After decades of accountability and market-based reforms in education, school systems are now organizing more around improving teaching and learning. Yet these efforts frequently yield unintended, superficial, or even counterproductive changes at the school level. In this article, Maxwell Yurkofsky develops the concept of technical ceremonies as a…

Research on equity in data literacy for teaching has lagged yet is of critical importance to ensuring new teachers are prepared to serve diverse students. Our multiple case study conveyed four elementary teacher candidates' understandings of this construct and their reaction to instruction in this domain. Data collection included interviews, item…

We used multilevel analysis to examine the predictive validity of scores from the Framework for Teaching (FFT), the observation measure used most often to evaluate teachers' instruction. We investigated how well 81 kindergarten teachers' FFT scores for eight reading and eight mathematics lessons observed throughout the year predicted students'…

This study investigated the relationship among the variables instructional time configuration, gender, race/ethnicity, and poverty to predict the academic performance of seventh-grade students on a state-mandated social studies accountability test. Results of 24,919 seventh-grade student social studies test scores from 117 middle schools, as well…

Grounded in the belief that data will drive instructional change, data-driven decision making continues to be a prevalent reform strategy in schools. However, the use of data does not always prompt teachers to change their instructional practices, particularly in low-performing schools where accountability pressures loom large. Drawing on in-depth…

Schools in Turkey are primarily influenced by the Ministry of National Education ("Milli Egitim Bakanligi") through laws and regulations. Compliance with regulations might be characterised as superficial in many respects and can lead to schools 'decoupling' their espoused structures from the realities of practice. In other words, they…

This paper shows how Karen Barad's "agential realism" provides a powerful analytical framework for assessing higher education accountability. It takes the example of the UK 'National Student Survey' (NSS), a questionnaire, which purports to ascertain student course satisfaction in universities. The paper demonstrates how agential realism…

In this study, it was aimed to examine the prospective teachers' preferences regarding group work, the process of structuring the group work, and assessment of their performance within the group. In the research, case study design was used. The participants of the study consisted of 62 prospective teachers studying in the Department of Early…

There is limited research of observed writing instruction in inclusive, secondary diverse urban contexts. This study contributes to the field by investigating four urban secondary English teachers' perceptions of ideal writing instruction as compared with their actual instruction, which is primarily driven by high-stakes accountability measures.…

This study explored the reasons Latin@s join Latino fraternities and Latina sororities at a university in the southwestern United States. Via a phenomenological approach, it uncovered the unique placement of Latino Greek-letter organizations and their role in the success of Latin@ students by embodying the intersectionality of academics, social…

The federal government currently provides more than $150 billion each year to students and their families in the form of grants, loans, work-study funds, and tax credits to help make college more affordable. This sizable public investment in higher education has indeed made college attendance possible for a larger share of Americans. However,…

Education within capitalism too often reproduces social and economic inequalities. Schools are depicted as failing and teachers are blamed. In this paper, I examine the discourses underlying this situation and the role of foundations in the US and the World Bank in developing countries in maintaining it. I look at the neoliberal remedy of…

Teachers and their unions are often vilified for the perception that they are working against the best interest of students (Berliner & Glass, 2014). The narrative, it seems, is that teachers' unions only seek to protect bad teachers, and they fight for an unearned increase in pay for teachers. The National Education Association launched the…

State databases offer researchers the opportunity to conduct research using data collected by states. These databases contain financial, demographic, and accountability data. Accessing and acquiring data from these repositories, though, can offer challenges to scholars interested in conducting research. This brief describes the type of data…

Objective: To identify knowledge and beliefs about the human papillomavirus (HPV) among students in a residential academic institution, including perceptions of safety of the HPV vaccine, perceptions of cancer correlation with HPV, and independence/interdependence in health decision-making. Design: A qualitative study was used. Setting:…