Section archive - Theories & Approaches

The current research examines the relative effectiveness of universities and new program types using the diverse market in Texas. The authors examine program effectiveness through a framework integrating certificate pathways, organizational goals, and market incentives. The authors found that independent nonprofits have positive effects on student performance that are not explained by teacher sorting or program selectivity, and these effects only occur in math. Furthermore, independent nonprofits perform well with most high-risk populations but have no advantage with Black students, no presence on rural schools, and negative effects, and designated special education (SPED) students. The authors argue that these findings suggest that policy makers should proceed with caution when advocating for expanding or limiting any particular program type.

The present study concerns different final thesis models in the research on teacher education in Europe and their orientation towards the academy and the teaching profession. The author found that in scientific journals, 33 articles support the occurrence of three models: the portfolio model, with a mainly teaching-professional orientation; the thesis model, with a mainly academic orientation; and the action research model, related to both orientations. All models had some relationship with both orientations.

How do practicing mathematics teachers continue to develop the knowledge and habits of mind that enable them to teach well and to improve their teaching over time? This article reviews 106 articles written between 1985 and 2008 related to the professional learning of practicing teachers of mathematics. The authors offer a synthesis of this research, guided by Clarke and Hollingsworth’s (2002) dynamic model of teacher growth. Their model emphasizes the recursive nature of teachers’ learning and suggests that growth in one aspect of teachers’ knowledge and practice may promote subsequent growth in other areas.

In this article, the authors compare history chapters in recent introductory early childhood education textbooks with those from an earlier study (Prochner, 1998). As in the original analysis, this examination focused on four aspects of the chapters: the rationale for the study of history, the dominant story of the history, the facts of the history, and the perspective on early childhood education history.