Decoteau J. Irby, Terrance L. Green, Ann M. Ishimaru
Purpose: This study sought to understand PK–12 district-level equity directors’ efforts to improve experiences of students of color and outcomes in US districts. Research Methods: We interviewed 13 practicing equity directors and analyzed artifacts such as meeting minutes, equity policies, equity mission statements, job descriptions, and organizational charts. Findings: Directors experienced structural and psychological vulnerabilities depending on how their districts structured the role with positional power, resources, and authority to carry out their leadership work. Equity directors’ roles were often ambiguous and at times misaligned to the expected leadership tasks. Institutionalized racial and gender oppression compounded the vulnerabilities of the role. Implications: To realize the full potential of this new district leadership position, districts must attend not only to what they expect equity directors to accomplish but also to the configurations of the role as it intersects with labor-related racial and gender oppression in districts.
{"title":"PK–12 District Leadership for Equity: An Exploration of Director Role Configurations and Vulnerabilities","authors":"Decoteau J. Irby, Terrance L. Green, Ann M. Ishimaru","doi":"10.1086/719120","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/719120","url":null,"abstract":"Purpose: This study sought to understand PK–12 district-level equity directors’ efforts to improve experiences of students of color and outcomes in US districts. Research Methods: We interviewed 13 practicing equity directors and analyzed artifacts such as meeting minutes, equity policies, equity mission statements, job descriptions, and organizational charts. Findings: Directors experienced structural and psychological vulnerabilities depending on how their districts structured the role with positional power, resources, and authority to carry out their leadership work. Equity directors’ roles were often ambiguous and at times misaligned to the expected leadership tasks. Institutionalized racial and gender oppression compounded the vulnerabilities of the role. Implications: To realize the full potential of this new district leadership position, districts must attend not only to what they expect equity directors to accomplish but also to the configurations of the role as it intersects with labor-related racial and gender oppression in districts.","PeriodicalId":47629,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Education","volume":"128 1","pages":"417 - 453"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2022-04-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45009810","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Joseph Kahne, Benjamin T. Bowyer, Jessica J Marshall, Erica Hodgin
Purpose: Drawing on relevant literature, we conceptualize three pathways through which responsiveness to student voice may promote academic goals. Then, we analyze panel data of students in the Chicago Public Schools to examine this relationship. We focus on the “responsiveness” of teachers and administrators to student voice, because prior work has highlighted that opportunities for student voice are often symbolic. Our central goal is to examine whether responsiveness to student voice is related to academic outcomes. Research Methods/Approach: We draw upon student records collected in Chicago Public Schools from the 2017–18 and 2018–19 school years, as well as students’ responses to questions administered in the district’s 2019 5Essentials Survey. We estimate models of the effect of responsiveness to student voice on students’ ninth-grade academic outcomes, controlling for students’ eighth-grade attendance and grade point average. Findings: In schools that students regard as responsive to their expressed critiques, students have better grades and attendance and reduced rates of chronic absenteeism. This is the first large-scale study employing panel data to examine the relationships between responsiveness to student voice and academic performance. Implications: Proponents of student voice have long emphasized its benefits in terms of democratic values and respect for the full humanity of young people. Scholars argue these benefits may be particularly important for students from marginalized communities. This study indicates that there are academic benefits as well. However, future studies are warranted to deepen our understanding of the mechanisms through which responsiveness to student voice yields valued benefits.
