Showing papers in "Harvard Educational Review in 1978"
TL;DR: In this article, Carver concludes that we should return to the scientific method of examining data and replicating results rather than relying on statistical significance testing to provide equivalent information, and suggests other ways of evaluating research results.
Abstract: In recent years the use of traditional statistical methods in educational research has increasingly come under attack. In this article, Ronald P. Carver exposes the fantasies often entertained by researchers about the meaning of statistical significance. The author recommends abandoning all statistical significance testing and suggests other ways of evaluating research results. Carver concludes that we should return to the scientific method of examining data and replicating results rather than relying on statistical significance testing to provide equivalent information.
917 citations
TL;DR: Mehan as mentioned in this paper advocates the use of constitutive ethnography to examine the processes by which school participants create school structures and give equal attention to the processes as well as the outcomes of structuring activities.
Abstract: In this article Hugh Mehan calls for a new approach to the study of schooling. He notes that the research methods that dominated the study of school effects in the last two decades—large-scale surveys and field observation—have failed to examine the processes by which school participants create school structures. The approach Mehan advocates, "constitutive ethnography," would give equal attention to the processes as well as the outcomes of structuring activities. He outlines the method of constitutive ethnography and illustrates its application in studies of classroom organization, testing encounters, and counseling sessions. Mehan concludes by calling for "constitutive career studies" of individuals as they participate in a range of school events.
327 citations
TL;DR: Follow Through has been the largest and most expensive federal educational experiment in this country's history as discussed by the authors, which was designed as a service program to improve the schooling of disadvantaged children in the early elementary grades.
Abstract: Follow Through has been the largest and most expensive federal educational experiment in this country's history. Conceived in 1967 as an extension of Head Start, Follow Through was designed as a service program to improve the schooling of disadvantaged children in the early elementary grades. Before it was under way, however, an expected $120 million appropriation was slashed to only $15 milion for the first year. A decision was then made by the U.S. Office of Education to convert the program into a planned variation experiment, which systematically would compare pupils enrolled in different models of early childhood education— the Follow Through models—to each other and to pupils from non-Follow Through classes.
210 citations
TL;DR: In an extensive review of validation studies on the ten most frequently recommended procedures used for diagnosing learning disabilities, Gerald Coles evaluates the special knowledge claims made by learning-disabilities specialists and concludes that these procedures often lack a sound empirical base as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: In an extensive review of validation studies on the ten most frequently recommended procedures used for diagnosing learning disabilities, Gerald Coles evaluates the special knowledge claims made by learning-disabilities specialists. Finding that these procedures often lack a sound empirical base, he then explores why children continue to be diagnosed and labeled as learning disabled. Coles concludes that specialists in the field have resorted to biological explanations for institutional failures, focusing our attention, concern, and attempts at remediation on the child rather than on the social context in which that child must perform.
170 citations
TL;DR: Pedersen et al. as mentioned in this paper found that the classroom teacher may have a significant effect on children's chances for success in later life, in contrast to that of many recent studies.
Abstract: In this article Eigil Pedersen, Therese Annette Faucher, and William W. Eaton have taken on one of the most difficult questions in educational research: the impact of the classroom teacher on children's adult status. The authors detail the results of a research project of unconventional methodology and Unusually long duration. They sought originally to examine atypical IQ changes but came to focus on the enduring effects of one remarkable first-grade teacher. Drawing upon the idea of the "self-fulfilling prophecy," the authors relate the effects of teachers' attitudes and resultant behavior to the subsequent adult status of sixty children. Their conclusion, in contrast to that of many recent studies, is that the classroom teacher may have a significant effect on children's chances for success in later life.
152 citations
TL;DR: Sc Scribner and Michael Cole as discussed by the authors have questioned some of the generalizations made about the consequences of literacy and intellectual development in the Vai of Liberia, a people who have invented a syllabic writing system to represent their own language.
Abstract: A variety of claims has been made about the relationship between literacy and intellectual development. Many developmental psychologists hold that skills in reading and writing lead inevitably to major transformations in cognitive capacities. Drawing from their observations of unschooled but literate adults, Sylvia Scribner and Michael Cole have questioned some of the generalizations made about the consequences of literacy. Their research among the Vai of Liberia, a people who have invented a syllabic writing system to represent their own language, provides a unique opportunity to investigate the effects of becoming literate separtely from the effects of attending school.
138 citations
TL;DR: Schlossman and Wallach as discussed by the authors found that female juvenile delinquents often received more severe punishments than males, even though boys usually were charged with more serious crimes, and that the discriminatory treatment of female delinquents in the early twentieth century resulted from racial prejudice, new theories of adolescence, and Progressive-era movements to purify society.
Abstract: The juvenile justice system's discrimination against poor and minority children has been well documented, but the system's discrimination on the basis of gender has been less widely recognized. Drawing on neglected court records and secondary sources, Steven Schlossman and Stephanie Wallach show how girls bore a disproportionate share of the burden of juvenile justice in the Progressive era. The authors note that during the Progressive era female juvenile delinquents often received more severe punishments than males, even though boys usually were charged with more serious crimes. Schlossman and Wallach conclude that the discriminatory treatment of female delinquents in the early twentieth century resulted from racial prejudice, new theories of adolescence, and Progressive-era movements to purify society.
136 citations
TL;DR: In September 1960, Fidel Castro announced to the world that Cuba would, within a year's time, teach more than one million illiterate adult Cubans to read and write as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: sIn September 1960, Fidel Castro announced to the world that Cuba would, within a year's time, teach more than one million illiterate adult Cubans to read and write. In this article, based on inter...
