Showing papers in "American Educational Research Journal in 2012"
TL;DR: The authors explored how the interplay of family habitus and capital can make science aspirations more "thinkable" for some (notably middle-class) children than others, and argued that social inequalities in the distribution of capital and diff...
Abstract: Low participation rates in the study of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) post-16 are a matter of international concern. Existing evidence suggests children’s science aspirations are largely formed within the critical 10 to 14 age period. This article reports on survey data from over 9,000 elementary school children in England (age 10/11) and qualitative data from 160 semi-structured interviews (92 children aged 10/11 and 78 parents), collected as part of an ongoing 5-year longitudinal study in the United Kingdom tracking children from 10 to 14. Drawing on the conceptual framework of Bourdieu, the article explores how the interplay of family habitus and capital can make science aspirations more “thinkable” for some (notably middle-class) children than others. It is argued that while family habitus is not deterministic (there is no straightforward alignment between family habitus, capital, and a child’s science aspirations), social inequalities in the distribution of capital and diff...
432 citations
TL;DR: Among 440 early childhood teachers, half were randomly assigned to take a 14-week course on effective teacher-child interactions, which used the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) as the basis to organize, describe, and demonstrate effective teacherchild interactions.
Abstract: Among 440 early childhood teachers, half were randomly assigned to take a 14-week course on effective teacher-child interactions. This course used the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) as the basis to organize, describe, and demonstrate effective teacher-child interactions. Compared to teachers in a control condition, those exposed to the course reported more intentional teaching beliefs and demonstrated greater knowledge of and skills in detecting effective interactions. Furthermore, teachers who took the course were observed to demonstrate more effective emotional and instructional interactions. The course was equally effective across teachers with less than an associate’s degree as well as those with advanced degrees. Results have implications for efforts to improve the quality of early childhood programs through the higher education system.
415 citations
TL;DR: This article investigated the empirical basis for often-repeated arguments that gender differences in entrance into science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors are largely explained by disparities in prior achievement.
Abstract: This article investigates the empirical basis for often-repeated arguments that gender differences in entrance into science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors are largely explained by disparities in prior achievement. Analyses use data from three national cohorts of college matriculates across three decades to consider differences across several indicators of high school math and science achievement at the mean and also at the top of the test distribution. Analyses also examine the different comparative advantages men and women enjoy in math/science versus English/reading. Regardless of how prior achievement is measured, very little of the strong and persistent gender gap in physical science and engineering majors over time is explained. Findings highlight the limitations of theories focusing on gender differences in skills and suggest directions for future research.
283 citations
TL;DR: This article examined the associations between students' high school course-taking in various subjects and their 10th grade test scores, high school graduation, entry into postsecondary institutions, and postsecondary performance.
Abstract: Using panel data from a census of public school students in the state of Florida, the authors examine the associations between students’ high school course-taking in various subjects and their 10th-grade test scores, high school graduation, entry into postsecondary institutions, and postsecondary performance. The authors use propensity score matching (based on 8th-grade test scores, other student characteristics, and school effects) within groups of students matched on the composition of the students’ course-taking in other subjects to estimate the differences in outcomes for students who take rigorous courses in a variety of subjects. The authors find substantial significant differences in outcomes for those who take rigorous courses, and these estimated effects are often larger for disadvantaged youth and students attending disadvantaged schools.
275 citations
TL;DR: The authors showed that the effect of teacher knowledge on student learning was mediated by instructional quality, measured using video observations of teachers’ lessons, and showed this measure to correlate with another measure of teacherknowledge.
Abstract: This study explores the relationships between teacher knowledge, teaching practice, and student learning in mathematics. It extends previous work that developed and evaluated an innovative approach to assessing teacher knowledge based on teachers’ analyses of classroom video clips. Teachers watched and commented on 13 fraction clips. These written analyses were coded using objective rubrics to yield a reliable and valid indicator of their usable teaching knowledge. Previous work showed this measure to correlate with another measure of teacher knowledge and to predict students’ learning from the teachers’ fraction instruction. In this study, the authors replicated those findings and further showed that the effect of teacher knowledge on student learning was mediated by instructional quality, measured using video observations of teachers’ lessons.
