1. A Multistate District-Level Cluster Randomized Trial of the Impact of Data-Driven Reform on Reading and Mathematics Achievement
Author: Carlson, D.; Borman, G. D.; Robinson, M.
Source: Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 2011, 33(3): 378-398
Abstract: Analyzing mathematics and reading achievement outcomes from a district-level random assignment study fielded in over 500 schools within 59 school districts and seven states, the authors estimate the 1-year impacts of a data-driven reform initiative implemented by the Johns Hopkins Center for Data-Driven Reform in Education (CDDRE). CDDRE consultants work with districts to implement quarterly student benchmark assessments and provide district and school leaders with extensive training on interpreting and using the data to guide reform. Relative to a control condition, in which districts operated as usual without CDDRE services, the data-driven reform initiative caused statistically significant districtwide improvements in student mathematics achievement. The CDDRE intervention also had a positive effect on reading achievement, but the estimates fell short of conventional levels of statistical significance.
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2. Agents’ social imagination: The ‘invisible’ hand of neoliberalism in Taiwan's curriculum reform
Author: Teng, H.
Source: International Journal of Educational Development, 2012, 32(1): 39-45
Abstract: Neoliberalism has become the most dominant ideology in current world and educational researchers thus may need to disclose the ways in which neoliberalism affects education and curriculum and propose new strategies to cope with them. Through literature review, however, the author argues that perhaps because of the social and theoretical scope in the West, the existing analytical strategy, which mainly focuses on the influence of government policies, seems unsuitable for some non-Western countries. This paper reviews the Grade 1–9 curriculum reform in Taiwan's education system, and suggests that one of the neoliberalism's influences in education might be more ‘invisible’ because it reflects the public's/agents’ social imagination of this neoliberal world. Furthermore, the hybrid cultural context in Taiwan, such as the examination culture, also seems to play an important role in the process of curriculum reform. Thus, the author argues that the analysis of neoliberalism in education should pay more attention to ‘agent’ and ‘culture’ aspects, but not just ‘structure’ aspect. It is also argued that ‘curriculum reform’ should be expanded into ‘social reform’ to some extent, since social imagination has such a heavy impact on curriculum reform.
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3. Beyond ‘doing time’: investigating the concept of student engagement with feedback
Author: Handley, K.; Price, M.; Millar, J.
Source: Oxford Review of Education, 2011, 37(4): 543-560
Abstract: Feedback on students’ assignments may be comprehensive and well-constructed as a result of careful thought from tutors trying to identify and address students’ needs. However, feedback’s utility ultimately depends on the way students engage with it. ‘Doing time’ by complying with a norm of collecting, but then only skim-reading, feedback is a long way from the ‘mindful’ engagement associated with reflection, interpretation, deepening understanding and changes in later behaviour. This article argues that the literature’s traditional focus on experimental studies of feedback attributes (whilst ignoring students’ engagement) is misplaced, particularly given the methodological problems and inconsistent findings associated with these studies. These limitations suggest the need for an alternative line of enquiry. In this article, we develop a conceptual framework intended to illuminate the process of student engagement with feedback. We further propose a research agenda which can convey the variety of student experiences and generate analytic insights about students’ evolving engagement as a result of multiple feedback encounters in an educational setting. We suggest that this research agenda can lead to policies and practices to enhance student engagement with feedback, which may build students’ sense of responsibility and ownership for their learning.
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4. Children as consumers of historical culture in Finland
Author: Rantala, J.
Source: Journal of Curriculum Studies, 2011, 43(4): 493-506
Abstract: The article examines the reception of history by 7-10-year-old children in Finland and the role of historical culture in the formation of children’s conceptions of the past. It scrutinizes how history is used to build individual and collective identities and bring significance to the past in children’s everyday lives. Interviews with 174 pupils in a primary school in Helsinki constitute the basis of the research. The study reveals that children’s perceptions of the past are compounded above all by active reminiscence by their parents and grandparents, who in particular are retelling stories of the wars between Finland and the Soviet Union (1939-1944). Through these stories the older generations are trying to connect their families to the national Great Tradition. The study also claims that women are more active mediators of the past than men.
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5. Conceptualizing Teacher Professional Learning
Author: Opfer, V. D.; Pedder, D.
Source: Review of Educational Research, 2011, 81(3): 376-407
Abstract: This article adopts a complexity theory framework to review the literature on teachers’ professional development practices, the generative systems of these practices, and the impact that learning experiences have on their knowledge and changes in classroom practices. The review brings together multiple strands of literature on teacher professional development, teaching and learning, teacher change, and organizational learning. In doing so, it illustrates that process–product logic has dominated the literature on teacher professional learning and that this has limited explanatory ability. The review demonstrates the ways the elements of three subsystems (the teacher, the school, and the learning activity) interact and combine in different ways and with varying intensities to influence teacher learning. The limitations of studies focusing on specific elements or subsystems are highlighted. The article concludes that to understand teacher learning scholars must adopt methodological practices that focus on explanatory causality and the reciprocal influences of all three subsystems.
