Education - Annotated Bibliography Example

?Amrein-Beardsley, A., Berliner, D. C., & Rideau, S. . Cheating in the First, Second, and Third Degree: Educators' Responses to High-Stakes Testing. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 18(14), The emphasis on high stakes testing, including the tying of teacher compensation to test outcomes, has created an incentive for some educators to cheat. Nearly 5% of the teachers responding to a survey in Arizona admitted to being aware of or participating in activities that could be defined as cheating. The authors, researching from universities in Arizona, aim to make teachers and administrators of all activities that are considered cheating and strive to model the magnitude by establishing degrees of cheating. The purpose is to help educators cope with the trend of increased scrutiny and testing in America’s public schools. Au, W. (2009). Social Studies, Social Justice: W(h)ither the Social Studies in High- Stakes Testing?. Teacher Education Quarterly, 36(1), 43-58. High stakes testing is one of the most prevalent trends in education since the inception of the No Child Left Behind legislation was enacted in 2001. The author, researching from California State University, Fullerton presents findings on how this trend has affected social studies instruction in the classroom. The research reveals that social studies are losing class time in elementary school due to the NCLB mandate for proficiency in Math and Reading only. Other findings include changes in pedagogy in the social studies classroom that place emphasis on memorization of approved content and lessens the focus on critical thinking. This research is valuable in studying the impact of high stakes testing on the one subject that traditionally challenges social and societal assumptions. Baker, B. D., & McIntire, J. (2003). Evaluating State Funding for Gifted Education Programs. Roeper Review, 25(4), 173. The authors in this article offer a systematic analysis of Gifted Education spending at the state level. Five methods of funding are examined and explained. The authors then undertake an analysis of laudatory combinations of funding. This is an outstanding article for understanding how children of different ability levels have their needs met or ignored by state funding agencies. The analysis reveals that Virginia has the best system for funding Gifted Education. Baker, M., & Johnston, P. (2010). The Impact of Socioeconomic Status on High Stakes Testing Reexamined. Journal Of Instructional Psychology, 37(3), 193-199. Recent trends in education have seen an increase in high stakes testing as a result of NCLB legislation. All fifty states now utilize high stakes testing to meet NCLB requirements. The authors review the arguments for and against including Social Economic Status as a predictor of high stakes testing ability. The article is valuable for reviewing other studies and analyzing their meanings, but does not offer and new information of this recent educational trend. Boubsil, O., Carabajal, K., & Vidal, M. (2011). Implications of Globalization for Distance Education in the United States. American Journal Of Distance Education, 25(1), 5-20. Globalization and distance education are two recent trends in education. They seem to go hand-in-hand and should lead to the exporting of American style higher education around the world. The authors, writing from the University of Maryland University College and the University of New Mexico, argue that there are some barriers to exporting American higher education overseas. Barriers of language and the perception of American higher education institutions as de facto representatives of Americanism keep the growth in check in some regions. The authors point out the globally, the demand is present so they predict continued growth despite the barriers. This is a useful and insightful research article dealing with a current recent trend in education. Elen, J., Clarebout, G., Leonard, R., & Lowyck, J. (2007). Student-centered and teacher- centered learning environments: what students think. Teaching In Higher Education, 12(1), 105-117. doi:10.1080/13562510601102339 These authors, writing from the University of Leuven in Belgium, conducted this research into multiple points of view in education. They explored the student preferences for student centered, teacher centered or mixed educational settings. They found that through surveys, students did not regard the mixed method of balancing student and teacher centered instruction. Survey results find that students most appreciate strong instructional delivery of student centered or teacher centered settings. This refuted the findings of Kembler and students prefer Entwistle that suggest student-centered instruction to teacher lead instruction. This is valuable research for understanding what students most value in the classroom based on a student’s perspective. Hazi, H. M., & Rucinski, D. (2009). Teacher Evaluation as a Policy Target for Improved Student Learning: A Fifty-State Review of Statute and Regulatory Action since NCLB. