1. Beyond Declines in Student Body Diversity: How Campus-Level Administrators Understand a Prohibition on Race-Conscious Postsecondary Admissions Policies Author: Liliana M. Garces and Courtney D. Cogburn Source: American Educational Research Journal 52.5 (Oct. 2015): 828-860. Abstract: Guided by a bottom-up policy implementation framework, this study draws from semi-structured interviews of 14 campus-level administrators charged with implementing diversity policy at the University of Michigan to investigate how an affirmative action ban (Proposal 2) influenced their efforts in support of racial/ethnic diversity at the university. Our findings show that beyond contributing to declines in student body diversity, laws like Proposal 2 have negatively influenced work critical to the success of students of color on campus. The findings suggest institutions operating in an anti–affirmative action context would benefit from proactive policies and practices that empower administrators in legally restrictive environments and support conversation and action that directly address the ways race continues to matter on college campuses. .................................................................................................................. |
2. Teachers’ Sensemaking of Data and Implications for Equity Author: Melanie Bertrand and Julie A. Marsh Source: American Educational Research Journal 52.5 (Oct. 2015): 861-893. Abstract: This article examines an understudied aspect of teachers’sensemaking of student learning data: the way in which teachers explain the causes of the outcomes observed in data. Drawing on sensemaking and attribution theory and data collected in six middle schools, we find that while teachers most often attributed outcomes to their own instruction, they also frequently focused on supposedly stable student characteristics. By citing these characteristics as explanations for the results analyzed, teachers may have inhibited reflection on their practice and reinforced low expectations for English language learners (ELLs) and students in special education. These findings yield implications for (a) the effectiveness of data use reforms and (b) equity in the education of ELLs and students in special education. .................................................................................................................. |
3. Opportunities for Learning Math in Elementary School: Implications for SES Disparities in Procedural and Conceptual Math Skills Author: Heather J. Bachman, Elizabeth Votruba-Drzal, Nermeen E. El Nokali, and Melissa Castle Heatly Source: American Educational Research Journal 52.5 (Oct. 2015): 894-923. Abstract: The present study examined whether multiple opportunities to learn math were associated with smaller socioeconomic status (SES) disparities in fifth-grade math achievement using data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD; N = 1,364). High amounts of procedural math instruction were associated with higher calculation and conceptual math skills. Children’s conceptual math skills were also positively associated with high amounts of science instruction. Income × instruction interactions were nonsignificant, but maternal education × math instruction interactions revealed narrower disparities in calculation skills when children were exposed to greater amounts of time in procedural and conceptual math instruction. Overall, the findings indicate that instructional influences on early math learning operate similarly for low and high SES children. .................................................................................................................. |
4. Predictors of Retention and Achievement in a Massive Open Online Course Author: Jeffrey A. Greene, Christopher A. Oswald, and Jeffrey Pomerantz Source: American Educational Research Journal 52.5 (Oct. 2015): 925-955. Abstract: Massive open online courses (MOOCs) have been heralded as an education revolution, but they suffer from low retention, calling into question their viability as a means of promoting education for all. In addition, numerous gaps remain in the research literature, particularly concerning predictors of retention and achievement. In this study, we used survival analysis to examine the degree to which student characteristics, relevance, prior experience with MOOCs, self-reported commitment, and learners’ implicit theory of intelligence predicted retention and achievement. We found that learners’ expected investment, including level of commitment, expected number of hours devoted to the MOOC, and intention to obtain a certificate, related to retention likelihood. Prior level of schooling and expected hours devoted to the MOOC predicted achievement. .................................................................................................................. |
5. A Case Study of Teacher Personal Practice Assessment Theories and Complexities of Implementing Formative Assessment Author: Cathy Box, Gerald Skoog, and Jennifer M. Dabbs Source: American Educational Research Journal 52.5 (Oct. 2015): 956-983. Abstract: The value and effectiveness of formative assessment in the classroom has gained an increasing amount of attention during the past decade, especially since the publication of seminal work by Black and Wiliam titled Assessment and Classroom Learning. Since that time, there has been a renewed interest in describing and evaluating teacher practices related to formative assessment. Based on evidence of its effectiveness in the classroom and on improving standardized test scores, many prominent educational entities have initiated reform efforts to promote the use of formative assessment, yet these practices have not been embraced by classroom teachers. This case study investigated internally constructed and externally imposed contextual elements that constrained or facilitated the use of formative assessment by three high school science teachers. Cornett’s curriculum development model of personal practice theories was modified to include assessment, termed personal practice assessment theories (PPATs), and chosen as a framework for the study. This research revealed distinct differences among the three teachers’ PPATs and several different factors that constrained or facilitated the use of formative assessment in their instruction. Most notable of these factors were the forms of teacher knowledge that played a critical role in shaping their assessment practices and had a bearing on their ability to convert espoused theories about assessment into actual classroom practice. Other externally imposed barriers that constrained the use of formative assessment included expectations, habits, and dispositions of students; the pressure that teachers felt to “cover” all of the curriculum in order to prepare students for the end-of-year, high-stakes exam; and an instructivist rather than constructivist approach to teaching and learning. Results from this study add to the growing body of knowledge about the complex terrain teachers negotiate in making teaching and assessment decisions and provides a framework for future studies. .................................................................................................................. |
6. An Efficacy Trial of Research-Based Curriculum Materials With Curriculum-Based Professional Development Author: Joseph A. Taylor, Stephen R. Getty, Susan M. Kowalski, Christopher D. Wilson, Janet Carlson, and Pamela Van Scotter Source: American Educational Research Journal 52.5 (Oct. 2015): 984-1017. Abstract: This study examined the efficacy of a curriculum-based intervention for high school science students. Specifically, the intervention was two years of research-based, multidisciplinary curriculum materials for science supported by comprehensive professional development for teachers that focused on those materials. A modest positive effect was detected when comparing outcomes from this intervention to those of business-as-usual materials and professional development. However, this effect was typical for interventions at this grade span that are tested using a state achievement test. Tests of mediation suggest a large treatment effect on teachers and in turn a strong effect of teacher practice on student achievement—reinforcing the hypothesized key role of teacher practice. Tests of moderation indicate no significant treatment by demographic interactions. .................................................................................................................. |
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