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新近英语论文辑要
Educational Researcher 45卷5期
2016-08-09

1.Understanding Science Achievement Gaps by Race/Ethnicity and Gender in Kindergarten and First Grade
Author: F. Chris Curran and Ann T. Kellogg
Source: Educational Researcher June/July 2016 45: 273-282.

Abstract:

Disparities in science achievement across race and gender have been well documented in secondary and postsecondary school; however, the science achievement gap in the early years of elementary school remains understudied. We present findings from the recently released Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010–2011 that demonstrate significant gaps in science achievement in kindergarten and first grade by race/ethnicity. We estimate the Black-White science gap in kindergarten at –.82 SD but find only a small gender gap by first grade. Large disparities between Asian student performance in science as compared to mathematics and reading are documented. Student background characteristics and school fixed effects explain nearly 60% of the Black-White and Hispanic-White science achievement gaps in kindergarten. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.

 

2. How Methodological Features Affect Effect Sizes in Education
Author: Alan C. K. Cheung and Robert E. Slavin
Source: Educational Researcher June/July 2016 45: 283-292.

Abstract:

As evidence becomes increasingly important in educational policy, it is essential to understand how research design might contribute to reported effect sizes in experiments evaluating educational programs. A total of 645 studies from 12 recent reviews of evaluations of preschool, reading, mathematics, and science programs were studied. Effect sizes were roughly twice as large for published articles, small-scale trials, and experimenter-made measures, compared to unpublished documents, large-scale studies, and independent measures, respectively. Effect sizes were significantly higher in quasiexperiments than in randomized experiments. Excluding tutoring studies, there were no significant differences in effect sizes between elementary and middle/high studies. Regression analyses found that effects of all factors maintained after controlling for all other factors. Explanations for the effects of methodological features on effect sizes are discussed, as are implications for evidence-based policy.

 

3.Mathematics Content Coverage and Student Learning in Kindergarten
Author: Mimi Engel, Amy Claessens, Tyler Watts, and George Farkas
Source: Educational Researcher June/July 2016 45: 293-300.

Abstract:

Analyzing data from two nationally representative kindergarten cohorts, we examine the mathematics content teachers cover in kindergarten. We expand upon prior research, finding that kindergarten teachers report emphasizing basic mathematics content. Although teachers reported increased coverage of advanced content between the 1998–1999 and 2010–2011 school years, they continued to place more emphasis on basic content. We find that time on advanced content is positively associated with student learning, whereas time on basic content has a negative association with learning. We argue that increased exposure to more advanced mathematics content could benefit the vast majority of kindergartners.

 

4.Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: A Critical Examination of the Conceptualization of the Study of Black Racial Identity in Education
Author: Sabrina Zirkel and Tabora Johnson
Source: Educational Researcher June/July 2016 45: 301-311.

Abstract:

The role that racial identity plays in the well-being, educational achievement, and life outcomes of Black youth has received tremendous attention from the early post-slavery years right up until today, and remains a surprisingly contested area of study. We call for the examination of why images of Black racial identity as “damaged” and “dangerous” persist despite scores of studies that demonstrate otherwise. Despite a proliferation of theories suggesting a “damaged” Black psyche and suspicion about its value to Black youth, we find the history of research about Black racial identity reveals robust and consistent evidence that Black racial identity is linked to a broad range of positive outcomes from measures of well-being— including greater resilience, coping with discrimination, higher academic performance, greater commitment to education, and improved educational outcomes on a number of measures. Given this, we question why Black identity has been so controversial and why, 150 years after the end of legalized Black slavery, theories suggesting the “danger” of Black racial identity still hold so much power with both lay and professional audiences.

 

5. Appropriately Targeting Group Interventions for Academic Success Adopting the Clinical Model and PAR Profiles
Author: Craig W. Johnson, Ronald Johnson, Michael Steigman, Chioma Odo, Suvendra Vijayan, and Devadatta V. Tata
Source: Educational Researcher June/July 2016 45: 312-323.

Abstract:

Prevalence of academic risk (PAR) group profiles provide data enabling empirically based group-specialized prescriptions for targeted academic success interventions to increase student retention, completion, and graduation rates, while improving allocation of institutional resources. Postsecondary student attrition engenders student debt, shortages of highly trained professionals, and inadequate workforce diversity. Diagnostic PAR profiles, employing a proactive Diagnosis ⇒ Prescription ⇒ Intervention ⇒ Evaluation Model adapted from clinical medicine, enable empirically targeted, groupspecialized, student-success interventions. Two-step cluster analysis of survey responses from 512 students entering firstsemester urban health science community college differentiated three PAR-profile groups: (a) traditional, (b) language/ education/financially challenged, and (c) older/supporting families/financially challenged. The latter two groups’ end-offirst-semester odds of adverse academic status events were, respectively, 1.73 (p = .016) and 2.08 (p = .002) times the traditional group’s. PAR profiles enable empirically based group-tailored interventions for increasing student retention, completion, and graduation rates, while improving allocation of institutional resources.