American Educational Research Journal recent issues

Reexamining Social Class Differences in the Availability and the Educational Utility of Parental Social Capital

Ream, R. K., Palardy, G. J. — 2008-05-21

Emergent ethnographic research disentangles "social capital" from other components of social class (e.g., material and human capital) to show how class-stratified parental social networks exacerbate educational inequality among schoolchildren. The authors build upon this research by using survey data to reexamine whether certain forms of parental social capital create educational advantages for socioeconomically privileged students vis-à-vis their less economically fortunate peers. By drawing a distinction between the availability of social capital and its convertibility, the authors find that whereas larger stocks of parental social capital accompany higher rungs on the social class ladder, its educational utility is less clearly associated with class status. A possible exception to this pattern pertains to the educational utility of middle-class parents’ ideas about the collective efficacy of influencing school policies and practices. At issue is whether a more inclusive understanding of the material and sociological reasons for educational inequality can spur educationally useful social exchange among parents across social class boundaries.

The Emotional Ambivalence of Socially Just Teaching: A Case Study of a Novice Urban Schoolteacher

Chubbuck, S. M., Zembylas, M. — 2008-05-21

The authors contend that studying emotional perspectives can facilitate understanding of the complexities of socially just teaching. They explore the intersection between emotions and socially just teaching via a case study of a White novice teacher at one urban school as she struggles to formulate socially just teaching practices. Drawing from feminist and critical theory, the authors propose the term critical emotional praxis to denote critical praxis informed by emotional resistance to unjust pedagogical systems and practices. The authors’ analysis may assist in the development of socially just teachers: First, emotions and their expression play an important, ongoing role in socially just teaching, and second, emotional negotiation related to socially just teaching can provide deeper understanding of possible change, perhaps even in counterresponse to wider social, political contexts of schools.

Effects of Schooling on Reading Performance, Reading Engagement, and Reading Activities of 15-Year-Olds in England

Luyten, H., Peschar, J., Coe, R. — 2008-05-21

This article reports the findings of an analysis into the effect of one year’s schooling for 15-year-olds in England on reading performance, reading engagement, and reading activities. The analyses were done on PISA 2000 data by applying a regression discontinuity approach within a multilevel framework. The effect of schooling is estimated as the difference between students from two consecutive grades minus the effect of age. A remarkably modest effect on reading performance was found, and no significant effects were found for the other two measures. The effect on reading performance was found to be somewhat stronger in schools with disadvantaged student populations.

Channel One: When Private Interests and the Public Interest Collide

Blokhuis, J. C. — 2008-05-21

If the notion of public and private spheres seems somehow quaint or old-fashioned, the distinction between public and private corporations will be that much more obscure. Yet Channel One broadcasts in a public school classroom are indisputably the result of a contract between a private corporation (Alloy Media + Marketing) and a public corporation (a local school board). Public school administrators operate within a social and institutional context in which there often appears to be no line between private interests and public interests. The author argues that there is such a line and that public school administrators unwittingly cross it when they make Channel One–type deals. This article examines how the regulatory history of private corporations has shaped the social and institutional context in which public school administrators operate.

Classroom Effects on Children's Achievement Trajectories in Elementary School

Pianta, R. C., Belsky, J., Vandergrift, N., Houts, R., Morrison, F. J. — 2008-05-21

This nonexperimental, longitudinal field study examines the extent to which variation in observed classroom supports (quality of emotional and instructional interactions and amount of exposure to literacy and math activities) predicts trajectories of achievement in reading and math from 54 months to fifth grade. Growth mixture modeling detected two latent classes of readers: fast readers whose skills developed rapidly and leveled off, and a typical group for which reading growth was somewhat less rapid. Only one latent class was identified for math achievement. For reading, there were small positive associations between observed emotional quality of teacher-child interactions and growth. Growth in math achievement showed small positive relations with observed emotional interactions and exposure to math activities. There was a significant interaction between quality and quantity of instruction for reading such that at higher levels of emotional quality there was less of a negative association between amount of literacy exposure and reading growth.

