Simultaneous pursuit of discovery and invention in the US Department of Energy

There is a sharp boundary between basic and applied research in the organizational structure of the US Department of Energy (DOE). In this work, we consider a branch of DOE that was designed to operate across this boundary: the Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E). We hypothesize that much of energy research cannot be neatly categorized as basic or applied and is more productive outside of the confines of the basic/applied dichotomy; ARPA-E gives us an opportunity to test that hypothesis. We construct a novel dataset of nearly 4000 extramural financial awards given by DOE in fiscal years 2010 through 2015, primarily to businesses and universities. We collect the early knowledge outputs of these awards from Web of Science and the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Compared to similar awards from other parts of DOE, ARPA-E awards are significantly more likely to jointly produce both a publication and a patent. ARPA-E has been highly productive in creating new technology, while also contributing new scientific knowledge. This observation points to the productive overlap of science and technology in energy research and, more generally, for mission-oriented research funding organizations.     

Learning About Other People’s Families

While the call for teacher education students to learn about their students’ family and community lives remains urgent and compelling, educating teachers about the Other is tricky business. In this article I discuss the use of two performed ethnographies, Harriet’s House and Ana’s Shadow, to provide opportunities for teachers to learn about Other people’s families in ways that work against presenting a singular, dominant narrative of the Other’s experiences and positioning Other students as experts. Although the outcomes from educating teachers about Other people’s families are unpredictable and do not always disrupt the prior, potentially harmful, knowledges teachers bring with them to teaching, I argue, along with Kevin Kumashiro, that ongoing labour to stop the repetition of harmful knowledges is important anti-oppressive educational work.     

Evidence and education policy – some reflections and allegations1

The paper reflects on the use by the UK central government of statistical evidence in educational policy matters. Particular attention is given to school league tables. The paper is generally critical of government attitudes, but suggests that progress towards rational decision‐making does occur.     

Jonah’s Birth

Rachel Goldstein shares her experience of exploring options related to care provider and place of birth early in her pregnancy. Goldstein and her husband, Marc, after reading and research, chose midwifery care and a home birth. She shares the story of a long labor at home supported by her husband, her doula, and her midwife. Her positive attitude, her ability to use various comfort strategies, and the support she received throughout labor contributed to being able to give birth naturally and ecstatically to her son Jonah.     

Cognitive development in bilingual and monolingual lower-class children

The cognitive development of lower-class English-speaking monolingual and English-Spanishs peaking bilingual children in kindergarten, third, and sixth grades was compared by means of standard verbal and nonverbal measures. The verbal ability of bilingual children was assessed in both English and Spanish. Their scores in both languages were lower than those of monolingual children. However, the mean scores and error patterns of both groups on nonverbal measures were equivalent, suggesting that bilingual and monolingual children have comparable cognitive skills despite apparent language differences.