Describes the evolution of the qualitative-quantitative debate, and suggests that educational researchers learn to live with the necessary tensions resulting from accepting elements of each approach. The proposed critical educational research model is illustrated through examples that go beyond a positivist-interpretivist split. (SLD)

Examines and assesses Marxist debates over schooling and societal reproduction. Argues that, if Marxists insist on using functional analysis to explain schools in capitalist society, the accuracy of these explanations must be empirically assessed. (FMW)

Examines construct validity from the perspectives of phenomenology and ethnographic research, critical theory, the interpretive analytics of Foucault, and the deconstructive criticism of Derrida. Concludes that construct validation is a pragmatic and critical activity. (FMW)

Argues that the personal commitments of teachers, common sense, and normative requirements can be valid bases for action. Asserts that overreliance on research knowledge is unwarranted: its value lies primarily in the scientific ethos and in processes of inquiry and only secondarily in the facts researchers lay claim to. (Author/KH)

Replies to a review of another article he wrote which presented a framework for the sociological analysis of special education. Clarifies the distinction between substantialist and contractualist ideologies, and argues that the latter is the basis for special education differentiation. Rebuts the allegation that Marxist sociology has been…

Overcoming obstacles to teacher research about their own educational practices requires the formation of intellectual communities of teacher-researchers or networks of teachers. An analytic framework is presented for interpreting and evaluating the work of such groups according to how they use time, talk, construct texts, and interpret teaching…

Identifies common points in recent research reports on undergraduate liberal arts education and relates them to traditions in the history of education. Concludes that the recommendations of these reports contain important and basic contradictions. (FMW)

Reviews an article by James G. Carrier on a social control theory of special education. Argues that Carrier ignores empirical data, and that special education programs in the United States develop cyclically, in response to specific social pressures--not, as Carrier contends, in response to a generalized movement toward a contractualist society.…

Discusses (1) what is meant by educational practice and empirically based theory; (2) the mutual dependence and independence of social based scientific theoretical formulations; and (3) the differences between theory and practice on the problem created by their similarities. (SA)

Argues that the empirical evidence upon which Bowles and Gintis's correspondence theory relies is weak. Suggests empirical and interpretive extensions and revisions of Bowles and Gintis's approach. (Author/MP)

Outlines some methodological problems inherent in the study of Coleman, Hoffer, and Kilgore (1982) on achievement in public, Catholic, and private high schools.(MP)

Values inevitably enter educational inquiry, but they do not undermine the possibility of objectivity. Theoretical frameworks, even those that carry particular values, may be legitimately employed to explain educational phenomena. Mainstream research is systematically biased. (Author/BJV)

Looks at what is entailed when education and experience are regarded as equivalent. Identifies faulty inferences resulting from learning by experience. Considers how experience can close avenues to conceptual and social change. Argues that ideas based on secondhand information are more likely than firsthand experience to manifest both the real and…

Describes two aspects of reading theory: a reader's background knowledge and the organization of text events and ideas. Illustrates how these aspects were applied to instructional design and discusses the results of this application. Includes recommendations on how to apply background knowledge and to create more comprehensible texts. (RDN)

This review of Arthur Jensen's "Bias in Mental Testing" focuses on alleged serious deficiencies in the book: errors of omission, problems with some arguments, misuses of methods, and insufficient rationale for the use of certain methods. The reviewer cautions against use of the book as an authoritative textbook. (CM)