American School Research Articles

Cattell’s Catholics: Who Were These American Men (and Woman) of Science?

Abstract: This article surveys the 1910 second edition of J. McKeen Cattell’s American Men of Science: A Biographical Directory with the aim of identifying individuals who, through their institutional affiliation, education, and other details, could be classified as likely being Catholic. From the 5,500 names listed in this volume, I found seventy who fit my search criteria. I call them Cattell’s Catholics . I next consider these sixty-nine men and one woman of American science through the historical lens of late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century American Catholic higher education. As products of or contributors to this well-established educational enterprise during this period, these individuals provide a critical gauge for judging its range and effectiveness. Additionally, they allow me to identify scientific fields of study, teaching, or research appropriate, if not auspicious, for Catholics. While these Cattell’s Catholics confirm turn-of-the-century American Catholic higher education as being attentive to the teaching of science, their scant numbers reinforce the view that Catholic higher education, although flourishing in the mainstream for much of the nineteenth century in giving definite attention to American educational needs, including the teaching of science, was failing to keep up with the science education demands emerging toward the end of the nineteenth century.

Literature and Social Issues: Study of Islam, Secularism, and Humanism in Achdiat’s Atheis Indonesian Novel

Although religion faces many challenges, such as clashing with modernity and becoming the object of criticism, religion has a thousand lives. One Indonesian novel created by Achdiat Karta Mihardja entitled Atheis (1990) pictured this religious phenomenon. Therefore, this article discusses Islam, secularism, and humanism in the Novel. This is qualitative research with the literary approach that combines the comparative literature theory of American schools and sociology focused on the sociology of modernity and religion. This research finds the novel as a criticism and reconstruction of Islam that is compatible with secularism and humanism in general, though in certain parts they are different. Further, the author of this novel reveals a good and proper Islam based on the text, first, it is concerned not only with the afterlife but also the present and here-ness real life. Thus, he criticizes the Islamic pattern which believes in superstition. Second, the Islamic form according to humanism and moderat feminism as the core of Islam is a public benefit and blessing for the universe. This research concluded that the novel's criticism is in line with the criticism in the scientific sociological Islamic literature.

Human Capital and the Managerial Revolution in the United States: Evidence from General Electric

Abstract This paper estimates the returns to human capital accumulation during the first era of mega-firms in the United States by linking employees at General Electric—a canonical enterprise associated with the “visible hand” of managerial hierarchies—to the 1940 census. I find large returns to higher education through seniority in the hierarchy, span of control, earnings, and selection into management training, using the proximity of land-grant colleges and historical universities to birth states for identification. The findings highlight the human capital determinants of the managerial revolution at a prominent firm, driven by earlier public investments in the US education system.

Social Work Professional Competencies and Educational Programs Specialized Practice. Theoretical Analysis

The practice of social work starts from the period of university education – bachelor and master educational programs, where students are guided, supervised by experienced professionals to develop the competencies and skills of relating to clients of social work services, step by step. The purpose of this work is to theoretically analyze the relation between specialized education programs during bachelor's and master's studies and the desired competencies of social workers. We will refer to the international literature to understand a global perspective on the practice of social work from the perspective of education in the field. We will focus on the identification of key competencies of social workers, in Romanian and American social work practice and educational system

Leading and supporting school counselors through evaluation systems: A national study

AbstractTheAmerican School Counselor Association(ASCA)School Counselor Professional Standards & Competenciescan provide the foundation for guiding and evaluating school counselors’ practices and programs (ASCA, 2019). When appropriate measures are used to evaluate PK‐12 school counselors, teachers, principals, and student support specialists, practice in schools may improve. The purpose of this study was to analyze the content and tools state‐level departments of education in the United States have developed to evaluate school counselors throughout PK‐12 schools. Data were collected and analyzed based on a rubric of three respected evaluation frameworks. Results of the study revealed that about three‐fourths of 51 state agencies indicated that they have developed a specialized and specific evaluation tool for school counselors, while one‐fourth of state agencies do not have a specific evaluation tool for school counselors. As an implication, some important assessment areas are missing on many of the evaluation tools that do exist. Our findings from the analysis of the school counselor evaluation tools provide insights into how pre‐service and in‐service principals and school counselors, higher education faculty, and policymakers can work together and consider how best to evaluate school counselors based on their specific roles and responsibilities to address students’ social‐emotional; academic; and career, college, and life readiness needs.

Does the sharing of leadership increase the coherence of a school's instructional framework?

