David C . Berliner | Arizona State University (original) (raw)

Articles by David C . Berliner

Action in Teacher Education 42(1):31-37, 2020

I slowly developed the belief that sharing much of educational research with novice teachers was ... more I slowly developed the belief that sharing much of educational research with novice teachers was an error. To me, novice teachers appeared to have too little experience to adopt and adapt research to particular school sites and classrooms. I urge, therefore, that more of an apprenticeship in classroom life, and greater understanding of the families and the community served by a school, precede attempts to implement research findings. Moreover, since so many of the outcomes of education are dependent on the quality of life lived by the children and families in the school community, I urge teacher educators to infuse their programs with training in political activity appropriate for teachers. Better lives for the families and children in their charge should be an educators’ first goal. If that can be accomplished, achievement in school subjects is more likely to follow.

Education Review 26, 2018

The series "Acquired Wisdom. Lessons Learned by Distinguished Researchers (AW)" has attracted a g... more The series "Acquired Wisdom. Lessons Learned by Distinguished Researchers (AW)" has attracted a good deal of notice. As we, the founding AW editors, pass the baton to a new editing team we have prepared these notes to summarize the history of the series, our decisions regarding its release, some of what we have learned from editing this series, and our hopes for its future.

Review of Education 6(3), 2018

Robust evidence suggesting a strong association between greater educational attainment, better he... more Robust evidence suggesting a strong association between greater educational attainment, better health and lower mortality, has led to speculation that the quality of schooling can also have effects on health. This review critically summarises findings from 15 studies in a growing area of research concerning the effects of school quality on health. Findings suggested positive, long-term benefits of high-quality preschool. Other findings suggested that higher teacher wages, lower pupil-teacher ratios, a longer school year, and higher college selectivity had mostly positive long-term effects on health and mortality. Several studies found that school quality modified the effect of years of completed education on various health outcomes. Some measures of school quality including smaller class size in relation to mortality, and higher college selectivity in the case of smoking were not consistently related to better health. While studies varied in their consistency and significance, the weight of the evidence together, suggests that some health inequalities over the life course were explained partly by differences in school quality. This may be related to improved cognition, occupational characteristics, and the incomes of those exposed to better quality schooling. Direct health knowledge and behaviour may also play a role.

Education Review 23, 2016

I am amazed that with such ordinary beginnings I ended up with such a superb pedigree. I was educ... more I am amazed that with such ordinary beginnings I ended up with such a superb pedigree. I was educated by many of the greatest psychologists and educators of their times. It came about by chance, but there is nothing quite like studying with, and getting to know, productive senior members of your profession. They all had earned their reputations and leadership positions for a reason. [Download the PDF and read the full text . . .]

The year 2016 marks the 100th anniversary of the American Educational Research Association and th... more The year 2016 marks the 100th anniversary of the American Educational Research Association and the 50th anniversary of the publication of Equality of Educational Opportunity, known as the Coleman Report. These key moments in the field's history ushered in important paradigm shifts in the practice of education research; in how the relationships among poverty, inequality, and schooling were understood; and in the research-policy nexus. This conceptual synthesis of the history of education research in the United States is focused on poverty knowledge in both periods. The authors trace the rise of education as a field of study, the place of poverty in the emergent science of education, and the extent to which leading researchers have acknowledged, analyzed, or contested poverty. The Coleman Report advanced a new paradigm for analysis while being firmly rooted in earlier traditions. Coleman's analytical approach has become common sense in educational policymaking in the form of the accountability movement. The report's fundamental insights about the relationship between poverty and student achievement too often remain unacknowledged by U.S. policymakers.

Educational Leadership 72(5):10-14, 2015

The Teacher Educator 50(4):233-239, 2015

Hero worship never gets old; but we do and so does the nature of our heroes. I was (am) a Batman ... more Hero worship never gets old; but we do and so does the nature of our heroes. I was (am) a Batman fan. In response to a personal tragedy, Bruce Wayne dedicated himself to defending the citizens of Gotham against the evils of crime. I am also a David Berliner fan. Although I don’t know what personal experiences might have started Berliner on the path as education crime fighter, I am grateful that he is here to protect our children from the evils of greedy and misguided reformers. From his role as educational researcher, to his leadership roles in professional organizations, to authoring bestselling books in education, David Berliner has earned the respect of those looking for a hero. Every year Ball State University acknowledges the contributions of a noted scholar through the selection of the John R. Emens Distinguished Professorship. This year the Teachers College nomination of David Berliner was an easy choice. In acknowledgment of Ball State’s most famous alum, David Letterman, and with apologies to Lennon and McCartney, this article presents a Top 10 List of points made during Berliner’s four presentations on Thursday, February 5, 2015. The evening before, after a two-hour car ride through a snowstorm and past the cornfields between Indianapolis and Muncie, Berliner had dinner with Ball State’s president and provost, the dean of the Teachers College, and a few guests. Connections were made and issues were discussed before again braving weather not seen in David’s home state of Arizona.

