Category: Working Papers

Author: Gina Navoa Svarovsky April 2010, 23 pp. Abstract: In response to industry’s demands for better-prepared engineering graduates, capstone design courses have been included in undergraduate engineering programs for over three decades. These practicum experiences, typically encountered during the final year or semester of the course sequence, provide valuable “real-world” experience by allowing students to …

Authors: Eric J. Osthoff, Vansa Shewakramani, Kimberle Kelly February 2010, 26 pp. Abstract: This paper (Part I of II) explores the impact of district and school contexts on the implementation of curriculum reform. The reform in question is an inquiry-oriented elementary science initiative undertaken in the Los Angeles Unified School District as part of a …

Author: Jane Cooley February 2010, 58 pp. Abstract: Understanding peer effects is critical to evaluating the effect of public school segregation on the achievement gap. This paper develops a new approach to identifying the effect of peer behavior on achievement, using a framework that integrates previously unexplored types of heterogeneity in peer spillovers. Applying the …

Author: Erica Halverson February 2010, 19 pp. Abstract: The study of learning environments that support positive youth development is a growing field in the United States. This article describes one type of learning environment where youth have the opportunity to construct adaptive, emergent identities: arts-based youth organizations. Within these organizations, youth participate in the dramaturgical …

Authors: Steven M. Kimball, Rachel Lander, Christopher A. Thorn, Katie Herrem January 2010, 63 pp. Abstract: This paper reports on results from the pilot test of evaluation guidelines and related tools from the comprehensive evaluation of education grant-making by The Chicago Community Trust conducted by researchers at the Wisconsin Center for Education Research. Prior evaluation …

Author: Jane Cooley September 2009, 41 pp. Abstract: Empirical studies of peer effects rely on the assumption that peer spillovers can be measured through observables. However, in the education context, many theories of peer spillovers center around unobservables, such as ability, effort or motivation. I show that when peer effects arise from unobservables, the typical …

Author: Catherine Compton-Lilly August 2009, 32 pp. Abstract: A case study of one low-income African American child, Peter Horner, is used to explore how children accumulate various forms of writing capital. Horner’s development was tracked over 10 years, from first grade through high school. The construct of time is explored by examining how capital contributes …

Author: Adam Gamoran August 2009, 21 pp. Abstract: The practice of tracking and ability grouping—the division of students into separate tracks, classes, and groups for instruction based on their purported interests and abilities—has long been debated. Evidence from decades of research indicates that tracking magnifies inequality between high and low achievers without raising achievement overall, …

Authors: Matthew T. Hora, Susan B. Millar June 2009, 82 pp. Abstract: This qualitative case study reports on processes and outcomes of the National Science Foundation (NSF)–funded System-Wide Change for All Learners and Educators (SCALE) project at the California State University, Northridge (CSUN). It addresses a critical challenge in studying systemic reform in complex organizations: …

Authors: Matthew T. Hora, Susan B. Millar, Jessica Arrigoni, Kerry Kretchmar June 2009, 53 pp. Abstract: This paper describes the analysis of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Math and Science Partnership (MSP) program’s January 2008 Learning Network Conference (LNC). This study focuses on the methodologies used by the MSP community to generate evidence and seeks …