American Educational Research Journal 50卷5期文章

1. The Efficacy of Private Sector Providers in Improving Public Educational Outcomes

Author: Carolyn J. Heinrich andHiren Nisar

Source:American Educational Research Journal, 2013, 50(5): 856-894

Abstract:School districts required under No Child Left Behind (NCLB) to provide supplemental educational services (SES) to students in schools that are not making adequate yearly progress rely heavily on the private sector to offer choice in services. If the market does not drive out ineffective providers, students may not gain through SES participation. We estimate SES provider effects on students’ math and reading achievement in an urban school district that accounts for a significant share of participating students. We expect this research to inform education policy on the viability of policy interventions employing a private market model to improve public sector outcomes, including the reauthorization of Title I and district tutoring interventions under NCLB and after federal waivers from NCLB.

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2. The Net Black Advantage in Educational Transitions: An Education Careers Approach

Author: David M. Merolla

Source:American Educational Research Journal, 2013, 50(5): 895-924

Abstract:Recent studies have found a net Black advantage in educational attainment. This pattern indicates that after controlling for socioeconomic and academic characteristics, Black students are more likely to continue education than are their White counterparts. Using an educational careers approach, this study examines selection and student expectations and parental aspirations as potential explanations of this pattern. Results indicate that a net Black advantage exists from high school entry through postsecondary enrollment and that student expectations and parental aspirations partially explain the net Black advantage. These findings call into question selection explanations of the net Black advantage, underscore the role of socioeconomic disparities for educational stratification, and highlight the utility of an educational careers approach for understanding how race structures educational attainment.

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3. Tracking Effects Depend on Tracking Type: An International Comparison of Students’ Mathematics Self-Concept

Author: Anna K. Chmielewski, Hanna Dumont, and Ulrich Trautwein

Source:American Educational Research Journal, 2013, 50(5): 925-957

Abstract:The aim of the present study was to examine how different types of tracking— between-school streaming, within-school streaming, and course-by-course tracking—shape students’ mathematics self-concept. This was done in an internationally comparative framework using data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). After controlling for individual and track mean achievement, results indicated that generally for students in course-by-course tracking, high-track students had higher mathematics self-concepts and low-track students had lower mathematics self-concepts. For students in between-school and within-school streaming, the reverse pattern was found. These findings suggest a solution to the ongoing debate about the effects of tracking on students’ academic self-concept and suggest that the reference groups to which students compare themselves differ according to the type of tracking.

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4. Culture Consciousness Among Hmong Immigrant Leaders: Beyond the Dichotomy of Cultural Essentialism and Cultural Hybridity

Author: Bic Ngo

Source:American Educational Research Journal, 2013, 50(5): 958-990

Abstract:This article illustrates the culture consciousness of Hmong immigrant community leaders as they made sense of the educational experiences of Hmong American children and families. It draws on the work of scholars who have theorized “critical” essentialism to suggest that Hmong leaders are critically aware of the role and import of dominant culture in shaping the contours of Hmong children’s education. The analysis brings attention to “culture consciousness”—a lens for analyzing immigrant education that highlights the deployment of culture as social critique and political strategy. This research complicates the essentialist versus anti-essentialist binary for analyzing culture and disrupts the tendency to portray immigrant parents and adults as entrenched in a reified culture.

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5. The Importance of Scaffolding the Transition: Unpacking the Null Effects of Relocating Poor Children Into Nonpoor Neighborhoods

Author: Micere Keels

Source:American Educational Research Journal, 2013, 50(5): 991-1018

Abstract:I examine several potential explanations for recent evidence showing a lack of improvement in the academic achievement of children participating in several poverty reduction residential mobility programs. Detailed interviews and field notes about the relocation and school experiences of 80 children in the Gautreaux II residential mobility program are used. I find that for low-income children living in large central cities, residence in low-poverty neighborhoods has little effect on the opportunity to attend high-achieving schools. For those who relocated to suburban cities, neighborhood and school transition and adjustment difficulties create barriers that must be overcome for children to reap the educational benefits of attending high-achieving, highly resourced schools.