The Journal of Experimental Education 48(3):194-204, 2015

The cognitive thought processes involved in students’ answers to different kinds of teachers’ que... more The cognitive thought processes involved in students’ answers to different kinds of teachers’ questions were investigated using data obtained from a previous study. The dimensions examined were (a) the degree of correspondence between the cognitive level of teachers’ questions and the cognitive level of students’ answers, and (b) the relation of that correspondence to the type of cognitive coding system used, grade level, and clarity of the questions and answers. It was found that the chances are about even that there will be a correspondence between the cognitive level of the question asked and the cognitive level of the response that was elicited. The coding system used, grade level of the students, and clarity of the questions each moderated this effect.

Teacher's College Record 116(1), 2014

Background: There has been rapid growth in value-added assessment of teachers to meet the widely ... more Background: There has been rapid growth in value-added assessment of teachers to meet the widely supported policy goal of identifying the most effective and the most ineffective teachers in a school system. The former group is to be rewarded while the latter group is to be helped or fired for their poor performance. But, value-added approaches to teacher evaluation have many problems. Chief among them is the commonly found class-to-class and year-to-year unreliability in the scores obtained. Teacher value-added scores appear to be highly unstable across two classes of the same subject that they teach in the same semester, or from class to class across two adjacent years. Focus of Study: This literature review first focuses on the confusion in the minds of the public and politicians between teachers' effects on individual students, which may be great and usually positive, and teachers' effects on classroom mean achievement scores, which may be limited by the huge number of exogenous variables affecting classroom achievement scores. Exogenous variables are unaccounted for influences on the data, such as peer classroom effects, school compositional effects, and characteristics of the neighborhoods in which some students live. Further, even if some of these variables are measured, the interactions among these many variables often go unexamined. But, two-way and three-way interactions are quite likely to be occurring and influencing classroom achievement. This analysis promotes the idea that the ubiquitous and powerful effects on value-added scores of these myriad exogenous variables is the reason that almost all current research finds instability in teachers' classroom behavior and instability in teachers' value-added scores. This may pose a fatal flaw in implementing value-added assessments of teaching competency. Research Design: This is an analytic essay, including a selective literature review that includes some secondary analyses. Conclusions: I conclude that because of the effects of countless exogenous variables on student classroom achievement, value-added assessments do not now and may never be stable enough from class to class or year to year to be used in evaluating teachers. The hope is that with three or more years of value-added data, the identification of extremely good and bad teachers might be possible; but, that goal is not assured, and empirical results suggest that it really is quite hard to reliably identify extremely good and extremely bad groups of teachers. In fact, when picking extremes among teachers, both luck and regression to the mean will combine with the interactions of many variables to produce instability in the value-added scores that are obtained. Examination of the apparently simple policy goal of identifying the best and worst teachers in a school system reveals a morally problematic and psychometrically inadequate base for those policies. In fact, the belief that there are thousands of consistently inadequate teachers may be like the search for welfare queens and disability scam artists-more sensationalism than it is reality.

Educational Leadership 71(9):28-33, 2014

The article presents the authors' views on educational reforms that they consider to be ineffecti... more The article presents the authors' views on educational reforms that they consider to be ineffective as of the summer of 2014, focusing on what they perceive to be 5 myths regarding effective reform. Topics addressed include the cost and effectiveness of cyberteaching, the impact of school choice and competition, and the use of merit pay as a method for increasing teacher performance.

Quality Assurance in Education 22(4):303-318, 2014

Purpose – Against a backdrop of high-stakes assessment policies in the USA, this paper explores t... more Purpose – Against a backdrop of high-stakes assessment policies in the USA, this paper explores the challenges, promises and the “state of the art” with regard to designing standardized achievement tests and educational assessment systems that are instructionally useful. Authors deliberate on the consequences of using inappropriately designed tests, and in particular tests that are insensitive to instruction, for teacher and/or school evaluation purposes. Methodology/approach – The method used is a “moderated policy discussion”. The six invited commentaries represent voices of leading education scholars and measurement experts, juxtaposed against views of a prominent leader and nationally recognized teacher from two American education systems. The discussion is moderated with introductory and concluding remarks from the guest editor, and is excerpted from a recent blog published by Education Week. References and author biographies are presented at the end of the article. Findings – In the education assessment profession, there is a promising movement toward more research and development on standardized assessment systems that are instructionally sensitive and useful for classroom teaching. However, the distinctions among different types of tests vis-à-vis their purposes are often unclear to policymakers, educators and other test users, leading to test misuses. The authors underscore issues related to validity, ethics and consequences when inappropriately designed tests are used in high-stakes policy contexts, offering recommendations for the design of instructionally sensitive tests and more comprehensive assessment systems that can serve a broader set of educational evaluation needs. As instructionally informative tests are developed and formalized, their psychometric quality and utility in school and teacher evaluation models must also be evaluated. Originality/value – Featuring perspectives of scholars, measurement experts and educators “on the ground”, this article presents an open and balanced exchange of technical, applied and policy issues surrounding “instructionally sensitive” test design and use, along with other types of assessments needed to create comprehensive educational evaluation systems.