{"title":"Is Responsiveness to Student Voice Related to Academic Outcomes? Strengthening the Rationale for Student Voice in School Reform","authors":"Joseph Kahne, Benjamin T. Bowyer, Jessica J Marshall, Erica Hodgin","doi":"10.1086/719121","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/719121","url":null,"abstract":"Purpose: Drawing on relevant literature, we conceptualize three pathways through which responsiveness to student voice may promote academic goals. Then, we analyze panel data of students in the Chicago Public Schools to examine this relationship. We focus on the “responsiveness” of teachers and administrators to student voice, because prior work has highlighted that opportunities for student voice are often symbolic. Our central goal is to examine whether responsiveness to student voice is related to academic outcomes. Research Methods/Approach: We draw upon student records collected in Chicago Public Schools from the 2017–18 and 2018–19 school years, as well as students’ responses to questions administered in the district’s 2019 5Essentials Survey. We estimate models of the effect of responsiveness to student voice on students’ ninth-grade academic outcomes, controlling for students’ eighth-grade attendance and grade point average. Findings: In schools that students regard as responsive to their expressed critiques, students have better grades and attendance and reduced rates of chronic absenteeism. This is the first large-scale study employing panel data to examine the relationships between responsiveness to student voice and academic performance. Implications: Proponents of student voice have long emphasized its benefits in terms of democratic values and respect for the full humanity of young people. Scholars argue these benefits may be particularly important for students from marginalized communities. This study indicates that there are academic benefits as well. However, future studies are warranted to deepen our understanding of the mechanisms through which responsiveness to student voice yields valued benefits.","PeriodicalId":47629,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Education","volume":"128 1","pages":"389 - 415"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2022-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41412473","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Purpose: Law schools are gatekeepers to powerful positions, including US federal judicial systems and legislative branches. Although scholars have addressed underrepresentation of women and racial minorities in law schools and the legal profession, they tend to examine gender and race separately. This study is a critical quantitative analysis of law school admissions among women of color. Research Methods/Approach: We use an intersectionality framework, weighted effect coding, marginal effects, predicted probabilities, and multilevel models to examine admissions data from 25 public law schools. Findings: Unlike Black men, Black women did not receive the full strength of the independent positive relationship between being Black and law school admission, and their access to legal education varies across institutional rankings. Implications: These findings provide quantitative evidence for the importance of the concept of intersectionality—not just for examining multiple individual identities but also how intersected identities matter during selective admissions processes across institutional rankings.
{"title":"The Color of Law School: Examining Gender and Race Intersectionality in Law School Admissions","authors":"F. Fernandez, H. K. Ro, Miranda Wilson","doi":"10.1086/719119","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/719119","url":null,"abstract":"Purpose: Law schools are gatekeepers to powerful positions, including US federal judicial systems and legislative branches. Although scholars have addressed underrepresentation of women and racial minorities in law schools and the legal profession, they tend to examine gender and race separately. This study is a critical quantitative analysis of law school admissions among women of color. Research Methods/Approach: We use an intersectionality framework, weighted effect coding, marginal effects, predicted probabilities, and multilevel models to examine admissions data from 25 public law schools. Findings: Unlike Black men, Black women did not receive the full strength of the independent positive relationship between being Black and law school admission, and their access to legal education varies across institutional rankings. Implications: These findings provide quantitative evidence for the importance of the concept of intersectionality—not just for examining multiple individual identities but also how intersected identities matter during selective admissions processes across institutional rankings.","PeriodicalId":47629,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Education","volume":"128 1","pages":"455 - 485"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2022-03-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47088489","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Purpose: Drawing upon research into standards reform, and theorizing of professional and political capital, this article seeks to understand the development of and advocacy for the Next Generation Science Standards in the United States. As well as revealing how professional capital exists in three dimensions—human, social, and decisional—the research argues professional capital also needs to be understood as inherently political. Research Methods/Approach: The research draws upon interviews and discussions with key educators who developed and supported the Next Generation Science Standards at state and national levels. Findings: The article reveals political capital as vital for promoting educational standards reform, managing perceptions of reform, and making pragmatic decisions to ground reform in context. Political capital is a complex, contingent capacity vital to the development and acceptance of science education reform. Implications: Findings have implications for understanding power dynamics that characterize reform in schooling systems and professional contexts more broadly.
