Showing papers in "Educational Researcher in 1994"
TL;DR: This paper presented a theoretical perspective on teaching and learning science in the social setting of classrooms, informed by a view of scientific knowledge as socially constructed and by a perspective on the learning of science as knowledge construction involving both individual and social processes.
Abstract: The view that knowledge cannot be transmitted but must be constructed by the mental activity of learners underpins contemporary perspectives on science education. This article, which presents a theoretical perspective on teaching and learning science in the social setting of classrooms, is informed by a view of scientific knowledge as socially constructed and by a perspective on the learning of science as knowledge construction involving both individual and social processes. First, we present an overview of the nature of scientific knowledge. We then describe two major traditions in explaining the process of learning science: personal and social constructivism. Finally, we illustrate how both personal and social perspectives on learning, as well as perspectives on the nature of the scientific knowledge to be learned, are necessary in interpreting science learning in formal settings.
2,143 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors make a distinction between task-driven and construct-driven performance assessment, emphasizing the need for specialized validity criteria tailored for performance assessment and emphasizing the importance of domain coverage.
Abstract: Authentic and direct assessments of performances and products are examined in the light of contrasting functions and purposes having implications for validation, especially with respect to the need for specialized validity criteria tailored for performance assessment. These include contrasts between performances and products, between assessment of performance per se and performance assessment of competence or other constructs, between structured and unstructured problems and response modes, and between breadth and depth of domain coverage. These distinctions are elaborated in the context of an overarching contrast between task-driven and construct-driven performance assessment. Rhetoric touting performance assessments because they eschew decomposed skills and decontextualized tasks is viewed as misguided, in that component skills and abstract problems have a legitimate place in pedagogy. Hence, the essence of authentic assessment must be sought elsewhere, that is, in the quest for complete construct repre...
1,327 citations
TL;DR: The authors argue that the sociocultural perspective informs theories of the conditions far the possibility of learning, whereas theories developed from the constructivist perspective focus on what students learn and the processes by which they do so.
Abstract: Currently, considerable debate focuses on whether mind is located in the head or in the individual-in-social-action, and whether development is cognitive self-organization or enculturation into established practices. In this article, I question assumptions that initiate this apparent forced choice between constructivist and sociocultural perspectives. I contend that the two perspectives are complementary. Also, claims that either perspective captures the essence of people and communities should be rejected for pragmatic justifications that consider the contextual relevance and usefulness of a perspective. I argue that the sociocultural perspective informs theories of the conditions far the possibility of learning, whereas theories developed from the constructivist perspective focus on what students learn and the processes by which they do so.
1,242 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a reanalysis of data from these earlier reviews, using more sophisticated synthesis methods, is presented, which shows systematic positive relations between resource inputs and school outcomes, and analyses of the magnitude of these relations suggest that the median relation is large enough to be of practical importance.
Abstract: Research on educational production functions attempts to model the relation between resource inputs and school outcomes such as educational achievement. Over the last decade a series of influential reviews of this literature have suggested that there is no systematic relation between resource inputs and school outcomes when controlling for student characteristics such as socioeconomic status. The inference procedure used in these reviews, vote counting, is known to be problematic. This study is a reanalysis of data from these earlier reviews, using more sophisticated synthesis methods. It shows systematic positive relations between resource inputs and school outcomes. Moreover, analyses of the magnitude of these relations suggest that the median relation (regression coefficient) is large enough to be of practical importance.While this reanalysis suggests that previous data do not support the conclusions that Hanushek and others derived from it, limitations of their data set warrant caution in using it for...
899 citations
TL;DR: The Advancement of Learning as mentioned in this paper is a metaphor for the advancement of learning particularly during the 30 years or so since the cognitive revolution, and it is also taken from Bacon (1605).
Abstract: My title, The Advancement of Learning, is also taken from Bacon (1605). The title is a metaphor, as I will view the advancement of learning particularly during the 30 years or so since the cognitive revolution. Contemporary theories, unlike those of the past, concentrate on the learning of complex ideas as it occurs in authentic situations including, but not limited to, schools. In keeping with Bacon, I will paint a general picture of progress but at the same time add a cautionary note concerning the infanticide rate of our profession. We repeatedly throw out babies along with bathwater, when we should build cumulatively. No community can afford to lose so many valuable offspring in the service of progress.
