The latest education papers. Last updated Wednesday December 11, 2024 at 15:13 PST.
Wednesday, 11. December 2024 |
.
Tuesday, 10. December 2024 |
.
Tuesday, 10. December 2024 |
AERA Open, Volume 10, Issue , January-December 2024.
In 2018, a wave of educator strikes called Red for Ed swept through several states. Educators in Arizona won additional funding from the state legislature, supposedly for teacher salaries, which school boards could spend as they chose. This article quantitatively examines the participation and results of the 2018 Arizona educator strike, using this example to speak to theoretical work on types of union activity. I find that after the strike, per-pupil funding, teacher salaries, and student support staff salaries all increased. However, poststrike funding was added to Arizona’s preexisting funding formula, which advantaged the small, rural, predominantly White districts whose educators were less likely to go on strike. Educators who went on strike (often from large, urban districts with low property wealth) thus received less money for their districts and smaller raises than nonparticipating educators. This raises important concerns about how free riders can affect different types of union organizing.
Monday, 09. December 2024 |
Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, Ahead of Print.
Many high school students access dual enrollment at 2-year colleges, but the credits associated with their college-level courses may not transfer if they later matriculate to 4-year institutions as first-year undergraduates. In this study, we ask whether statewide articulation agreements can support the postsecondary success of participants by preserving the credits earned and facilitating academic momentum. Employing the administrative data of students in Georgia, we use a difference-in-differences approach to investigate the effect of the state’s 2012 policy on 4-year college undergraduates who participated in dual enrollment at 2-year colleges. We find a positive impact of the policy on timely degree completion, but the effect is conditional, as it applied only to students who completed the coursework identified by the articulation agreement.
Monday, 09. December 2024 | Abstract
Researchers have identified ways to support mathematics teachers in connecting advanced mathematics to their teaching of secondary mathematics, particularly through the use of Approximations of Practice (AoPs), which provide opportunities for teachers to engage in simulations of teaching practices without the complexities associated with being in a real classroom (Grossman et al. in Teachers College Record 111(9):2055–2100, 2009a). In this study, we designed AoPs that approximated the teaching practices of attending to, interpreting, and deciding how to respond to students’ mathematical thinking (Jacobs et al. in J Res Math Educ 41(2):169–202, 2010), as well as leading a class discussion about the students’ ideas (Smith and Stein in 5 Practices for orchestrating productive mathematics discussion, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Reston, 2018). We conducted interviews with teachers enrolled in a master’s-level Mathematics for Teachers course. The curriculum and interviews focused on three mathematical content domains: probability, abstract algebra, and real analysis. We administered AoPs prompting the teachers to interpret and respond to student thinking and structure whole class discussions about students’ strategies. Through our analysis of their responses, we identified the teachers’ pedagogical mathematical practices (PMPs) (Wasserman in Learn Math 42(3):28–33, 2022), i.e., practices and habits shared by mathematicians and mathematics teachers, used as they responded to these AoPs. We also identified design features of the AoPs that are conducive to teachers’ enactment of certain PMPs. We contribute new PMPs to the literature and provide implications for the advanced mathematical preparation of mathematics teachers.
Saturday, 07. December 2024 |
American Educational Research Journal, Ahead of Print.
Field supervisors are central to clinical teaching, but little is known about how their feedback informs preservice teachers’ (PSTs) development. This sequential mixed methods study examines over 3,000 supervisor observation evaluations. We qualitatively code supervisor written feedback, which indicates two broad pedagogical categories and nine separate skills. We quantize these feedback codes to identify the variation in the presence of these codes across PST characteristics, and then use several modeling techniques to indicate that specific feedback codes are negatively associated with evaluation score. Managing student attention was most detrimental to scores in early observations, whereas instructional feedback (e.g., lesson delivery) and verbal corrections were prioritized later in clinical teaching. Findings inform teacher preparation policy on understanding PST development and improving supervisory feedback.
Saturday, 07. December 2024 |
AERA Open, Volume 10, Issue , January-December 2024.
The roles of technology and education were at the forefront throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. This mixed-methods study examines the role of the three levels of the digital divide (i.e., access, capability, and outcomes) during the COVID-19 pandemic in Kentucky. We create and analyze a new multifaceted measure of district-level digital capacity to examine the role of prior investments in technological infrastructure and the relationship with student scores in reading, math, and the ACT exam. Increased investment in digital preparedness leading up to the pandemic was protective against decreases in test scores. However, nonmetropolitan and Appalachian areas did not experience the same benefits from their digital capacity investments compared with their metropolitan counterparts. Using interview data from the summer of 2021 with 16 educators predominantly from Appalachian school districts, we discuss why these efforts to bridge the digital divide were hindered by larger, systematic challenges faced by their students.
Friday, 06. December 2024 |
Review of Educational Research, Ahead of Print.
Researchers have explored artificial intelligence (AI) applications across educational contexts; however, there is a lack of meta-analysis focused on students with disabilities (SWDs). This study examined the overall effect of AI-based interventions on SWDs’ learning outcomes in 29 (quasi-)experimental studies conducted globally. We used cultural historical activity theory (CHAT) to explore how the effect was moderated by factors, including participant-, AI-, AI-SWD interaction-, intervention-, and methodology-related characteristics. Results indicated a medium effect (Hedge’s g = 0.588) of interventions operating through robots, computer software, and intelligent VR systems. There were no statistically significant moderators. Regardless, this study contributes to a holistic understanding of historical dimensions of AI applications for SWDs and offers critical theoretical implications for future investigations. We call for more rigorous research to explore AI that not only ensures accessibility but also promotes opportunities for SWDs to take an agentic role in participating in and contributing to AI-mediated learning activities.
