American Educational Research Journal 52卷3期

1. Organizing English Learner Instruction in New Immigrant Destinations: District Infrastructure and Subject-Specific School Practice

Author: Megan Hopkins, Rebecca Lowenhaupt, and Tracy M. Sweet

Source: American Educational Research Journal 52.3( Jun. 2015): 408-439.

Abstract: In the context of shifting demographics and standards-based reform, school districts in new immigrant destinations are charged with designing infrastructures that support teaching and learning for English learners (ELs) in core academic subjects. This article uses qualitative data and social network analysis to examine how one district in the midwestern United States organized EL instruction. After describing the district’s infrastructure for elementary EL education, we examine how this infrastructure supported teachers’ work practice—the practices in which teachers engage with one another—as operationalized around instructional advice and information networks. Findings reveal that teachers’ opportunities to learn about EL instruction varied significantly by the school subject and that these differences were directly related to the way in which the district built its EL educational infrastructure.

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2. The New Politics of Diversity: Lessons From a Federal Technical Assistance Grant

Author: Erica Frankenberg, Kathryn A. McDermott, Elizabeth DeBray, and Ann Elizabeth Blankenship

Source: American Educational Research Journal 52.3( Jun. 2015): 440-474.

Abstract: In 2009, the U.S. Department of Education distributed $2,500,000 via a competitive grant program, the Technical Assistance for Student Assignment Plans, to 11 school districts. The grants and their local effects provide an opportunity to examine the new politics of diversity in public education. Participants cited a wide range of conceptions of diversity, most of which were race-neutral. Some districts enacted policies deemphasizing their original diversity goals. Even in Technical Assistance for Student Assignment Plans (TASAP) districts, whose leaders presumably value diversity, diversity was not always a compelling goal when competing with priorities such as fiscal austerity, school improvement, and neighborhood school demands. Future federal efforts to increase students’ exposure to diverse peers should recognize that local conditions might create contrary political pressures for local policymakers.

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3. Teacher Collaboration in Instructional Teams and Student Achievement

Author: Matthew Ronfeldt, Susanna Owens Farmer, Kiel McQueen, and Jason A. Grissom

Source: American Educational Research Journal 52.3( Jun. 2015): 475-514.

Abstract: This study draws upon survey and administrative data on over 9,000 teachers in 336 Miami-Dade County public schools over 2 years to investigate the kinds of collaborations that exist in instructional teams across the district and whether these collaborations predict student achievement. While different kinds of teachers and schools report different collaboration quality, we find average collaboration quality is related to student achievement. Teachers and schools that engage in better quality collaboration have better achievement gains in math and reading. Moreover, teachers improve at greater rates when they work in schools with better collaboration quality. These results support policy efforts to improve student achievement by promoting teacher collaboration about instruction in teams.

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4. Intervention for First Graders With Limited Number Knowledge: Large-Scale Replication of a Randomized Controlled Trial

Author: Russell Gersten, Eric Rolfhus, Ben Clarke, Lauren E. Decker, Chuck Wilkins, and Joseph Dimino

Source: American Educational Research Journal 52.3( Jun. 2015): 516-546.

Abstract: Replication studies are extremely rare in education. This randomized controlled trial (RCT) is a scale-up replication of Fuchs et al., which in a sample of 139 found a statistically significant positive impact for Number Rockets, a small-group intervention for at-risk first graders that focused on building understanding of number operations. The study was relatively small scale (one site) and highly controlled. This replication was implemented at a much larger scale—in 76 schools in four urban districts; 994 at-risk students participated. Intervention students participated in approximately 30 hours of small-group work in addition to classroom instruction; control students received typical instruction and whatever assistance the teacher would normally provide. Intervention students showed significantly superior performance on a broad measure of mathematics proficiency.

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5. Year One Results From the Multisite Randomized Evaluation of the i3 Scale-Up of Reading Recovery

Author: Henry May, Abigail Gray, Philip Sirinides, Heather Goldsworthy, Michael Armijo, Cecile Sam, Jessica N. Gillespie, and Namrata Tognatta

Source: American Educational Research Journal 52.3( Jun. 2015): 547-581.

Abstract: Reading Recovery (RR) is a short-term, one-to-one intervention designed to help the lowest achieving readers in first grade. This article presents first-year results from the multisite randomized controlled trial (RCT) and implementation study under the $55 million Investing in Innovation (i3) Scale-Up Project. For the 2011–2012 school year, the estimated standardized effect of RR on students’ Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS) Total Reading Scores was .69 standard deviations relative to the population of struggling readers eligible for RR under the i3 scale-up and .47 standard deviations relative to the nationwide population of all first graders. School-level implementation of RR was, in most respects, faithful to the RR Standards and Guidelines, and the intensive training provided to new RR teachers was viewed as critical to successful implementation.

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6. Assessing the Cognitive Demands of a Century of Reading Curricula: An Analysis of Reading Text and Comprehension Tasks From 1910 to 2000

Author: Robert J. Stevens, Xiaofei Lu, David P. Baker, Melissa N. Ray, Sarah A. Eckert, and David A. Gamson

Source: American Educational Research Journal 52.3( Jun. 2015): 582-617.

Abstract: This research investigated the cognitive demands of reading curricula from 1910 to 2000. We considered both the nature of the text used and the comprehension tasks asked of students in determining the cognitive demands of the curricula. Contrary to the common assumption of a trend of simplification of the texts and comprehension tasks in third- and sixth-grade curricula, the results indicate that curricular complexity declined early in the century and leveled off over the middle decades but has notably increased since the 1970s, particularly for the third-grade curricula.