Teacher Educator 48(4):235-243, Sep 23, 2013

In the United States, but not only here, the movement to evaluate teachers based on student test ... more In the United States, but not only here, the movement to evaluate teachers based on student test scores has received powerful political and parental support. The logic is simple. From one testing occasion to another students should show growth in their knowledge and skill. Similar types of students should show similar patterns of growth. Those students that show more growth than the average must have the better teachers, while those that show less growth than the average must have poorer teachers. If the value added by teachers to students' knowledge and skill, as measured by the students' test score growth is quite large, those teachers can be rewarded. If the value added is quite small, those teachers should be fired and replaced by better teachers. This simple and logical approach to teacher evaluation is, however, impossible to do fairly, reliably, and validly, but is nevertheless increasingly being used throughout the country. Here are my views on what is wrong with value-added models of teacher evaluation.

Theory Into Practice 52(3):203-209, Jul 26, 2013

A major goal of American education is preparation for citizenship. But having youth take on the r... more A major goal of American education is preparation for citizenship. But having youth take on the responsibilities of citizenship is jeopardized by America's high level of income inequality and youth in poverty. Poverty contributes to health and social problems, including increased mental illness, drug use, imprisonment rates, school drop-out rates, teenage birth rates, and also decreased rates of social mobility and childhood wellbeing. These conditions block participation in the activities of citizenship by poor youth and their families, compared to wealthier citizens. Thus, the poor are not well represented in the discussions that affect their economic and social lives. Learning to be a good citizen is not easy in low-income families, where youth are distressed and schools are performing poorly. Reforming the nations' schools and increasing rates of participation in democracy may require addressing issues of income inequality and poverty, rather than most other current efforts.

Teachers College Record, 2012

Background/Context: This paper arises out of frustration with the results of school reforms carri... more Background/Context: This paper arises out of frustration with the results of school reforms carried out over the past few decades. These efforts have failed. They need to be abandoned. In their place must come recognition that income inequality causes many social problems, including problems associated with education. Sadly, compared to all other wealthy nations, the USA has the largest income gap between its wealthy and its poor citizens. Correlates associated with the size of the income gap in various nations are well described in Wilkinson & Pickett (2010), whose work is cited throughout this article. They make it clear that the bigger the income gap in a nation or a state, the greater the social problems a nation or a state will encounter. Thus it is argued that the design of better economic and social policies can do more to improve our schools than continued work on educational policy independent of such concerns.

Purpose/Objective/Research Question: The research question asked is why so many school reform efforts have produced so little improvement in American schools. The answer offered is that the sources of school failure have been thought to reside inside the schools, resulting in attempts to improve America's teachers, curriculum, testing programs and administration. It is argued in this paper, however, that the sources of America's educational problems are outside school, primarily a result of income inequality. Thus it is suggested that targeted economic and social policies have more potential to improve the nations schools than almost anything currently being proposed by either political party at federal, state or local levels.

Research Design: This is an analytic essay on the reasons for the failure of almost all contemporary school reform efforts. It is primarily a report about how inequality affects all of our society, and a review of some research and social policies that might improve our nations' schools.

Conclusions/Recommendations: It is concluded that the best way to improve America's schools is through jobs that provide families living wages. Other programs are noted that offer some help for students from poor families. But in the end, it is inequality in income and the poverty that accompanies such inequality, that matters most for education.

Journal of College Student Development 54(1):62-84, 2013

To date, no empirical research has focused solely upon understanding the personal and sociocultur... more To date, no empirical research has focused solely upon understanding the personal and sociocultural stressors of Chinese international students in the United States. This qualitative inquiry examined what the most stressful aspects of their personal and social lives in the United States are, how they characterize their stress, and what conditions they believe tend to account for their stress. This study reveals that the life of Chinese students in the United States is not easy and that these students have to endure multifaceted life stresses. These results can be used to help Chinese international students adapt to the American educational environment and to improve the services and programs American universities deliver to their foreign students.

The Teacher Educator 47(4):268-282, Sep 27, 2012

The federal School and Staffing Survey (SASS) and Teacher Follow-up Survey (TFS) were used to exa... more The federal School and Staffing Survey (SASS) and Teacher Follow-up Survey (TFS) were used to examine the impacts of induction activities on beginning teacher turnover. This study excluded those teachers who moved or left schools for unavoidable and involuntary reasons, a confounding factor in previous research. This analysis revealed that three induction activities are beneficial in significantly reducing turnover rates for beginning teachers: seminars, common planning time, and extra classroom assistance.

