The existence of a contextual effect of the social class composition of a school's intake on individual student performance--the school mix effect--has long been debated in qualitative school effectiveness literature. This paper reports on a qualitative study of four New Zealand urban secondary schools of varying social class composition (and…

Ensuring that new forms of assessment are fair and valid for language minority students is essential for research on assessing the performance of Latino language minority elementary school students engaged in a cooperative learning language arts curriculum in Spanish and English. Strategies for developing performance assessments are described, and…

A study investigated factors supporting innovation in American Indian education by comparing data from two separate studies. One was a followup study of 25 Indian educators' implementation of cooperative learning and whole language techniques, which sought to identify: (1) the impact of the innovations on student achievement; and (2) factors that…

This study assessed the impact on student learning outcomes of the Integrated Center of Public Education (ICPE), an innovative program in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) for at-risk students; and compared school educational programs of the ICPE and a regular public school serving the same low-income community and focusing on critical thinking competence…

The social practices described and analyzed in this report are based on a 2-year ethnographic study conducted in San Francisco and Sacramento (California) in neighborhoods that are home to five new immigrant groups: (1) Mexicans, (2) Chinese, (3) Vietnamese, (4) Mien (Lao), and (5) undocumented refugees from El Salvador. Interviews with more than…

This case study presents findings from a year-long ethnographic study of an innercity elementary school principal. It concludes one of seven studies conducted in elementary and intermediate schools in urban, suburban, and rural settings to investigate the instructional management role of principals. Although previous research offers disparate…

Ethnographic research (1) observes human behavior in its natural setting over a substantial period of time, (2) claims that classes of events are better understood through intensive examination of carefully selected particular cases, (3) incorporates as many of the complexities and variables into a setting as possible, and (4) is usually comprised…

The positivist paradigm has dominated the shape and direction of research in education. Traditionally the scientific method is adhered to, variables are strictly controlled, statistics are compiled, and conclusions are reached. In the post-positivist paradigm, studies conducted using naturalistic inquiry take place in the natural setting and do…

As a result of preliminary observations of word processing in elementary level language the seven case studies presented in this report reveal the effectiveness of current word processing (WP) activities within their respective instructional contexts. Each study is presented separately, detailing the classroom context, tasks and outcomes, program…

In this book, which applies the state of the art in qualitative research to special education, qualitative research is used as a generic term for investigative methodologies described variously as ethnographic, naturalistic, anthropological, field research, or participant-observer research. Chapter 1 introduces and defines qualitative research and…

Ethnography is a research methodology that belongs to a genre of research called by various names, including educational anthropology, participant observation, case study, field study, and naturalistic inquiry. Ethnography was used as the research methodology for a nine-month study of adult beginning readers in Virginia. The research design was a…

Ethnographic observations and teacher interviews were conducted in desegregated first grade classrooms to examine teachers' attitudes toward black female students, black females' orientations toward teachers, and black females' peer expectations. The research indicated that: (1) teachers considered black girls to have average or slightly below…

This study was undertaken to identify the reading strategies which facilitated or inhibited the progress of adult beginning readers (ABRs). An ethnographic approach was used so that factors influencing the ABRs' acquisition of these reading strategies could be identified. Using an adapted form of the Goodman and Burke taxonomy of oral reading…

The relationship between Chinese-Americans and their elderly parents is examined in the context of the Chinese concept of "heart." The Chinese word "heart" expresses a concept central to the dynamics of family transactions and especially to the relationship of elderly parents to adult children. Chinese culture is not a physically or verbally…

Recognizing the power of the Internet to connect people, regardless of place or time, we explore the notion of a virtual form of ethnography, suggesting online, textual interactive interviews are worthy of research consideration. This paper reports on three research projects, drawing examples from almost ten years in the evolution of Internet…