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Full-Text Articles in Education
Analyzing The Visual Discourse Of Charter Schools In The News, Abe Feuerstein
Analyzing The Visual Discourse Of Charter Schools In The News, Abe Feuerstein
Abe Feuerstein
This study examines a number of political cartoons focused on various aspects of charter school reform. These images illustrate the ways in which political cartoons are able to tap into dominant cultural beliefs in order to call attention to particular issues often from a critical perspective. The paper unpacks the meaning embedded in these cartoons through the use of tools borrowed from both the study of semiotics and the field of visual rhetoric. With regard to semiotics, the study focuses on identifying the signs and symbols embedded within the images. With respect to visual rhetoric, the study focuses on the …
News Framing And Charter School Reform, Abe Feuerstein
News Framing And Charter School Reform, Abe Feuerstein
Abe Feuerstein
This paper reviews the historical development of charter schools and the ways in which charter schools are currently viewed by the American public. Using the tools of news framing analysis, the study also examines a sample of news reports from The Washington Post, The New York Times, and The Philadelphia Inquirer in order to identify dominant news frames. This process reveals two dominant frames -- Public Accountability, and Freedom, Choice, and Innovation – which are illustrated with excerpts from the news sample. The paper concludes by considering the implications of these frames for charter school reform and suggests several new …
Knuckling Under? School Superintendents And Accountability-Based Educational Reform, Abe Feuerstein
Knuckling Under? School Superintendents And Accountability-Based Educational Reform, Abe Feuerstein
Abe Feuerstein
The goal of this article is to explore the various ways that superintendents have responded to accountability-based educational reform efforts such as No Child Left Behind, the factors that have influenced their responses, and the implications of these responses for current and future educational leaders. With respect to the first issue, empirical data from a number of nationai studies (T. E. Glass & Franceschini, 2007; Johnson, Arumi, & Ott, 2006; Johnstone, Dilkkers, & Luedeke, 2009; Stecher et al., 2008) make clear that while there have been a variety of responses from superintendents to accountability-based reform efforts, superintendents have mostly played …
The Politics Of Accountability And Teacher Preparation: A Case Study From Pennsylvania, Abe Feuerstein
The Politics Of Accountability And Teacher Preparation: A Case Study From Pennsylvania, Abe Feuerstein
Abe Feuerstein
In an effort to understand some of the ways that accountability-based reform efforts have influenced teacher education, this article details the politics of accountability in Pennsylvania that motivated sweeping changes in the policies governing teacher preparation in 2006. This case study provides a poignant example of the kind of complex accountability systems now being constructed across the United States in an effort to change teacher preparation. By analyzing primary documents including the legal statutes governing teacher preparation in Pennsylvania, correspondence from the Pennsylvania Department of Education, related newsletters, memos, reports, transcripts of meetings, and testimony before the Pennsylvania House of …
School Governance, Abe Feuerstein
“School Board Ethics And Effectiveness”, Abe Feuerstein
“School Board Ethics And Effectiveness”, Abe Feuerstein
Abe Feuerstein
Since the early 1980s, educational policy has increasingly been focused on improving student performance (Conley, 2003, Murphy, 1990). School governance in general, and school boards in particular, have often been viewed as either the means of implementing needed reforms or as roadblocks in their way (Boyd, 2003; Delagardelle, M.; 2008; Howell, 2005). Effective governance, it is believed, is necessary for school improvement, yet examples of good governance rarely garner as much attention as do issues such as board member misconduct, nepotism, and overall board corruption (Segal, 2004). This research project provides new insights into the best way to improve local …
Negotiating The Right Deal, Abe Feuerstein
Negotiating The Right Deal, Abe Feuerstein
Abe Feuerstein
A superintendent’s career path often goes something like this: Successful teacher earns administrative certification, becomes an assistant principal or principal, starts working on a doctorate or further administrative certification, moves into the central office, then makes the jump into the top position. Students at Pennsylvania’s Bucknell University take a class on “The Superintendency” before they start applying for positions. The course addresses many fundamental aspects of the superintendent’s role, but one has been overlooked: “How do I negotiate my first contract once I have been offered a position?” Students in a recent class tackled this question by developing a research …
Using Cyber-Infrastructure Enhanced Product Dissection To Introduce Engineering To Middle School Students, Abe Feuerstein, Steven Shooter
Using Cyber-Infrastructure Enhanced Product Dissection To Introduce Engineering To Middle School Students, Abe Feuerstein, Steven Shooter
Abe Feuerstein
