Educational Researcher current issue

Fourth Annual Brown Lecture in Education Research--Lessons Learned and Opportunities Ignored Since Brown v. Board of Education: Youth Development and the Myth of a Color-Blind Society

Spencer, M. B. — 2008-07-23

The scholarship of Kenneth B. and Mamie P. Clark, referenced in the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education, emphasized the nation’s color line, not only in the Jim Crow South but in American cities overall. The Clarks pointed out the critical role of context; however, they applied it narrowly to the issue of "harm" as an inevitable consequence of segregation. The author of this article argues that the Clarks and their social science colleagues missed an opportunity to view Black youth as diverse human beings engaged in normal developmental tasks under difficult conditions. She denotes the role of context as key, especially when linked with human growth and psychological processes. Her findings from a sample of impoverished multiethnic youth reaffirm that America is not colorblind and suggest that these youths’ political beliefs and concerns about government vary by ethnicity, gender, family structure, and skin color preferences.

2008 Wallace Foundation Distinguished Lecture--The Centrality of Culture to the Scientific Study of Learning and Development: How an Ecological Framework in Education Research Facilitates Civic Responsibility

Lee, C. D. — 2008-07-23

This article was presented as the 2008 Wallace Foundation Distinguished Lecture at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association in New York City. It argues that, to generate robust and generative theories of human learning and development, researchers must address the range of diversity within human cultural communities. The argument is warranted on implications from brain science regarding human adaptability and on core findings with regard to relations between cognition, perceptions, and emotions, all influenced by broad ecological contexts that influence human functioning. Implications for education are discussed, with examples of research that address fundamental questions of learning through examinations of practices within communities of color.

Cultural Discontinuity: Toward a Quantitative Investigation of a Major Hypothesis in Education

2008-07-23

Education researchers have suggested that the academic challenges faced by many ethnic minority students are linked to perceived cultural discontinuity between students’ home- and school-based experiences. However, there has been very little empirical inquiry into the existence and effects of cultural discontinuity for these students. The purpose of this article is to offer a definition and methodology to be used in the quantitative investigation of cultural discontinuity. A description of the cultural values and corresponding behaviors of African American, Asian American, Latino, and Native American students, along with those values and behaviors salient in most public schools, is offered. Next, a method for investigating cultural discontinuity is proposed. Finally, future research directions to further examine cultural discontinuity are offered.

Methodology, Praxis, and Autoethnography: A Review of Getting Lost

Childers, S. M. — 2008-07-23

From the Desk of the Executive Director: AERA and the National Research Council Address FERPA

2008-07-23

Meeting of National Board for Education Sciences Looks to Past, Present, and Future

2008-07-23

AERA Launches Initiative on Education and Adolescent Health

2008-07-23

AERA Grants Program Awards, 2007-2008

2008-07-23

Call for Applications for AERA Grants Program

2008-07-23

Summary of AERA Journal Operations, 2007

2008-07-23

Classifieds

2008-07-23