Prospective Teachers' Problem Solving in Online Peer-Led Dialogues

Wade, S. E., Fauske, J. R., Thompson, A. — 2008-05-21

In this self-study of a secondary teacher education course, the authors investigated whether there was evidence of critically reflective problem solving on the part of prospective teachers who participated in a peer-led online discussion of a teaching case about English-language learners. They also examined what approaches to multicultural education the peer-led dialogues suggested. Using the tools of discourse analysis to analyze the dialogue, they found some evidence of reflective problem solving. However, few students engaged in critical reflection, which entails examining the sociopolitical consequences of solutions and promoting social change through community action projects. Furthermore, many responses reflected deficit theories, stereotypical thinking, and technical-rational problem solving. Interwoven with the analysis of the students’ discussion is a self-study dialogue reflecting on the instructor’s curriculum and pedagogy. The self-study addresses what the authors have learned about how teacher educators foster critically reflective problem solving regarding issues of language, culture, and race.

Experimental Evaluation of the Effects of a Research-Based Preschool Mathematics Curriculum

Clements, D. H., Sarama, J. — 2008-05-21

A randomized-trials design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of a preschool mathematics program based on a comprehensive model of research-based curricula development. Thirty-six preschool classrooms were assigned to experimental (Building Blocks), comparison (a different preschool mathematics curriculum), or control conditions. Children were individually pre- and posttested, participating in 26 weeks of instruction in between. Observational measures indicated that the curricula were implemented with fidelity, and the experimental condition had significant positive effects on classrooms’ mathematics environment and teaching. The experimental group score increased significantly more than the comparison group score (effect size = 0.47) and the control group score (effect size = 1.07). Early interventions can increase the quality of the mathematics environment and help preschoolers develop a foundation of mathematics knowledge.

Uninvited Guests: The Influence of Teachers' Roles and Pedagogies on the Positioning of English Language Learners in the Regular Classroom

Yoon, B. — 2008-05-21

Grounded in positioning theory, this study examined regular classroom teachers’ views of their roles with regard to English language learners (ELLs) and the relationship between their teaching approaches and the students’ reactions and positioning of themselves in the classroom. Findings suggest that the teachers’ views of their roles varied based on their positioning of themselves as teachers for all students, as teachers for regular education students, or as teachers for a single subject. The teachers’ different approaches were related to the ELLs’ different levels of participation and their positioning of themselves as powerful or powerless students. The study breaks important ground in our understanding of the complex interactional classroom dynamics that influence the teaching and learning of ELLs.

Can Liberal Education Make a Comeback? The Case of "Relational Touch" at Summerhill School

Stronach, I., Piper, H. — 2008-03-04

This article draws on data from a single element of a larger project1 which focused on the issue of "touching" between education and child care professionals and children in a number of settings. This case study looks at a school once internationally renowned as the exemplar of "free" schooling. The authors consider how the school works as a community, how it impacts on its students, and how it copes with the strictures of the audit culture in relation to "risk" and "safety." The authors’ experiences led them to the realization that physical "touch" was an irrelevant focus in this school, and they developed the notion of "relational touch." Summerhill works in ways that approximate an inversion of the audit culture. The authors argue that progressive and critical conceptions of education continue to have much to learn from concrete examples like Summerhill and conclude that a revival of such values in education is long overdue.

Comer's School Development Program in Chicago: Effects on Involvement With the Juvenile Justice System From the Late Elementary Through the High School Years

Cook, T. D., Hirschfield, P. J. — 2008-03-04

In 2000, Cook, Murphy, and Hunt published a multilevel study of Chicago inner-city schools in order to evaluate James Comer’s School Development Program (SDP). One main finding was that SDP reduced the rate of change and final posttest mean when delinquency was assessed annually between Grades 5 and 8 using a self-report measure of acting out. The present study examined whether these same mean and slope effects would be observed when delinquency was measured from juvenile justice system records instead of self-reports. Hierarchical models of official statistics revealed no evidence favoring SDP between Grades 5 and 8, and the same was basically true during the high school years. So the Chicago variant of SDP did not have a general effect on reducing delinquency. Speculations are offered about why the two delinquency measures produced different results.