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 17(5), 1-22. This article was written by a college professor at the University of West Virginia and another at the University of Alabama. They investigated the question of how NCLB has changed teacher evaluations. They analyzed the legislative histories and activities of each of the fifty states relative to changing how teachers are evaluated. They found that when put into a comparison matrix, all fifty states have moved towards a more rigorous approach towards evaluating new teachers, using a variety of evaluations and having harsher penalties for substandard performance. The authors’ audience was school administrators that conduct teacher evaluations. This article is very valuable for understanding current trends in education and the evaluation of teachers. Hofstetter, R., & Schneuwly, B. (2009). Knowledge for teaching and knowledge to teach: two contrasting figures of New Education: Claparede and Vygotsky. Paedagogica Historica, 45(4/5), 605-629. doi:10.1080/00309230903100973 Both of these authors work at the University of Geneva in Switzerland. This study was conducted to offer a different point of view on the purpose of formal education, specifically the movement of the early 20th century referred to as New Education. The study places the ideas of two non-Anglo-Saxon Europeans, Vygotsky and Claparede in historical context and the projects their ideas upon current issues in education. The article was interesting, but not especially useful for research. It was an interesting article that provided meaningful context and background knowledge for these theorists and proposed applications for today. The article was valuable for learning about various points of view regarding the purpose of education. Kilanowski-Press, L., Foote, C. J., & Rinaldo, V. J. (2010). Inclusion Classrooms and Teachers: A Survey of Current Practices. International Journal Of Special Education, 25(3), 43-56. Inclusion of students with learning disabilities into the regular classroom has been implemented to varying degrees for the past two decades. This article results from a survey distributed by the authors to 71 different inclusion teachers in New York State. The purpose of the research was to highlight the most common teaching strategies in inclusion classrooms in an effort to guide future research on inclusion education. The authors found that the practices rated as most effective, such as co-teaching, were the least utilized and that unproven practices such as utilizing volunteers are the most common supports in these classrooms. This research is important for teachers working in inclusion classrooms and for researchers. Lindy, B. A. (2011). The Impact of Teacher Collective Bargaining Laws on Student Achievement: Evidence from a New Mexico Natural Experiment. Yale Law Journal, 120(5), 1130-1191. The author of this research measured student achievement between the ending and the beginning (a four year span) of New Mexico’s collective bargaining agreement with the state teacher’s union. A current issue in education is the level of teacher compensation and benefits as negotiated through the collective bargaining process. This study finds that students that were motivated and high achieving did better when a collective bargaining agreement was in place, but students with less ability did not do as well. The author then discusses possible implications that may have for organized teacher unions. Mastropieri, M. A., Scruggs, T. E., Norland, J. J., Berkeley, S., McDuffie, K., Tornquist, E., & Connors, N. (2006). Differentiated Curriculum Enhancement in Inclusive Middle School Science: Effects on Classroom and High-Stakes Tests. Journal Of Special Education, 40(3), 130-137. University professors that teach education and special education classes to prospective teachers and administrators at Clemson, George Mason and the University of Maryland conducted this research. The quantitative study measured the attitudes and state testing performance for students with mild disabilities in an inclusive, differentiated, middle school science classroom. The authors found that including peer tutoring and differentiated instruction increased the attitude towards learning for students with disabilities, had no effect on the attitudes of regular education students and did not produce a statistically significant different on standardized tests. This article is of value for researching the range of student abilities in a inclusive classroom situation. McTighe, J., & Brown, J. L. (2005). Differentiated Instruction and Educational Standards: Is Detente Possible? Theory Into Practice, 44(3), 234-244. doi:10.1207/s15430421tip4403_8 The authors of this article are both educational consultants. McTighe works for the organization/corporation Learning by Design. Brown works for the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development and for McTighe at Learning by Design. The purpose of this article is to convince educational leaders that differentiated instruction and educational systems such as Learning by Design can be used in conjunction with standardized testing. Actually, they argue that they must be used in conjunction with standards. This article is not worth much for actual research. It is, in fact, a research based advertisement for the authors and their consulting practices. Much time is spend on justifying Learning by Design and differentiated instruction, but little hard evidence is presented. This is not a good article for researching or understanding how a range of student abilities affects the classroom. Moe, T. M. (2009). Collective Bargaining and The Performance of the Public Schools. American Journal Of Political Science, 53(1), 156-174. doi:10.1111/j.1540- 5907.2008.00363.x The author writes from Stanford University and suggests in this article that collective bargaining is bad for public education. He likens teachers to bureaucrats and questions the wisdom in allowing the public sector to organize in unions. According to his research, minority and struggling students are most impacted by collective bargaining agreements for teachers. The research in this article is suspect at best. The author conducted no research of his own and has cobbled together many outcomes from other’s research that is not presented in context. The article reads like a long harangue against teacher’s unions. Musoleno, R. R., & White, G. P. (2010). Influences of High-Stakes Testing on Middle School Mission and Practice. RMLE Online: Research In Middle Level Education, 34(3), 1-10. The middle school philosophy includes elements such as cooperative teaming of subjects, advisory periods and instruction in the arts. The researchers, working in Pennsylvania, researched the effect high stakes testing is having on this middle school philosophy. Through an online survey, their researchers found that time in the arts, advisory and non-tested subjects such as science and social studies are being sacrificed for test preparation and remediation. Implications of this trend are discussed. The research is very valuable for individuals that wish to see how the trend of high stakes testing is affecting learning in a negative manner. Newton, X. A., Darling-Hammond, L., Haertel, E., & Thomas, E. (2010). Value-Added Modeling of Teacher Effectiveness: An Exploration of Stability across Models and Contexts. