Inquiring in the classroom

This paper considers the part played by teaching assistants in the implementation of the National Literacy and National Numeracy Strategies, two widespread UK government reforms. Evidence from two sources of evaluation (the Ontario Institute in Canada and OfSTED, the school inspectorate for England) indicates that assistants are providing ‘remedial’ support for up to 25% of children in English primary schools. However, although the evaluators note this, they fail to truly acknowledge the important contribution of assistants to the functioning of the Strategies. The paper argues that the lack of acknowledgement arises from the evaluators’ view of teaching assistants as ‘peripheral’ and teachers as ‘core’. This does assistants a great disservice, but also masks the shortcomings of the Strategies, particularly with regard to the way in which a required pedagogy, linked to targets and tests, has created an exclusionary pressure leading to the separation of teaching by teachers and assistants, respectively.     

The h-index: A case of the tail wagging the dog?

From the way that it was initially defined (Hirsch, 2005), the h-index naturally encourages focus on the most highly cited publications of an author and this in turn has led to (predominantly) a rank-based approach to its investigation. However, Hirsch (2005) and Burrell (2007a) both adopted a frequency-based approach leading to general conjectures regarding the relationship between the h-index and the author's publication and citation rates as well as his/her career length. Here we apply the distributional results of Burrell, 2007a, Burrell, 2013b to three published data sets to show that a good estimate of the h-index can often be obtained knowing only the number of publications and the number of citations. (Exceptions can occur when an author has one or more “outliers” in the upper tail of the citation distribution.) In other words, maybe the main body of the distribution determines the h-index, not the wild wagging of the tail. Furthermore, the simple geometric distribution turns out to be the key.     

Improving the Root Mean Square Error of Approximation for Nonnormal Conditions in Structural Equation Modeling

In this study, the authors investigated incorporating adjusted model fit information into the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) fit index. Through Monte Carlo simulation, the usefulness of this adjusted index was evaluated for assessing model adequacy in structural equation modeling when the multivariate normality assumption underlying maximum likelihood estimation is violated. Adjustment to the RMSEA was considered in 2 forms: a rescaling adjustment via the Satorra-Bentler rescaled goodness-of-fit statistic and a bootstrap adjustment via the Bollen and Stine adjusted model p value. Both properly specified and misspecifed models were examined. The adjusted RMSEA was evaluated in terms of the average index value across study conditions and with respect to model rejection rates under tests of exact fit, close fit, and not-close fit.     

Examining the educative aims and practices of decision-makers in sport for development and peace organizations

Sport for Development and Peace (SDP) policy-makers and practitioners continue to offer ambitious claims regarding the potential role of sport-based programs for promoting social change. Yet, it is important to put sport under a critical lens in order to develop a more balanced and realistic understanding of the role of sport in society. Whether SDP programs result in positive or negative outcomes depends on the structures and processes of the implementing organizations. Hence, SDP researchers are paying more attention to the organizational approaches of these agencies. Scholars also argue the outcomes of SDP programs depend on the relationship of these organizations with broader community education and health promotion efforts. Despite the claims of many SDP programs, little remains known about the educational goals of these programs and their relationship with broader educational efforts. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to critically examine the role of education among a randomly selected sample of nonprofit SDP organizations in urban settings across the USA. Findings from in-depth interviews with 17 executive directors indicate a broad range of educative aims, but also innovative organizational practices, highlighting a salient relationship between education and SDP in the USA. Prominent themes emerged related to program models and organizational approaches, academic enrichment programming, partnerships with educational institutions and education-focused nonprofits, and educational outcomes. These findings are examined and implications for future SDP research are also discussed. Although important work is emerging in SDP literature on how educational values are delivered in these programs [Spaaij, R., & Jeanes, R. [2013]. Education for social change? A Freirean critique of sport for development and peace. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, 18, 442–457], findings from this study also help stimulate a critical dialogue on the educative aims and practices of decision-makers in SDP organizations.     

Different systems—Similar challenges? Factors impacting the motivation of German and U.S. teachers to become school leaders

In the United States and Germany, effective school leadership is pivotal to a school's success. Yet in each country, attracting and retaining qualified school leaders is a formidable challenge. This study compares the influence of possible motivators and inhibitors that impact teachers’ decisions to become principals in the two countries. Survey responses of 311 U.S. students in principal preparation programs in the United States and responses of 117 German students in similar programs in Germany indicate that many factors that motivate and inhibit U.S. and German teachers to become school leaders are similar. The results also reveal areas in which the U.S. and Germany may learn from each other regarding motivators and inhibitors to becoming school administrators.     

An Immanent Critique of Critical Pedagogy

In this essay, Quentin Wheeler‐Bell aims to reframe recent attempts to rethink the core principles of critical pedagogy. He argues that these attempts have been unsuccessful because they reproduce a deeper problem — specifically, an identity crisis — within critical pedagogy. The source of this problem, he contends, is that those working in this tradition have, over time, become more distant from and forgetful of its roots in critical theory; as a result, critical pedagogy is now in a state of dilution and fragmentation in which critical pedagogues are unable to bring the plurality of critical education approaches together theoretically around a set of shared principles. In order to address this problem and begin to reframe the core principles of critical pedagogy, Wheeler‐Bell first briefly sketches the debates around Max Horkheimer's classic essay “Critical Theory and Traditional Theory,” focusing on why critical theory grew into an interdisciplinary tradition situated between philosophy and social science. Then he explains why the recent attempts to rethink critical pedagogy rely upon a problematic, albeit dominant, narrative of the critical education tradition — a narrative that only tacitly recognizes a connection between critical education and critical theory. This dominant narrative contributes to the identity crisis within critical education because it supports a collective memory loss regarding the importance of both philosophy and social science to critical theory. Finally, Wheeler‐Bell attempts to develop a thin definition of critical education: one that connects critical education back to its roots in critical theory, while respecting the plurality of critical education approaches.