Creating Hybrid Spaces for Engaging School Science Among Urban Middle School Girls

Barton, A. C., Tan, E., Rivet, A. — 2008-03-04

The middle grades are a crucial time for girls in making decisions about how or if they want to follow science trajectories. In this article, the authors report on how urban middle school girls enact meaningful strategies of engagement in science class in their efforts to merge their social worlds with the worlds of school science and on the unsanctioned resources and identities they take up to do so. The authors argue that such merging science practices are generative both in terms of how they develop over time and in how they impact the science learning community of practice. They discuss the implications these findings have for current policy and practice surrounding gender equity in science education.

Multiple Resources, Multiple Outcomes: Testing the "Improved"School Finance With NELS88

Grubb, W. N. — 2008-03-04

This article first presents the conceptual framework of the "improved" school finance. This approach clarifies that effective school resources include compound resources, complex resources, and abstract resources in addition to the simple resources usually included in production functions. The implications of this approach are then explored with the National Educational Longitudinal Survey of the Class of 1988 (NELS88), data rich enough to measure many school resources and many outcomes. The results indicate that simple resources are much less powerful than compound, complex, and abstract resources. Many effective resources are unaffected by spending levels and must be constructed within schools, explaining why money often does not make a difference to outcomes. The results also indicate that, while a few powerful resources affect all outcomes, some affect test scores but not progress through high school, while others affect progress but not learning.

Incoming Editors' Statement and Description of Our Inaugural Issue

Wigfield, A., Alexander, P. A., Croninger, R., VanSledright, B., Valli, L. — 2008-03-04

Applying Psychological Theories to Educational Practice

Sternberg, R. — 2008-03-04

Two approaches to the application of psychological theories to education might be referred to as domain-general and domain-specific. The domain-general approach seeks a general theory of cognitive and other skills that apply across subject-matter areas. The domain-specific approach seeks to apply specific theories within given domains, such as reading or mathematics. The latter approach is more widely used. But it fails to provide a unified model of learning and instruction. One of the greatest challenges facing modern research in learning and instruction is devising and then empirically testing domain-general theories. This article describes efforts to devise and test one such model, the theory of successful intelligence.

Investigating Self-Regulation and Motivation: Historical Background, Methodological Developments, and Future Prospects

Zimmerman, B. J. — 2008-03-04

The topic of how students become self-regulated as learners has attracted researchers for decades. Initial attempts to measure self-regulated learning (SRL) using questionnaires and interviews were successful in demonstrating significant predictions of students’ academic outcomes. The present article describes the second wave of research, which has involved the development of online measures of self-regulatory processes and motivational feelings or beliefs regarding learning in authentic contexts. These innovative methods include computer traces, think-aloud protocols, diaries of studying, direct observation, and microanalyses. Although still in the formative stage of development, these online measures are providing valuable new information regarding the causal impact of SRL processes as well as raising new questions for future study.

Back to the Future: Directions for Research in Teaching and Teacher Education

Grossman, P., McDonald, M. — 2008-03-04

In this article, the authors examine two distinct but closely related fields, research on teaching and research on teacher education. Despite its roots in research on teaching, research in teacher education has developed in isolation both from mainstream research on teaching and from research on higher education and professional education. A stronger connection to research on teaching could inform the content of teacher education, while a stronger relationship to research on organizations and policy implementation could focus attention on the organizational contexts in which the work takes shape. The authors argue that for research in teacher education to move forward, it must reconnect with these fields to address the complexity of both teaching as a practice and the preparation of teachers.

Advancing Educational Policy by Advancing Research on Instruction

Raudenbush, S. W. — 2008-03-04

Understanding the impact of "instructional regimes" on student learning is central to advancing educational policy. Research on instructional regimes has parallels with clinical trials in medicine yet poses unique challenges because of the social nature of instruction: A child’s potential outcome under a given regime depends on peers and teachers, requiring the need for multilevel methods of causal inference. The author considers studies of the impact of intended versus experienced instructional regimes. Both are important; however, intended regimes are well measured and accessible to randomized trials, whereas experienced instruction is measured with error and not amenable to randomization. Multiyear sequences of experienced instruction are of central interest but pose special methodological challenges. A 2-year study of intensive mathematics instruction illustrates these ideas.

