American Educational Research Journal current issue

National Income, Income Inequality, and the Importance of Schools: A Hierarchical Cross-National Comparison

Chudgar, A., Luschei, T. F. — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 13:22:47 PDT

The international and comparative education literature is not in agreement over the role of schools in student learning. The authors reexamine this debate across 25 diverse countries participating in the fourth-grade application of the 2003 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study. The authors find the following: (a) In most cases, family background is more important than schools in understanding variations in student performance; (b) schools are nonetheless a significant source of variation in student performance, especially in poor and unequal countries; (c) in some cases, schools may bridge the achievement gap between high and low socioeconomic status children. However, schools’ ability to do so is not systematically related to a country’s economic or inequality status.

Assessing the Contribution of Distributed Leadership to School Improvement and Growth in Math Achievement

Heck, R. H., Hallinger, P. — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 13:22:47 PDT

Although there has been sizable growth in the number of empirical studies of shared forms of leadership over the past decade, the bulk of this research has been descriptive. Relatively few published studies have investigated the impact of shared leadership on school improvement. This longitudinal study examines the effects of distributed leadership on school improvement and growth in student math achievement in 195 elementary schools in one state over a 4-year period. Using multilevel latent change analysis, the research found significant direct effects of distributed leadership on change in the schools’ academic capacity and indirect effects on student growth rates in math. The study supports a perspective on distributed leadership that aims at building the academic capacity of schools as a means of improving student learning outcomes.

Teacher Tradeoffs: Disentangling Teachers' Preferences for Working Conditions and Student Demographics

Horng, E. L. — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 13:22:47 PDT

One of the greatest differences in resources across schools in California comes from an inequitable distribution of teachers. This study identifies reasons for this sorting of teachers by surveying 531 teachers in a California elementary school district. The surveys ask the teachers to make choices between various workplace characteristics. With this information, the study disentangles student demographics from other characteristics of teaching jobs that are amenable to policy influences. It finds that teachers identify working conditions—particularly, school facilities, administrative support, and class sizes—and salaries as significantly more important than student characteristics when selecting a school in which to work.

Is There an Expectations Gap? Educational Federalism and the Demographic Distribution of Proficiency Cut Scores

Reed, D. S. — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 13:22:47 PDT

Recent analyses of state-level proficiency standards under No Child Left Behind indicate that states’ benchmarks for determining whether a child is proficient in reading and math are widely divergent. This article explores whether the capacity of states to employ different proficiency standards imposes different performance standards across demographic groups. Using a newly devised metric that allows for interstate comparison of state-level proficiency cut scores, along with aggregated district-level demographic data, this article provides a descriptive analysis of the distribution of proficiency standards across demographic groups to determine whether some groups systematically face higher or lower proficiency cut scores. The findings indicate that while an "expectations gap" does exist, it does not operate consistently across categories of race, ethnicity, and poverty status. The article concludes by reviewing the trade-offs required under three possible policy responses to these findings.

One-Year Follow-Up Outcomes of Spanish and English Interventions for English Language Learners at Risk for Reading Problems

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 13:22:47 PDT

The authors report 1-year follow-up data from 215 English language learners with reading difficulties who received a supplemental first grade reading intervention in the language of their core reading instruction. The researchers provided no intervention or boosters in second grade. The Spanish study revealed significant differences favoring treatment students on Spanish measures of decoding, spelling, fluency, and comprehension (median d = 0.53). Similar results were evidenced in the English study, with significant differences favoring treatment students on English measures of oral language, decoding, spelling, fluency, and comprehension (median d = 0.40). Few direct transfer effects were noted for either language. The first grade intervention was associated with stronger skills in a variety of literacy-related domains 1 year after its termination.

The Impact of Financial Aid on College GPA at Three Flagship Public Institutions

Stater, M. — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 13:22:47 PDT

Academic achievement in higher education is an important current policy issue because institutions are under public pressure to justify state subsidies and rising tuitions with demonstrable gains in student learning. This article uses data from three flagship public universities to examine the effects of financial aid on first- through fourth-year college grade point average. The findings indicate that need-based aid and merit-based aid both have positive effects throughout college, and thus colleges may be able to use financial policy levers to increase academic achievement. However, since the effect of merit aid is larger than that of need-based aid, institutions may have incentives to reallocate aid and admissions spots from needy to merit students unless appropriate safeguards are adopted.

A Visibility Project: Learning to See How Preservice Teachers Take Up Culturally Responsive Pedagogy

Gere, A. R., Buehler, J., Dallavis, C., Haviland, V. S. — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 13:22:47 PDT

This study analyzes the ways in which raced consciousness inflects developing understandings of cultural responsiveness among preservice teachers whose preparation included responses to imaginative engagement with literary texts, interactions in an underresourced school, and exploration of key concepts of culturally responsive pedagogy. The authors analyze how this preparation created spaces that made the diverse and complex understandings of cultural responsiveness held by teacher candidates and instructors visible and how raced consciousness shaped these understandings. Findings suggest that incorporation of multicultural literary texts, continual interrogation of attitudes toward race and racism, and explicit engagement with raced consciousness fosters learning about how beginning teachers take up cultural responsiveness, given the persistent stereotypes and the raced consciousness that shape their language and perceptions.

The Hispanic-White Achievement Gap in Math and Reading in the Elementary Grades

Reardon, S. F., Galindo, C. — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 13:22:47 PDT

This article describes the developmental patterns of Hispanic-White math and reading achievement gaps in elementary school, paying attention to variation in these patterns among Hispanic subgroups. Compared to non-Hispanic White students, Hispanic students enter kindergarten with much lower average math and reading skills. The gaps narrow by roughly a third in the first 2 years of schooling but remain relatively stable for the next 4 years. The development of achievement gaps varies considerably among Hispanic subgroups. Students with Mexican and Central American origins—particularly first- and second-generation immigrants—and those from homes where English is not spoken have the lowest math and reading skill levels at kindergarten entry but show the greatest achievement gains in the early years of schooling.