The Search for Reform: An Interview with Seymour B. Sarason

Leadership demands in American public schools have changed dramatically in the past 20 years. Whether–or how–the practice of leadership will change to meet those demands is an open question. The change in demands is largely a consequence of the introduction of performance-based accountability—policies that evaluate, reward, and sanction schools on the basis of measured student performance. While the merits of these policies are debatable, the fact that they have changed—probably fundamentally—the demands placed on school leaders is not.     

Do school context,student composition and school leadership affect school practice and outcomes in secondary education?

This study examined effects of school context, student composition and school leadership on school practice and outcomes in secondary education in Flanders. The study reveals that relations between school characteristics do exist and that it is possible to explain an important part of the differences in mean effort and mathematics achievement of schools by means of these school characteristics. Furthermore, it was found that school size positively affects school outcomes and that its effect is mediated by school practice characteristics like the amount of cooperation between teachers, which affects school climate and outcomes. School leadership did not affect the school practice much, perhaps because of a lack of a strong educational leadership in most of the Flemish secondary schools. However, the student composition of schools seemed to be very important for school practice, as well as for school outcomes. Nevertheless, the study revealed that schools can affect the outcomes of their students independently of their student composition and context by means of school practice.     

The development of civic values: case study of the United States of America

This chapter describes the study as it was conducted in the United States in three public schools that differed substantially in the socioeconomic status (SES) of the students who were enrolled. The results tended to differ across the schools in line with the student composition. For example, in the two higher SES schools, the emphasis was on the development of critical inquiry and thinking skills, whereas in the lower SES school the focus was on the rudiments of getting a job and becoming a productive member of society. In addition, in the two higher SES schools, there was general congruence among principal, teacher, and student perspectives. This was not the case in the lower SES school.     

Investigating the classroom learning environment of resilient and non-resilient students from inner-city elementary schools

The serious educational, community, and family problems facing students in urban cities present a formidable challenge to educators. One factor that has been found to be positively associated with student achievement in inner-city schools is the quality of the classroom learning environment. The study reported in this chapter addresses the problems of students in these schools by drawing upon two distinct and emerging theoretical frameworks: educationally resilient students and classroom learning environments. The results of the study indicated that resilient students had higher motivation and more positive perceptions of their learning environments.     

School innovation in district context: Comparing traditional public schools and charter schools

Market reforms in education are part of the educational policy landscape in many countries. Central to arguments for market reforms is the idea that competition and choice will spur changes in schools to be more innovative, which in turn will lead to better student outcomes. We define innovation in terms of a practice's relative prevalence in a local district context. A charter school is innovative in its use of a practice if the traditional public schools in its local school district are not using that practice. We explore factors based on arguments for charter schools that may affect a charter schools’ propensity toward innovation to explain variation in levels of innovation across charter schools. We find that, on the whole, charter schools do not fulfill their promise of innovation. Teacher tenure is the most notable exception. Parental involvement is the only characteristic of charter schools that significantly predicts variation in levels of organizational innovativeness.     

论美国公立中小学校与学生之间的责权关系——从处理学生伤害事故的视角

在教育教学活动中,学生因学校或教师未尽到职责而导致伤害或伤亡的,学校和教师要承担过失侵权责任。但在美国的教育法中,学校对学生究竟有什么样的责任和权利并无明确规定,只是在侵权责任的章节才略有涉及,而这个章节的内容都是通过阐述对学生伤害事故的处理展开的,故本文拟从这个视角出发去研究美国公立中小学校与学生之间是什么样的责权关系。     

“You’re Trying to Know Me”: Students from Nondominant Groups Respond to Teacher Personalism

Urban school districts have increasingly enacted policies of personalism, such as converting large schools into smaller schools. Such policies ask teachers to develop supportive, individual relationships with students as a presumed lever for student achievement. Research on student?Cteacher relationships generally supports policies of personalism. Much of this literature also considers these relationships?? sociocultural dimensions, and so leads to questions about how low-income youth and youth of color might respond to teacher efforts to develop closer relationships with them. This qualitative study, conducted over 1?year with 34 youth at 3 small, urban high schools, explores how youth from nondominant groups responded to teacher personalism. Data show that teacher practices consistent with culturally-responsive pedagogy and relational trust literature do promote student?Cteacher relationships. However, tensions arose when participants perceived that teacher personalism threatened their privacy or agency. Sociocultural and institutional contexts contributed to these tensions, as participants navigated personalism amidst experiences that constrained their trust in schools. A staged model of student?Cteacher relationships integrates these findings and extends current thinking about culturally-responsive personalism. These findings inform implications for teacher practice and policies of personalism.     

The role of environmental factors in beginning teachers’ professional learning related to differentiated instruction

Little research has investigated factors that facilitate beginning teachers’ participation in professional learning activities related to differentiated instruction (DI). This study examines environmental factors for DI learning activities in a sample of 272 beginning teachers from 72 primary schools. Multilevel analyses show that teacher education, reflective dialogue, deprivatized practice, educational type, and diversity in student population are related to beginning teachers’ use of DI learning activities (i.e., learning in interaction and changes in practice). As such, the findings revealed that beginning teachers’ participation in such activities may depend on a multitude of factors. Several suggestions regarding these factors are made. First, teacher education can provide foundational knowledge of DI applications. Second, schools can enable teachers to have in-depth conversations with colleagues and provide opportunities to observe good teaching practices. Lastly, alternative schools and schools with diverse student populations can inspire other schools to enhance participation in DI learning activities.     