Education Policy Analysis Archives, 2012

The present research is a follow-up study of earlier published analyses that looked at the relati... more The present research is a follow-up study of earlier published analyses that looked at the relationship between high-stakes testing pressure and student achievement in 25 states. Using the previously derived Accountability Pressure Index (APR) as a measure of state-level policy pressure for performance on standardized tests, a series of correlation analyses was conducted to explore relationships between high-stakes testing accountability pressure and student achievement as measured by the National Assessment for Education Progress (NAEP) in reading and math. Consistent with earlier work, stronger positive correlations between the pressure index and NAEP performance in fourth grade math and weaker connections between pressure and fourth and eighth grade reading performance were found. Policy implications and future directions for research are discussed.

Cambridge Journal of Education 41(3):287-302, 2011

The inevitable responses to high stakes testing, wherein students’ test scores are highly consequ... more The inevitable responses to high stakes testing, wherein students’ test scores are highly consequential for teachers and administrators, include cheating, excessive test preparation, changes in test scoring and other forms of gaming to ensure that test scores appear high. Over the last decade this has been demonstrated convincingly in the USA, but examples in Great Britain abound. Yet the most pernicious response to high stakes testing is perhaps the most rational, namely, curriculum narrowing. In this way more of what is believed to be on the test is taught. Curriculum narrowing, however, reduces many students’ chances of being thought talented in school and results in a restriction in the creative and enjoyable activities engaged in by teachers and students. The tests commonly used with narrower curricula also appear to restrict thinking skills. In addition, responses to high stakes environments can easily retard the development of achievement in later grades as a function of the restrictions on learning in earlier grades. Finally, narrowing compromises interpretations of construct validity. The dominance of testing as part of American and British school reform policies insures that many of the skills thought to be most useful in the twenty-first century will not be taught. Thus students and their national economies will suffer when nations rely too heavily on high stakes testing to improve their schools.

Journal of College Student Development 52(5), 2011

No empirical research has focused solely upon understanding the stress and coping processes of Ch... more No empirical research has focused solely upon understanding the stress and coping processes of Chinese international students in the United States. This qualitative inquiry examines the individual-level variables that affect the stress-coping process of Chinese international students and how they conceptualize and adapt to their stress at an American university. Results indicate individual variables, such as age, gender, field of study, length of stay, acculturation style, and coping strategies, show significant influences on stress levels among students. These results can be used to help Chinese international students adapt to the American educational environment and improve the services and programs American universities deliver to their foreign students.

Education Policy Analysis Archives 18, 2010

Educators are under tremendous pressure to ensure that their students perform well on tests. Unfo... more Educators are under tremendous pressure to ensure that their students perform well on tests. Unfortunately, this pressure has caused some educators to cheat. The purpose of this study was to investigate the types of, and degrees to which, a sample of teachers in Arizona were aware of, or had themselves engaged in test-related cheating practices as a function of the high-stakes testing policies of No Child Left Behind. A near census sample of teachers was surveyed, with valid responses obtained from about 5 percent, totaling just over 3,000 teachers. In addition, one small convenience sample of teachers was interviewed, and another participated in a focus group. Data revealed that cheating occurs and that educators can be quite clever when doing so. But how one defines cheating makes it difficult to quantify the frequency with which educators engage in such practices. Our analysis thus required us to think about a taxonomy of cheating based on the definitions of 1 st , 2 nd , and 3 rd degree offenses in the field of law. These categories were analyzed to help educators better define, and be more aware of others' and their own cheating practices, in an attempt to inform local testing policies and procedures.

Action in Teacher Education 42(1):31-37, 2020

Education Review 26, 2018

Review of Education 6(3), 2018

Education Review 23, 2016

Educational Leadership 72(5):10-14, 2015

The Teacher Educator 50(4):233-239, 2015

The Journal of Experimental Education 48(3):194-204, 2015

Teacher's College Record 116(1), 2014

Educational Leadership 71(9):28-33, 2014

Quality Assurance in Education 22(4):303-318, 2014

Teacher Educator 48(4):235-243, Sep 23, 2013

Theory Into Practice 52(3):203-209, Jul 26, 2013

Teachers College Record, 2012

Journal of College Student Development 54(1):62-84, 2013

The Teacher Educator 47(4):268-282, Sep 27, 2012

Education Policy Analysis Archives, 2012

Cambridge Journal of Education 41(3):287-302, 2011

Journal of College Student Development 52(5), 2011

Education Policy Analysis Archives 18, 2010

The Great Lakes Center for Education Research & Practice, 2009

The Great Lakes Center for Education Research & Practice, 2005

This research provides lengthy proof of a principle of social science known as Campbell’s law: “T... more This research provides lengthy proof of a principle of social science known as Campbell’s law: “The more any quantitative social indicator is used for social decision-making, the more subject it will be to corruption pressures and the more apt it will be to distort and corrupt the social processes it is intended to monitor.” Applying this principle, this study finds that the over-reliance on high-stakes testing has serious negative repercussions that are present at every level of the public school system.