This study examines the influence of engineering dissection activities on middle school students’ interest in science and engineering careers. Attracting students to engineering is a matter of growing concern considering that engineering related jobs are currently being created at five times the national average1. This trend coupled with relatively low college admissions rates into engineering programs points toward the need to develop greater student interest in engineering and engineering related fields at much younger ages. Studies suggest that students introduced to the potential and promise of science and engineering during middle school have a much greater inclination to pursue science …
School Boards, Abe Feuerstein
“School Administration And The Changing Face Of Masculinity”, Abe Feuerstein
“School Administration And The Changing Face Of Masculinity”, Abe Feuerstein
Abe Feuerstein
In the first part of this article, I examine new concepts of masculinity and the implications of these concepts for the practice of school administration. I also discuss the "gender subtext" of school organizations as one of the mechanisms through which masculinity is enacted and masculine stereotypes are reinforced within the school setting. In the second half of the article, I offer a vision of gender in schools that seeks to make the full range of gender expression available to all organizational members. I also describe several strategies that could be used by educational leaders committed to gender equity and …
“State Standards In The Local Context: A Survey Of School Board Members And Superintendents”, Abe Feuerstein, Jonathan Dietrich
“State Standards In The Local Context: A Survey Of School Board Members And Superintendents”, Abe Feuerstein, Jonathan Dietrich
Abe Feuerstein
This study examines the perceptions of superintendents and school board members inPennsylvania with regard to state academic standards and standardized tests. From a universe of 501 Pennsylvania districts, we selected a sample of 51 districts (approximately 10%) at random. We sent surveys to superintendents, school board chairpersons, and three additional school board members from each district. Thirty-one of the 51 superintendents completed surveys for a 61% rate of return. For school board members, 76 of the 204 surveyed completed surveys for a 37% rate of return. Results of the survey show that although superintendents and school board members view standards …
“What Pragmatism Can Offer Educational Reform Debates: Method, Means, And Motive”, Abe Feuerstein, Sue Ellen Henry
“What Pragmatism Can Offer Educational Reform Debates: Method, Means, And Motive”, Abe Feuerstein, Sue Ellen Henry
Abe Feuerstein
This paper advocates for reframing educational reform through the philosophical lens of pragmatism. After reviewing the problems that arise from the three dominant paradigms of school change suggested by Hord's 1992 review of the literature, we propose seven criteria for pragmatic thinking that can be useful in crafting reform efforts. Following the application of these criteria to a short case study of a failed educational reform in an urban school, the paper concludes with discussion of the benefits of pragmatism as a philosophical foundation for educational reform.
"Elections, Voting And Democracy In Local School District Governance", Abe Feuerstein
"Elections, Voting And Democracy In Local School District Governance", Abe Feuerstein
Abe Feuerstein
This article examines the role of school board elections in local school governance. The article argues that the history of school governance including many current reforms such as mayoral takeovers, state intervention, and various market driven models tell a story of decreasing public voice in local educational affairs. The article further argues that the current lack of faith in government in general and school boards in particular is related to an adversarial view of democracy. Deliberative democracy is presented as an alternative to adversarial practices that rely too heavily on elections and voting to create a sense of legitimacy. Some …
“Selling Our Schools? Principals’ Views On Schoolhouse Commercialism And School-Business Interactions”, Abe Feuerstein
“Selling Our Schools? Principals’ Views On Schoolhouse Commercialism And School-Business Interactions”, Abe Feuerstein
Abe Feuerstein
Businesses and schools frequently interact in a variety of spheres. Much of the literature written during the 1980s on school-business interaction is positive and suggests that schools benefit from a corporate presence. More recently, the literature on schoolbusiness interaction has become critical and suggests that businesses sometimes exploit schools in these relationships. This study enriches this debate by examining the views of public school principals in Pennsylvania with regard to the involvement of corporations in public schools in the following spheres: sponsored events, exclusive agreements, incentive programs, marketing in school, sponsored educational materials, and direct sales and fund-raising. The findings …
Hyper-Rationalization Revisited, Abe Feuerstein
Hyper-Rationalization Revisited, Abe Feuerstein
Abe Feuerstein
Hyperrationalization in educational policy creates problems in the imposition of standards by centralized authorities and pursuit of efficiency through standardized tests, based on the assumption that education can be routinized and mechanized. A humanistic alternative is to make students the focus of educational policy and practice
The Teacher Belief Inventory: Measuring The Theoretical And Practical Orientations Of Preservice Teachers (2nd Author With Kathryn Nottis, Joseph Murray, And Don Adams), Abe Feuerstein
Abe Feuerstein