275 citations
TL;DR: This study revisited rural-nonrural disparities in educational attainment by considering a comprehensive set of factors that constrain and support youth’s college enrollment and degree completion and presents a more comprehensive picture of the complexity of geographic residence in shaping collegerollment and degree attainment.
Abstract: Using data from the National Educational Longitudinal Study, this study revisited rural-nonrural disparities in educational attainment by considering a comprehensive set of factors that constrain and support youth's college enrollment and degree completion. Results showed that rural students were more advantaged in community social resources compared to nonrural students, and these resources were associated with a significant increase in the likelihood of bachelor's degree attainment. Yet results confirmed that rural students lagged behind nonrural students in attaining a bachelor's degree largely due to their lower socioeconomic background. The findings present a more comprehensive picture of the complexity of geographic residence in shaping college enrollment and degree attainment.
227 citations
TL;DR: The authors found that 17% of the total variance in teacher job satisfaction is between schools, a statistically significant amount that indicates schools can make a difference in teacher's job satisfaction, and that school processes, particularly career and working conditions, staff collegiality, administrative support, and to a lesser extent, positive student behavior and teacher empowerment, are positively associated with teacher's overall job satisfaction.
Abstract: Using nationally representative samples for public school teachers and principals, the authors inquired into whether principal background and school processes are related to teacher job satisfaction. Employing hierarchical linear modeling (HLM), the authors were able to control for background characteristics at both the teacher and school levels. They found that 17% of the total variance in teacher job satisfaction is between schools, a statistically significant amount that indicates schools can make a difference in teacher job satisfaction. The authors found that school processes—particularly career and working conditions, staff collegiality, administrative support, and to a lesser extent, positive student behavior and teacher empowerment—are positively associated with teacher job satisfaction. Although two principal background variables—the experience of being a department head or an athletic coach/director—are statistically significant, the authors found the block of school process variables explains f...
169 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the developmental outcomes of elementary-aged students engaged in student voice efforts are examined using a case study of fifth-grade girls, comparing their experiences to research examining secondary school.
Abstract: The present research examines the developmental outcomes of elementary-aged students engaged in student voice efforts. Using a case study of fifth-grade girls, the authors compare their experiences to research examining secondary school. The authors find marked similarities in the growth of agency, belonging, competence—the ABCs of youth development. The authors also notice two additional dimensions—the need to engage in discourse that allows an exchange of diverse ideas while working toward a common goal. The authors also observed the emergence of civic efficacy, or a belief that one can make a difference in their social worlds. The authors also examine the contexts and conditions that support positive youth development in this case—scaffolding youth learning, establishing inquiry as the framework for teaching and learning, and establishing a clear vision of the school as a place that fosters student voice.
160 citations
TL;DR: This article examined the role of both formal organizational structure and individual characteristics in shaping advice and information providing and receiving about instruction in elementary school and found that individual characteristics of race and gender are significantly associated with the formation of a tie.
Abstract: Few studies identify those factors that might account for the development of social capital. Understanding those factors associated with the existence of a social tie among actors in schools is important because absent social ties, individuals do not have access to social resources. We investigate social tie formation in schools focusing on advice and information providing and receiving in the two core elementary school subjects. Using a multilevel p2 model, we examine the role of both formal organizational structure and individual characteristics in shaping advice and information providing and receiving about instruction. Our findings suggest that while the individual characteristics of race and gender are significantly associated with the formation of a tie, aspects of the formal school organization—grade-level assignment, having a formally designated leadership position, and teaching a single grade—are also significant and have larger estimated effects than individual characteristics. Formal organizati...
147 citations
TL;DR: This article explored smartness as a cultural construct rather than a biological capacity and found that the cultural construction of smartness has broad consequences related to teacher expectations, student academic identity development, and schooling inequities.
Abstract: This study explores smartness as a cultural construct rather than a biological capacity. The cultural construction of smartness has broad consequences related to teacher expectations, student academic identity development, and schooling inequities. This study is based on a 1-year ethnography in a kindergarten classroom, and the author investigates smartness by first historicizing the concept of intelligence and then using the theoretical framework of figured worlds. Through the teachers’ disciplinary and pedagogical practices, students were taught and learned not just whether they were smart themselves, but how other student identities were constructed according to smartness as well. Analysis suggests smartness was used as a mechanism of control and social positioning along racial and class lines. Implications are discussed related to schooling practices and policy.
