American Educational Research Journal current issue

The Evolving Role of the Courts in Educational Policy: The Tension Between Judicial, Scientific, and Democratic Decision Making in Kitzmiller v. Dover

Superfine, B. M. — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:20:03 PST

In Kitzmiller v. Dover (2005), a court defined science to decide the legitimacy of teaching intelligent design to high school biology students. This study analyzes Kitzmiller in light of the complex and interrelated tensions between judicial, scientific, and democratic decision making that lie at the heart of modern educational governance. This study particularly explores how these tensions become more acute where the meaning of science itself is contested and examines how these tensions can be structured and balanced in a nuanced way in the institutional setting of the courts. Based on this examination, this study highlights major issues that bear upon an analysis of when it is appropriate for governmental entities to define science for educational policy purposes.

Student Characteristics, Pre-College, College, and Environmental Factors as Predictors of Majoring in and Earning a STEM Degree: An Analysis of Students Attending a Hispanic Serving Institution

Crisp, G., Nora, A., Taggart, A. — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:20:03 PST

This study examined the demographic, pre-college, environmental, and college factors that impact students’ interests in and decisions to earn a science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) degree among students attending a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI). Results indicated that Hispanic students were well represented among STEM majors, and students’ decisions to declare a STEM major and earn a STEM degree were uniquely influenced by students’ gender, ethnicity, SAT math score, and high school percentile. Earning a STEM degree was related to students’ first-semester GPA and enrollment in mathematics and science "gatekeeper" courses. Findings indicate that HSIs may be an important point of access for students in STEM fields and may also provide opportunity for more equitable outcomes for Hispanic students.

Study Involvement of Academic and Vocational Students: Does Between-School Tracking Sharpen the Difference?

Van Houtte, M., Stevens, P. A. J. — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:20:03 PST

Although a rich tradition of mainly U.S. and U.K. research focuses on the nature and effects of tracking students within schools, little research has investigated the importance of tracking students in the same or in separate schools. The authors used data from a unique, representative survey in Flanders (Belgium) to examine how students’ study involvement varied between multilateral schools (in which all different tracks are offered) and categorial schools (in which only particular tracks are offered) and whether the relation between track and study involvement varied between these school types. Multilevel analyses of data gathered in 2004 and 2005 from academic and vocational third and fifth grade students in a sample of Flemish secondary schools showed that vocational students had slightly lower study involvement in multilateral schools. Although academic students were more study involved than vocational students, this difference was larger in multilateral schools than in categorial schools. The data suggest that in multilateral schools, vocational students compared themselves with academic-track students, consistent with the hypothesis of increased status deprivation, resulting in even stronger antischool attitudes. The implications of these findings for further research and social policy are discussed.

Perils and Promises: Middle-Class Parental Involvement in Urban Schools

Cucchiara, M. B., Horvat, E. M. — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:20:03 PST

Given recent trends, middle-class families may become an increasing presence in urban districts. Such parents could help secure badly needed resources and raise expectations. This study of parental involvement in two urban schools suggests that middle-class parental involvement may be more complex than often assumed. The authors find that middle-class parents bring myriad resources to urban schools and can be catalysts for change. However, the relationship between parental involvement and widespread benefit was mediated by parents’ own goals and perspectives as well as by the larger social context. Furthermore, compared to a more individualistic approach to parental involvement, a collective orientation is more sustainable and has greater potential for benefiting all children in the school, without regard to their social class.

Increasing Achievement by Focusing Grade-Level Teams on Improving Classroom Learning: A Prospective, Quasi-Experimental Study of Title I Schools

Saunders, W. M., Goldenberg, C. N., Gallimore, R. — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:20:03 PST

The authors conducted a quasi-experimental investigation of effects on achievement by grade-level teams focused on improving learning. For 2 years (Phase 1), principals-only training was provided. During the final 3 years (Phase 2), school-based training was provided for principals and teacher leaders on stabilizing team settings and using explicit protocols for grade-level meetings. Phase 1 produced no differences in achievement between experimental and comparable schools. During Phase 2, experimental group scores improved at a faster rate than at comparable schools and exhibited greater achievement growth over 3 years on state-mandated tests and an achievement index. Stable school-based settings, distributed leadership, and explicit protocols are key to effective teacher teams. The long-term sustainability of teacher teams depends on coherent and aligned district policies and practices.

The Contested Classroom Space: A Decade of Lived Educational Policy in Texas Schools

Craig, C. J. — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:20:03 PST

In this article, examples excerpted from research studies conducted in Houston, Texas, the fourth largest city in the United States, are used to demonstrate how the discretionary classroom space where teachers and students actively live curriculum—guided, though, not controlled, by official documents and administrative oversight—has become increasingly disputed. Through meta-level narrative analysis, excerpts from several accounts that elucidate different manifestations of the contested classroom space in multiple school contexts are woven together. In the process, the ways that teachers, principals, parents, professors, consultants, district personnel, the media, researchers, and students contributed to the contentious environment are explicated. Also, versions of curriculum and instruction that increased the contestation are named. As a result, changes that teachers and students lived in classrooms from 1997 to 2007, the decade when educational policy making in Texas served as the prototype for the U.S. No Child Left Behind Act, are characterized.

Source Evaluation, Comprehension, and Learning in Internet Science Inquiry Tasks

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:20:03 PST

In two experiments, undergraduates’ evaluation and use of multiple Internet sources during a science inquiry task were examined. In Experiment 1, undergraduates had the task of explaining what caused the eruption of Mt. St. Helens using the results of an Internet search. Multiple regression analyses indicated that source evaluation significantly predicted learning outcomes, with more successful learners better able to discriminate scientifically reliable from unreliable information. In Experiment 2, an instructional unit (SEEK) taught undergraduates how to evaluate the reliability of information sources. Undergraduates who used SEEK while working on an inquiry task about the Atkins low-carbohydrate diet displayed greater differentiation in their reliability judgments of information sources than a comparison group. Both groups then participated in the Mt. St. Helens task. Undergraduates in the SEEK conditions demonstrated better learning from the volcano task. The current studies indicate that the evaluation of information sources is critical to successful learning from Internet-based inquiry and amenable to improvement through instruction.

Learner Performance in Multimedia Learning Arrangements: An Analysis Across Instructional Approaches

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:20:03 PST

In this study, the authors compared four multimedia learning arrangements differing in instructional approach on effectiveness and efficiency for learning: (a) hypermedia learning, (b) observational learning, (c) self-explanation–based learning, and (d) inquiry learning. The approaches all advocate learners’ active attitude toward the learning material but show differences in the specific learning processes they intend to foster. Learning results were measured on different types of knowledge: conceptual, intuitive, procedural, and situational. The outcomes show that the two approaches asking learners to generate (parts of) the subject matter (either by self-explanations or by conducting experiments) led to better performance on all types of knowledge. However, results also show that emphasis on generating subject matter by the learner resulted in less efficient learning.

AERJ Section on Social and Institutional Analysis August 2008-September 2009

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:20:03 PST

AERJ Section on Teaching, Learning, and Human Development October 2008-September 2009

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:20:03 PST