NGSS,disposability, and the ambivalence of science in/under neoliberalism

This paper explores the ambivalence of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and its Framework towards neoliberal governance. The paper examines the ways that the NGSS serves as a mechanism within neoliberal governance: in its production of disposable populations through testing and through the infusion of engineering throughout the NGSS to resolve social problems through technical fixes. However, the NGSS, like earlier standards, is reactionary to forces diminishing the power of institutional science (e.g., the AAAS) including neoliberal prioritizing market value over evidence. The NGSS explicitly takes on neoliberal junk science such as the anti-global-warming Heartland Institute.     

Classroom and Developmental Differences in a Path Model of Teacher Expectancy Effects

A path model of teacher expectancy effects was evaluated in a sample of 376 first- through fifth-grade urban elementary school children. The roles of two moderators (classroom perceived differential treatment environment and developmental differences) and one mediator (children's self-expectations) of teacher expectancy effects on children's year-end achievement were examined. Significant differences in effects and effect sizes are presented. Both classroom environment (high versus low in differential treatment, as seen through children's eyes) and developmental differences moderated the strength of teacher expectancy effects. Generally, stronger effects were found in classrooms in which expectancy-related cues were more salient to children, but developmental differences moderated which effect was most pronounced. A significant age-related decline in direct effects on ending achievement was interpreted as evidence that teacher expectations may tend to magnify achievement differences in the early grades, but serve to sustain them in later grades. Support for indirect effects (teacher expectations --> children's self-expectations --> ending achievement) was limited to upper elementary grade classrooms perceived as high in differential treatment. In contrast to prior research that emphasized small effect sizes, the present analyses document several instances of moderate effects, primarily in classrooms in which expectancy-related messages were most salient to children. These results underscore the importance of explicit attention to the inclusion of moderators, mediators, and multiple outcomes in efforts to understand teacher expectancy effects.     

Pygmalion at 50: harnessing its power and application in schooling

ABSTRACT

This special issue marks the 50th anniversary of the landmark Pygmalion experiment (Rosenthal & Jacobson, 1968). It offers contributions from across the globe, attesting to universal features of teacher expectancy effects. Reviews of this history underscore controversy, advances, and few intervention studies. Empirical studies emphasise teacher expectancy effects at group, classroom, and school levels, contrast expectation measures, and explore longitudinal and developmental perspectives, advancing the field. Despite headway, I argue that the field’s contested history has stifled its fullest investigation. Conclusions drawn – not replicable, small and dissipating effects, and largely accurate teacher expectations – have underestimated Pygmalion’s power and limited investment in intervention research to promote positive educational prophecies, especially for students placed at the margins. It is time for a greater articulation of the conditions under which expectancy effects are most powerful. It is also time to apply our tremendous knowledge towards the design and evaluation of positive expectancy interventions.     

A conducive environment? The role of need support in the higher education workplace and its effect on academics' experiences of research assessment in the UK

Little is known about how researchers in higher education institutions (HEIs) experience and respond to support received from their departments. The present study investigated how support for researchers' autonomy (choice and self‐expression), relatedness (through connections with colleagues) and competence (feeling effective in one's work) influenced their attitudes towards an external assessment of research. To do so, we surveyed 598 academics from four HEIs in the UK about their attitudes towards one such external assessment: the Research Excellence Framework (REF), a nationwide assessment of research quality and the subject of debate about research evaluation. Our findings, drawing on self‐determination theory, show that departments can shape responses to the REF: individuals whose psychological needs were supported by their academic departments held more positive, and less negative, attitudes towards the REF. This occurred both directly and indirectly through researchers' recognition that the REF had a more positive influence on their research activities and outputs.     

LIFENET/INTERNET and the health science librarian

The Medical Library Center of New York, a cooperative library agency for the health sciences, developed a program to offer an electronic communications system (LIFENET) with access to the Internet for its members. Information on documentation and training as well as statistics on the subsequent use of the system and of the Internet are discussed in the article. Specific examples of how health science librarians are using the system include bibliographic verification, reference, research on integrated library systems, production of duplicate journal lists, and professional activities such as electronic mail and discussion groups (listservs).     

Values Education Through Aggadic Stories: The Didactic Rewriter as Interpreter

Didactic rewrites of aggadic stories are an important resource in values education. This study, geared primarily toward teachers involved in choosing curricular materials, investigates how the didactic rewriter actually becomes an interpreter, rather than a mere transmitter, of the original text. The personal values of the rewriters can influence the retold story, as can their desire to adapt it to their target audience. In order to increase teacher awareness of the rewriters’ interpretive process and its ramifications, two different rewrites of the same original aggadic story are compared as a paradigm. The different values and role models which emerge as well as the potential impact of each rewrite on the child’s moral development are examined.