142 citations
TL;DR: The authors found that although access to postsecondary education has expanded since 1972 for all ethnic groups, Black and Latino students’ odds of selective college enrollment have declined relative to White and Asian American students.
Abstract: The competitive dynamics that sustain stratification among postsecondary institutions have reinforced racial inequality in selective college enrollment between 1972 and 2004. Using a data set constructed from four nationally representative surveys (National Longitudinal Survey 1972, High School & Beyond 1980, National Educational Longitudinal Survey 1988, and Educational Longitudinal Survey 2002), the authors model how escalating admissions standards—including academic preparation and the growing importance of SAT scores and extracurricular leadership—effectively maintain racial inequality in selective college enrollment over time. Black and Latino students have made strides in their pre-collegiate academic preparation. Nevertheless, although access to postsecondary education has expanded since 1972 for all ethnic groups, Black and Latino students’ odds of selective college enrollment have declined relative to White and Asian American students.
TL;DR: This paper examined factors that influence the recruitment and retention of Latina/o teachers in U.S. schools and found that the perspectives and experiences of Latinas/os differ significantly from the dominant narrative on teacher recruitment and recruitment, which is largely defined by White teachers' career histories.
Abstract: Motivated by shifting demographics and the persistently low academic performance of Latinas/os in U.S. schools, the authors examine factors that influence the recruitment and retention of Latina/o teachers. Applying Latina/o critical race theory and cross-case analysis to data collected from three groups of Latinas/os at distinct points in the teacher pipeline—high school students, undergraduate preservice teachers, and inservice teachers—the authors conclude that the perspectives and experiences of Latinas/os differ significantly from the dominant narrative on teacher recruitment and retention, which is largely defined by White teachers’ career histories. The findings of this study serve as an important race- and culture-conscious counternarrative that can inform efforts to systematically diversify the teaching profession.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors identify multiple patterns of teaching practice linked to early career decisions, which reflect considerable variation in quality of teaching and career trajectory, with different implications for policy and practice.
Abstract: Although the turnover rate among beginning teachers has been a major concern for some time, most studies do not link teacher retention with teaching practice. In contrast, this study looks specifically at career decisions coupled with practice. Guided by a view of teaching as social and cultural practice, the study used multiple qualitative data sources, including extensive observations, interviews, and samples of teachers’ and students’ work. Based on within- and cross-case analysis of 15 cases at four distinct time points within a 5-year period, the authors identified multiple patterns of teaching practice linked to early career decisions, which reflect considerable variation in quality of teaching and career trajectory. The authors argue that “stayers” and “leavers” are not homogeneous groups, as is often assumed in research and policy. Rather, there are multiple variations of practice coupled with career decisions, some desirable and others not, with different implications for policy and practice.
TL;DR: This paper used propensity score matching to pair youth who switched high schools with similar youth who stayed in the same school and found that while over half the association between switching schools and dropout is explained by observed characteristics prior to ninth grade, switching schools is still associated with dropout.
Abstract: Youth who switch schools are more likely to demonstrate a wide array of negative behavioral and educational outcomes, including dropping out of high school. However, whether switching schools actually puts youth at risk for dropout is uncertain, since youth who switch schools are similar to dropouts in their levels of prior school achievement and engagement, which suggests that switching schools may be part of the same long-term developmental process of disengagement that leads to dropping out. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, this study uses propensity score matching to pair youth who switched high schools with similar youth who stayed in the same school. We find that while over half the association between switching schools and dropout is explained by observed characteristics prior to ninth grade, switching schools is still associated with dropout. Moreover, the relationship between switching schools and dropout varies depending on a youth’s propensity for switching schools.
TL;DR: This paper analyzed 194 interviews with students at liberal arts colleges to investigate empirically the ways undergraduates bring knowledge and experiences together so that educators might be able to more intentionally promote the integration of learning.
