution that educational theory and research might make to its constitution. In relation to this, the paper considers the difficulties that political representations of such a new imaginary might entail for the President and the Association, given the variety of its membership and huge diversity of its research interests. (Contains 1 table and 9 endnotes.)
Teachers' Perceptions, Attitudes and Beliefs regarding Curriculum Integration
Author: Shriner, Michael
Date: 2010-04-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Curriculum Development,Teacher Effectiveness,Intervention,Integrated Curriculum,Teacher Workshops,Pretests Posttests,Knowledge Level,Teacher Attitudes,Participant Satisfaction,Teacher Improvement,Academic Standards,Inservice Teacher Education,Questionnaires,Beliefs

This paper summarises the results of a three-day workshop conducted between October and December of 2007 as part of a larger project dedicated to improving teacher quality at the pre-service and in-service levels. Both pre- and post-test measures were administered before and after workshop completion in order to capture changes in knowledge, attitude, and perception. For contextual relevance, findings are summarised in light of extant literature pertaining to curriculum integration. (Contains 2 tables.)
Restrictive and Supportive Parenting: Effects on Children's School Affect and Emotional Responses
Author: Annear, Karen D.
Date: 2010-04-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Mothers,Child Rearing,Parent Child Relationship,Academic Achievement,Parenting Styles,Elementary School Students,Student Attitudes,Questionnaires,Fathers,Personal Autonomy,Parent Influence,Emotional Response,Psychological Patterns,Foreign Countries,Grade 6,Grade 7,Symptoms (Individual Disorders)

In this project upper primary school students were surveyed about their general liking for school, and reasons for going to school. Their parents were asked to respond on a questionnaire indicating their restrictiveness and also support for their child's autonomy. Data were collected from 92 middle SES two-parent families and analysed using SmartPLS path modelling. It was found that children of mothers high on autonomy support enjoyed school more, and endorsed cognitive learning reasons for attending. Restrictive parenting (in either mothers or fathers) did not relate significantly to school affect, but was associated with elevated levels of negative emotional symptoms, notably loneliness and unhappiness. (Contains 5 tables and 3 figures.)
Students, Teachers and Alternative Assessment in Secondary School: Relational Models Theory (RMT) in the Field of Education
Author: Bagley, Sylvia Stralberg
Date: 2010-04-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Social Systems,Student Attitudes,Alternative Assessment,Teacher Student Relationship,Models,Aptitude Treatment Interaction,Progressive Education,Interviews,Observation,Content Analysis,Teacher Attitudes,Student Surveys,Evaluation Methods,Evaluation Research

The quality and types of relationships formed between students and teachers has been shown to play an essential part in the personal and academic success of students (Davis, 2003; Pianta, 1999). Little, however, has been done to determine the role that assessment plays in teacher-student relationships. Drawing upon the work of cultural anthropologist Alan Fiske (1991), I explore the ways in which certain basic forms of relationships (known as &quot;Relational Models&quot;) are initiated and maintained in secondary school through the use of alternative assessment methods--narrative evaluations, portfolios, rubrics, and end-of-year presentations--in place of traditional letter grades. In his Relational Models Theory, Fiske posits that human relationships and social systems are culturally-specific implementations of four elementary Relationship Models: &quot;Authority Ranking&quot;, &quot;Communal Sharing&quot;, &quot;Equality Matching&quot;, and &quot;Market Pricing&quot;. Here, I discuss how the non-traditional assessment methods used at a progressive secondary school in California allow relationships between students and teachers to shift away from an exclusively authority-based system (the Relational Model of Authority Ranking), towards a more nuanced model of negotiation (Market Pricing) and communal input (Communal Sharing)--ultimately leading to more empowered and involved students.
A Longitudinal Study of the Practice Fidelity of a Site-Based School Reform
Author: Bain, Alan
Date: 2010-04-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Administrator Attitudes,Educational Change,Teaching Methods,Student Attitudes,Change Strategies,Sustainability,Predictor Variables,Classroom Observation Techniques,Program Implementation,Questionnaires,Individual Differences,Teacher Attitudes,Predictive Validity,Correlation,Educational Practices

