In a recent article in this journal, Sciffer, Perry, and McConney identify the risk of relying on insufficient within-unit variation as a serious flaw in a number of studies using student fixed effects regression to identify the effects of school socioeconomic composition (school SES) on academic achievement, including one by Armor, Marks, and…

The present study seeks to critically review the state of the blended learning researches in the Iranian context. For this critique, 47 papers about blended learning were found in a number of indexing databases and their contents were analyzed. The contents mainly revolved around use of relevant terminology, features of blended learning,…

The article proposes and illustrates a methodological framework that aligns with the action-research models and utopian methodology in particular, although it represents a more substantial leap forward, especially regarding the distributed nature of decision making in the different processes of research/intervention, and its multiple and…

School absenteeism and truancy have been of concern to schools, courts, communities and researchers since compulsory education laws were first put into effect. Despite the attention given to this problem and significant effort aimed at improving student attendance, school absenteeism remains a serious problem. A number of qualitative reviews of…

This fifth and final paper in the Fordham Institute's series examining digital learning policy is "Overcoming the Governance Challenge in K-12 Online Learning". The purpose of this report is to outline the steps required to move the governance of K-12 online learning from the local district level to the less restrictive state level and to create a…

The Education Trust research report "Stuck Schools" suggests a framework for identifying chronically low-performing schools in need of turnaround. The study uses Maryland and Indiana to show that some low-performing schools make progress while others remain stagnant. The report has four serious problems of reliability and validity,…

Explores the current status of the empirical-analytical methodology and its "positivist" ideologies in environmental education research through the critical analysis of three criticisms outlined in an article by Robottom and Hart. Suggests that the criticisms misrepresent empirical-analytical methodology in their dismissal of it as…

Since the 1960s, the epistemological-cum-methodological orientations of American and British comparative education changed from being historical to being social scientific. This metamorphosis has impoverished the field, and a return to a re-invented historical mode of comparative analysis would help to humanize comparative education in a cosmos of…

The task of Dr. St. Germaine's commissioned paper was twofold: the development of a research agenda for Indian education, and reflections on the role of the school within the context of American Indian cultures and communities. Dr. St. Germaine classifies American Indians and Alaska Natives into one American ethnic subculture. Although he…

Critiques the writings of "New York Times" education columnist Richard Rothstein. (PKP)

Analyzed 34 environmental education studies published since 1974 that attempted to demonstrate changes in environmentally relevant knowledge, attitudes, or behaviors. Studies are divided into two major categories, in-class and out-of-class programs, and critiqued for findings and methodologies. Findings indicate that future research can refine…

This book scrutinizes some basic assumptions about educational research with the aim that such research may act more powerfully on those persistent and important problems of our schools surrounding issues of race, class, and gender. In particular, the 13 essays in this book examine how power is infused in research by addressing such questions as…

Evaluates two British ethnographic studies by Bruce Carrington and Edward Wood, and by Cecile Y. Wright claiming to find evidence of teachers' racist attitudes and behaviors toward Afro-Caribbean students that contributed to student underachievement. Delineates methodological flaws. Argues that Wright's findings that the source of racism is in…