60 citations
TL;DR: Haney and Madaus as discussed by the authors explored the complexities of minimal-competency testing and argued for a careful consideration of several important unresolved issues: the definition of what constitutes a "minimal competency" the determination of appropriate measures, and the use of the concept of minimal competence in formulating educational goals.
Abstract: The movement to test students' competencies as both a basis for promotion and a means for improving educational achievement is gathering momentum. In this article, Walt Haney and George Madaus explore the complexities of minimal-competency testing. They examine the implementation of minimal-competency testing programs nationwide and argue for a careful consideration of several important unresolved issues: the definition of what constitutes a "minimal competency" the determination of appropriate measures, and the use of the concept of minimal competence in formulating educational goals.
56 citations
TL;DR: In this article, Cagan argues that educators must actively foster in children a collectivist character based on altruism, cooperation, and concern for the welfare of others, and offers a series of educational activities and methods designed both to reflect and to promote such ideals.
Abstract: Suggesting the American notions of individualism may be at the heart of the failure of radical schools reform, Elizabeth Cagan argues that educators must actively foster in children a collectivist character—one based on altruism, cooperation, and concern for the welfare of others. In support of this, she reviews a diverse body of literature ranging from observaations of education in socialist nations to experimental research on cooperative behavior among childern. Concluding that a moral commitment to collectivist ideals is the essence of radical reform, she offers a series of educational activities and methods designed both to reflect and to promote such ideals.
46 citations
TL;DR: Cohen argues that the recent interest in "accountability" arises from disappointment with the reform efforts of the 1930s and 1960s and examines reforms based on the view that substantive improvements will not work unless the power of professionals is reduced and the power and participation of families and communities increased.
Abstract: In this essay David Cohen explores the effects of a growing belief that the key to school reform is political and procedural change, rather than substantive improvement. He argues that the recent interest in "accountability" arises from disappointment with the reform efforts of the 1930s and 1960s and examines reforms based on the view that substantive improvements will not work unless the power of professionals is reduced and the power and participation of families and communities increased. Suggesting that there are serious social and economic barriers to the success of such participatory reforms, he argues that the political power of private and politically unaccountable agencies is at least as serious an obstacle to democratic control as the power of school professionals and bureaucrats who are formally accountable. He examines the barriers to participatory reforms and the problems of private government and assesses the prospects for alternative approaches to reforming school politics.
TL;DR: Abt Associates' five-year analysis of the national Follow Through data has reached several conclusions about the performance of this bold and costly educational experiment that have important implications for gobernment, for educators, and for researchers.
Abstract: Abt Associates' five-year analysis of the national Follow Through data has reached several conclusions about the performance of this bold and costly educational experiment. These conclusions have important implications for gobernment, for educators, and for researchers. A Ford Foundation-funded and widely disseminated critique written by House, Glass, McLean, and Walker (1978), Which appears in this volume, does not take issue with any of these conclusions. The House group gives prominent mention, in fact, to only one of them, and while it comments favorably on that conclusion, it does so in a context of such shrill negativism that the reader of the critique must carry away the impression that we have said nothing that is either valid or important. We do not concur. People who care about education should care about what we have learned.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors pointed out that many of the issues discussed by House, Glass, McLean, and Walker in their critique of the Follow Through evaluation are related to outcome measures, analysis methods, and ways of summarizing and interpreting results.
Abstract: Most of the issues discussed by House, Glass, McLean,and Walker (1978) in their critique of the Follow Through evaluation are related to outcome measures, analysis methods, and ways of summarizing and interpreting results, although they also give recommendations for evaluation procedures generally. We believe that their critique is misleading in its interpretation of what the evaluation's findings were, what conclusions could be drawn from them, and, by implication, what evaluation research can contribute to decision making in education. But while we disagree with much that is in the critique, we noetheless recognize that there are some major problems in evaluative research. Although these problems are not peculiar to the Follow Through evaluation, they are at least exemplified by it.
TL;DR: Friedman and Wiseman as discussed by the authors discuss the economic, legal, and logical implications of school-financing methods now practiced in several states, including Illinois, New York, and California.
Abstract: In this essay, Lee S. Friedman and Michael Wiseman discuss the economic, legal, and logical implications of school-financing methods now practiced in several states, including Illinois, New York, and California. Examining the Serrano case in California, the authors contend that an important inconsistency in the court requirements resulted from the apparent failure of both the courts and the legislatures to specify the logical relationships between several competing concepts of equality. To this end, Friedman and Wiseman provide a logical analysis of several concepts needed to measure the fair distribution of school revenues and resources. Using Illinois as a case study, they then construct empirical tests for each of those concepts both before and after the Hoffman-Fawell reform in school financing. Those data, finally, are used to suggest an analytic framework that can be employed for evaluating and perhaps predicting the impact of school-finance reforms on a wide range of state systems.
TL;DR: Follow Through evaluation as discussed by the authors showed that the results are meager, the only major finding being that different models of education work differently in different communities (House, Glass, McLean, & Walker, 1978).
Abstract: A rather common belief these days is that compensatory-education programs have produced few, if any, positive effects. In this view the evaluation of Follow Through is seen as merely the most recent confirmation of this belief. The results are thought to be meager, the only major finding being that different models of education work differently in different communities (House, Glass, McLean, & Walker, 1978). Other analysts of the Follow Through evaluation (Kennedy in press; Stallings, 1975; Stebbins, St. Pierre, Anderson, Proper, & Cerva, 1977) argue that the data Support only highly structured educational approaches as effective in teaching basic academic skills, and infer that models that do not focus on these skills appear to be ineffective as judged by the criteria used in the national evaluation. Presumably on the basic of conclusions like these the secretary of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare is reported to have told the President of the United States that the results "are not positi...