Student teachers report on the influence of cultural values on classroom practice and community involvement: Perspectives from the Navajo reservation and from abroad

Abstract

Student teachers in schools on the Navajo Reservation and seven foreign nations reported on the influence of host culture values, beliefs, and traditions on their classroom practice and community involvement. Among the values they identified were traditional lifestyle, clan/family, sharing/reciprocity, superstitions/taboos, sports/competition, and education. Furthermore, the student teachers described their application of these values in a range of professional, social, and personal ways. The combined data demonstrate that cultural study and learning can and should be an integral part of teacher education programs, including the field‐based components. Requiring student teachers to examine the values operating in their placement communities and to seek ways in which they can incorporate these values into their own actions prepares them to become culturally responsive educators who will embrace the diversity in schools and communities.     

Connecting Classrooms in Pre-service Education: Conversations for learning

Many students enter pre-service education programmes believing that their practical learning experiences will occur in schools and that their theoretical learning experiences will occur in the university or college setting. Research shows that frequently student teachers retain this perception throughout their programmes without acknowledging the interplay of theory and practice in their learning. Through the use of communication technologies, student teachers participating in the Bachelor of Teaching degree at the University of Otago are encouraged to make connections between the activities in their university-based classes and those of classrooms in primary schools. Frequent dialogue through fax, audio-conference and e-mail between student teachers based in the university and children and their teachers in classrooms enables them to access the thinking of children and teachers, and provides additional opportunities to theorise their practice and practise their theory. Student teachers are provided with a range of opportunities to explore the potential of information technologies in education while interacting with children and teachers beyond the traditional practicum experience. The use of technology to connect student teachers to learners in classrooms challenges the conventional teacher education curriculum.     

From Noncompliance to Columbine: Capturing Student Perspectives to Understand Noncompliance and Violence in Public Schools

The paper reviews a number of ethnographic studies of students in U.S. secondary schools to help understand the causes of a range of student behaviors from minor non-compliance to lethal violence. Based on these studies, as well personal experience, the authors suggest that educators and educational researchers approach and understand student perspectives on school life. Such perspectives often reveal the logic of non-compliance, and show that aspects of school structure and practice can exacerbate or contribute to violence. Student non-compliance and alienation can escalate into violence if the student view is not regularly consulted in schools.     

基于学生能力培养的分子生物学多元考核体系的构建

通过考核方式的改革与实践探讨了课程有效考核体系模式。以分子生物学课程为例,通过能力成绩、平时成绩、期中和期末成绩以不同比例构成学生综合课程成绩,尤其适当加大包括章节总结、课堂报告和小论文等形式的能力成绩比例,强调能力和素质培养,构建多元化的考核体系,充分调动学生学习的自觉性和积极性,较客观地反映学生的学习情况,这些探讨将有助于进一步深化课程考试改革,提高学生综合素质和创新能力,提升分子生物学课程教学质量和教学管理效率。     

Schooling citizens: policy in practice in South Africa

The notion of ‘student citizen’ is implicit in a range of national and provincial policy documents in South Africa, with citizenship promoted as both an expected outcome of schooling and an encouraged practice within schools. This paper provides an account of how policy on student citizenship was translated differently into practice in four secondary schools in Cape Town, each with a different former racial categorisation under apartheid. It argues that student engagement with citizenship varied considerably between the schools and in many cases was significantly different from the policy framework. Influencing factors included staff–student relations, socio‐historical contexts and how diversity was played out in the schools.     

“金字塔”模式：《现代企业管理学》教法改革的实践探索

“金字塔”模式的内涵是：点线面结合,表浅里渗透，融会贯通，螺旋式升华。具体应用中先讲授章节的知识点，然后连点成线开展生动的课堂讨论（其中穿插案例教学），再对大家讨论的结果进行整理和加工以形成知识面，最后以企业见习，实习等实践环节进行验证和强化。这种教学法具有循序渐进，从理论到实践，变被动为主动，能够解决实际问题等优点，具体实施中需要教师，学生，学校和社会协调一致的配合。     

Exploring diversity through ethos in initial teacher education

This paper considers whether there is value in introducing student teachers to schools of different ethos as part of their initial teacher education. A 2-year study of undergraduate post-primary student teachers at a university college in Northern Ireland reveals that encounters with schools of different ethos can help student teachers to understand differences between schools and their visions of education, as well as correcting misunderstandings and challenging stereotypes. It is argued that as a result of experiencing diverse examples of ethos, student teachers may also be helped to understand the complexity of schools as organisations and to position themselves and their professional practice within wider debates about the aims of education and schools as communities of practice.     