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 18(23), Tying teacher effectiveness to value added measurements of student achievement are a popular trend in education. The authors of this study, writing from Berkeley and Stanford, conclude that caution must be used when applying value added measurements to teacher performance reviews. The note specifically how student ability, language proficiency and disability affect a teachers rating, even when these things are controlled for statistically. This research is important because many districts nationwide are implementing value added measures in teacher evaluations. The audience for this article was administrators and legislators that make decisions concerning the evaluation of teachers. Ortiz-Rodriguez, M., Telg, R. W., Irani, T., Roberts, T., & Rhoades, E. (2005). College Students' Perceptions Of Quality In Distance Education: The Importance of Communication. Quarterly Review Of Distance Education, 6(2), 97-105. The authors conduct their research from the University of Florid and Texas A & M. This research is intended for administrators and educators conducting college level distance education classes. The authors note that most of the evaluation of effectiveness in distance education occurs in a top-down manner. This research surveyed students about effective and ineffective practices used by distance educators. The study, a series of qualitative surveys, indicates that communication and timely feedback are the most important factors determining perceived quality for students. This research is important for understanding multiple points of view in distance education. It is also important because distance education and online courses are recent trends in education. Shaikh, F. M., & Hashmi, M. (2011). Investigating Teachers' Academic Excellence as a Predictor of Acceptable Teaching through Students' Evaluation of Teachers. New Horizons (1992-4399), 10(2), 40-53. The authors of this article are both university professors in India. They sought to find a quantitative correlation between teacher effectiveness at the university level and professional credentials such as level of degree held, attendance at workshops and published papers. Students were asked to rank said professors in regards to good teaching practices relative to quality of lecture, punctuality and correspondence of lecture to test material. They found that there was no correlation between level of professional attainment and teacher quality. This is important research because teacher evaluations have become a politically hot topic. Many school districts are using value added metrics to evaluate teachers instead of rewarding them for professional growth and degree attainment. Tobin, R., & McInnes, A. (2008). Accommodating differences: variations in differentiated literacy instruction in Grade 2/3 classrooms. Literacy, 42(1), 3-9. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9345.2008.00470.x Differentiated instruction is grounded in the work of Vygotsky and other educational psychologists. It is a techniques that encourages instructors to offer a variety of activities each lesson so students can always be challenged in their learning regardless of academic ability or level. University professors in Canada that teach education courses write this reference. The article’s intended audience is practicing teachers that are interested in learning the techniques involved in differentiated instruction. The article was a qualitative study featuring two early elementary teachers, so there was no empirical data but plenty of anecdotal evidence to use in research. This would be best used as an instructional tool for working teachers. This is a great article on handling students with a broad range of abilities in the same classroom. Trostel, P. A., & Ronca, J. M. (2009). A Simple Unifying Measure of State Support for Postsecondary Education. Research In Higher Education, 50(3), 215-247. doi:10.1007/s11162-008-9115-6 Funding education has become a hot political topic since the start of the recession. States have struggled to pay for basic education services. Many states have slashed education budgets. But determining how states fund education and what they have cut is difficult to measure. The authors, both professors at the University of Wisconsin, propose a simple metric that will uniformly compare one state to another. This will inform taxpayers and other stakeholders about the real cost of education expenditures for each state. This is very valuable research for anyone studying the trend of defunding public education that has happened in many states. Young, M. (2009). Education, globalization and the 'voice of knowledge'. Journal Of Education & Work, 22(3), 193-204. doi:10.1080/13639080902957848 The globalization of education is presenting challenges for educators and developers of curriculum. An over emphasis on designing curriculum that is generalized so as to be acceptable to all cultures is eroding academic rigor. This is the conclusion by the author in this study. Qualitative surveys of international educators found an increasing dissatisfaction with generalized curriculum. The trend of globalization is sure to continue, according to the author, so replacing generalized curricula with learning based on Vygotsky and differentiation is suggested. This will impact practice within the classroom as well as the formation of curricula. Read More