Abstract: This article presents a grounded theory of “integration of learning” among traditional aged college students, which is characterized by the demonstrated ability to link various skills and knowledge learned in a variety of contexts. The author analyzed 194 interviews with students at liberal arts colleges to investigate empirically the ways undergraduates bring knowledge and experiences together so that educators might be able to more intentionally promote the integration of learning. Three distinct types of integration of learning emerged during analysis: (a) connection, the discovery of a similarity between ideas that themselves remain distinctive; (b) application, the use of knowledge from one context in another; and (c) synthesis, the creation of new knowledge by combining insights.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors identify factors contributing to superintendent turnover in California by matching original superintendent and school board survey data with administrative data and information hand-collected from news sources on why superintendents left and where they went.
Abstract: Although superintendent turnover can hinder district reform and improvement, research examining superintendent exits is scarce. This study identifies factors contributing to superintendent turnover in California by matching original superintendent and school board survey data with administrative data and information hand-collected from news sources on why superintendents left and where they went. Among 215 superintendents studied beginning in 2006, 45% exited within 3 years. Using a multinomial framework to separate retirements from other turnover, the authors find that factors such as how highly the school board rates its own functioning and the superintendent’s performance and whether the superintendent was hired internally strongly predict non-retirement exits 3 years later. Short-term district test score growth, however, is uncorrelated. Superintendents who move migrate away from rural districts toward larger, higher-paying districts in urban and suburban locations.
TL;DR: This article argued that education is about the cultivation of a flourishing life and not only the narrow preparation for employment, and proposed five core principles for this robust social justice vision: self-assessment, critical questioning, practicing democracy, social action, and criteria for adjudication.
Abstract: Presented at AERA 2010 as the Social Justice Award Lecture, this article calls attention to the purposes of education in the 21st century and the need for a robust, social justice vision of education. Here, it is argued that education is about the cultivation of a flourishing life and not only the narrow preparation for employment. To realize education that cultivates students’ flourishing minds and lives, this article proposes five core principles for this robust social justice vision: self-assessment, critical questioning, practicing democracy, social action, and criteria for adjudication.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore the social processes and outcomes associated with a school-linked, community-based program that successfully engages Latino parents and children in a low-income school community.
Abstract: This article explores the social processes and outcomes associated with a school-linked, community-based program that successfully engages Latino parents and children in a low-income school community. Framed by an ethnographic, embedded case study design, the authors collected data from 32 Latino parents. The findings detail parents’ experiences when first entering the neighborhood and how these experiences shape their engagement with other parents in the program and neighborhood community. We conclude that efforts engaging low-income parents as communities of practice hold special promise for reducing barriers to children’s learning, especially when school leaders, community-based organizations, and social researchers leverage their resources and capital in ways that support parents’ efforts, insights, and aspirations.
TL;DR: Using data from preservice teachers’ mathematics lessons, this study identifies and illustrates seven central tasks of “steering instruction toward the mathematical point”: attending to and managing multiple purposes, spending instructional time on mathematical work, spending instruction on the intended mathematics, making sure students are doing the mathematics work, and keeping a focus on meaning.
Abstract: Despite its centrality in teaching, what it takes to identify the goals of instruction and use those goals to manage the work has yet to be articulated in ways that it can be adequately studied or taught. Using data from preservice teachers’ mathematics lessons, this study identifies and illustrates seven central tasks of “steering instruction toward the mathematical point”: attending to and managing multiple purposes, spending instructional time on mathematical work, spending instructional time on the intended mathematics, making sure students are doing the mathematical work, developing and maintaining a mathematical storyline, opening up and emphasizing key mathematical ideas, and keeping a focus on meaning. Findings can inform teacher education, research on teaching, and the design of curriculum materials.
TL;DR: In this paper, a study of five high poverty high schools' responses to the pressures of Texas’ high stakes accountability system is presented, showing that organizational stability in turn can affect schools' organizational social capital, and how organizational stability can influence schools' ability to respond to external policy demands.
Abstract: For decades, policymakers and researchers have struggled to understand the reasons that schools in disadvantaged contexts have relatively more trouble responding successfully to reform demands. This analysis extends theory regarding the challenges of school change in disadvantaged contexts by illustrating how the internal resources that schools rely on to respond to external policy demands can be affected by the social contexts in which they are embedded. The article draws on data from a study of five high poverty high schools’ responses to the pressures of Texas’ high stakes accountability system. The case study data illustrate how a school’s social context can precipitate instability in some schools and relative stability in others, how organizational stability in turn can affect schools’ organizational social capital, and how organizational social capital can influence schools’ ability to respond to external policy demands.