In this study, four years of formal observations of classroom teaching practice were employed to ascertain the practice fidelity of a site-based school reform in a secondary school setting. Those observations were then used as a criterion variable in an examination of differences in the perspectives of administrators, teachers and teaching peers about the reform's implementation. The results showed sustained levels of practice fidelity and statistically significant differences in the ratings of administrators, teachers and peers although those differences reduced overall as the reform progressed. The perspective of administrators was the best predictor of classroom practice in the first three years of the reform although less so in the latter year when teacher and peer responses became better predictors. The implications of the findings are discussed as they relate to the practice fidelity and evaluation of site-based school reform. (Contains 6 tables and 1 figure.)
Classifying Curriculum Scholarship in Australia: A Review of Postgraduate Theses 1975-2005
Author: O'Connor, Kate
Date: 2010-04-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Research Methodology,Foreign Countries,Theses,Educational Development,Educational History,Educational Policy,Inquiry,Research Problems,Educational Research,Bibliometrics,Classification,Scholarship,Curriculum Research,Literature Reviews

This paper discusses an initial analysis of the form of Australian postgraduate scholarship over the last four decades in relation to curriculum inquiry. The study forms part of an ARC funded project on the shifts and emphases of Australian curriculum policy from 1975 to 2005 which seeks to contribute to understandings of how Australian curriculum has developed across states and over time. Analyses of changing emphases within education thesis production are hampered by the lack of systematic and consistent indexing of the theses, but within the criteria and methods we used, the thesis analysis elicited some tantalising findings. These seem to show a changing focus away from curriculum study in the most recent decade of Australian postgraduate theses, following three decades of rising interest in that area of education. But the study also demonstrated inherent methodological and practical problems for doing the inquiry itself, in terms of (1) the ways we categorise and think about education as a field; (2) limitations of the archiving and coding practices we have put in place to sustain a sense of our own history and the need to improve these; and, (3) potentially, research assessment now in train, and its intention to categorise work via &quot;field of research&quot; codes. (Contains 2 tables and 2 figures.)
Using the Method of Pairwise Comparison to Obtain Reliable Teacher Assessments
Author: Heldsinger, Sandra
Date: 2010-08-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Testing Programs,Testing,Academic Achievement,Measures (Individuals),Foreign Countries,Accountability,Comparative Analysis,Correlation,Test Reliability,Test Validity,Student Evaluation,Writing Tests,Statistical Analysis,Elementary Education,Measurement

Demands for accountability have seen the implementation of large scale testing programs in Australia and internationally. There is, however, a growing body of evidence to show that externally imposed testing programs do not have a sustained impact on student achievement. It has been argued that teacher assessment is more effective in raising student achievement levels. However, it is also often argued that teacher assessments are less reliable than the results of testing programs. This paper presents a study in which teachers judged writing scripts using the process of pairwise comparison to generate a scale. The analysis showed high internal consistency of the teacher judgements. The scale locations from pairwise comparisons were highly correlated with scale estimates for the same students from a large-scale testing program. The results demonstrate it is possible to efficiently obtain highly reliable and valid teacher judgements using the process of pairwise comparison. Reliability indices are also provided for a series of small-scale assessments that used the same methodology in a range of other domains. The results support the findings of the main study. The article discusses the benefits of using the method to supplement and validate results from large-scale testing programs. (Contains 4 tables and 1 figure.)
Standards-Driven Reform Years 1-10: Moderation an Optional Extra?
Author: Klenowski, Val
Date: 2010-08-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Student Evaluation,Educational Change,Foreign Countries,Standard Setting (Scoring),Teacher Attitudes,Academic Standards,Performance Based Assessment,Academic Achievement,Partnerships in Education,School Business Relationship,Educational Policy,Interviews,Validity,Qualitative Research,Elementary Secondary Education