American Educational Research Association, 1992

Forty-two pairs of experienced and novice teachers predicted the rank order of their pupils' scor... more Forty-two pairs of experienced and novice teachers predicted the rank order of their pupils' scores on the reading and mathematics portions of the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS). The pool of novice teachers were first semester students in the Arizona State University Professional Teacher Preparation Program (PTPP). The experienced teachers in this study were the placement teachers with whom the first semester PTPP students were placed. The correlation between perceived score and actual score on the ITBS was used as a measure of the accuracy of teachers' judgement of student achievement. The purpose of this study was to determine relationships between the accuracy of teachers' judgments of student achievement and the following variables: (1) years of teaching experience; (2) ethnic composition of a classroom; (3) pupil gender; (4) class size; and (5) pupil ability as defined by scores on the ITBS. Correlations between the experienced and novice teachers' judgments were also obtained when both worked in the same classrooms. The experienced teachers were highly accurate in their predictions and significantly more accurate than novices; correlations varied widely within both groups of teachers. The relation between accuracy of predictions and years of teaching experience was negative but not substantial; there were no relationships between accuracy of predictions and classroom ethnicity, gender, and class size. Experienced teachers were more accurate in judging the performance of high scoring students than that of low scoring students, but not significantly so. Implications of these results and recommendations for further research are discussed. (Author/LL)

American Educational Research Journal 28(1):63-88, 1991

Expert, beginning, and novice teachers viewed three television monitors, each focusing on a work ... more Expert, beginning, and novice teachers viewed three television monitors, each focusing on a work group of a junior high science class, simultaneously. Participants expressed their thoughts as they viewed the monitors, indicated the monitor to which they were referring, and answered questions about classroom management and instruction. Differences among the groups were found in their perceptions, monitoring, and understanding of classroom events characterized by simultaneity, multidimensionality, and immediacy. This study illustrates how more than content knowledge is required for successful teaching, and that learning to teach requires a great deal of time. Findings from this study have implications for the development of preservice and inservice training programs, which may require redesign to facilitate the development of pedagogical expertise.

AACTE Publications, 1988

In this discussion on the development of expertise in teaching, a theory of skill learning is fir... more In this discussion on the development of expertise in teaching, a theory of skill learning is first presented. The characteristics of five stages of skill development in teachers are described: (1) novice; (2) advanced beginner; (3) competent teacher; (4) proficient teacher; and (5) expert teacher. A review of data collected by studies on the subject of teaching expertise points out the differences between the novice and the expert teacher in the areas of: (1) interpreting classroom phenomena; (2) discerning the importance of events; (3) using routines; (4) predicting classroom phenomena; (5) judging typical and atypical events; and (6) evaluating performance: responsibility and emotions. The discussion of policy considerations for teacher educators, based upon this developmental theory of skill acquisition, is aimed at helping novices become proficient in classroom techniques while evaluating them in ways appropriate for their developmental level.

Education Policy Analysis Archives, 2018

The Scylla and Charybdis in this discussion of teacher evaluation are standardized achievement te... more The Scylla and Charybdis in this discussion of teacher evaluation are standardized achievement test data on the one hand, and classroom observational systems on the other. These are the two most common methods used to judge teachers' competency. Both have serious flaws: the former primarily with validity, the latter primarily with reliability. At most these evaluation strategies provide teachers' and their supervisors information about which to converse. But these two methods have such serious flaws that they should never be used as the primary grounds for rewarding, punishing, or firing teachers. When both methods of evaluation are used to judge teacher competency, the correlation between achievement tests and observational data is quite low. When two methods claiming to assess the same construct do not correlate well, either one or both

In a policy climate where various actors claim to have solutions for the enduring challenges of t... more In a policy climate where various actors claim to have solutions for the enduring challenges of teacher education, policy deliberations sideline certain voices and omit important perspectives. This special issue brings together scholars who attend to the voices, perspectives, and issues overlooked by teacher education policy debates dominated by market logic and accountability pressures. It highlights debates surrounding teacher performance assessments, teacher candidate selection, value-added assessments, as well as

In the policy climate where various actors claim to have the solutions for the enduring challenge... more In the policy climate where various actors claim to have the solutions for the enduring challenges of teacher education, policy deliberations sideline certain voices. This introduction to the special issue explores policy contestations surrounding teacher education and highlights some of the perspectives overlooked by policy debates. It lays out new priorities for the teacher education community to ensure that the profession's collective voice would be heard by policy-makers and by the public at large.

Theory Into Practice, 1989

Each metaphor we use to think about schooling, teaching, and learning, influences how we think ab... more Each metaphor we use to think about schooling, teaching, and learning, influences how we think about our field and in subtle ways also influences the training programs that we develop. The dominant metaphors then gain in descriptive power because training is designed to be compatible with the imagery evoked by the metaphor. By adopting a new metaphor, the teacher as executive metaphor, we are prompted to think about how teacher education might be different than when the information giver and mother earth metaphors dominate our thinking about the work of teachers.