Friday, 06. December 2024 |
Review of Educational Research, Ahead of Print.
Systems-level data dashboards, those that provide education data aggregated to or used by leaders from school to state to federal levels, have become increasingly prevalent in the field of education both in the United States and in many education systems worldwide. This study provides a systematic review of the literature on systems-level data dashboards in K–12 schooling. The review demonstrates that research on systems-level dashboards lags that of student and teacher-focused learning analytics dashboards; that academic achievement remains the primary focus of dashboards, but contextual and non-test-score outcomes are now included in many dashboards and that use of dashboards by educators and the public is lower than desired but may be improved through alternative dissemination methods. It also demonstrates that research on the impacts of dashboards is particularly limited, a concern given the potential for unintended negative consequences. The article discusses the need to further incorporate systems-level dashboards into the organizational structures of education systems in order to enhance their utility for improving outcomes. The findings provide insights for stakeholders designing and using dashboards and hold the potential to improve dashboard use and student outcomes.
Friday, 06. December 2024 |
Action Research, Ahead of Print.
The study explores teachers’ perception of the level of involvement of academic researchers in participatory action research and outlines some possible strategies to enhance communication during the process of co-creation. Data were collected within a pilot action that involved 159 pupils and 16 teachers in a preschool and a primary school in Italy. Throughout the research process, researchers tended to limit their direct interventions in the planning and implementation of the activities in order to avoid surreptitiously shaping the activities from their epistemically authoritative position. This choice was effective in promoting teachers’ and children’s ideas and resulted in a set of activities that positively impacted everyday school life. However, the analysis of the post-hoc interviews illustrates that several teachers evaluated this posture negatively. It is argued that these negative evaluations point to a dilemma that researchers inevitably face when adopting a methodological framework based on co-creation. On the basis of this critical appraisal of teachers’ perceptions, the article outlines some implications for researchers’ professional practice and some possible strategies to improve communication in the field.
Thursday, 05. December 2024 |
Review of Educational Research, Ahead of Print.
This systematic review and meta-analysis examined the effectiveness of Spanish reading programs in grades K–6. The research designs included were experimental and quasi-experimental. Effect sizes were analyzed using a multivariate meta-regression model with robust variance estimation. To assess the degree of heterogeneity in the effect sizes, a 95% prediction interval was calculated. A total of 11 studies and 51 effect sizes met the inclusion criteria. The full meta-regression model controlling for grade level and outcome type showed a large positive effect across all studies (effect size = 0.49, p < 0.05), with a large, positive effect on reading outcomes, and significant impacts on phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, and reading comprehension in K–2. Results suggest that effective instructional programs for K–6 Spanish reading exist. However, there is a need for more rigorous research on reading instructional programs for Spanish-speaking children.
Thursday, 05. December 2024 |
.
Thursday, 05. December 2024 |
.
Wednesday, 04. December 2024 |
.
Wednesday, 04. December 2024 |
.
Wednesday, 04. December 2024 |
.
Wednesday, 04. December 2024 |
.
Wednesday, 04. December 2024 | Abstract
Descriptions of expertise have focused on knowledge and characteristics of mathematics teacher educator (MTE) practice. To contribute to discussion of MTE expertise we share findings from a study of MTE discussion practice with prospective teachers (PTs) concerning pedagogy of teaching mathematics. Research on MTE discussion practices have shown there are key differences between discussions of mathematics and mathematics teaching in professional development, making clear MTEs’ discussion practices in mathematics methods courses focused on mathematics and mathematics teaching must differ. In this paper we focus on MTEs' discussion practice in initial teacher education settings, building from empirical findings that include descriptions of MTEs' discussion practice focused on mathematics teaching. Specifically, we address the question: What is our mathematics teacher educators’ pedagogy of discussion practice? Using self-study methodology and data from two primary sources: (1) transcripts of 8 critical friend conversations, and (2) evidentiary maps created using course artifacts, we use vignettes to describe three characteristics: anticipating preservice teachers’ thinking, layering instructional activities, and preservice teachers’ move toward independence in teaching practice. Findings from this study and mathematics education literature are used to support the claim that MTEs use anticipating, layering, and handover to independence as a system to promote PTs’ discussion of mathematics teaching in methods courses. Findings are used to draw conclusions about MTE expertise of discussion practice and the importance of selfbased methodologies in research on MTE expertise.
Tuesday, 03. December 2024 |
.
Tuesday, 03. December 2024 |
.
Monday, 02. December 2024 |
Review of Educational Research, Ahead of Print.
Increasing calls for greater STEM-integrated experiences in K–12 education have spawned numerous studies on teacher beliefs, educational goals, and practices for teaching and learning. However, how the field proposes to support the development of teachers’ STEM-integrated disciplinary knowledge appears to be underresearched. In this systematic review, we analyzed 110 articles to determine (a) in what ways has the literature focused on teacher learning, (b) to what extent the literature addressed the development of teachers’ STEM-integrated disciplinary knowledge, and (c) to what extent the literature identified mechanisms for developing teachers’ STEM-integrated disciplinary knowledge. Results reveal needs that include, among others, more studies focused on developing teacher disciplinary knowledge; studies that differentiate teacher needs at different grade levels; studies that differentiate mechanisms aimed at developing teachers’ pedagogical knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, and disciplinary knowledge; and studies that explicitly examine the mechanisms being used to support the development of teachers’ STEM-integrated disciplinary knowledge.