1. Youth and Schools’ Practices in Hyper-Diverse Contexts

Author: Christine Brigid Malsbary

Source: American Educational Research Journal(December 29, 2016):  1491–1521

Abstract:

The article presents findings from a multisited ethnography in two public high schools in Los Angeles and New York City. Schools were chosen for their hyper-diverse student populations. Students came from over 40 countries, speaking 20 languages in one school and 33 languages in another. Results of analysis found that despite contrasting missions, policies, organizational structures, curricular techniques, and teachers’ beliefs and attitudes across schools, youths’ practices were similar. Youth enacted explicit transcultural repertoires of practice: multiplicities of talking, thinking, and acting that engaged the resources and opportunities of ethnically and linguistically diverse classrooms. The article theorizes the importance of recognizing hyper-diversity as a distinct cultural context that shapes and situates youths’ practices and therefore their opportunities to learn.

 

2. “Just Let the Worst Students Go”  A Critical Case Analysis of Public Discourse About Race, Merit, and Worth

Author: Sabrina Zirkel, Terry M. Pollack

Source: American Educational Research Journal(December 29, 2016): 1522–1555

Abstract:

We present a case analysis of the controversy and public debate generated from a school district’s efforts to address racial inequities in educational outcomes by diverting special funds from the highest performing students seeking elite college admissions to the lowest performing students who were struggling to graduate from high school. Widespread arguments against the proposed change emphasized the identification of highly successful students as “worthy” and others as “unworthy” of resources. Through an analysis of print and digital public texts, we identify a narrative cycle that informed public debate: (a) colorblind rhetoric, (b) academic performance is presumed to emerge solely from talent and effort, so (c) academic performance then becomes a measure of worth, and finally, (d) efforts to address racial disparities are “unfair.” We argue that narratives identifying some students as worthy and others unworthy are highly influential in the outcomes of many educational policy and funding debates.

 

3. Racial/Cultural Awareness Workshops and Post-College Civic Engagement  A Propensity Score Matching Approach

Author: Nicholas A. Bowman, Nida Denson, Julie J. Park

Source: American Educational Research Journal(October 22, 2016): 1556–1587

Abstract:

Racial/cultural awareness workshops constitute a salient form of co-curricular diversity engagement in higher education. Although these workshops are generally quite short in duration (often no more than two hours), previous research suggests that workshop participation is associated with undergraduate civic growth. The current study uses multilevel propensity score matching analyses to explore whether racial/cultural awareness workshops during college are associated with a variety of civic outcomes six years after graduation. Using a 10-year longitudinal sample of 8,634 alumni from 229 institutions, diversity workshop participation is significantly and positively related to 10 post-college behaviors, attitudes/beliefs, and skills/tendencies. Moreover, these effects are consistent regardless of participants’ race/ethnicity, gender, and institutional affiliation.

 

4. Social Mobility and Reproduction for Whom? College Readiness and First-Year Retention

Author: Linda DeAngelo, Ray Franke

Source: American Educational Research Journal(December 29, 2016):1588–1625

Abstract:

Completing college is now the minimum threshold for entry into the middle class. This has pushed college readiness issues to the forefront in efforts to increase educational attainment. Little is known about how college readiness improves outcomes for students traditionally marginalized in educational settings or if social background factors continue to impact students in the same way during college regardless of readiness. Examining first-year college retention using a nationally representative data set, this study asks if social background factors and financial resources for college differentially impact students based on readiness. Findings indicate that academic readiness matters and that parental income and college generation status differentially affect first-year college retention for less-ready students but not college-ready students. Students who begin college less prepared academically are also more disadvantaged than college-ready students by the funding sources they have for college. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.

 

5. Devalued Black and Latino Racial Identities  A By-Product of STEM College Culture?

Author: Ebony O. McGee

Source: American Educational Research Journal(December 29, 2016):1626–1662

Abstract:

At some point most Black and Latino/a college students—even long-term high achievers—question their own abilities because of multiple forms of racial bias. The 38 high-achieving Black and Latino/a STEM study participants, who attended institutions with racially hostile academic spaces, deployed an arsenal of strategies (e.g., stereotype management) to deflect stereotyping and other racial assaults (e.g., racial microaggressions), which are particularly prevalent in STEM fields. These students rely heavily on coping strategies that alter their authentic racial identities but create internal turmoil. Institutions of higher education, including minority-serving schools, need to examine institutional racism and other structural barriers that damage the racial identities of Black and Latino/a students in STEM and cause lasting psychological strain.