{"title":"Professional Capital as Political Capital: Science Standards Reform in the United States","authors":"I. Hardy, T. Campbell","doi":"10.1086/719157","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/719157","url":null,"abstract":"Purpose: Drawing upon research into standards reform, and theorizing of professional and political capital, this article seeks to understand the development of and advocacy for the Next Generation Science Standards in the United States. As well as revealing how professional capital exists in three dimensions—human, social, and decisional—the research argues professional capital also needs to be understood as inherently political. Research Methods/Approach: The research draws upon interviews and discussions with key educators who developed and supported the Next Generation Science Standards at state and national levels. Findings: The article reveals political capital as vital for promoting educational standards reform, managing perceptions of reform, and making pragmatic decisions to ground reform in context. Political capital is a complex, contingent capacity vital to the development and acceptance of science education reform. Implications: Findings have implications for understanding power dynamics that characterize reform in schooling systems and professional contexts more broadly.","PeriodicalId":47629,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Education","volume":"128 1","pages":"361 - 388"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2022-03-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45353046","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
B. Fuller, Shruti Bathia, Margaret Bridges, Y. Kim, C. Galindo, Francisco M. Lagos
Purpose: Does the rising share of Latino students in US schools help to integrate previously White campuses or exacerbate racial and economic segregation over time? This article details trends in the segregation of Latino children enrolled in elementary schools, 2000–2015, then examines how evolving patterns differ among the nation’s school districts. Research Methods: We compiled enrollment data from schools, merging census data on the demographic and economic attributes of residents inside the boundaries of each district. Changes in the interaction and entropy measures of segregation are reported, illuminating levels of Latino segregation between districts and among schools within districts. Findings: Latino children were less likely to attend elementary schools with White peers in 2015 relative to 2000, stemming in part from growing Latino enrollments. The isolation of Latino children within certain schools inside districts did not change on average. Local variation in segregation levels is associated with the income of residents within districts, along with their nativity and home language. Just 13% of the nation’s districts enroll sufficient counts of Latino and White children to advance integration among constituent schools. Implications: Rising Latino enrollment in once lily-white schools does advance racial integration. But many Latino children enter increasingly segregated school districts in which poor students are isolated from middle-class peers. In the absence of interdistrict integration efforts, little progress to integrate Latino children will be possible.
{"title":"Variation in the Local Segregation of Latino Children—Role of Place, Poverty, and Culture","authors":"B. Fuller, Shruti Bathia, Margaret Bridges, Y. Kim, C. Galindo, Francisco M. Lagos","doi":"10.1086/717674","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/717674","url":null,"abstract":"Purpose: Does the rising share of Latino students in US schools help to integrate previously White campuses or exacerbate racial and economic segregation over time? This article details trends in the segregation of Latino children enrolled in elementary schools, 2000–2015, then examines how evolving patterns differ among the nation’s school districts. Research Methods: We compiled enrollment data from schools, merging census data on the demographic and economic attributes of residents inside the boundaries of each district. Changes in the interaction and entropy measures of segregation are reported, illuminating levels of Latino segregation between districts and among schools within districts. Findings: Latino children were less likely to attend elementary schools with White peers in 2015 relative to 2000, stemming in part from growing Latino enrollments. The isolation of Latino children within certain schools inside districts did not change on average. Local variation in segregation levels is associated with the income of residents within districts, along with their nativity and home language. Just 13% of the nation’s districts enroll sufficient counts of Latino and White children to advance integration among constituent schools. Implications: Rising Latino enrollment in once lily-white schools does advance racial integration. But many Latino children enter increasingly segregated school districts in which poor students are isolated from middle-class peers. In the absence of interdistrict integration efforts, little progress to integrate Latino children will be possible.","PeriodicalId":47629,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Education","volume":"128 1","pages":"245 - 280"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2022-01-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42929842","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Purpose: This article examines the relationship between teacher unionization and the academic performance of students in districts of varying socioeconomic status (SES). We aim to answer the following research questions: Do union effects vary with the SES of districts? Are these effects more (or less) pronounced in high-SES, mid-SES, or low-SES districts? Research Methods/Approach: We merge two nationally representative data sets from the United States: the School and Staffing Survey and the Stanford Education Data Archive. We measure union strength with the presence of collective bargaining contracts (CB) or meet-and-confer agreements (MC). We employ propensity score matching. Considering CB (MC) as a treatment, we define districts with CB (MC) as the treated units and no agreement districts as the nontreated units. Findings: We find that middle-class districts with CB agreements had higher average test scores, in all grades and both math and English, than did districts with similar propensity scores but no CB agreement in place. Neither low-SES nor high-SES districts exhibited significant effects of CB on math or English scores. The pattern in MC effects is quite similar. MC agreements are correlated with higher scores in both subjects in all grades in middle-class districts. Implications: Our results indicate generally positive effects of teachers’ unions on student performance on standardized tests. Moreover, these positive effects are concentrated in middle-class US school districts. A decline in the ability of teachers to organize may therefore have differentially negative effects on the outcomes of students in these districts.