726 citations
TL;DR: This article explored a dialectic between psychometric and hermeneutic approaches to drawing and warranting interpretations of human products or performances, and expanded the range of viable high-stakes assessment practices to include those that honor the purposes that students bring to their work and the contextualized judgments of teachers.
Abstract: Reliability has traditionally been taken for granted as a necessary but insufficient condition for validity in assessment use. My purpose in this article is to illuminate and challenge this presumption by exploring a dialectic between psychometric and hermeneutic approaches to drawing and warranting interpretations of human products or performances. Reliability, as it is typically defined and operationalized in the measurement literature (e.g., American Educational Research Association [AERA], American Psychological Association, & National Council on Measurement in Education, 1985; Feldt & Brennan, 1989), privileges standardized forms of assessment. By considering hermeneutic alternatives for serving the important epistemological and ethical purposes that reliability serves, we expand the range of viable high-stakes assessment practices to include those that honor the purposes that students bring to their work and the contextualized judgments of teachers.
531 citations
TL;DR: The authors explored two forms of research on practice: formal research and practical inquiry, and found that practical inquiry is more likely than formal research to lead to immediate classroom change, and that both are useful to practice, but in different ways.
Abstract: This article explores two forms of research on practice: formal research and practical inquiry. Formal research is undertaken by researchers and practitioners to contribute to an established and general knowledge base. Practical inquiry is undertaken by practitioners to improve their practice. It is suggested that practical inquiry is more likely than formal research to lead to immediate classroom change; that these two forms of research are fundamentally different; and that both are useful to practice, but in different ways.
462 citations
TL;DR: The call by educational researchers for the methodological management of the self is placed within a discussion on modes of consciousness as mentioned in this paper, where the management of both subjectivity and objectivity are seen as sharing the same alienated mode of consciousness that believes in the possibility of a regulated distance between self and other.
Abstract: The call by educational researchers for the methodological management of the self is placed within a discussion on modes of consciousness. The management of both subjectivity and objectivity are seen as sharing the same alienated mode of consciousness that believes in the possibility of a regulated distance between self and other. Drawing from interdisciplinary writings, I explore a participatory mode of consciousness, which involves a somatic, nonverbal quality of attention that necessitates letting go of the focus on self. The recognition of kinship and therefore of ethics is at the core of a participatory mode of consciousness. I further note relations to educational research and questions to be raised if a participatory mode of consciousness is to be fostered.
366 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors focus on the most important aspects of Dewey's philosophy, including his social behaviorist theory of meaning, his naturalistic metaphysics, philosophy of nature, social constructivism, and transactional realism, and conclude by trying to show how all of these themes converge into the defense of democracy as not only the best form of government but also the best way for the community of educators to conduct and consume educational research.
Abstract: In a recent exchange, Cleo H. Cherryholmes (1992)opposed Rortyan pragmatism to the “scientific realism'” of Ernest R. House (1991, 1992). In my article, I hope to find a middle ground between Cherryholmes and House that might be more attractive to many in the field of education. My article emphasizes some of the most important aspects of Dewey's philosophy, including his social behaviorist theory of meaning, his naturalistic metaphysics, philosophy of nature, social constructivism, and transactional realism. For some reason, most educational theorists, researchers, and practitioners have almost entirely ignored these crucial Deweyan themes, often with disastrous consequences. I will conclude by trying to show how all of these themes converge into Dewey's defense of democracy as not only the best form of government but also the best way for the community of educators to conduct and consume educational research.
352 citations
Journal Article•
320 citations
TL;DR: The viewpoint presented in this article is based on many of my personal experiences over the past 20 years as well as on my impressions of where we should be headed as ethnic researchers and scholars.
Abstract: T he major issues to be addressed here have to do with the frequent dilemmas confronted by those of us interested in ethnic research and our multiple responsibilities as ethnic scholars and mentors. The viewpoint presented in this article is based on many of my personal experiences over the past 20 years as well as on my impressions of where we should be headed as ethnic researchers and scholars.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors compare constructivist and sociocultural perspectives, and compare whether any empirical or scientific claims are involved, or whether the differences are entirely perspectival.