While externally moderated standards-based assessment has been practised in Queensland senior schooling for more than three decades, there has been no such practice in the middle years. With the introduction of standards at state and national levels in these years, teacher judgement as developed in moderation practices is now vital. This paper argues, that in this context of assessment reform, standards intended to inform teacher judgement and to build assessment capacity are necessary but not sufficient for maintaining teacher and public confidence in schooling. Teacher judgement is intrinsic to moderation, and to professional practice, and can no longer remain private. Moderation too is intrinsic to efforts by the profession to realise judgements that are defensible, dependable and open to scrutiny. Moderation can no longer be considered an optional extra and requires system-level support especially if, as intended, the standards are linked to system-wide efforts to improve student learning. In presenting this argument we draw on an Australian Research Council funded study with key industry partners (the Queensland Studies Authority and the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment of the Republic of Ireland). The data analysed included teacher interview data and additional teacher talk during moderation sessions. These were undertaken during the initial phase of policy development. The analysis identified those issues that emerge in moderation meetings that are designed to reach consistent, reliable judgements. Of interest are the different ways in which teachers talked through and interacted with one another to reach agreement about the quality of student work in the application of standards. There is evidence of differences in the way that teachers made compensations and trade-offs in their award of grades, dependent on the subject domain in which they teach. This article concludes with some empirically derived insights into moderation practices as &quot;policy&quot; and &quot;social&quot; events. (Contains 2 tables and 3 endnotes.)
Prior Achievement, Effort, and Mathematics Attitude as Predictors of Current Achievement
Author: Hemmings, Brian
Date: 2010-08-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Student Attitudes,Numeracy,Correlation,Case Studies,Secondary School Students,Predictor Variables,Mathematics Achievement,Prior Learning,Cognitive Ability,Learner Engagement,Questionnaires,Achievement Tests,Predictive Measurement,Mathematical Aptitude,Literacy

A sample of Australian secondary school students was used to explore the relationships among a set of standardised Year 7 numeracy and literacy tests, measures taken at Year 10 of mathematics attitude and schoolwork effort, and Mathematics and English scores in a state-wide Year 10 examination. Additionally, the predictive capacity of the numeracy and literacy tests, together with the attitude and effort measures, were examined in relation to the Mathematics and English scores. A correlation analysis showed that the numeracy and literacy tests were positively and significantly related and had similar relationships with the two Year 10 examination scores. Mathematics attitude was significantly associated with Year 10 Mathematics but effort did not correlate significantly with either of the Year 10 examination scores. Multiple regression analyses demonstrated that the relevant Year 7 test results contributed to a considerable amount of the total variance in the two Year 10 examination scores. A sub-sample of the students was interviewed and four case studies were selected to interrogate the notions of achievement, mathematics attitude, and effort. Although these case studies act as a source of qualitative evidence to supplement the quantitative findings, they also indicate that effort, in particular, is a notion worthy of further investigation. Other implications for researchers, as well as school personnel, are noted. (Contains 10 tables.)
Data Feedback for School Improvement: The Role of Researchers and School Leaders
Author: Geijsel, Femke P.
Date: 2010-08-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Feedback (Response),Formative Evaluation,Educational Improvement,Foreign Countries,Accountability,Participant Observation,Change Strategies,Organizational Change,Administrator Role,Role Perception,Data Collection,Data Analysis,Management Information Systems,Cooperative Programs

