Much ink has been spilled debating the role of the intellectual. William Tierney's article "Beyond the Ivory Tower: The Role of the Intellectual in Eliminating Poverty" in the August/September 2013 issue of "Educational Researcher" adds to this literature. In his article, Tierney presents recommendations to the education…

Throughout the history of the U.S., racialized groups have often had their experiences profoundly shaped by social imagery in ways that have created tremendous hardships in the quest for self-actualization and a healthy sense of self. The purpose of this article is to shed light on the manner in which Black males have been one of the primary…

Looking in classrooms is one of the most basic requirements of school improvement, and yet it is one of the least practised skills of teachers and one of the most contentious methods of educational researchers. When it does occur, it is difficult to agree on what to look for and even more difficult to agree on what is seen. This paper outlines an…

Many campuses are adopting freshman learning communities (FLCs) in order to boost retention. FLCs take many forms, but they typically involve enrolling small groups of students in two or more classes together during their first semester in order to create community and promote academic and social involvement. At Georgia State University, a large…

Alan Reid's (2004) article, Towards a culture of inquiry, constructed a sharply focused challenge to the wave of neo-conservative educational research and policy-making sweeping the Western world at the time. In contrast to the familiar deficit constructions of individual teachers needing injections of knowledge, Reid envisions teachers as…

Recent studies do not find consistent relationships between teacher degree, major, and certification, and PK outcomes (Early, D. M., Bryant, D. M., Pianta, R. C., Clifford, R. M., Burchinal, M. R., Ritchie, S., et al. (2006). Are teachers' education, major, and credentials related to classroom quality and children's academic gains in…

In this commentary, I discuss the science of professional development. A great deal is already known about how to provide professional development that supports teachers' implementation of evidence-based practices and the factors that enhance or inhibit teachers' sustained use of the practices. I summarize the work of researchers who have achieved…

Summarizes criticisms of the community college in a list of six ways in which two-year colleges promote the socio-economic status quo. Reviews the writings of Clark, Jencks and Riesman, Cohen, Astin, Karabel, and Zwerling--all university-based critics. Suggests that two-year college educators analyze and profit from these criticisms. (GB)

As D'Augelli and Grossman note "educational researchers have overlooked the development of sexual orientation among adolescents and youth." Certainly, those working in higher education have, in many cases, overlooked lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and ally (LGBTQA) students' needs and not provided sufficient resources to address their…

Summative measures of learning collected at the conclusion of an associate or bachelor's degree program are insufficient to help educators and students maximize learning and personal development across the college years. Managing the desired outcomes of college requires an understanding of when learning and growth occur during the educational…

Prepared as a tribute to the late Professor Ronald R. Edmonds, this paper reviews the history and progress of school improvement based upon the effective schools research. Topics related to the scope and precision of effective schools research are discussed. A need for further research is claimed in the following areas: (1) noncognitive and higher…

Institutional research that focuses on professional development is addressed in 35 papers from the 1982 meeting of the North East Association for Institutional Research. Titles and authors include the following: "Modeling College Student Adjustment and Retention for the Individual Institution" (Norman D. Aitken); "The Development…