In this commentary, John Woodward observes that, when judged collectively, the pre-K to Grade 4 research in this special section not only exemplifies the effects of the Institute of Education Sciences' emphasis on large-scale empirical studies over the last decade, but it also demonstrates how the field of special education has moved away from a…

This paper is both a careful analysis of a seminal piece of work in the sociology of education, as well as a passionate plea to revisit with renewed urgency, the way in which education continues to fail unacceptably large numbers of working-class children. Through closely examining the work of Dennis Marsden (with his colleague Brian Jackson) in…

Despite a plethora of opinions on how to improve US education, a remarkable consensus has emerged that someone or something is to blame for the failures of the public school system, argues rhetoric scholar Mark Hlavacik in this new and insightful book examining the role of language and persuasion in the rise of the accountability movement.…

While previous researchers investigating the competitive environment at the highest levels of academic scholarship (e.g., Deresiewicz, 2014; Pope, 2001) have concluded that students buckle under an unbearable amount of stress as a result of over-achievement and narrow conceptions of success, they have left the construct of "success"…

This study utilises [1993. "Leaving College: Rethinking the Causes and Cures of Student Attrition." 2nd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press] theoretical framework, known as the Model of Longitudinal Departure, to investigate success and failure in foundation year medical school in a Middle Eastern transnational location. This…

This research examined a cultural socialization model in which differences in Chinese and American parents' goals for children foster differences in children's emotional distress via parents' responses to children's performance. Chinese and American mothers and their children (N = 397; M[subscript age] = 13.19 years) participated in a 2-wave study…

The purpose of the current study is to determine main demotivating factors affecting Turkish EFL university students' English language learning process and to identify the ways they apply to cope with these negative experiences from their own perspectives. The participants were 469 first and second year Turkish EFL university students. Both…

Research reveals that zero-tolerance policies lead to school suspensions of a disproportionate number of African American students in urban areas (Center for Civil [CCRR], 2015). Suspensions increase student failure rates and dropout likelihood and reduce the ability to graduate on time (Skiba, Arrendondo, & Williams, 2014). Studies have also…

English-only college education in non-English speaking countries is a rapidly growing phenomenon that has been dubbed as the most important trend in higher education internationalization. Despite worldwide popularity, there is little empirical evidence about how the transition to English-only instruction affects students' academic outcomes. Using…

The ensuing editorial is but one section of a five-chapter research document, and lies at an intersection of moral, political, and Africana philosophy, social ethics, linguistic pedagogy, and culture studies. My project endeavours to displace the concept of moral apathy from the realm of being unquantifiable and into the measurable, providing a…

South Africa, like many developing countries, is heavily burdened by high dropout and unemployment rates and an undersupply of skilled workers. Grade retention is a common practice when learners do not meet the specific requirements--especially in countries with limited socio-economic resources. In South Africa, 52% of the learners are retained at…

Institutions of higher education commonly employ a conjunctive standard setting strategy, which requires students to resit failed examinations until they pass all tests. An alternative strategy allows students to compensate a failing grade with other test results. This paper uses regression discontinuity design to compare the effect of first-year…

While the Silicon Valley aphorism would encourage all involved in design to 'fail early so that one can succeed earlier', such a concept may be hard to translate to classroom instructional strategies, especially due to the negative connotations of failure in school settings. Failures in design serve a somewhat distinct purpose from failures in…

This paper is an explication of the conceptual underpinnings of a new, narrative career counselling method: fluttering-hope. The method presents a new approach to addressing repetition compulsion, a condition characterised by repeated career-destructive behaviour and experiences of failure. Fluttering-hope is formulated on the basis of the chaos…

Fear of failure starts early in life, and is common among high achievers. From their earliest years, many gifted children are successful in almost everything they try because they are under challenged, and paradoxically, become failure-avoidant. When parents always encourage their children to get the highest grade or to be "the best,"…