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SAGE Journal User Guide

Carey, R. (2014). A Cultural Analysis of the Achievement Gap Discourse: Challenging the Language and Labels Used in the Work of School Reform. Urban Education, June 2014; vol. 49, 4: pp. 440-468.

1. How does Carey examine the achievement gap?
2. What does Carey describe as a cultural analytic framework?
3. Why is discourse important to the achievement gap closure?

 

Hays, P. (2011). Narrowing the Gap: Three Key Dimensions of Site-Based Leadership in Four Boston Charter Public Schools.  Education and Urban Society, January 2013; vol. 45, 1: pp. 37-87., first published on December 8, 2011.

Explain the role of leadership in the following areas?

1. High expectations for student outcome as measured by college completion;
2. Safe and orderly learning environment
3. All-school adherence to leadership’s vision in the context of the school’s mission.

 

Balfanz, R., Legters, N., Weber, L., and West, T. Are NCLB’s Measures, Incentives, and Improvement Strategies the Right Ones for the Nation’s Low-Performing High Schools? American Educational Research Journal, September 2007; vol. 44, 3: pp. 559-593.

1. How much money could our nation recoup if we cut the number of high school dropouts in half?
2. What did the authors find out about AYP and how it affects low performing highs schools?
3. What are the several proposals the authors came up with to address the shortcomings created for low performing high schools by NCLB?

 

Balfanz, R., Legters, N., West, T., & Weber, L.  (2007). Are nclb’s measures, incentives, and improvement strategies the right ones for the nation’s low-performing high schools? American Educational  Research Journal. 44 (3): 559-593.

http://aer.sagepub.com/

1. According to the article, is NCLB achieving its goals of accurately identifying and stimulating improvement in low-performing high schools?
2. Do the authors believe AYP is a valid and reliable indicator of improvement in low-performing high schools?
3. From the findings in the article, has AYP served as an effective tool for high school reform – why or why not?

 

Burden, R. (1998). Assessing children’s perceptions of themselves as learners and problem-solvers:  the construction of the myself-as-learner scale (MLS).  School Psychology International. 19 (4): 291-305.

http://spi.sagepub.com/

1. Take the MLS survey at the end of the article, what kind of problem solver are you?  Explain as referenced in the article.
2. Do you believe this survey can predict a child’s success in school, explain your answer.
3. How might this instrument be used to help low performing schools?

 

Izzo, M., Yurick, A., Nagaraja, H., & Novak, J. (2010). Effects pf a 21^st-century curriculum, on students’ information technology and transition skills. Career Development for Exceptional Individuals 33 (2): 95 – 105.

http://cde.sagepub.com/

1. The divergent underlying assumptions of IDEA and NCLB create a conceptual and logistical challenge for educators:  how does the article align transition with standards-based education?

 

Schoen, L., & Fusarelli, L. (2008) 21^st-century schools in an era of accountability innovation, nclb, and the fear factor:  the challenge of leading.  Educational Policy  22 (1): 181-203.

http://epx.sagepub.com/

1. Prominent among the rhetoric for change is the demand for schools to revise teaching and learning methods and curricular foci to meet the needs of an information-based society, i.e., creating “21st-century    schools” .  How does the article compare the various aspects of an information based society as compared to what is now happening in schools?
2. According to the article, what skills do students need to possess to succeed in the 21st century?
3. NCLB has been criticized for narrowing the curriculum and encouraging teachers to teach to the test, so how does the article align NCLB with 21^st century skills so they can coexist?  How and what can be integrated to help students be successful?