TL;DR: The authors describes a cultural production process called religification, in which religious affiliation, rather than race or ethnicity, has become the core category of identity for working-class Pakistani American youth in the United States.
Abstract: This article describes a cultural production process called religification, in which religious affiliation, rather than race or ethnicity, has become the core category of identity for working-class Pakistani-American youth in the United States. In this dialectical process, triggered by political changes following the September 11 terrorist attacks, the Muslim identity is both thrust upon Pakistani-American youth by those who question their citizenship and embraced by the youth themselves. Specifically, the article examines the ways in which schools are sites where citizenship is both constructed and contested and the roles that peers, school personnel, families, and the youth themselves play in this construction/contestation of citizenship.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue both the urgency and the promise of establishing a constructive conversation among different bodies of research, including science interest, sociocultural studies in science education, and culturally relevant teaching.
Abstract: The authors of this article argue both the urgency and the promise of establishing a constructive conversation among different bodies of research, including science interest, sociocultural studies in science education, and culturally relevant teaching. With the instructional practices of eight exemplary African American elementary teachers serving their investigative site, they begin to develop a theory for promoting student interest in science. They argue that this emerging theory is distinguishable by three broad propositions: having a genuine interest, scaffolding student interest, and offering multiple standpoints. They further show that their theory based on these three related propositions has provided an important framework to better understand a number of important issues in science education (e.g., early interest in science and hands-on science activities).
TL;DR: The authors investigated the consequences of mathematics curricular intensification for social stratification in American high schools using representative data from U.S. high school graduates in 1982, 1992, and 2004, and estimated changes in race-, class-, and skills-based inequality in advanced math course credit completion.
Abstract: Over the past three decades, American high school students’ course taking has rapidly intensified. Between 1982 and 2004, for example, the proportion of high school graduates who earned credit in precalculus or calculus more than tripled. In this article, the authors investigate the consequences of mathematics curricular intensification for social stratification in American high schools. Using representative data from U.S. high school graduates in 1982, 1992, and 2004, the authors estimate changes in race-, class-, and skills-based inequality in advanced math course credit completion. Their analyses indicate that race, class, and skills gaps in geometry, Algebra II, and trigonometry completion have narrowed considerably over the study period. However, consistent with the theory of maximally maintained inequality, inequalities in calculus completion remain pronounced.
TL;DR: For instance, this article found that students' ability to evaluate emotionally challenging situations and identify effective strategies for managing emotions in themselves and others was negatively related to poor classroom social behavior across three studies.
Abstract: Students’ ability to evaluate emotionally challenging situations and identify effective strategies for managing emotions in themselves and others was negatively related to poor classroom social behavior across three studies. These studies, involving 463 students from two Spanish high schools and one American university, examined indicators of adaptation to school based on teacher ratings and official school records. Relationships between the ability to manage emotions, measured with a situational judgment test, and indicators of social adaptation to school remained significant or marginally significant after controlling for demographic factors, personality traits, and indicators of cognitive ability. These findings suggest that emotion regulation knowledge and skills that can be taught explain important aspects of socio-emotional adaptation to school over and above other relevant constructs.
TL;DR: This article examined the qualifications, student achievement gains, and retention of Math Immersion teachers in New York City compared to teachers who began their careers through other pathways, and found that those who were trained through alternative certification programs with a math immersion component outperformed those who did not have undergraduate majors in mathematics.
Abstract: For well over a decade school districts across the United States have struggled to recruit and retain effective mathematics teachers. In response to the need for qualified math teachers and the difficulty of directly recruiting individuals who have already completed the math content required for qualification, some districts, including Baltimore, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and New York City, have developed alternative certification programs with a math immersion component to recruit otherwise well-qualified candidates who do not have undergraduate majors in math. This article examines the qualifications, student achievement gains, and retention of Math Immersion teachers in New York City compared to New York City mathematics teachers who began their careers through other pathways.