Teacher's College Press, 2014

Two of the most respected voices in education and a team of young education scholars identify 50 ... more Two of the most respected voices in education and a team of young education scholars identify 50 myths and lies that threaten America's public schools. With hard-hitting information and a touch of comic relief, Berliner, Glass, and their Associates separate fact from fiction in this comprehensive look at modern education reform. They explain how the mythical failure of public education has been created and perpetuated in large part by political and economic interests that stand to gain from its destruction. They also expose a rapidly expanding variety of organizations and media that intentionally misrepresent facts. Many of these organizations also suggest that their goal is unbiased service in the public interest when, in fact, they represent narrow political and financial interests. Where appropriate, the authors name the promoters of these deceptions and point out how they are served by encouraging false beliefs.

This provocative book features short essays on important topics to provide every elected representative, school administrator, school board member, teacher, parent, and concerned citizen with much food for thought, as well as reliable knowledge from authoritative sources.

Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, 2008

This volume is comprised of contributions from leading scholars in education and psychology. In p... more This volume is comprised of contributions from leading scholars in education and psychology. In part one of the book the authors provide insight into the psychology of change, examining: What factors work as catalysts for change in environments, institutions and people What factors hinder change When change is deemed beneficial In the second part of this volume the authors turn their attention to the issue of peace education. They examine the types of problems that societies and scholars should identify and try to solve in hopes of building more peaceful environments. The final chapter is a biography honoring Professor Gavriel (Gabi) Salomon, a significant contributor to the vast literature on change. This book is appropriate reading for professors, students and academics who are dedicated to fostering change to benefit institutions, environments and people.

Harvard Education Press, 2007

Drawing on their extensive research, Nichols and Berliner document and categorize the ways that h... more Drawing on their extensive research, Nichols and Berliner document and categorize the ways that high-stakes testing threatens the purposes and ideals of the American education system. For more than a decade, the debate over high-stakes testing has dominated the field of education. This passionate and provocative book provides a fresh perspective on the issue and powerful ammunition for opponents of high-stakes tests. Their analysis is grounded in the application of Campbell's Law, which posits that the greater the social consequences associated with a quantitative indicator (such as test scores), the more likely it is that the indicator itself will become corrupted--and the more likely it is that the use of the indicator will corrupt the social processes it was intended to monitor. Nichols and Berliner illustrate both aspects of this "corruption," showing how the pressures of high-stakes testing erode the validity of test scores and distort the integrity of the education system. Their analysis provides a coherent and comprehensive intellectual framework for the wide-ranging arguments against high-stakes testing, while putting a compelling human face on the data marshalled in support of those arguments. [Foreword written by Nel Noddings.]

Scholastic Inc., 1993

This volume examines and discusses educational research and its application. A collection of abri... more This volume examines and discusses educational research and its application. A collection of abridged and edited versions of original research reports is presented, intended to help teachers use research findings to inform their own practice. The research papers bring teaching methods and resources up to date; discuss the learning potential of each student; celebrate students' diversity; describe how parents, culture, and society influence one's teaching; and deal with such things as appropriateness of teacher assignments, classroom management and class time, grouping and testing strategies, and the relationship between assessment, grading, and motivation. Underlying themes of the reports recognize: (1) educational goals include more than test scores; (2) the potential for learning exists in all children; (3) a relationship exists between a student's cultural background and learning; (4) it is important to involve parents and guardians in the education of their children; and (5) cooperative and peer learning strategies and collegial relationships among practitioners are important. (LL)

Random House, Inc. , 1987

A compilation of papers by various authors concerning education. Barak V. Rosenshine and David C.... more A compilation of papers by various authors concerning education. Barak V. Rosenshine and David C. Berliner are editors.

Longman Publishing Group, 1985

Frontiers and Advances in Positive Learning in the Age of InformaTiOn (PLATO), 2020

In an age where diverse media compete to bring news, facts, and ideas to the attention of the pub... more In an age where diverse media compete to bring news, facts, and ideas to the attention of the public, it is not uncommon to find that some of what is promulgated by these various sources of information is false knowledge. In the midst of the greatest diversity of ways to deliver information in the history of mankind, education has a more important role to play than ever before in teaching youth how to discriminate between what is likely to be true and what is not. This is especially necessary in a democracy because many of these untruths are deliberate, intended to sway political opinions. In this paper modeling is used as the preferred method to help college students in an educational policy course learn to verify or refute statements made by influential political figures. It is argued that fact checking skills in our information age are needed more than ever before, and is neither difficult nor time consuming.