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6. Context based inferences in research methodology: the role of culture in justifying knowledge claims
Author: Evers, C. W.; Mason, M.
Source: Comparative Education, 2011, 47(3): 301-314
Abstract: Drawing on work in epistemology and the philosophy of science, this paper seeks to provide very general reasons for why a comparative perspective needs to be applied to the inferential procedures of research methodologies where these concern the issue of justifying knowledge claims. In particular, the paper explores the role of culture on a number of important patterns of reasoning that figure in inferential arguments in research methodologies. The patterns examined are induction, both enumerative and analytical, hypothetico-deductive reasoning, and abductive inference. In each case it is argued that substantive theories about the world, including cultures, significantly affect inferential procedures. Examples chosen to illustrate this in more detail mostly reflect the impact of Confucian heritage cultures on inference.
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7. Differential Improvement in Student Understanding of Mathematical Principles Following Formative Assessment Intervention
Author: Phelan, J.; Choi, K.; Vendlinski, T. (...)
Source: The Journal of Educational Research, 2011, 104(5): 330-339
Abstract: The authors describe results from a study of a middle school mathematics formative assessment strategy. They employed a randomized, controlled design to address the following question: Does using our strategy improve student performance on assessments of key mathematical ideas relative to a comparison group? Eighty-five teachers and 4,091 students were included. Students took a pretest and a transfer measure at the end of the year. Treatment students completed formative assessments. Treatment teachers had exposure to professional development and instructional resources. Results indicated students with higher pretest scores benefited more from the treatment compared to students with lower pretest scores. In addition treatment students significantly outperformed control students on distributive property items. This effect was larger as pretest scores increased. Results, limitations, and future directions are discussed.
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8. Do We Know a Successful Teacher When We See One? Experiments in the Identification of Effective Teachers
Author: Strong, M.; Gargani, J.; Hacifazlioğlu, Ö.
Source: Journal of Teacher Education, 2011, 62(4): 367-382
Abstract: The authors report on three experiments designed to (a) test under increasingly more favorable conditions whether judges can correctly rate teachers of known ability to raise student achievement, (b) inquire about what criteria judges use when making their evaluations, and (c) determine which criteria are most predictive of a teacher’s effectiveness. All three experiments resulted in high agreement among judges but low ability to identify effective teachers. Certain items on the established measure that are related to instructional behavior did reliably predict teacher effectiveness. The authors conclude that (a) judges, no matter how experienced, are unable to identify successful teachers; (b) certain cognitive operations may be contributing to this outcome; (c) it is desirable and possible to develop a new measure that does produce accurate predictions of a teacher’s ability to raise student achievement test scores.
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9. Does cram schooling matter? Who goes to cram schools? Evidence from Taiwan
Author: Jeng, L.
Source: International Journal of Educational Development, 2012, 32(1): 46-52
Abstract: Attendance at cram schools is an experience that the majority of Taiwanese have while growing up. However, the incidence and impact of cram schooling are still understudied and have yet received much attention. In this paper, I first illustrate the development of cram schools in Taiwan, and demonstrate the important changes on institutional factors and legitimacy of cram schools. Then I use data collected by Taiwan Education Panel Survey to investigate the net effect of cram schooling on students’ academic performance, and to test whether the opportunity of cram school participation reflects specific patterns of stratification.
Empirical results indicate that cram schooling does matter: attending cram schools has a significantly positive effect on a student's analytical ability and mathematical performance. However, cram school participation does not reflect specific patterns of social stratification: the opportunity of going to a cram school for a male student is not significantly different from that of a female; the effects of family background on students’ cram school participation are not as critical as they were in the past.
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10. Does Cultural Capital Really Affect Academic Achievement? New Evidence from Combined Sibling and Panel Data
Author: Jæger, M. M.
Source: Sociology of Education, 2011, 84(4): 281-298
Abstract: This article provides new estimates of the causal effect of cultural capital on academic achievement. The author analyzes data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth–Children and Young Adults and uses a fixed effect design to address the problem of omitted variable bias, which has resulted in too optimistic results in previous research. After controlling for family and individual fixed effects, the author reports that (1) six indicators of cultural capital have mostly positive direct effects on children’s reading and math test scores, (2) the effect of cultural capital is smaller than previously reported, and (3) the effect of cultural capital varies in high and low socioeconomic status (SES) environments. Results mostly support cultural reproduction theory (cultural capital more important in high SES environments) for cultural capital indicators capturing familiarity with legitimate culture and mostly support cultural mobility theory (cultural capital more important in low SES environments) for indicators capturing “concerted cultivation.”
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