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6. The Influence of Teachers’ Knowledge on Student Learning in Middle School Physical Science Classrooms

Author: Philip M. Sadler, Gerhard Sonnert, Harold P. Coyle, Nancy Cook-Smith, and Jaimie L. Miller

Source:American Educational Research Journal, 2013, 50(5): 1020-1049

Abstract:This study examines the relationship between teacher knowledge and student learning for 9,556 students of 181 middle school physical science teachers. Assessment instruments based on the National Science Education Standards with 20 items in common were administered several times during the school year to both students and their teachers. For items that had a very popular wrong answer, the teachers who could identify this misconception had larger classroom gains, much larger than if the teachers knew only the correct answer. On items on which students did not exhibit misconceptions, teacher subject matter knowledge alone accounted for higher student gains. This finding suggests that a teacher’s ability to identify students’ most common wrong answer on multiple-choice items, a form of pedagogical content knowledge, is an additional measure of science teacher competence.

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7. Between Politics and Equations: Teaching Critical Mathematics in a Remedial Secondary Classroom

Author: Andrew Brantlinger

Source:American Educational Research Journal, 2013, 50(5): 1050-1080

Abstract:Proponents of critical mathematics (CM) argue that it has the potential to be more equitable and socially empowering than other approaches to mathematics education. In this article, the author presents results from a practitioner research study of his own teaching of CM to low-income students of color in a U.S. context. The results pertain to the evolution of his reflections about the potentially enhancing relationship between the critical and the mathematical components of CM and the nature of student empowerment as he designed and taught with CM materials. The results point to curricular and instructional factors that present serious barriers to effective implementation of CM at the secondary level.

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8. Why Students Choose STEM Majors: Motivation, High School Learning, and Postsecondary Context of Support

Author: Xueli Wang

Source:American Educational Research Journal, 2013, 50(5): 1081-1121

Abstract:This study draws upon social cognitive career theory and higher education literature to test a conceptual framework for understanding the entrance into science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors by recent high school graduates attending 4-year institutions. Results suggest that choosing a STEM major is directly influenced by intent to major in STEM, high school math achievement, and initial postsecondary experiences, such as academic interaction and financial aid receipt. Exerting the largest impact on STEM entrance, intent to major in STEM is directly affected by 12th-grade math achievement, exposure to math and science courses, and math self-efficacy beliefs—all three subject to the influence of early achievement in and attitudes toward math. Multiple-group structural equation modeling analyses indicated heterogeneous effects of math achievement and exposure to math and science across racial groups, with their positive impact on STEM intent accruing most to White students and least to underrepresented minority students.

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9. Connecting Self-Esteem and Achievement: Diversity in Academic Identification and Dis-identification Patterns Among Black College Students

Author: Elan C. Hope, Tabbye M. Chavous, Robert J. Jagers, and Robert M. Sellers

Source:American Educational Research Journal, 2013, 50(5): 1122-1151

Abstract:Using a person-oriented approach, we explored patterns of self-esteem and achievement among 324 Black college students across the freshman college year and identified four academic identification profiles. Multivariate analyses revealed profile differences in academic and psychological outcomes at beginning and end of freshman year (academic contingencies of self-esteem, anxiety, depressive symptoms, perceived stress), suggesting different conditions under which connections between self-esteem and achievement relate to positive or negative adjustment. Results also suggested a strong, positive racial group identification supports psychologically adaptive connections between self-esteem and achievement. Findings highlight challenges and benefits of connecting self-esteem to achievement for Black college students, heterogeneity within this population, and the relevance of considering race and cultural factors when studying achievement motivation processes among Black students.

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10. Pressures of the Season: An Examination of Classroom Quality and High-Stakes Accountability

Author: Stephen B. Plank andBarbara Falk Condliffe

Source:American Educational Research Journal, 2013, 50(5): 1152-1182

Abstract:High-stakes tests are the most heavily weighted measures in accountability systems developed in response to No Child Left Behind. While some studies show high-stakes accountability being related to test score gains, others suggest these policies do not improve achievement and often result in unintended consequences. To understand mechanisms driving positive and negative effects on student learning, it is necessary to look beyond achievement data and step inside classrooms. We present findings from 2 years of observation in 23 second and third grade classrooms, capitalizing on the combination of grade levels and seasons during which we observed. On the theoretically important domain of instructional support, we find classroom quality is lower when classrooms are under greatest pressure to increase test performance.