Most teacher education programs purport to have either a theoretical or practical orientation, or a combination of both. For example, some conceptions of teacher preparation view the road from novice to expert as a process of progressive problem solving (Scardamalia & Bereiter, 1989). Educators who hold this view believe that effective teachers are those who continuously strive to resolve classroom problems by applying a systematic approach of hypothesis generation, empirical testing, and adjustment. Other programs focus more on a practical approach to teaching involving the study of instructional techniques appropriate for various situations encountered by most teachers (Joyce & Weil, …
School Characteristics And Parental Involvement: Factors That Influence Parental Participation In Their Children’S Schools, Abe Feuerstein
School Characteristics And Parental Involvement: Factors That Influence Parental Participation In Their Children’S Schools, Abe Feuerstein
Abe Feuerstein
Several school-level variables thought to influence the degree to which parents are involved in their children's education were explored. The author sought to clarify, both theoretically and empirically, the meaning of parent involvement. Also, several statistical regression models were developed on the basis of school characteristics. The models help to explain the variance in 9 categories of parent involvement. The results of this study indicate that many forms of parent involvement, such as the structure that parents create for students in the home environment, are not easily influenced by school-level variables. However, several forms of parent involvement, including parent volunteerism …
Now We Go To Their School: Desegregation And Its Contemporary Legacy, Abe Feuerstein, Sue Ellen Henry
Now We Go To Their School: Desegregation And Its Contemporary Legacy, Abe Feuerstein, Sue Ellen Henry
Abe Feuerstein
This article explores one southern community's response to the 1954 Brown decision and its subsequent history of dealing with school desegregation. This local perspective is developed using historical data focusing on events immediately following the Brown decision, which provide a contextfor events leading up to a decision in the inid-1980s to consolidate the community's middle school students to reduce perceptions of inequality based on race. This consolidated school is the focus of the second half of the article, which analyzes the current status of desegregation in the school. Although the school has been desegregated, it is far from integrated. Many …
Special Interest Groups And The Political Nature Of Educational Leadership, Abe Feuerstein
Special Interest Groups And The Political Nature Of Educational Leadership, Abe Feuerstein
Abe Feuerstein
No abstract provided.
School Board Chairmen And School Superintendents: An Analysis Of Perceptions Concerning Special Interest Groups And Educational Governance, Abe Feuerstein, V. Darlene Opfer
School Board Chairmen And School Superintendents: An Analysis Of Perceptions Concerning Special Interest Groups And Educational Governance, Abe Feuerstein, V. Darlene Opfer
Abe Feuerstein
This study focuses on the perceptions of Virginia school board chairmen and superintendents as they relate to local governance issues. These perceptions provide great insight into the problems faced by Virginia school boards—both elected and appointed—in the aftermath of a 1992 law allowing communities to shift from appointed to elected school boards. All superintendents and school board chairman in the state were surveyed on the following topics: their perceptions concerning school board members’ orientations toward their role as representatives (trustee vs. delegate), their personal attitudes concerning the electoral process, their assessment of interest group involvement in district decision-making, their feelings …
Understanding Interest Group Involvement In The Process Of Educational Governance, Abe Feuerstein
Understanding Interest Group Involvement In The Process Of Educational Governance, Abe Feuerstein
Abe Feuerstein
Public schools in America are often at the center of heated controversy concerning values and interests. Buffeted from the left and the right, school boards and administrators struggle to create workable school policies. Much of this conflict is related to the participation of powerful interest groups in the process of educational governance. These groups, composed of concerned business leaders, minorities, legislators, teachers, and taxpayers, play an increasingly important role in the representation and articulation of educational issues. The involvement of interest groups and the political nature of most decisions concerning the public schools necessitates the preparation of educational leaders able …
Davis City: A Case Of Perceived Inequality, Abe Feuerstein
Davis City: A Case Of Perceived Inequality, Abe Feuerstein
Abe Feuerstein
Understanding the dynamics associated with race-based educational policy is not easy — every case has its own characteristics and nuances. Despite these differences, there are some underlying dynamics associated with the educational decision-making that can be generalized from one case to another. The case of Davis City is instructive, therefore, not because of its uniqueness but because of the universal elements which it embodies. In particular, it explores the way that individual and group concerns about race and equality can influence school district decision-making. The description of this case, which details the sentiments and actions of various school district stake-holders, …