Abstract: I n comparing constructivist and sociocultural perspectives, it is worth considering at the outset whether any empirical or scientific claims are involved—claims that could be vulnerable to evidence—or whether the differences are entirely perspectival. The slogan "students construct their own knowledge" is not by itself a falsifiable claim. It is simply a concomitant of any cognitive stance— including the stance of folk psychology. As long as one views the mind as axontainer whose contents are beliefs, schemata, cognitive structures, or other cognitive objects, then any plausible explanation of how those objects get into the mind has to assume that they are created there. What alternative is there, short of thought transference? The only way to reject it is by rejecting the whole structure of cognitive psychological ideas built upon the mind-ascontainer metaphor.
TL;DR: The results of large-scale standardized patient-based performance assessments are presented and discussed in terms of their feasibility, reliability, validity, and implications for assessing competence in other professions.
Abstract: This article reviews recent developments and measurement findings on the use of live patient simulations or “standardized patients” in performance examinations to assess the competence of medical professionals. The results of large-scale standardized patient-based performance assessments are presented and discussed in terms of their feasibility, reliability, validity, and implications for assessing competence in other professions.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors make clear that the previous conclusions and perspective on educational policy remain intact and are, perhaps, even strengthened by their reanalysis, and that the lack of relationship between resources and performance remains intact.
Abstract: Over the past quarter century, there has been an attempt to use systematic statistical analysis to inform educational policy. This analysis has not been greeted enthusiastically by educators, particularly because it has clearly indicated that their current operations are inefficient and broadly ineffective (Hanushek, 1989). The recent analysis of Larry Hedges, Richard Laine, and Rob Greenwald (1994) addresses the overall conclusions in my article about the lack of relationship between resources and performance. In this response, I endeavor to make clear that, when the dust settles, the previous conclusions and perspective on educational policy remain intact and are, perhaps, even strengthened by their reanalysis.
TL;DR: Major changes in the nature and context of assessment are underway that have potential implications for technical measurement standards, and these changes provide the context for the recently launched effort to revise the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing.
Abstract: Major changes in the nature and context of assessment are underway that have potential implications for technical measurement standards. Three particularly notable changes are (a) the expanded role of the federal government, (b) the increased emphasis on standards, and (c) the major increase in reliance on performance-based assessments. These changes provide the context for the recently launched effort to revise the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing. Implications of these and other changes for the revision of the Standards are discussed.
TL;DR: The idea for this exchange arose as a response to the fervor that is currently associated with constructivism in some segments of the mathematics and science education communities as discussed by the authors, and it seems important to distinguish between the writings of influential constructivist theorists, particularly von Glasersfeld and the views that have emerged in the two educational communities.
Abstract: The idea for this exchange arose as a response to the fervor that is currently associated with constructivism in some segments of the mathematics and science education communities. In addressing this topic, it seems important to distinguish between the writings of influential constructivist theorists, particularly von Glasersfeld, and the views that have emerged in the two educational communities. As a theory, constructivism is often reduced to the mantra-like slogan that \"students construct their own knowledge.\" Although several theoreticians have stressed that constructivism is a model or a conjecture that might be useful for educational purposes, the characterization of learning as individual construction is frequently treated as a conclusively proven fact that is beyond justification. Difficulties, of course, arise when one applies psychological constructivism reflexively and attempts to explain how so many mathematics and science educators have individually constructed this supposedly indubitable proposition. It is also interesting to note that a far greater degree of certainty is typically attributed to this proposition than to the apparently fallible and potentially revisable claims of mathematicians and scientists.
TL;DR: The viewpoint presented in this article is based on many of my personal experiences over the past 20 years as well as on my impressions of where we should be headed as ethnic researchers and scholars as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: T he major issues to be addressed here have to do with the frequent dilemmas confronted by those of us interested in ethnic research and our multiple responsibilities as ethnic scholars and mentors. The viewpoint presented in this article is based on many of my personal experiences over the past 20 years as well as on my impressions of where we should be headed as ethnic researchers and scholars.
TL;DR: This article summarized seven aspects of the available data from reading recovery in the United States: (a) nature of the reading tasks, (b) characteristics of tutors, (c) student accomplishments as first graders, (d) maintenance of student accomplishments through grade 4, (e) student-teacher ratio, (f) cost-effectiveness, and (g) teacher effectiveness and retention.
