School of Education | University of Wisconsin–Madison
Authors: Adam Gamoran and Daniel A. Long December 2006, 27 pp. Abstract: Equality of Educational Opportunity, the 1966 landmark study by James Coleman and colleagues, persists as a seminal source for continuing research on schools and student achievement. Three main findings of the Coleman report are still evident in the U.S. today. In 1966, U.S. …
Author: Anthony Milanowski October 2006, 21 pp. Abstract: Traditionally, U.S. K–12 teachers have expressed little support for performance-based pay. This could be due to negative experiences with subjective performance evaluation, changing district priorities, or recurring budget crises. Alternatively, the personality traits and work values common to those choosing a teaching career may predispose them to …
Authors: Herbert G. Heneman III, Steven Kimball, and Anthony Milanowski October 2006, 21 pp. Abstract: This study explores the construct validity of the Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES) developed by Tschannen-Moran and Hoy (2001). The psychometric properties of the TSES reported by Tschannen-Moran and Hoy are replicated. Structural equation modeling tested the relationships between …
Authors: Mitchell J. Nathan, Billie Eilam, Suyeon Kim October 2006, 42 pp. Abstract: Learning in a socially mediated context like a classroom places emphasis on the ability of learners to communicate their ideas to others and to achieve shared meaning or intersubjectivity (IS). We take a participatory view of IS, in which both consensual agreement …
Authors: Geoffrey D. Borman and James Benson August 2006, 28 pp. Abstract: This paper describes an independent assessment of the Fast ForWord Language computer-based training program developed by the Scientific Learning Corporation. Previous laboratory research involving children with language-based learning impairments showed strong effects of the Fast ForWord Language program on their abilities to recognize …
Author: Richard Halverson Abstract: This paper explores a distributed leadership perspective on how leaders create contexts that build and support professional communities in schools. It is argued that professional community results from intentional coordination of social interaction among teachers through the design of structures in a situation of practice. School leaders put these structures, or …
Authors: Mitchell J. Nathan and Kristi Jackson April 2006, 11 pp. Abstract: The prominent role of Boolean classes in qualitative data analysis software is viewed by some as an encroachment of logical positivism on qualitative research methodology. We articulate an embodiment perspective, in which Boolean classes are viewed as conceptual metaphors for apprehending and manipulating …
Authors: Mitchell J. Nathan and Kristen N. Bieda March 2006, 13 pp. Abstract: This study investigates middle school mathematics students’ views and interpretations of graphical representations as they use graphs to answer algebraic questions — specifically, questions that require them to extrapolate information from graphs. Using data from videotaped interviews, we analyzed students’ verbal responses …
Authors: Christopher A. Thorn and Robert H. Meyer March 2006, 10 pp. Abstract: The U.S. Department of Education recently held a competition for grants to support states in their efforts to build longitudinal data systems to track and analyze student and school performance. The Value-Added Research Center (VARC) at the Wisconsin Center for Education Research, …
Author: Mitchell J. Nathan December 2005, 16 pp. Abstract: In this paper, I explore two beliefs about learning and teaching that I argue are prevalent among educators. The first is the belief that subject matter expertise is sufficient for success in teaching. The second belief is that to learn a specific content area, one needs …