{"title":"Teachers’ Unionization, Socioeconomic Status, and Student Performance in the United States","authors":"E. Han, T. Maloney","doi":"10.1086/717673","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/717673","url":null,"abstract":"Purpose: This article examines the relationship between teacher unionization and the academic performance of students in districts of varying socioeconomic status (SES). We aim to answer the following research questions: Do union effects vary with the SES of districts? Are these effects more (or less) pronounced in high-SES, mid-SES, or low-SES districts? Research Methods/Approach: We merge two nationally representative data sets from the United States: the School and Staffing Survey and the Stanford Education Data Archive. We measure union strength with the presence of collective bargaining contracts (CB) or meet-and-confer agreements (MC). We employ propensity score matching. Considering CB (MC) as a treatment, we define districts with CB (MC) as the treated units and no agreement districts as the nontreated units. Findings: We find that middle-class districts with CB agreements had higher average test scores, in all grades and both math and English, than did districts with similar propensity scores but no CB agreement in place. Neither low-SES nor high-SES districts exhibited significant effects of CB on math or English scores. The pattern in MC effects is quite similar. MC agreements are correlated with higher scores in both subjects in all grades in middle-class districts. Implications: Our results indicate generally positive effects of teachers’ unions on student performance on standardized tests. Moreover, these positive effects are concentrated in middle-class US school districts. A decline in the ability of teachers to organize may therefore have differentially negative effects on the outcomes of students in these districts.","PeriodicalId":47629,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Education","volume":"128 1","pages":"281 - 325"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2022-01-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46270179","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Purpose: Collective efficacy (CE)—a group’s belief in its capabilities to organize and execute courses of action required to reach a goal—is an important organizational property because it facilitates goal attainment. The purpose of this sequential explanatory mixed-methods study was (1) to affirm the link between CE and student achievement, (2) to understand the antecedents of CE, and (3) to illustrate how school leaders shape conditions to promote CE. Research Methods/Approach: Using statewide data drawn from a stratified random sample of schools, analyses were conducted utilizing hierarchical generalized linear modeling. To probe the relationship between CE and student achievement, two high-poverty schools, differentiated by levels of CE and student performance, were selected for case studies. Findings: Quantitative results confirm CE was related to fourth-grade students’ odds of passing state standardized assessments in reading and mathematics. Case studies revealed principals created structures that enhanced instructional program coherence, which may have enriched CE. Implications: These findings underscore the importance in leadership in supporting CE. Specifically, leaders foster the conditions to enact an instructional framework that serves as an opportunity to not only build CE but also articulate CE beliefs.
{"title":"Building Coherence: An Investigation of Collective Efficacy, Social Context, and How Leaders Shape Teachers’ Work","authors":"Serena J. Salloum","doi":"10.1086/717654","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/717654","url":null,"abstract":"Purpose: Collective efficacy (CE)—a group’s belief in its capabilities to organize and execute courses of action required to reach a goal—is an important organizational property because it facilitates goal attainment. The purpose of this sequential explanatory mixed-methods study was (1) to affirm the link between CE and student achievement, (2) to understand the antecedents of CE, and (3) to illustrate how school leaders shape conditions to promote CE. Research Methods/Approach: Using statewide data drawn from a stratified random sample of schools, analyses were conducted utilizing hierarchical generalized linear modeling. To probe the relationship between CE and student achievement, two high-poverty schools, differentiated by levels of CE and student performance, were selected for case studies. Findings: Quantitative results confirm CE was related to fourth-grade students’ odds of passing state standardized assessments in reading and mathematics. Case studies revealed principals created structures that enhanced instructional program coherence, which may have enriched CE. Implications: These findings underscore the importance in leadership in supporting CE. Specifically, leaders foster the conditions to enact an instructional framework that serves as an opportunity to not only build CE but also articulate CE beliefs.","PeriodicalId":47629,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Education","volume":"128 1","pages":"203 - 243"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2021-12-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45763616","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Francesca T. Durand, K. Wilcox, H. Lawson, Kathryn Schiller