Abstract: Reading Recovery, a program in which teachers tutor first graders, has been implemented extensively in the United States over the past decade. This review summarizes seven aspects of the available data from Reading Recovery in the United States: (a) nature of the reading tasks, (b) characteristics of tutees, (c) student accomplishments as first graders, (d) maintenance of student accomplishments through Grade 4, (e) student-teacher ratio, (f) cost-effectiveness, and (g) teacher effectiveness and retention.
TL;DR: The authors examined the nature of teachers' work and compared teaching with the work performed in other occupations, concluding that teaching is a complex form of work that requires high levels of formal knowledge for successful performance.
Abstract: Educational researchers frequently compare teachers' work with work performed in other occupations. In this article, I discuss the promises and pitfalls of this type of analysis. Using data from The Dictionary of Occupational Titles (U.S. Department of Labor, 1991), I examine the nature of teachers’ work and compare teaching with the work performed in other occupations. On the basis of this analysis, I conclude that teaching is a complex form of work that requires high levels of formal knowledge for successful performance. I also argue that the professional status of teaching is closely tied to the complexity of teachers' work and that educational reforms intended to further professionalize the occupation of teaching can succeed only to the extent that they make teachers’ work even more complex than it currently is.
TL;DR: For example, Hanushek as mentioned in this paper pointed out that strong and consistent evidence meant to him that the preponderance of coefficients would have the same sign and be statistically significant, is a specification of his inference procedure.
Abstract: First, Hanushek seems to question the validity of meta analysis. We, and many other scientists and statisticians, disagree. For example, a recent report of a committee of the Mathematical Sciences Board of the National Research Council (1992), studying problems of combining information in the empirical sciences, concluded that "quantitative research synthesis—meta-analysis—has gained increasing use in recent years and rightly so. Meta-analysis offers a powerful set of tools for extracting information from a body of related research" (p. 2). Second, whether one admits it or not, taking evidence from studies (even if only a significance decision, a p value, or the sign of a coefficient) and drawing conclusions about the likely values of the parameters that the coefficients estimate is an inferential procedure. Inference procedures must have performance properties that are reasonably well understood if their results are to be credible. The fact that an inference procedure (such as that used by Hanushek) is vague does not usually exempt it from scrutiny, quite the contrary. Hanushek's statement that strong and consistent evidence meant to him that the preponderance of coefficients would have the same sign and be statistically significant, is a specification of his inference procedure. We admit that this inference procedure (vote counting) sounds sensible. However statisticians evaluate statistical procedures by deriving their properties. Hedges and Olkin (1980) showed that one would rarely obtain what Hanushek calls strong and consistent evidence even if the true values of the coefficients (the parameters) were positive and exactly the same in every study. Contrary to Hanushek's claim, Hedges and Olkin's results apply to a wide range of significance tests including t tests used for production function coefficients. Hanushek misunderstands the inference problem in re search synthesis in a subtle but important way. His inter pretation is that we want to know whether the "estimated relationship in any study has the expected sign and is statistically significant." Statistical inference is used to draw conclusions about the true values (parameters) that characterize relations, not the (random) pattern of estimates themselves. The failure to distinguish the pattern of observed results (es timates) from the parameter structure that generates them is a mistake that has led to a great deal of confusion in research synthesis (e.g., to the appeal of vote-counting), and Hanushek seems to make this mistake. Third, Hanushek attributes to us the statement that none of our samples of "estimates [is] appropriate for the statistical methodology" because none are completely independent. We did not say this and do not believe it. Hanushek is aware of dependence in his data that could compromise his inferences, yet he apparently did not consider its consequences for the validity of his own conclusions. We did— by constructing a subsample of estimates for each resource variable that was independent. Hanushek may wish that, unlike him, we had used full multivariate procedures in our meta-analysis to deal more efficiently with dependence (see Becker, 1992; Becker & Scpram, 1994). However, they require even better reporting of data than the methods we used (only six of Hanushek's publications provided enough information to use these methods; see Becker & Kamata, 1994).
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the possibility of framing interpretations within an ideology to produce consistent judgments and propose ways of structuring and formulating interpretations within a dimensional framework and making them explicit and visible in the writing of interpretive summaries.