The aim of this study is to better understand the role of researchers and school leaders in supporting school improvement through data feedback in the context of more responsive forms of accountability in the Netherlands. A process evaluation was conducted concerning the first three years of a collaborative project of a multi-management group of 18 primary schools and a group of researchers. The results show that implementing a system of data feedback starting from a shared vision on the need to learn from data, fostered processes in the school of learning from data for school improvement. The results also show a growing inquiry habit of mind amongst school principals, whereas the researchers learned how to take their role in the collaboration by providing conditions that enhance school improvement from data feedback. The results indicate that the collaborative process can be characterised by several learning functions and thus contribute to a better understanding of how the conditions for data feedback and school improvement can be enhanced. (Contains 2 tables and 1 endnote.)
The Nature of Pedagogic Teacher-Student Interactions: A Phenomenographic Study
Author: Beutel, Denise
Date: 2010-08-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Mentors,Phenomenology,Teacher Student Relationship,Aptitude Treatment Interaction,Educational Practices,Interviews,Pedagogical Content Knowledge,Teaching Methods,Role Perception,Classroom Environment,Student Motivation,Teacher Influence,Student Participation,Foreign Countries,Teacher Attitudes

Globally, teaching has become more complex and more challenging over recent years, with new and increased demands being placed on teachers by students, their families, governments and wider society. Teachers work with more diverse communities in times characterised by volatility, uncertainty and moral ambiguity. Societal, political, economic and cultural shifts have transformed the contexts in which teachers work and have redefined the ways in which teachers interact with students. This qualitative study uses phenomenographic methods to explore the nature of pedagogic teacher-student interactions. The data analysis reveals five qualitatively different ways in which teachers experience pedagogic engagements with students. The resultant categories of description ranged from information providing, with teachers viewed as transmitters of a body of knowledge through to mentoring in which teachers were perceived as significant others in the lives of students with their influence extending beyond the walls of the classroom and beyond the years of schooling. The paper concludes by arguing that if teachers are to prepare students for the challenges and opportunities in changing times, teacher education programs need to consider ways to facilitate the development of mentoring capacities in new teachers. (Contains 1 table.)
A Conversation of Teachers: In Search of Professional Identity
Author: Smit, Brigitte
Date: 2010-08-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Learning Theories,Educational Change,Teachers,Models,Foreign Countries,Ethnography,Interviews,Workshops,Personal Narratives,Outcomes of Education,Educational Improvement,Teaching Methods,Teacher Role,Teaching Experience,Teaching (Occupation)

The authors describe teacher professional identity as lived experience in the context of educational change. Adopting activity theory and its genesis in cultural historical theory (Stetsenko &amp; Arievitch, 2004) as a framework, the article discusses the way teachers see themselves as professionals and how they compose their identities in schools, the educational space, which is their workplace. Activity theory is utilised as the broad theoretical lens and the design type and methodology are discussed accordingly. The school and the classroom are activity systems (Engestrom, 1991), and social and semiotic ecosystems (Lemke, 1995). It is therefore in the tensions within the activity system that we capture and represent a constructed teacher conversation, composed of the voices of three social actors on an imaginary social stage, which is the empirical text of the article. Main findings speak to multiple roles, struggling voice and forging professional identity in the changing educational landscape. (Contains 2 endnotes.)
Looking &quot;Outward and Onward&quot; in the Outback: Regional Australian Students' Aspirations and Expectations for Their Future as Framed by Dominant Discourses of Further Education and Training
Author: Dalley-Trim, Leanne
Date: 2010-08-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Rural Areas,Foreign Countries,Rural Education,Academic Aspiration,Occupational Aspiration,Expectation,Student Educational Objectives,Interviews,Student Surveys,Focus Groups,Career Development,High School Students,Student Interests,Vocational Interests

This paper investigates regional Australian students' aspirations and expectations for their future and, more specifically, the manner in which these are formulated around a view to move outward--that is, away from regional, remote and rural communities--and onward--that is, to make something of their lives. Drawing upon interview data, the paper highlights the ways in which rural students from across Australia expressed high-level aspirations, most of which centred on future careers. It explores features of student talk which demonstrates that many of them had thought about their futures in detailed ways and had accumulated knowledge and &quot;street savvy&quot; that would assist them in steering their futures. The paper also examines the ways in which student talk about the changing context of the world of work and the inescapability of further education emerge as a naturalised discourse in justifying their future plans. Finally, the paper explores the implications of such research findings for career advisers and teachers working in regional areas of Australia. (Contains 1 table.)