Purpose: This multiple comparative case study investigated district and high school leaders’ framing mechanisms and discourses around priorities and challenges to understand their equity aims and their preparation of diverse student populations’ college, career, and civic readiness. Research Methods/Approach: This research used framing theory to examine semistructured interviews and focus groups with 34 educational leaders from four sample schools with above average percentages of Black/African American, Hispanic/Latinx, and/or economically disadvantaged students. Three positive outlier schools were sampled as they achieved statistically significantly better graduation outcomes, whereas the comparison typical school performed as predicted. Findings: Positive outlier leaders coupled diagnostic and prognostic framing to address priorities and challenges while advancing an equity-oriented agenda. In addition, the positive outlier leaders’ discourses prioritized local needs and values, contextual challenges, and organizational learning. Furthermore, positive outlier leaders used a hybrid frame (motivational, normative, and regulatory) to emphasize academic achievement and student needs in service of improving outcomes for diverse students. In these schools, these hybrid discourses amount to a normative frame: “the way we do things around here.” In contrast, typical school leaders framed a narrower agenda focused on compliance-oriented discourses structured by policy regulations, and these acted as the primary motivators for action. Implications: Understanding framing mechanisms and discourses has import for educational leaders’ practices as they make sense of improvement efforts for underserved youth. Leaders’ frames and discourses may provide a consequential improvement mechanism for schools and entire districts caught in suboptimal organizational patterns and behavioral routines.
{"title":"Framing Leaders’ Discourses on College and Career Readiness","authors":"Francesca T. Durand, K. Wilcox, H. Lawson, Kathryn Schiller","doi":"10.1086/717672","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/717672","url":null,"abstract":"Purpose: This multiple comparative case study investigated district and high school leaders’ framing mechanisms and discourses around priorities and challenges to understand their equity aims and their preparation of diverse student populations’ college, career, and civic readiness. Research Methods/Approach: This research used framing theory to examine semistructured interviews and focus groups with 34 educational leaders from four sample schools with above average percentages of Black/African American, Hispanic/Latinx, and/or economically disadvantaged students. Three positive outlier schools were sampled as they achieved statistically significantly better graduation outcomes, whereas the comparison typical school performed as predicted. Findings: Positive outlier leaders coupled diagnostic and prognostic framing to address priorities and challenges while advancing an equity-oriented agenda. In addition, the positive outlier leaders’ discourses prioritized local needs and values, contextual challenges, and organizational learning. Furthermore, positive outlier leaders used a hybrid frame (motivational, normative, and regulatory) to emphasize academic achievement and student needs in service of improving outcomes for diverse students. In these schools, these hybrid discourses amount to a normative frame: “the way we do things around here.” In contrast, typical school leaders framed a narrower agenda focused on compliance-oriented discourses structured by policy regulations, and these acted as the primary motivators for action. Implications: Understanding framing mechanisms and discourses has import for educational leaders’ practices as they make sense of improvement efforts for underserved youth. Leaders’ frames and discourses may provide a consequential improvement mechanism for schools and entire districts caught in suboptimal organizational patterns and behavioral routines.","PeriodicalId":47629,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Education","volume":"128 1","pages":"327 - 354"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2021-12-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48019817","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Purpose: Prior work has drawn consistent conclusions about systematic racial disparities in the allocation of high-quality teachers in US public schools, such as classrooms with more students of color having teachers with fewer credentials and less experience. However, these fixed characteristics of teachers are only proxies for the quality of teaching, which may vary within teacher by the different classrooms they teach. Research Methods/Approach: Using data from the Measures of Effective Teaching (MET) project, we consider various sources of within-teacher, across-classroom variation of teaching effectiveness using a teacher fixed-effects modeling approach and highlight those that may, on average, disadvantage youth of color. Findings: We find that (1) about half of the variation in classroom teaching efficacy is within teachers, (2) classrooms taught by the same teacher with higher percentages of Black and Latinx students receive lower quality of teaching, and (3) these patterns are consistent across teacher racial/ethnic groups. A number of plausible explanations of this association are considered, including rater biases on observational measures and differences in teaching practices; we also consider how these variations differ by teacher race. Implications: Our findings highlight the importance of teachers’ in-classroom practices, not simply their credentials, in educational research, policy, and practice targeted at reducing racial inequality.
