American Educational Research Journal 50卷4期文章

1. Equity or Marginalization?: The High School Course-Taking of Students Labeled With a Learning Disability

Author: Dara Shifrer, Rebecca M. Callahan, and Chandra Muller

Source:American Educational Research Journal, 2013, 50(4): 656-682

Abstract:Placement of some students into the courses needed only for high school graduation and others into those that prepare them for college constitutes academic stratification. This study uses data from the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 to investigate whether students labeled with learning disabilities complete fewer academic courses by the end of high school compared to their peers who are not labeled. Results indicate large disparities in completion of college preparatory coursework, especially in math, science, and foreign language, even net of students’ academic preparation for high school and their cognitive and noncognitive skills. The evidence supports the possibility that school processes contribute to the poorer course-taking outcomes of students labeled with learning disabilities.

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2. Making a Difference in Science Education: The Impact of Undergraduate Research Programs

Author: M. Kevin Eagan, Jr., Sylvia Hurtado, Mitchell J. Chang, Gina A. Garcia, Felisha A. Herrera, and Juan C. Garibay

Source:American Educational Research Journal, 2013, 50(4): 683-713

Abstract:To increase the numbers of underrepresented racial minority students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), federal and private agencies have allocated significant funding to undergraduate research programs, which have been shown to increase students’ intentions of enrolling in graduate or professional school. Analyzing a longitudinal sample of 4,152 aspiring STEM majors who completed the 2004 Freshman Survey and 2008 College Senior Survey, this study utilizes multinomial hierarchical generalized linear modeling and propensity score matching techniques to examine how participation in undergraduate research affects STEM students’ intentions to enroll in STEM and non-STEM graduate and professional programs. Findings indicate that participation in an undergraduate research program significantly improved students’ probability of indicating plans to enroll in a STEM graduate program.

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3. High School Socioeconomic Segregation and Student Attainment

Author: Gregory J. Palardy

Source:American Educational Research Journal, 2013, 50(4): 714-754

Abstract:Using data from the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002, this study examines the association between high school socioeconomic segregation and student attainment outcomes and the mechanisms that mediate those relationships. The results show that socioeconomic segregation has a strong association with high school graduation and college enrollment. Controlling for an array of student and school factors, students who attend high socioeconomic composition (SEC) schools are 68% more likely to enroll at a 4-year college than students who attend low SEC schools. Two mediating mechanisms were examined, including socioeconomic-based peer influences and school effects. The results indicate the association between SEC and attainment is due more to peer influences, which tend to be negative in the low SEC setting. However, school practices that emphasize academics also play a major role, particularly in mediating the relationship between SEC and 4-year college enrollment. These findings suggest that integrating schools is likely necessary to fully addressing the negative consequences of attending a low SEC school.

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4. Sorting and Supporting: Why Double-Dose Algebra Led to Better Test Scores but More Course Failures

Author: Takako Nomi andElaine M. Allensworth

Source:American Educational Research Journal, 2013, 50(4): 756-788

Abstract:In 2003, Chicago schools required students entering ninth grade with below-average math scores to take two periods of algebra. This led to higher test scores for students with both above- and below-average skills, yet failure rates increased for above-average students. We examine the mechanisms behind these surprising results. Sorting by incoming skills benefitted the test scores of high-skill students partially through higher demands and fewer disruptive peers. But more students failed because their skills were low relative to classroom peers. For below-average students, improvements in pedagogy and more time for learning offset problems associated with low-skill classrooms. In some cases, classrooms were not sorted, but below-average students took an extra support class simultaneously. Test scores also improved in such classes.

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5. Educational Researchers and Practicality

Author: Joke H. Van Velzen

Source:American Educational Research Journal, 2013, 50(4): 789-811

Abstract:In this article, an attempt to identify further directions in research designs that researchers can use to contribute to the relevance of educational research findings, by including teachers’ practicality issues, is presented. Sixty experienced teachers in secondary education read the reporting of modified experimental research findings about an unfamiliar teaching method for promoting students’ conceptual understanding via historical information and filled in open-ended questions that included general opinion, professional judgment, and research interpretation to capture their practicality issues. The teachers’ answers were analyzed to deduce a hierarchy of themes. The results suggest that the teachers’ practicality issues, which included mainly (a) students’ long-term achievement results, (b) the utility of the teaching method, (c) student experiences, and (d) comparison with other teaching methods, can point to a research program that includes teachers’ practicality issues.

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6. Longitudinal Evaluation of a Scale-Up Model for Teaching Mathematics With Trajectories and Technologies: Persistence of Effects in the Third Year

Author: Douglas H. Clements, Julie Sarama, Christopher B. Wolfe, and Mary Elaine Spitler

Source:American Educational Research Journal, 2013, 50(4): 812-850

Abstract:Using a cluster randomized trial design, we evaluated the persistence of effects of a research-based model for scaling up educational interventions. The model was implemented in 42 schools in two city districts serving low-resource communities, randomly assigned to three conditions. In pre-kindergarten, the two experimental interventions were identical, but one included follow-through in the kindergarten and first-grade years, including knowledge of the pre-K intervention and ways to build upon that knowledge using learning trajectories. Students in the experimental group scored significantly higher than control students (g = .51 for those who received follow-through intervention in kindergarten and first grade; g = .28 for non–follow-through), and follow-through students scored significantly higher than non–follow-through students (g = .24).