 

6. Restorative Interventions and School Discipline Sanctions in a Large Urban School District

Author: Yolanda Anyon, Anne Gregory, Susan Stone, Jordan Farrar, Jeffrey M. Jenson, Jeanette McQueen, Barbara Downing, Eldridge Greer, John Simmons

Source: American Educational Research Journal(December 29, 2016):1663–1697

Abstract:

A large urban district (N = 90,546 students, n = 180 schools) implemented restorative interventions as a response to school discipline incidents. Findings from multilevel modeling of student discipline records (n = 9,921) revealed that youth from groups that tend to be overrepresented in suspensions and expulsions (e.g., Black, Latino, and Native American youth; boys; and students in special education) had similar, if not greater, rates of participation in restorative interventions than their peers. First-semester participants in restorative interventions had lower odds of receiving office discipline referrals (OR .21, p < .001) and suspensions (OR .07, p < .001) in the second semester. However, the suspension gap between Black and White students persisted. Implications for reform in school discipline practices are noted.

 

7. Joint Inquiry  Teachers’ Collective Learning About the Common Core in High-Poverty Urban Schools

Author: Elizabeth Leisy Stosich

Source: American Educational Research Journal(December 29, 2016):1698–1731

Abstract:

Recent research on the relationship between standards and teachers’ practice suggests that teachers are unlikely to make changes to practice without extensive opportunities for learning about standards with colleagues. This article extends this line of research, using a comparative case study of three high-poverty urban schools to examine the nature of teachers’ collaborative work around the Common Core State Standards and the conditions that support this work. It argues that collaborative practices that encourage joint examination of instruction and student learning against standards support teachers in noticing and attending to differences between their current practice and standards. In addition, it examines the role of teachers’ instructional knowledge and principals’ leadership in supporting teachers’ collaboration around standards.

 

8. Greater Engagement Among Members of Gay-Straight Alliances  Individual and Structural Contributors

Author: V. Paul Poteat, Nicholas C. Heck, Hirokazu Yoshikawa, Jerel P. Calzo

Source: American Educational Research Journal(October 23, 2016):1732–1758

Abstract:

Using youth program models to frame the study of Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs), we identified individual and structural predictors of greater engagement in these settings with a cross-sectional sample of 295 youth in 33 GSAs from the 2014 Massachusetts GSA Network Survey (69% LGBQ, 68% cisgender female, 68% White,Mage =16.07). Multilevel modeling results indicated that members who perceived more support/socializing from their GSA, had more LGB friends, were longer serving members, and were in GSAs with more open and respectful climates reported greater engagement. Further, there was a curvilinear association between organizational structure in the GSA and engagement: Perceptions of more structure were associated with greater engagement to a point, after which greater structure was related to less engagement.

 

9. Knowledge Globalization Within and Across the People’s Republic of China and the United States  A Cross-National Study of Internationalization of Educational Research in the Early 21st Century

Author: Robert J. Tierney, Wei Kan

Source: American Educational Research Journal(December 29, 2016): 1759–1791

Abstract:

The study examines globalization within and across China and the United States in conjunction with a portrayal of the nature of the scholarly endeavors over the past 10 years in the two preeminent educational research journals of these countries. By extensive analyses of topics, methodology, and citations the research clarifies the global and local forces at work within and across countries, including the types of internationalization occurring between the United States and People’s Republic of China. The findings suggest that globalization involves forces in transaction with one another—local forces addressing national interests and international forces seeking a comparative perspective primarily tied to local interests. The findings highlight the insularity of each country’s scholarly endeavors and how research is skewed toward western scholarship.

 

10. Leveled and Exclusionary Tracking  English Learners’ Access to Academic Content in Middle School

Author: llana M. Umansky

Source: American Educational Research Journal(December 29, 2016): 1792–1833

Abstract:

This study examines the characteristics and determinants of English learners’ (ELs’) access to academic content in middle school (Grades 6–8). Following 10 years of data from a large urban school district in California, I identify two predominant characteristics of EL access to content: leveled tracking in which ELs are overrepresented in lower level classes and underrepresented in upper level classes and exclusionary tracking in which ELs are excluded from core academic content area classes, particularly English language arts. Using regression analysis and two regression discontinuity designs, I find evidence that ELs’ access to content is limited by a constellation of factors, including prior academic achievement, institutional constraints, English proficiency level, and direct effects of EL classification. This study contributes to understanding of the experiences and opportunities of students learning English as well as theory regarding educational tracking.

 

11. What Can Student Perception Surveys Tell Us About Teaching? Empirically Testing the Underlying Structure of the Tripod Student Perception Survey

Author: Tanner LeBaron Wallace, Benjamin Kelcey, Erik Ruzek

Source: American Educational Research Journal(November 5, 2016):1834–1868

Abstract:

We conducted a theory-based analysis of the underlying structure of the Tripod student perception survey instrument using the Measures of Effective Teaching (MET) database (N = 1,049 middle school math class sections; N = 25,423 students). Multilevel item factor analyses suggested that an alternative bifactor structure best fit the Tripod items, and preliminary evidence suggests that both the general responsivity and the classroom management–specific dimensions are positively associated with teacher value-added scores. In our discussion, we consider the distinct characterizing features of adolescents as raters of teaching, the implications for teacher professional learning opportunities, and key areas for future research.