Uses micropolitical and organizational theory to examine teacher communities. Data from case studies of two urban middle schools show that when teachers enact collaborative reforms in the name of community, conflict often emerges. Results indicate that conflict is central to community, and how teachers manage conflict defines community borders and…

Examined how an emphasis on critical inquiry in a multicultural preservice teacher education course influenced teachers' understandings and practices. Results from two case studies suggest that multicultural teacher education needs to not only include, but also extend beyond, particular courses to more expanded venues that provide opportunities…

Investigated the complex process of classroom technology innovation, following a group of teachers for 1 year as they attempted to implement technology-rich projects in their classrooms. Results indicated that 11 factors significantly impacted their degree of success. These factors fell into three interactive domains: the teacher, the innovation,…

Examines how Head Start has survived over time, exploring the coalition that emerged between civil rights activists and intellectuals and tracing Head Start's development out of the emerging academic interest in compensatory education for cultural deprivation and the New Left's desire to build a movement emphasizing civil rights and community…

Compares the problem of social maladjustment addressed during the child guidance movement in the 1920s-30s with the issue of minority overrepresentation beginning in the 1960s. Both exhibit similarities as discourses of educational risk shaping the conception of problems facing youth and influencing professional intervention. The paper examines…

Investigated high school students' experiences throughout the school year as they become involved in the work of a community environmental organization, using situated learning theory to view their learning as transformation of participation. Results highlight the dynamics of power differentials between novices and experienced practitioners, which…

This case study of Southeast Asian women in higher education management investigates culture-specific dimensions of "glass ceiling" impediments to career advancement in higher education. Respondents note that despite considerable training and expertise, Asian values and ideologies demand enactment of a construct of Asian femininity that militates…

Examined policy mechanisms and processes that districts used to provide high quality inservice professional development to teachers. Data from a national probability sample of professional development coordinators in districts that received federal funding for professional development highlighted specific management and implementation strategies…

Examined one New York City school district's literacy improvement efforts. Data from document reviews, interviews, and observations highlighted strong parallels between how children learned to read and how teachers learned to teach. These parallels stemmed from the way the professional development system was anchored on the Balanced Literacy…

Describes how one urban elementary school in a high-reform district and state developed strong connections with community business and organizations as part of its program of school, family, and community partnerships, identifying four factors that allowed the school to maintain successful partnerships: school commitment to learning, principal…

Examined personal narratives of struggle with schooling from working class Latino parents whose children were in an experimental college access program at a diverse metropolitan high school. Three narrative types emerged: life stories of parents' own struggles as students; stories of bureaucratic rebuff in parents' encounters with staff in their…

Identified pedagogical strategies that helped preservice secondary teachers improve their reflective thinking via journal writing during the first semester of a year-long professional program. Case studies of four preservice teachers found that no single pedagogical strategy was best, and students responded differently to different strategies.…

Describes progressive preservice teacher education during the 1930s at the Bank Street College of Education, providing examples of teaching in courses on environment and language. The courses emphasized the student as a knower and constructor of knowledge and connected school and social context. The paper discusses characteristics of progressive…

Explores the possibility of using inquiry as a way of understanding and assessing learning, reviewing assessment literature; discussing the meaning of learning, knowing, and teaching; considering notions of learning that seem to be excluded from current assessment practices; and uncovering similarities between learning, knowing, and inquiring that…

Surveyed, interviewed, and observed fourth grade New Jersey math and science teachers regarding test preparation activities. Test preparation consisted of a mix of more and less intellectually challenging activities. There was more direct instruction in lower socioeconomic districts, but not less inquiry-oriented instruction. Principal support had…