TL;DR: This paper investigated whether school activism diminishes the alienation that accompanies urban youths' observations of unequal educational conditions, and often leads to underachievement and school rejection, and found that the opportunity to participate in school activism was more influential for students who were already integrated into school life and initially felt less acutely alienated.
Abstract: This article investigates whether school activism diminishes the alienation that accompanies urban youths’ observations of unequal educational conditions, and often leads to underachievement and school rejection. The study is based on interviews with 13 urban youth about their participation in a community-based program that supports education organizing. Findings reveal that school activism is a promising intervention that encourages more constructive responses to schooling. However, the opportunity to participate in school activism was more influential for students who were already integrated into school life and initially felt less acutely alienated. Implications for enhancing the prevalence of success among urban students are considered.
TL;DR: This paper examined two adolescent immigrants' educational journey to success through the analysis of positioning theory and negotiated identities and found that their critical awareness of identity, negotiated identities, and external confirmation of unique abilities enable them to construct and reconstruct the context that contributes to their success.
Abstract: A parent-researcher examines two adolescent immigrants’ educational journey to success through the analysis of positioning theory and negotiated identities. Through the boys’ direct voices about their schooling experiences with a particular focus on the middle and high school years in the United States, this article reports on the complexities of their identity negotiation and the process of their self-positioning and interactive positioning. This longitudinal study suggests that, rather than a single focus on language or culture, the immigrant students’ critical awareness of identity, negotiated identities, and external confirmation of unique abilities enable them to construct and reconstruct the context that contributes to their success. This study aims to help educators reframe the dialogue on immigrant students to include a new voice, from their own perspectives, of how they have been able to be successful in the U.S. social and educational systems.
TL;DR: The authors found that African Americans were disproportionately more likely to leave the private sector, as were students in schools serving proportionally more voucher students, and that students who switch from the private to the public sector were performing lower than their peers on standardized tests in the prior year.
Abstract: This article contributes to research concerning the determinants of student mobility between public and private schools. The authors analyze a unique set of data collected as part of a new evaluation of Milwaukee’s citywide voucher program. The authors find several important patterns. Students who switch from the private to the public sector were performing lower than their peers on standardized tests in the prior year. African Americans were disproportionately more likely to leave the private sector, as were students in schools serving proportionally more voucher students. The authors argue that although these results indicate that a large voucher program may provide an educational home for some students, it may not provide a long-term solution to those who are among the most disadvantaged.
TL;DR: This paper found that low-income Korean Americans are more likely than low income Chinese Americans to take SAT prep, although both communities have extensive ethnic economies, and they argue that immigrant churches facilitate interclass contact for Korean Americans, which encourages the flow of information around educational resources.
Abstract: Ethnic economies promote interclass contact among East Asian Americans, which facilitates the exchange of information and resources through social capital networks. However, low-income Korean Americans are more likely than low-income Chinese Americans to take SAT prep, although both communities have extensive ethnic economies. In the analysis of a national dataset of first-year college students, religious affiliation and religious service attendance were positively associated with SAT prep for Korean Americans, while low socioeconomic status and lack of citizenship discouraged participation for Chinese Americans. I argue that immigrant churches facilitate interclass contact for Korean Americans, which encourages the flow of information around educational resources. Findings demonstrate how what is often stereotyped as “Asian culture” is in reality shaped by complex structural factors.
TL;DR: This article describes the structure of academic discussions during the implementation of a literacy curriculum in the upper elementary grades and proposes a matrix that moves from a present/absent analytic tendency to a continuum-based model and captures both social and cognitive facets of quality academic discourse.
Abstract: This article describes the structure of academic discussions during the implementation of a literacy curriculum in the upper elementary grades. The authors examine the quality of academic discussion, using existing discourse analysis frameworks designed to evaluate varying attributes of classroom discourse. To integrate the overlapping qualities of these models with researchers’ descriptions of effective discussion into a single instrument, the authors propose a matrix that (1) moves from a present/absent analytic tendency to a continuum-based model and (2) captures both social and cognitive facets of quality academic discourse. The authors conclude with a discussion of how this matrix could serve to align teachers’ and researchers’ identification of quality academic discussion and the process by which users could measure improvement in students’ discourse skills over time.