Erratum

2008-02-08

Swept Under the Rug? A Historiography of Gender and Black Colleges

Gasman, M. — 2007-12-06

This historiography of gender and black colleges uncovers the omission of women and gender relations. It uses an integrative framework, conceptualized by Evelyn Nakano Glenn, that considers race and gender as mutually interconnected, revealing different results than might be seen by considering these issues independently. The article is significant for historians and non-historians alike and has implications for educational policy and practice in the current day.

Perils of Accommodation: The Case of Joseph W. Holley

O'Brien, T. V. — 2007-12-06

This study examines accommodationism, a tactic of racial uplift used by black school founders and teachers in the Jim Crow South. For founders, accommodationism was a dangerous process of collaboration, resistance, and compromise. The subject under study is Joseph Winthrop Holley. Born in South Carolina, Holley studied in the North at Phillips Academy and Lincoln University. Despite a liberal education, Holley returned to the South and founded a Bible and industrial school. Holley was the most conservative founder of his day. His life and work take us beyond the Washington–Du Bois paradigm and help to clarify the work and meaning of accommodationism. The study also evaluates the degree to which conservative forms of schooling became a means for social control.

Strategic Transformation: Cultural and Gender Identity Negotiation in First-Generation Vietnamese Youth

Stritikus, T., Nguyen, D. — 2007-12-06

This article explores the various ways in which recent Vietnamese immigrant students form cultural and gender identities as they transition to U.S. schooling. Using data from a 2-year qualitative study that tracked the social and academic adjustment processes of recent Vietnamese immigrant youth, this article examines the tensions that students struggle with as they bring their own values and practices into the school site. The findings suggest that gender functions as a complex social category for recent immigrants that shifts across social contexts. The authors argue that accounting for a full picture of gender identity more accurately captures the manner in which recent immigrant students adapt to U.S. schooling.

The Effect of Neighborhood Context on the College Aspirations of African American Adolescents

Stewart, E. B., Stewart, E. A., Simons, R. L. — 2007-12-06

Previous research on educational aspirations has focused almost exclusively on micro-level predictors of educational aspirations. Notably absent from these studies are measures reflecting the neighborhood context in which adolescents live. Drawing on Wilson’s theory of neighborhood effects, the present study examines the extent to which neighborhood structural disadvantage predicts college aspirations among African American adolescents. The results show that concentrated neighborhood disadvantage exerts a significant influence on college aspirations, even when accounting for the micro-level context of adolescents. Overall, the findings suggest that living in a disadvantaged context lowers college aspirations among African American adolescents.

What Makes Professional Development Effective? Strategies That Foster Curriculum Implementation

Penuel, W. R., Fishman, B. J., Yamaguchi, R., Gallagher, L. P. — 2007-12-06

This study uses a sample of 454 teachers engaged in an inquiry science program to examine the effects of different characteristics of professional development on teachers’ knowledge and their ability to implement the program. The authors analyzed results from a survey of teachers served by 28 professional development providers within a hierarchical linear modeling framework. Consistent with findings from earlier studies of effective professional development, this study points to the significance of teachers’ perceptions about how coherent their professional development experiences were for teacher learning and program implementation. The authors also found that the incorporation of time for teachers to plan for implementation and provision of technical support were significant for promoting program implementation in the program.

Preparing High-Quality Teachers: Views From the Classroom

Zientek, L. R. — 2007-12-06

Every child has the right to a highly qualified teacher, yet as a nation we are reluctant to empirically investigate how teacher preparation programs are succeeding. Results from the present study suggested that (a) traditionally certified (TC) teachers felt better prepared than non–traditionally certified (NTC) teachers on communicating, planning, and using instructional strategies; (b) NTC teachers’ positive mentoring and prior classroom experiences in conjunction with the overall less positive mentoring experiences of TC teachers may have minimized differences; (c) novice teachers did not feel prepared on items related to multicultural curriculum or assessing student learning; and (d) prior classroom experiences, first year support, and program components were important, but instruction on teaching standards was of particular importance for NTC teachers.

