American Educational Research Journal RSS feed -- OnlineFirst Articles

Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effect: Generalizability and Moderation--Two Sides of the Same Coin

Seaton, M., Marsh, H. W., Craven, R. G. — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:04:31 PST

Research evidence for the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE) has demonstrated that attending high-ability schools has a negative effect on academic self-concept. Utilizing multilevel modeling with the 2003 Program for International Student Assessment database, the present investigation evaluated the generalizability and robustness of the BFLPE across 16 individual student characteristics. The constructs examined covered two broad areas: academic self-regulation based on a theoretical framework proposed by Zimmerman and socioeconomic status. Statistically significant moderating effects emerged in both areas; however, in relation to the large sample (N = 265,180), many were considered small. It was concluded that the BFLPE was an extremely robust effect given that it was reasonably consistent across the specific constructs examined.

The Relation Between the Type and Amount of Instruction and Growth in Children's Reading Competencies

Sonnenschein, S., Stapleton, L. M., Benson, A. — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:04:32 PST

A latent growth model was used to investigate the longer term efficacy of phonics and integrated language arts instruction as well as amount of such instruction on children’s reading development, using the nationally representative Early Childhood Longitudinal Study data set (kindergarten through fifth grade). Type and amount of instruction were derived from teachers’ ratings. Children’s entry-level skills and ethnicity were predictors of children’s reading scores at the end of kindergarten. Ethnicity and parents’ education level predicted rate of growth. Type and amount of reading instruction predicted children’s reading scores. However, effects for type of instruction were time-sensitive, occurring only in kindergarten and first grade. Although children benefit from instruction in decoding and comprehension skills, instruction may not be optimally tailored to children most at risk.

Evaluating the Relationship Between Student Attendance and Achievement in Urban Elementary and Middle Schools: An Instrumental Variables Approach

Gottfried, M. A. — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:32:07 PST

Researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and parents have assumed a positive relationship between school attendance and academic success. And yet, among the vast body of empirical research examining how input factors relate to academic outcomes, few investigations have honed in on the precision of the relationship between individual attendance and student achievement. The purpose of this article is to provide insight into this relationship. Specifically, this study has evaluated the hypothesis that the number of days a student was present in school positively affected learning outcomes. To assess this, a unique empirical approach was taken in order to evaluate a comprehensive dataset of elementary and middle school students in the Philadelphia School District. Employing a fixed effects framework and instrumental variables strategy, this study provides evidence from a quasi-experimental design geared at estimating the causal impact of attendance on multiple measures of achievement, including GPA and standardized reading and math test performance. The results consistently indicate positive and statistically significant relationships between student attendance and academic achievement for both elementary and middle school students.

Teachers' Mathematical Knowledge, Cognitive Activation in the Classroom, and Student Progress

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 09:42:38 PDT

In both the United States and Europe, concerns have been raised about whether preservice and in-service training succeeds in equipping teachers with the professional knowledge they need to deliver consistently high-quality instruction. This article investigates the significance of teachers’ content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge for high-quality instruction and student progress in secondary-level mathematics. It reports findings from a 1-year study conducted in Germany with a representative sample of Grade 10 classes and their mathematics teachers. Teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge was theoretically and empirically distinguishable from their content knowledge. Multilevel structural equation models revealed a substantial positive effect of pedagogical content knowledge on students’ learning gains that was mediated by the provision of cognitive activation and individual learning support.

Attending to Problems of Practice: Routines and Resources for Professional Learning in Teachers' Workplace Interactions

Horn, I. S., Little, J. W. — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 14:32:33 PDT

The authors investigate how conversational routines, or the practices by which groups structure work-related talk, function in teacher professional communities to forge, sustain, and support learning and improvement. Audiotaped and videotaped records of teachers’ work group interactions, supplemented by interviews and material artifacts, were collected as part of a 2-year project centered on teacher learning and collegiality at two urban high schools. This analysis focuses on two teacher work groups within the same school. While both groups were committed to improvement and shared a common organizational context, their characteristic conversational routines provided different resources for them to access, conceptualize, and learn from problems of practice. More specifically, the groups differed in the extent to which conversational routines supported the linking of frameworks for teaching to specific instances of practice. An analysis of the broader data set points to significant contextual factors that help account for the differences in the practices of the two groups. The study has implications for fostering workplace learning through more systematic support of professional community.

The Co-Construction of Opposition in a Low-Track Mathematics Classroom

Hand, V. M. — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 09:51:55 PDT

Student opposition in school is traditionally cast in terms of individual dispositions, whereby particular students or groups of students are said to "resist" or "oppose" school structures and identities aligned with the dominant cultural group. The author examined instead how the teacher and students in a low-track mathematics classroom jointly constructed opposition through their classroom interactions. Analysis of the classroom interaction revealed the emergence and escalation of a number of classroom practices that became oppositional. These practices were related to the nature of the mathematical activity, the framing and positioning of student participation in this activity, and multiple interpretations of student competence in and out of the classroom. The author found that classroom opposition is fostered by weak opportunities for meaningful mathematical engagement and the transformation of a polarized participation structure into an oppositional one.