Handbook of Education Policy Studies, 2020

It occurred to me one day that despite all the excitement, and both the satisfaction and handwrin... more It occurred to me one day that despite all the excitement, and both the satisfaction and handwringing engaged in by some nations after scores are released, that the Program for International Student Assessment, PISA, is merely another Standardized Achievement Test. Almost all Standardized Achievement Tests (SATs) try to adhere to certain principles of design, have similar correlates, and have similar limits on the interpretations of the results obtained. Neither the popular press nor most politicians ordinarily understand these realities and their implications. Opinion makers are unaware that many of the Standardized Achievement Tests we commonly use do not have the powers attributed to them. It is not far from the truth to call the scores derived from some of these assessments “talismanic” (Haney et al. 1987). That is, for many people, test scores have special powers, particularly of prophesy, a bit like the Kabbalah of the middle ages. Scores from SATs are a part of the metrification associated with the modern world, no doubt aided by a global market place in which business leaders and technologists, instead of humanists and educators, have garnered political power. Contributing to this trend toward metrification has been the ascendance of economics as an influential discipline throughout the world (Lingard et al. 2015). But in my opinion, economists, journalists, and politicians too often seek in metrics powers that are more illusionary than they are real.

Positive Learning in the Age of Information (PLATO) - A blessing or a curse?, 2018

We present a short overview of the idea, genesis and developing process of PLATO (Positive Learni... more We present a short overview of the idea, genesis and developing process of PLATO (Positive Learning in the Age of InformaTiOn) as a new, complex, international, interdisciplinary program aimed at investigating the phenomena of positive and negative learning in the digital age. While the basic idea of PLATO originated in empirical educational research, many other very different disciplines have consequently been incorporated into this program, in order to expand learning research and to offer a comprehensive and multi-perspective explanation of learning in 21st century higher education. We draw upon and critically discuss previous research, highlighting implications for developing a theoretical and empirical framework for the new program.

Education in the Asia-Pacific Region, 2017

Politicians and governments have agenda, sometimes at odds with the facts associated with educati... more Politicians and governments have agenda, sometimes at odds with the facts associated with educational phenomena. Further, educational research is hard to do and leaves room for ambiguity in creating policy out of research, allowing newspapers, in general, and politicians, in particular, to misinterpret educational phenomena. This often leads to inappropriate policies. For example, interpretations of the results of PISA tests (The Program for International Student Assessment) are highly political, often not trustworthy, and commonly misleading. Four examples of problems with PISA interpretations by government are given: the misunderstanding of the relationship between PISA and a nation’s economic performance; the data hidden when only the mean scores of nations are reported; the meaning of variance accounted for in interpreting PISA test scores; and the conclusion that better standards for educational achievement will improve America’s performance on the PISA tests. Discussed as well is the fact that political expediency and government policy often affect such issues as the field testing of instructional programs and their assessment; the setting of goals for achievement on commonly used assessments; the overuse of simple main effects to interpret data, along with a lack of understanding of interactions; a failure to understand the effects of context on the implementation of policy; inadequate estimates of the costs associated with policy implementation; inadequate understanding of the effects of tax credits on education; an overconcern with educational outcomes and a corresponding lack of concern for educational inputs; and an overreliance on standardization.

The achievement gap in reading: Complex Causes, Persistent Issues, Possible Solutions, 2017

This chapter discusses the role that poverty plays in the achievement scores obtained on various ... more This chapter discusses the role that poverty plays in the achievement scores obtained on various reading tests taken by US students. It describes that there is no escaping the powerful context, cohort, peer, or compositional effects on aggregate assessment scores when we measure reading, science, and mathematics. In the society teacher effects on aggregate scores are overimagined, and cohort effects are underemphasized: The problem of not recognizing these facts is to make policy that is wrongheaded, at best, and harmful at worst. An example of this is the spread of Value-Added Models—VAMs—in which teachers are held responsible for student test score growth. The analyses that teachers have little power to make big differences in aggregate scores, though occasionally they do. Teachers affect the test scores obtained by individual students more than they do the reading test scores of classes, and they have even smaller effects on the test scores obtained by schools and other larger aggregations of students.

Pisa Under Examination, 2011

The context in which results from PISA tests (the Program for International Student Achievement) ... more The context in which results from PISA tests (the Program for International Student Achievement) are interpreted is exactly the same as that for the results of TIMSS (Trends in International Math and Science Study), or the results of the NAEP (the National Assessment of Educational Progress) and our many state and national test of achievement. In book: Pisa Under Examination

Research Essentials: An Introduction to Designs and Practices, 2009

Simple models of how research affects practice are inadequate. Basic research rarely informs a pr... more Simple models of how research affects practice are inadequate. Basic research rarely informs a practitioner about what to do in concrete situations. Teachers’ professionalism can be undermined when research is used to prescribe what teachers should do in their classrooms. Conceptions about what constitutes the act of teaching are relatively fixed, making it difficult to change teaching behavior. Changing teachers’ roles often makes classroom management more difficult. Teachers’ need for order may outweigh their need to be innovative. Classroom contexts are remarkably varied and complex, thus limiting generalizations from research about appropriate teacher behavior.Decentralized educational systems, such as in the United States, make it easier for teaching fads to take hold. Treating educational research as a design science or field of engineering may be more fruitful than regarding it as basic social science research.