Interdisciplinary Curricula in Middle and High School Classrooms: Case Studies of Approaches to Curriculum and Instruction

Applebee, A. N., Adler, M., Flihan, S. — 2007-12-06

This study examines 11 interdisciplinary teams involving 30 teachers and 542 students in New York and California. The teams represented an array of approaches to interdisciplinary curricula, ranging from simple correlation to major reconstrual of the contributing disciplines. Teams that engaged in the most reconstrual of traditional content also tended to use instructional approaches that emphasized cognitively engaging instruction, including an emphasis on envisionment-building activities and extended discussion of significant ideas, but individual members of teaching teams still varied considerably in teaching style. The study concludes that interdisciplinary coursework is neither a problem nor a solution in efforts to increase student achievement; rather, it involves a number of tradeoffs that need to be considered at the school site.

Reviewer Acknowledgment: AERJ Section on Social and Institutional Analysis September 2006 September 2007

2007-12-06

Reviewer Acknowledgment: AERJ Section on Teaching, Learning, and Human Development September 2006 September 2007

2007-12-06

Editorial Team's Introduction: Special Issue on No Child Left Behind

2007-10-02

Hidden Benefits and Unintended Consequences of No Child Left Behind Policies for Students Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing

Cawthon, S. W. — 2007-10-02

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) creates a high-stakes environment by holding schools accountable for how all students perform on state assessments, including students with disabilities and students who are English Language Learners. The focus of this article is on the impact of NCLB on students who are deaf or hard of hearing (SDHH). The SDHH have diverse linguistic characteristics and are served in a range of educational settings. The purpose of this article is to explore the hidden benefits and consequences of NCLB policy on SDHH in two areas: assessment and accountability. Drawing on findings from the author’s program of research, the article illustrates areas where policy may differentially affect students depending on their state of residence and educational setting. The discussion ends with a summary of benefits and hidden consequences of NCLB for SDHH.

Assessing No Child Left Behind and the Rise of Neoliberal Education Policies

Hursh, D. — 2007-10-02

No Child Left Behind and other education reforms promoting high-stakes testing, accountability, and competitive markets continue to receive wide support from politicians and public figures. This support, the author suggests, has been achieved by situating education within neoliberal policies that argue that such reforms are necessary within an increasingly globalized economy, will increase academic achievement, and will close the achievement gap. However, the author offers preliminary data suggesting that the reforms are not achieving their stated goals. Consequently, educators need to question whether neoliberal approaches to education should replace the previously dominant social democratic approaches.

The Changing Roles of Teachers in an Era of High-Stakes Accountability

Valli, L., Buese, D. — 2007-10-02

This article examines the impact of federal, state, and local policies on the roles that elementary school teachers are asked to assume inside and outside the classroom. Through a detailed analysis of changes in teacher tasks over a 4-year period, the authors determined that role expectations increased, intensified, and expanded in four areas: instructional, institutional, collaborative, and learning. These changes had unanticipated, and often negative, consequences for teachers’ relationships with students, pedagogy, and sense of professional well-being. The authors use one policy directive, differentiated instruction, to illustrate the complexity of role demands currently made of teachers, and they draw implications for policy and research.

Are NCLB's Measures, Incentives, and Improvement Strategies the Right Ones for the Nation's Low-Performing High Schools?

Balfanz, R., Legters, N., West, T. C., Weber, L. M. — 2007-10-02

This article examines the extent to which adequate yearly progress (AYP) is a valid and reliable indicator of improvement in low-performing high schools. For a random subsample of 202 high schools, the authors investigate the school characteristics and the federal and state policy contexts that influence their AYP status. Logistic regression models reveal that the strongest predictors of AYP status in low-performing high schools are the number of student subgroups for which schools are accountable and their No Child Left Behind improvement status. Analysis of state report card data further paints a confusing landscape in which improving low-performing high schools are sanctioned whereas similar schools showing less improvement are not.