Abstract: When we conceive of knowledge as what is created in discourse, the role of interpretation in the assessment of complex performances becomes critical. Since an assessment system is always defined within an ideology, we discuss the possibility of framing interpretations within that ideology to produce consistent judgments. We propose ways of structuring and formulating interpretations within a dimensional framework and of making them explicit and visible in the writing of interpretive summaries. The discussion in this article reflects the constant tension between the requirement to make assessment decisions and the fact that the performances and their assessment are considered to be acts of interpretation which do not easily accommodate the notion of correctness.
TL;DR: In this paper, a metaphor of qualitative research as jazz is developed to illuminate qualities embedded in processes of qualitative inquiry, and the metaphor creates a pathway for making explicit the tacit understandings that enable us to make our way as researchers without fully orchestrated scores.
Abstract: A metaphor of qualitative research as jazz is developed to illuminate qualities embedded in processes of qualitative inquiry. The jazz metaphor creates a pathway for making explicit the tacit understandings that enable us to make our way as researchers without fully orchestrated scores. As jazz is guided by a deep structure of chord progressions and themes, qualitative inquiry is guided by epistemological principles, socially constructed values, inquiry focuses, and findings emerging through analytic methodologies such as constant comparison.
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TL;DR: This paper found that achievement is inversely related to both size indexes and state funding share, but insignificantly related to per-student funding in 38 states that voluntarily cooperated in administering the National Assessment of Educational Progress mathematics examination to random within-state samples of eighth grade students.
Abstract: During the past half century, three pronounced trends in state policy have occurred: Districts and schools have dramatically risen in enrollments; states have steadily raised their share of revenues for public schools; and local shares have declined. Yet organization theory and evidence suggest that these trends would make public education less efficient. This hypothesis is tested in 38 states that voluntarily cooperated in administering the National Assessment of Educational Progress mathematics examination to random within-state samples of eighth-grade students. Both correlations and regressions (controlling for per-student expenditures and student demographics) show that achievement is inversely related to both size indexes and state funding share. Achievement is inversely but insignificantly related to per-student funding.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss progress and future possibilities for additional useful research on gender equity in education and conclude that there are many continuing inequities that merit exploration and resolution by educational researchers and practitioners.
Abstract: Many contributors to this article started their journey to increase gender equity in education around 1972, when federal Title IX legislation was passed. Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in educational programs or activities receiving federal financial assistance. This article discusses progress and future possibilities for additional useful research. After reviewing relevant goals, we address equity issues in the areas of the education workforce; student educational attainment and career achievement; formal curricula (including content and testing); and informal curricula (including classroom interaction, single-sex environments, sexuality, and family and child care issues). Although there has been progress in attaining equity goals in some of these areas, we conclude that there are many continuing inequities that merit exploration and resolution by educational researchers and practitioners. Additionally, there is a need for more systematic development of a comprehensive research and...
TL;DR: The authors review the history of the assessments and evaluate the major explanations of the achievement differences and examine, in depth, the theoretical and empirical underpinnings of curriculum-centered explanations because of their relevance to school reform.
Abstract: In the past few years, it has been argued that the international assessments are seriously flawed by sampling and test bias and that conclusions about U.S. educational inferiority are unwarranted. Alternatively, it has been argued that the differences in national performances are related to cultural differences, institutional arrangements such as curriculum and length of the school year, and ineffective pedagogy. To clarify these issues, I review the history of the assessments and evaluate the major explanations of the achievement differences. I examine, in depth, the theoretical and empirical underpinnings of curriculum-centered explanations because of their relevance to school reform (Westbury, 1992, 1993).
TL;DR: In this article, it is argued that educational researchers and social scientists should begin to consider the consequences of the discrepancy between scientific/professional and vernacular concepts of intelligence, and the field should consider the implications of a new psycholo...
Abstract: The concept of intelligence is usually conceived of and operationalized in terms of cognitive capacities—relatively fixed information processing operations that determine the efficiency with which preestablished goals are achieved. Intelligence, as operationalized in standardized assessment instruments, has not included the measurement of dispositions toward rational thought and behavior (i.e., the thought processes that fix beliefs proportionately to evidence and that maintain consistency among beliefs). This contrasts with the vernacular use of the term intelligence, which does subsume dispositions toward rationality. It is argued that educational researchers and social scientists should begin to consider the consequences of the discrepancy between scientific/professional and vernacular concepts of intelligence. In order to provoke thought about the discrepancy and the effects that it has on educational practice and social policy, it is proposed that the field consider the implications of a new psycholo...