VET Boost: Towards a Theory of Professional Competencies, 2009

The Ones We Remember: Scholars Reflect on Teachers Who Made a Difference, 2007

Vygotsky got it right. Everything intra-psychic is some transformation and representation of what... more Vygotsky got it right. Everything intra-psychic is some transformation and representation of what was learned from participation in the social systems of which we are a part. I started at the Stanford University School of Educa-tion in Summer of 1964 and, unaware and unprepared, I found myself in an environment that exerted a powerful socializing effect on me. It didn't affect everyone the same way, but at Stanford I entered a culture I had not encountered before, nor had I even imagined its existence, and it changed me. The mentoring and friendship I received from natives of that culture, particularly by two of its most distinguished faculty, taught me what it meant to be an academic. Though they were nothing but encouraging throughout my surprisingly successful career, I continually feel I cannot live up to the standards set by them and the culture that they represented.

Psychology of Academic Cheating; 289-311, 2007

High-stakes testing environment creates pressures on educators. These summative high-stakes tests... more High-stakes testing environment creates pressures on educators. These summative high-stakes tests have too much riding on them-bonuses to modestly paid people, school closures and loss of jobs, and shame and humiliation for lack of progress. These conditions induce some educators to engage in blatant cheating, or impel them toward acts that are morally ambiguous. The circumstances now affecting education are the same as those that have affected many fields of endeavor, and there is even a social science law to account for this phenomenon-Campbell's law. Whether in finance or in education, both, the blatant and the greyer acts of deceit mislead the public. When indicators take on too much value, as when stakes are high, indicators and educators are corrupted. When the public is misled through outright chicanery or through compromised test validity, the reputation of the whole system and its entire workforce is damaged. If high-stakes testing corrupts the profession as it currently seems to be doing, the nation may lose from the profession those who endured its difficulties for the small honors it bestows. This is too great a price to pay for an accountability system that appears not to work and for which there are alternatives.

Imaging Education: The Media and Schools in America, 1998

Teaching and Teacher …, 1998

Creating Powerful Thinking in Teachers and Students: Diverse Perspectives, 1994

The root word for experience and expertise is the same. At one time the two terms apparently sign... more The root word for experience and expertise is the same. At one time the two terms apparently signified the same thing. An experienced person--a brewer, a tanner, a jewelry maker--each had a form of knowledge that was beyond that possessed by ordinary individuals. Guilds and unions, through their apprenticeship systems, portrayed the senior members of their associations as experts. It was obvious, however, that some of those experienced individuals were superior to others and therefore not everyone who was experienced deserved to be called expert in their work. Thus the notion of expertise eventually became independent from the notion of experience, though the meanings of the terms are thoroughly entangled and the latter is probably the most important prerequisite for building of the former.

Alternative Educational Delivery Systems: Enhancing Instructional Options For All Students, 1988

Perspectives on Instructional Time, 1985

Education Review 27, 2020

In the following, we provide a flavor of the book by brief examples from each chapter. We hope th... more In the following, we provide a flavor of the book by brief examples from each chapter. We hope that this whets the appetite for a full reading by anyone concerned with the attacks on public education by those whom Ravitch calls the Goliaths. With her slingshot and stone, she joins a noble battle to preserve this uniquely American invention, which Horace Mann called the greatest invention of mankind.

Education Review, May 11, 2016

American Psychological Association eBooks, Aug 8, 2006

Review of education, Jan 8, 2018

Education Policy Analysis Archives, Feb 7, 2023

ABSTRACT Public school funding in America comes from federal, state, and local sources. Because n... more ABSTRACT Public school funding in America comes from federal, state, and local sources. Because nearly half of those funds are generated by local property taxes, the American system generates large funding differences between wealthy and impoverished communities. This paper reports on the characteristics of these financial inequities. It notes that sharp differences in public school funding appear both between the states and within many, but not all, states. Although most Americans are not aware of it, other advanced, industrial nations do not fund public schools with local property taxes; instead, they provide equal-per-student funding from general tax revenues for all schools throughout the state. Most Americans say they support equal funding for public schools, but affluent and powerful citizens often oppose efforts to correct funding inequities. This opposition may reflect ignorance about funding differences, unthinking acceptance of traditional methods for funding education, and selfish desires to keep personal taxes low. Legal and political efforts to reform inequities have been weak at the federal level, but considerable activity has recently taken place in state courts and legislatures. The paper concludes with a discussion of policy implications and recommendations for combating political and cultural resistance to reform. (Contains 74 references and 4 figures.) (RT)

Journal of Teacher Education, Nov 1, 2000

Educational Researcher, Aug 1, 1986

Education Policy Analysis Archives, Apr 16, 2018