Educational Researcher 45卷4期

1. Recognizing the Political in Implementation Research

Author: Lorraine M. McDonnell and M. Stephen Weatherford

Source: Educational Researcher 45.4(May, 2016): 233-242.

Abstract: The widely publicized opposition to the implementation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) is in marked contrast to its relatively uncontroversial development and adoption—a contrast that points to the importance of understanding how the politics of enactment differs from the politics of implementation. In this article, we draw on the research literatures on enactment, implementation, and policy feedback to outline the reasons that the politics of policy implementation may look quite different from the politics of enactment, and we argue that education researchers need to pay as much attention to the political sustainability of reforms as to their implementation into school-level practice. This essay is an exercise in retrieval and construction, looking back to early implementation studies that featured political factors as key components of their analytical frameworks but also building on the insights from newer research that uses policy feedback as its theoretical lens. In arguing why the analysis of a policy’s political sustainability should be more systematically integrated into implementation research, we draw illustrative examples from the CCSS.

2. Alignment and Accountability in Policy Design and Implementation: The Common Core State Standards and Implementation Research

Author: Cynthia E. Coburn, Heather C. Hill, and James P. Spillane

Source: Educational Researcher 45.4(May, 2016): 243-251.

Abstract: Both the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and recent efforts to hold schools and teachers accountable have been hotly debated among practitioners, policymakers, and the public at large. Much of the debate centers on the merits and demerits of these initiatives and the general approach they represent to reforming teaching and learning. In this article, we focus on a different issue, that is, the opportunity to advance research on policy implementation afforded by the intertwined nature of CCSS and accountability efforts. Arguing that it is essential for stakeholders, regardless of their stance on either reform, to understand whether and how both influence classroom teaching and learning, we outline elements of a research agenda to generate knowledge important to the design of future instructional policies. For this to happen, we argue that an implementation research agenda needs to build on (rather than reinvent) lessons learned from the past quarter century of implementation scholarship on instructional policy. To that end, we review theoretical and empirical insights from implementation research on standards-based reform and outline specific avenues for potential theory testing research on educational policy implementation.

3. A Call for a More Measured Approach to Reporting and Interpreting PISA Results

Author: Leslie Rutkowski and David Rutkowski

Source: Educational Researcher 45.4(May, 2016): 252-257.

Abstract: In the current article, we consider the influential position of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and discuss several methodological areas that demonstrate the need for caution when using and interpreting PISA results. We motivate our argument by briefly describing the program’s increased influence in educational policy over time. Subsequently, we describe the methodological areas of interest, including sampling participants, the achievement estimation model, and measuring trends. We also offer our perspectives on how the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development might productively and more clearly communicate PISA’s limitations.

4. A Multigrade, Multiyear Statewide Examination of Reading Achievement: Examining Variability Between Districts, Schools, and Students

Author: Jill L. Adelson, Emily R. Dickinson, and Brittany C. Cunningham

Source: Educational Researcher 45.4(May, 2016): 258-262.

Abstract:

This brief examined the patterns of reading achievement using statewide data from all students (Grades 3–10) in multiple years to examine gaps based on student, school, and district characteristics. Results indicate reading achievement varied most between students within schools and that students’ prior achievement was the strongest predictor of current achievement. Achievement gaps were identified for males, Black students, students receiving meal subsidies, and schools with higher proportions of students receiving meal subsidies. A “clientele effect” was also found. Policy implications are discussed.

5. Who Is Opposed to Common Core and Why?

Author: Morgan S. Polikoff, Tenice Hardaway, Julie A. Marsh, and David N. Plank

Source: Educational Researcher 45.4(May, 2016): 263-266.

Abstract:

Rising opposition to the Common Core Standards (CCS) has undermined implementation throughout the country. Yet there has been no scholarly analysis of the predictors of CCS opposition in the populace. This analysis uses poll data from a statewide poll of California voters to explore the demographic and policy predictors of CCS opposition. We find opposition strongly associated with views about President Obama, several education policy issues (especially testing), and two mis/negative conceptions about the standards. We advocate future work using poll data to understand public opinion on education issues.