Whose banner are we waving? Exploring STEM partnerships for marginalized urban youth

This case study examines after school programming in citizen science from the perspective of Critical Race Theory. During the course of enacting community outreach projects this data was used to examine the positioning of experts, student, and teachers within the program. This study explores the role of race and ethnicity, and the ways in which marginalization can manifest itself with black urban youth and teachers. Implications for partner selection and training are addressed.     

Interpretation of academic strengths and weaknesses on the peabody individual achievement test

The Peabody Individual Achievement Test yields scores in Mathematics, Reading Recognition, Reading Comprehension, Spelling, and General Information. In order to determine academic strengths and weaknesses, the test Manual suggests a pairwise comparison system to determine when one academic area is significantly different from another. The aim of the present study was to develop a more efficient system of determining academic strengths and weaknesses relative to a child's average performance on the entire test than the pairwise technique advocated by the authors.     

Public law 94–142: Practicing school psychologists' perceptions of how this law affects them

A questionnaire regarding PL 94–142 and its effects upon the practice of school psychology was developed and mailed to 389 members of the National Association of School Psychologists. Information regarding professional training, years of experience, and type of service system was obtained for the purpose of various group comparisons. Age, sex, number of years of experience, and type of service system were specifically chosen for statistical analysis. Overall results suggested two relatively divergent views expressed by practitioners. The first was the stated belief that school psychology will become much more closely tied to the field of special education, while an alternative opinion was that the field will remain as diverse as the systems it serves.     

Teaching elementary science methods to women: A male professor's experience from two perspectives

This is an action research study using an N of one (a case study) from the theoretical stance of symbolic interaction. This study of one male science education professor's experience teaching elementary science methods to females is told from two perspectives: the perspective of the professor and of a female coresearcher. In this study, the coresearchers present their perspectives of studying the gender difference between the male professor and his female elementary science method students and the attempts he makes to implement gender inclusive pedagogy. Discussion focuses on what each has learned through this study of examining the professor's practice as he takes action to improve the teaching and learning in his science method classes predominately populated by women. A key implication from this study is the assertion that male science methods professors have a special obligation to break the cycle of inequity in science teaching and learning for females by taking action to foster a female-friendly classroom climate and to encourage females to become engaged in class conversations and activities. However, professors should be aware that both female and male elementary teachers socialized in a system privileging men may not value efforts, or may even actively resist efforts to promote gender-inclusive science education during science methods. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 35: 919–949, 1998.     

A Study of Reasons for Participation in Continuing Professional Education in the U.S. Nuclear Power Industry

The need for workers in the U.S. nuclear power industry to continually update their knowledge, skills, and abilities is critical to the safe and reliable operation of the country's nuclear power facilities. To improve their skills, knowledge, and abilities, many professionals in the nuclear power industry participate in continuing professional education (CPE). This study investigates participation in CPE using the Participation Reasons Scale (Grotel‐ueschen, 1985), a 30‐item self‐report instrument that measures five dimensions or reasons for participation in continuing professional education. Professional Development ranked as the most important reason for participating in continuing professional education. Identity and Commitment ranked as the least important reason for participating. All reasons for voluntary participation were found to be significantly different (higher) than corresponding compulsory reasons for participation in CPE.     

Professional Control and Lay Governance in Schools: Implications for Addressing Student Diversity

While we commonly accept that the purpose of schools properly focuses on teaching and learning, the focus of control over these functions has traditionally resided far from the school-site level of the professional, and with the lay board of education. The potential impact of the tension between these arenas of professional control and lay governance as it relates to the development of instructional strategies for addressing issues of student diversity within schools remains largely unexamined. This reviews some new and different models of school governance which have been generated to consider how those models, while continuing to offer a needed lay perspective on public education, may also better accommodate teacher professionalism outcomes for addressing student diversity.     

Lower track science students' argumentation and open inquiry instruction

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of open inquiry instruction with low achieving, marginalized high school students. Students with long histories of scholastic failure were asked to participate in question generation, experimental design, and argument construction as a part of their General Science course instruction. Videotapes were collected from daily science instruction, and entrance and exit instruction interviews were conducted using identical open‐ended problems. From this dataset, comparisons were made between students' entrance and exit interview responses representing change over time. Shifts in student responses coincided with renegotiated classroom norms for scientific discourse. Results are reported for five students in the form of assertions. Students' arguments were observed to shift toward those more consistent with the nature of the scientific arguments including: (1) students' tentativeness of knowledge claims, (2) students' use of evidence, and (3) students' views regarding the source of scientific authority. Implications are discussed for research and practice in light of the national standards' call for universal scientific literacy. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 37: 807–838, 2000     

Developing and acting upon one's conception of the nature of science: A follow‐up study

This study aimed to delineate the factors mediating the translation of preservice teachers' conceptions of the nature of science into instructional planning and classroom practice. Additionally, the study assessed the influence of temporally separating teaching preservice teachers about the nature of science and teaching them how to address it instructionally. This latter intervention was based on the results of a previous investigation. Prior to student teaching, the 13 participants responded to an open‐ended questionnaire designed to assess conceptions of the nature of science. Throughout student teaching, daily lesson plans, classroom videotapes, portfolios, and supervisors' weekly clinical observation notes were collected and searched for explicit instances of nature of science planning and/or instruction. Following student teaching, participants were interviewed to validate their responses to the open‐ended questionnaire, identify factors that mediate the translation of their conceptions of the nature of science into classroom teaching, and explicate their pedagogical preferences for teaching the nature of science. Participants possessed adequate understanding of several aspects of the nature of science and, contrary to the results of the earlier investigation, most did not conflate the nature of science with science processes. Furthermore, several participants explicitly addressed some aspects of the nature of science during classroom instruction. Participants, however, failed to include the nature of science among their instructional objectives and did not make a concerted effort to assess student understandings. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 37: 563–581, 2000     

Transformational Leadership: The Nexus Between Faith and Classroom Leadership

Transformational leadership is well documented in organizational and business literature. Classroom and faith-based applications are more recent phenomena. The authors of this mixed-methods study explored professor behaviors and characteristics perceived as transformational in students' faith and focused on transformational leadership in the classroom at a faith-based institution. Thirty-four undergraduate students completed surveys containing open-ended and forced-choice questions; the findings highlighted the importance of compassion, optimism, encouragement, and openness as behaviors that facilitated faith transformation.