Education Commons^™

Hitting For Average: Educational Assessment, Unidimensionality, And The Connection To Baseball Hitting Statistics, Alex Romagnoli

Educational Considerations

The traditional points system and subsequent Grade Point Average (GPA) in education perpetuates an evaluation of academic performance which reflects arbitrary weighting of assignments and/or assessments. As such, GPAs which are calculated using a traditional points system are not unidimensional in their design. The baseball batting and slugging percentage, which serves as established metrics for performance evaluations among baseball players, better reflects unidimensionality. In essence, this paper puts forth an analysis and discussion which posits that baseball batting average and slugging percentage can serve as an example for how unidimensionality can become more prevalent in educational assessments, especially as it …

Chess And Education, Gülçin Karakuş

Educational Considerations

This review aims to present how chess improves student abilities and underlines inferences about chess and its educational benefits. In this study, quantitative samples, experimental designs, or test scores of studies are not the main focus. Numerous experimental studies and limited review studies about chess instruction in the literature express the effect of chess on students’ success and mental skills. However, almost all of these studies address only positive effects; this review attempts to explain how chess achieves this success. What are the other components of this effect? Is it really possible to determine how chess affects education? The question …

Anna Julia Cooper: Standing At The Intersection Of History And Hope, Shannon L. Eickhoff

Educational Considerations

Anna Julia Cooper transcended her historical place in time to become one of the most important examples of early resistance to intersectional oppression. Her seminal work, A Voice from the South (1892), articulates her feminine viewpoint on philosophy, social policies, religion, and the status of Black women’s education. Often using the language of the oppressor, Cooper’s acute wit and brilliant use of rhetorical devices allowed her to express herself in spheres of influence where she might otherwise have been silenced. Cooper’s steadfast dedication to racial uplift is illustrated through her life-long commitment to the education of Black women …

Time Capsule: Artifacts For Documentation Of The Paradigm Shift, F. Todd Goodson

Educational Considerations

This issue of Educational Considerations is comprised of three manuscripts offering different applications of the tools of the historian within education.

Educators have a long and unfortunate history of ignoring their own history. Time and again, we pay a price for this in a variety of ways.

Experience Informed Philosophy, Tegan W. Nusser

Educational Considerations

John Dewey's philosophy of education did not arise in a vacuum. Much as Dewey himself would have recognized, his experiences shaped his philosophy. The experiences described include Dewey's time as a boy in Burlington, Vermont; his graduate education at Johns Hopkins University, and his first academic post at the University of Michigan; concluding with his time at the University of Chicago with his famous laboratory school. Following each narrative, Dewey's experiences are connected with and compared to his landmark publication Democracy and Education. Special consideration to the alignment of theory and practice helps to guide interpretation of his experiences with …

The Importance Of Planning Intellectually Challenging Tasks, Ali Althuwaybi

Educational Considerations

Since the emergence of the 21st century, advances in information, communication, and technology are changing teaching and learning in numerous ways. Today, teachers are essential for this momentum shift. The identification and design of appropriate and effective instructional tasks and applying them in the classroom will affect teaching and learning. However, this goes beyond offering curriculum and teaching materials to educators. Teachers should be able to stimulate passive curriculum materials and transform them into intriguing instructional tasks if they can specify resources, processes, and outcomes. Current literature underscores the need to support teachers in engaging in operational planning activities that …

Reimagining Education: Teaching And Learning In A Global Community, Lotta Larson

Educational Considerations

We can no longer debate if global awareness is essential. It is time to reimagine education and carefully consider how to prepare students and educators to thrive in a malleable world.

Introduction To The Special Issue: Leadership In Kansas For The 21st Century, Randy Watson

Educational Considerations

Kansas is currently experiencing a leadership challenge. This is evident both in the number of leaders new to their positions in K-12 school districts and in the methods our state must implement to effectively train those leaders for Kansas’ education to prosper into the 21st century.