{"title":"Teaching Bias? Relations between Teaching Quality and Classroom Demographic Composition","authors":"H. Cherng, Peter F. Halpin, Luis A. Rodriguez","doi":"10.1086/717676","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/717676","url":null,"abstract":"Purpose: Prior work has drawn consistent conclusions about systematic racial disparities in the allocation of high-quality teachers in US public schools, such as classrooms with more students of color having teachers with fewer credentials and less experience. However, these fixed characteristics of teachers are only proxies for the quality of teaching, which may vary within teacher by the different classrooms they teach. Research Methods/Approach: Using data from the Measures of Effective Teaching (MET) project, we consider various sources of within-teacher, across-classroom variation of teaching effectiveness using a teacher fixed-effects modeling approach and highlight those that may, on average, disadvantage youth of color. Findings: We find that (1) about half of the variation in classroom teaching efficacy is within teachers, (2) classrooms taught by the same teacher with higher percentages of Black and Latinx students receive lower quality of teaching, and (3) these patterns are consistent across teacher racial/ethnic groups. A number of plausible explanations of this association are considered, including rater biases on observational measures and differences in teaching practices; we also consider how these variations differ by teacher race. Implications: Our findings highlight the importance of teachers’ in-classroom practices, not simply their credentials, in educational research, policy, and practice targeted at reducing racial inequality.","PeriodicalId":47629,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Education","volume":"128 1","pages":"171 - 201"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2021-12-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49367976","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Purpose: On average, one in five high school students in North Carolina fails at least one core, required course every year. After failure, students have two options to regain course credit: repeat the course face-to-face (F2F) or online credit recovery (OCR). This study seeks to provide descriptive evidence on OCR/F2F enrollment patterns over time and across schools. Research Methods: The data include administrative records from the state of North Carolina on all high school students enrolled in public schools between the 2012–13 and 2016–17 school years. Analyses are descriptive with ordinary least squares regression and multilevel models. Findings: OCR has grown in popularity: schools, on average, were as likely to enroll students in OCR as F2F courses by 2015–16. Increasing high school graduation rates and decreasing test score proficiency are correlated with increasing OCR enrollment at the school level. Students with more absences and Black students are more likely to enroll in OCR, and students with disabilities are less likely to enroll. OCR enrollment is associated with a 12 percentage point increase in the probability of earning course credit over F2F courses, although this could indicate students more likely to earn course credit are assigned to OCR. Implications: School leaders should consider how they assign students to OCR/F2F given the findings indicating OCR enrollment could come with intended benefits for credit earning but unintended negative consequences for test scores. Future research could explore these processes to understand the most effective uses of OCR for student remediation of course credit.
{"title":"A Choice between Second Chances: An Analysis of How Students Address Course Failure","authors":"Samantha Viano","doi":"10.1086/716549","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/716549","url":null,"abstract":"Purpose: On average, one in five high school students in North Carolina fails at least one core, required course every year. After failure, students have two options to regain course credit: repeat the course face-to-face (F2F) or online credit recovery (OCR). This study seeks to provide descriptive evidence on OCR/F2F enrollment patterns over time and across schools. Research Methods: The data include administrative records from the state of North Carolina on all high school students enrolled in public schools between the 2012–13 and 2016–17 school years. Analyses are descriptive with ordinary least squares regression and multilevel models. Findings: OCR has grown in popularity: schools, on average, were as likely to enroll students in OCR as F2F courses by 2015–16. Increasing high school graduation rates and decreasing test score proficiency are correlated with increasing OCR enrollment at the school level. Students with more absences and Black students are more likely to enroll in OCR, and students with disabilities are less likely to enroll. OCR enrollment is associated with a 12 percentage point increase in the probability of earning course credit over F2F courses, although this could indicate students more likely to earn course credit are assigned to OCR. Implications: School leaders should consider how they assign students to OCR/F2F given the findings indicating OCR enrollment could come with intended benefits for credit earning but unintended negative consequences for test scores. Future research could explore these processes to understand the most effective uses of OCR for student remediation of course credit.","PeriodicalId":47629,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Education","volume":"128 1","pages":"29 - 58"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2021-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44676143","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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