Do Accountability Policy Sanctions Influence Teacher Motivation? Lessons From Chicago's Low-Performing Schools

Finnigan, K. S., Gross, B. — 2007-10-02

The federal No Child Left Behind Act and previous performance-based accountability policies are based on a theoretical assumption that sanctions will motivate school staff to perform at higher levels and focus attention on student outcomes. Using data from Chicago, this article draws on expectancy and incentive theories to examine whether motivation levels changed as a result of accountability policies and the policy mechanisms that affected teacher motivation. Through a combination of qualitative and quantitative data, the authors found that the value teachers placed on their professional status and their goals for students focused and increased their effort, but low morale had the potential to undercut the sustainability of teachers’ responses.

The Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effect: Persistent Negative Effects of Selective High Schools on Self-Concept After Graduation

Marsh, H. W., Trautwein, U., Ludtke, O., Baumert, J., Koller, O. — 2007-10-02

According to the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE), attending academically selective high schools negatively affects academic self-concept. Does the BFLPE persist after graduation from high school? In two large, representative samples of German high school students (Study 1: 2,306 students, 147 schools; Study 2: 1,758 students, 94 schools), the predictive effects of individual achievement test scores and school grades on math self-concept are very positive, whereas the predictive effects of school-average achievement are negative (the BFLPE). Both studies showed that the BFLPE was substantial at the end of high school and was still substantial 2 years (Study 1) or 4 years (Study 2) later. In addition, because of the highly salient system of school tracks within the German education system, the authors are able to show that negative effects associated with school type (highly academically selective schools, the Gymnasium) were similar—but smaller—than the BFLPE based on school-average achievement.

The Wisdom of Class-Size Reduction

Graue, E., Hatch, K., Rao, K., Oen, D. — 2007-10-02

In this study, the authors explore the implementation of a statewide class-size reduction program in nine high-poverty schools. Through qualitative methods, they examined how schools used class-size reduction to change staffing patterns and instructional programs. Requiring changes in space allocation, class-size reduction was accomplished through attention to pupil:teacher ratio, with classes ranging from 15:1 to 30:2 team taught. Most partner classes used tag-team teaching, with one teacher leading and the other doing clerical work. Working without specific professional development to enhance teaching in smaller classes, it made sense that teachers continued to solo practice. Class-size reduction is both a programmatic and instructional reform, and as such, it requires specific professional development to promote change.

Final Reading Outcomes of the National Randomized Field Trial of Success for All

2007-10-02

Using a cluster randomization design, schools were randomly assigned to implement Success for All, a comprehensive reading reform model, or control methods. This article reports final literacy outcomes for a 3-year longitudinal sample of children who participated in the treatment or control condition from kindergarten through second grade and a combined longitudinal and in-mover student sample, both of which were nested within 35 schools. Hierarchical linear model analyses of all three outcomes for both samples revealed statistically significant school-level effects of treatment assignment as large as one third of a standard deviation. The results correspond with the Success for All program theory, which emphasizes both comprehensive school-level reform and targeted student-level achievement effects through a multi-year sequencing of literacy instruction.

Qualifications and Assignments of Alternatively Certified Teachers: Testing Core Assumptions

Cohen-Vogel, L., Smith, T. M. — 2007-10-02

By analyzing data from the Schools and Staffing Survey, the authors empirically test four of the core assumptions embedded in current arguments for expanding alternative teacher certification (AC): AC attracts experienced candidates from fields outside of education; AC attracts top-quality, well-trained teachers; AC disproportionately trains teachers to teach in hard-to-staff schools; and AC alleviates out-of-field teaching. Although there are some differences in the backgrounds of alternatively and traditionally certified teachers, the findings suggest that AC programs have not substantially changed the pool from which new teachers are drawn. Findings further indicate that AC programs do not attract a disproportionate number of candidates to teach in difficult-to-staff schools, nor are they effective means for solving the problem of out-of-field teaching.