North Dakota’S Experience With The Academy Model: A Successful Replication, Tom Hall, Ann Clappe

Educational Considerations

Leadership is a key factor in improving schools and ensuring academic success for all students. At the building level, the leadership role has traditionally been assigned to the principal, but principals cannot be expected to be the sole leaders in their buildings.

Leadership Education And Development For Justice Using The Canonical Framework Of John Rawls's A Theory Of Justice, Brandon W. Kliewer, Jeff Zacharakis

Educational Considerations

Higher education that presupposes a specific conception of justice do well in preparing students to make claims of justice from specific perspectives or positions. However, civic leadership students with a strong background in specific conceptions of justice are often not equipped with necessary skills, dispositions, and habits to exercise leadership in ways that can manage political contestation associated with competing claims of justice.

Community Connections: Integrating Community-Based Field Experiences To Support Teacher Education For Diversity, Christine Beaudry

Educational Considerations

In the United States, preservice teachers often graduate and go on to work with students whose backgrounds are different from their own and in communities in which they have limited lived experience. This holds significant implications for teacher education programs given the importance of life and educational experiences in informing teaching and learning knowledge and practices and the subsequent impact of these practices in shaping the experiences and trajectories of students’ lives.

Teaching The Truth: Difficulties With Social Justice And Social Class In Graduate School, Leona English, Carole Roy

Educational Considerations

Nowadays, anyone who wishes to combat lies and ignorance and to write the truth must overcome at least five difficulties. He must have the courage to write the truth when truth is everywhere opposed; the keenness to recognize it, although it is everywhere concealed; the skill to manipulate it as a weapon; the judgment to select those in whose hands it will be effective; and the cunning to spread the truth among such persons.

Education Funding And Student Outcomes: A Conceptual Framework For Measurement Of The Alignment Of State Education Finance And Academic Accountability Policies, Robert C. Knoeppel, Matthew R. Della Sala

Educational Considerations

The conceptualization and measurement of education finance equity and adequacy has engaged researchers for more than three decades. At the same time, calls for increased academic accountability and higher student achievement in K-12 public education have reached new levels at both the national and state levels.

A Professional Development School In Action: Meeting The Needs Of Military-Connected Students And Families, Sandy Risberg, Laurie Curtis, Lucas Shivers

Educational Considerations

The College of Education (COE) at Kansas State University and its Professional Development Schools (PDS) are partnering in innovative ways that demonstrate a commitment to work collaboratively to solve educational issues involving preservice teachers, practicing teachers, and faculty members, as well as K-12 students and their families.

Benefits Of 25 Years Of School District-University Partnerships To Improve Teacher Preparation And Advance School Renewal, Michael C. Holen, Dan C. Yunk

Educational Considerations

Generalizing about school district-teacher education program relationships across the long history and broad landscape of teacher preparation in America can prove challenging.

The Pds Model As A Vehicle For Simultaneous Renewal In Mathematics Education, Sherri L. Martinie, Chepina Rumsey, David S. Allen, Andrew Bennett, Deborah Abernathy, Brandys Zolnerowich, Melisa Hancock

Educational Considerations

For a quarter century, Kansas State University’s College of Education has supported a Professional Development School (PDS) model involving professional collaboration with selected public school systems across Kansas.

Public Higher Education Funding, Budget Drivers, And Related Issues: The State Community College Director Perspective, Stephen G. Katsinas, Mark M. D’Amico, Janice N. Friedel

Educational Considerations

This article presents results from the 2012 National Survey of Access and Finance Issues conducted by the National Council of State Directors of Community Colleges (NCSDCC), an affiliated council of the American Association of Community Colleges, and includes a comparison of survey results from previous years dating back to 2003, with the exception of 2005 and 2006 when the survey was not conducted.

Revisiting The Role Of Vouchers And Charter Schools In The Educational Market Place, Scott R. Sweetland

Educational Considerations

Perspectives on Vouchers and Charter Schools. Vouchers and charter schools are among the most recognized buzzwords in today’s education marketplace. Advocates assert that the quality of education will improve if consumers (i.e., parents) have greater access to schooling alternatives.