Secular youth and religious practice: candle lighting in Norwegian folk high schools

Although large international studies have defined Norway as one of the most secular countries in the world, Christian folk high schools in Norway have experienced record high attendance. This paper presents case studies of the religious education (RE) and practices of two Christian folk high schools in Norway. A survey shows that students at these schools can be considered representative of the confessional backgrounds and stated values of their cohort of Norwegian youth. The studied institutions have the declared goal of offering RE, of which an on-campus worship service is a central element. A large portion of the student body attends these services. Using a reconstruction of Etienne Wenger’s theory of communities of practice, the author analyses student participation in the school worship service, specifically in the act of candle lighting. Observations and student interviews indicate that the service can be described as a reflective practice representing a dialogic form of religion. This article contributes an analysis of the distinctive form of RE offered by Christian folk high schools in Norway. In a broader sense, it contributes to the understanding of secular youth and their relation to religious practice.     

Measurement and evaluation issues in education: The value of multivariate techniques in evaluating an innovative high school reform program

The purpose of this chapter is twofold. The first is to explore uses of new methods for the analysis of multilevel data in school effectiveness research with limited observed data, where the word “limited” is used because more often than not interesting information about changes in teaching styles and the influence of teachers on students is limited, and sometimes incomplete. The statistical and mathematical models we use to analyze our data should allow us to deal with these facts. Secondly a contribution is made to school effectiveness research by establishing that multilevel causes determine student achievement. The combination of student ability, a new curriculum and teacher satisfaction predict student achievement in a multilevel multivariate analysis. The rich data set contains 342 students, 20 teachers and more than 50 variables for each level, the student level and the teacher level. Half of the teachers were in an experimental condition, teaching a new type of class, called Humanitas, the other half taught history in a traditional way, and served as the control group in twelve schools in Los Angeles county.The statistical models used in this chapter can be described as (1) a data reduction model, where several observed variables are combined into a single scale, (2) a regression model for multilevel data, with a single dependent variable, and (3) a model for multilevel multivariate analysis. One of the conclusions of this chapter is that researchers should have a certain amount of knowledge of how the data are generated regarding the important relationships between the variables, before choosing a complicated model. It is advisable to explore the data, guided by a theoretical model, before fitting complicated hierarchical bilevel path models with latent variables.Above statements are in support of Rubin's statement (1991, p. 306): “that complicated analyses are often necessary in complicated problems, but unless their conclusions can be represented in clear summaries that can be supported by the real data and the observations in the field, they should not be trusted. Too often, the results of complicated analyses are summarized without making clear how the conclusions are consistent with the raw data”. The multilevel analyses in this chapter are such complicated analysis tools. The data are experimental data, collected under close observation by the researchers. The knowledge gained from the complicated data analysis is supported by observations, interviews and simple exploratory data analysis. The positive effect, on students and teachers, of an experimental curriculum in ten secondary high schools is revealed by multilevel path analysis with latent variables.     

Professional development,changes in teacher practice and improvements in Indigenous students’ educational performance: A case study from New Zealand

This paper considers the relationship between a professional development programme designed to bring about changes in teacher practice through iterative cycles of implementation and evaluation and associated changes in Indigenous students’ educational performance. The paper does this by documenting the outcomes of the implementation of the Te Kotahitanga research and development project between 2007 and 2009 in schools in the third and fourth phases of the project. Evidence shows that the professional development programme of Te Kotahitanga has been implemented consistently in Phase 3 schools since 2004 and in Phase 4 schools since 2007. Changes in teacher practice and associated improvements in Māori student outcomes were seen in Phase 3 schools between 2004 and 2006. The first question is, therefore, have these changes been maintained during the period 2007–9, that is, during the fourth to seventh years of the project’s implementation in these schools. If so, then what implications does this maintenance of practice have for sustainability? The second question is, have the changes that were seen in the Phase 3 schools in the first three years of the project’s implementation, 2004–2006, been replicated in the Phase 4 schools in their first three years of the project. If so, what implications does this have for determining the strength of the association between improved student performance and the implementation of the professional development programme. In other words does a repeated measure over two different groups of schools at different times indicate that changes in Māori student outcomes are strongly associated with changes in teacher practice, even if we cannot demonstrate a direct cause–effect relationship.     

Tracking in Secondary Schools: A Contextual Perspective

Tracking is nearly ubiquitous in secondary schools despite evidence suggesting its general ineffectiveness and likely negative effects on students in low tracks. Here it is argued that consideration of two contexts in which tracking is embedded is required for understanding how tracking works and why it persists. The schooling context (tracking's consequences for school and classroom practice) permits understanding of how tracking's educational effects may occur. The societal context (the beliefs, values, and circumstances that originally influenced the institution of tracking and may continue to shape current practice) provides an understanding of why tracking, and not some other approach, was adopted as the means for managing student diversity. It also provides insight into how race and class were historically confounded with tracking and may continue to influence practice. Analyses of these contexts suggest that tracking profoundly influences the day-to-day conduct of schools and reflects assumptions about how schools should respond to student diversity. This contextual view of tracking permits an understanding of why tracking is not easily reconsidered.