The State Of Education Funding In Israel, Iris Bendavid-Hadar

Educational Considerations

Perspectives on International Education Finance. Israel regards education as an essential part of its infrastructure for national security, competitive ability, and social cohesiveness.

Foreword, Diane Debacker

Educational Considerations

It is with great pleasure that I write the Foreword for this edition of Educational Considerations. When Dr. Thompson requested that I contribute to the journal with the Foreword, I was flooded with memories of scouring through issue upon issue of Educational Considerations as I was working on my doctorate in Educational Administration at Kansas State University several years ago. Educational Considerations has a rich and long history of being a practitioner's journal and this issue continues with that tradition.

Theory Into Practice: A Cry From The Field For Innovative Leadership Development, Debbie K. Mercer, Scott Myers

Educational Considerations

Leaders make the difference. This is uniquely evidenced in school districts where a single superintendent impacts the lives of so many children, teachers, staff, and community members every day. With so much responsibility, the need to mentor the ongoing professional learning and development of this key leader is critical.

And Then There Were Ten: Equity And Adequacy Of New York City Schools After Recentralization, Nicola A. Alexander

Educational Considerations

New York City has the largest public education system in the United States, serving over 1.1 million students in 1,700 schools. Given its size, the city school system is a good place to explore the potential associations between various educational reforms and questions of adequacy and fairness.

Online Education And Contingent Faculty: An Exploratory Analysis Of Issues And Challenges For Higher Education Administrators (Perspectives On Online Education), Justin C. Ortagus, Luke J. Stedrak

Educational Considerations

With the growth of the popularity and accessibility of online courses, higher education administrators are under tremendous pressure to keep pace with rapidly evolving conditions related to online learning.

Measuring Equity: Creating A New Standard For Inputs And Outputs, Robert C. Knoeppel, Matthew R. Della Sala

Educational Considerations

What is the appropriate measure of equity in student achievement? An emerging theme in the literature is the convergence of the standards movement and school finance litigation and reform.

Nevada, The Great Recession, And Education, Deborah A. Verstegen

Educational Considerations

The impact of the Great Recession and its aftermath has been devastating in Nevada, especially for public education. Prior to the state’s legislature meeting for its biennial session in February, 2009, Nevada’s economic outlook was already showing signs of trouble.

Doctoral Programs In Educational Leadership: A Duality Framework Of Commonality And Differences, Perry A. Zirkel

Educational Considerations

In recent years, doctoral programs in education leadership have been subject to notable criticism and proposals for reform.

Utilizing Online Education In Florida To Meet Mandated Class Size Limitations, Kari Ann Mattox

Educational Considerations

With the passage of a state constitutional amendment in 2002, Florida school districts faced the challenge of meeting class size mandates in core subjects, such as mathematics, English, and science by the 2010-2011 school year, or face financial penalties.

English Language Learners And Judicial Oversight: Progeny Of Castañeda, Lenford C. Sutton, Luke Cornelius, Robyn Mcdonald-Gordon

Educational Considerations

When the 93rd Congress enacted the Equal Education Opportunity Act of 1974 (EEOA), it required states to take appropriate action to overcome language barriers that inhibited equal education participation by their resident students.

The Funding Of Virtual Schools In Public Elementary And Secondary Education ., Luke J. Stedrak, Justin C. Ortagus, R. Craig Wood

Educational Considerations

The advent of information technology throughout the United States has revolutionized the educational process and sparked the rapid growth of virtual education at the K-12 level in almost every state such that courses in every imaginable subject can now be offered outside the geographic constraints of school districts and traditional brick-and-mortar buildings.

A Journey, Not A Destination, James L. Phelps

Educational Considerations

Closing Essay: Much of the motivation and ideas for the articles in this special issue originated with my dear friend, Maris Abolins, Professor Emeritus of Physics at Michigan State University. We started as neighbors and, as our kids grew up together, we socialized frequently. He is responsible for my interest in physics. I would read a physics book, which would become the subject of our next dinner conversation (while our wives talked about other, more social topics). Instead of a compilation of facts, physics became a way of thinking about problem solving. The “unified field” theory was the start of …