PurposeExisting research suggests that organizational learning, jointly implemented by principals and teachers may reduce agency risks and improve school management effectiveness. However, research investigating how this process occurs is lacking. The relationship between school leaders promoting the involvement of teachers in school-wide processes focused on instructional improvement and the coherence characterizing a school's instructional program remains unclear.Design/methodology/approachThe authors identified shared instructional leadership and instructional coherence, as two key variables describing the process of organizational learning and the outcome of agency risk reduction. The authors employed hierarchical linear modeling to test the hypothesis that shared leaderships positively predicts differences among schools in instructional coherence.FindingsBased on a sample of 113 public high schools selected from a U.S. Midwestern state, the results confirm the hypothesis.Research limitations/implicationsThis study uses the existing theoretical and empirical findings to interpret the potential relationship between shared leadership and instructional coherence, and validates it through empirical data analysis. The findings expand the understanding of the shared leadership theory. Although the design of this study is strictly based on theoretical and empirical findings, and part of the purpose of the research is to find the reasons why shared leadership seems to be insignificant in some countries and regions, readers should still note that the sample source is American schools. The findings of this study are worth examining with different samples in future studies.Practical implicationsSince the direct relationship between shared leadership and student standardized test scores has been difficult to measure, and in some countries even negative, there is debate about the need for shared leadership. The difficulty of measurement is caused by the diversity of leadership subjects and the complexity of leadership tasks. This study finds out the direct object of shared leadership and the process of exerting its effects, which will expand the understanding of the positive meaning of shared leadership. This will help different countries and regions better identify and play the role of shared leadership.Originality/valueBased on the combination of organizational learning theory, agency theory and shared leadership theory, the study modeled the process of collaborative organizational learning among principals and teachers. The study employed instructional coherence as a form of structured organizational learning that is a prerequisite for improvement in common measures of student learning such as standardized test scores. Do so provide practical guidance for educators seeking improvement through organizational learning.

Media Coverage of School Shootings: A Distortion Analysis of Incident and Perpetrator Characteristics

Media outlets tend to cover rare events like school shootings. However, some school shootings receive more media coverage than others, and little is empirically known why, or what school shooting characteristics might attract greater media attention. This study addresses this gap and conducts a distortion analysis using data from The American School Shooting Study (TASSS), a national, open-source database. TASSS includes all publicly known shootings that resulted in at least one injury on K-12 school grounds in the United States between January 1, 1990, and December 31, 2016. The findings reveal that school shooters with a criminal record, who have psychological issues, committed a shooting post-Columbine, and who injured or killed more victims received more coverage.

Characteristics and Obtainment Methods of Firearms Used in Adolescent School Shootings

Within gun violence research, the types of firearms involved in US school shootings and the origins of these weapons have not been well explored. To examine the type, make, and power of firearms involved in school-related gun violence as well as the sources and methods through which adolescents obtained these weapons. This cross-sectional study used descriptive statistics and logistic regression to analyze 253 school shootings executed by 262 adolescents (aged ≤19 years) in the US from January 1, 1990, to December 31, 2016, and to calculate adjusted estimates for missing cases. The data were sourced from The American School Shooting Study (TASSS), which compiles information about these shooting events from open-source materials. Data analysis was performed from June 23, 2023, to July 20, 2023. Firearm type, make, and power. The firearm type refers to whether a weapon was a handgun, rifle, or shotgun. The firearm's make differentiates semiautomatic or fully automatic guns from other action mechanisms. The firearm's power refers to the caliber and velocity, distinguished as small, moderate, or higher power. The acquisition source captures from whom the firearm was received. The obtainment method refers to how the shooter obtained the firearm. Estimates were adjusted by total number of documents and TASSS reliability score as well as neighborhood demographic, socioeconomic, and land use variables measured at the census tract level, and were weighted to account for item nonresponse. A total of 262 adolescents (mean [SD] age, 16.2 [1.9] years; 256 [97.8%] male) were studied. In the adjusted analyses, handguns were the most used weapon in school shootings (85.5%; 95% CI, 80.6%-89.4%). Firearms were predominantly lower (37.0%; 95% CI, 29.9%-44.7%) or moderate (39.7%; 95% CI, 32.0%-47.8%) in power. Adolescents mainly obtained their guns from relatives (41.8%; 95% CI, 31.7%-52.6%), friends or acquaintances (22.0%; 95% CI, 13.2%-34.5%), the illegal market (29.6%; 95% CI, 19.3%-42.5%), strangers or persons who were shot (4.7%; 95% CI, 1.8%-11.6%), or licensed dealers (1.9%; 95% CI, 0.7%-5.2%). Most firearms were procured via theft from relatives (82.1%; 95% CI, 69.4%-90.3%). Despite the more frequent use of lower to moderately powered firearms in school shootings, this study's results indicated stability in the use of high-powered weapons in adolescent school shootings throughout the research timeframe. A majority of the firearms were procured from the perpetrator's family or relatives or from friends or acquaintances. These findings may significantly influence discussions around gun control policy, particularly in advocating for secure firearm storage to reduce adolescents' access to weapons.

Fidgets and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Teacher Perceptions

ABSTRACT This qualitative study explores the lack of understanding of teacher perceptions on classroom utilization of fidgets with students who have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Eight American special education middle school teachers from a midsized suburban public school district in Illinois were interviewed. Interview transcripts were reviewed to establish codes and themes. Three themes were identified: Misapplication of Fidgets, Support to Implement Fidgets Within the Classroom, and When Fidgets Work. Participants reported that fidgets can be a beneficial self-regulation tool in the classroom but may not serve as an appropriate educational tool for all students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Additionally, participants emphasized the importance of establishing ground rules and acknowledged the benefits of seeking support from external resources, such as a school-based occupational therapist, when distributing fidgets in the classroom, especially with more complex student cases.

Hidden in Plain Sight: The Culture of Excellent Black High Schools in the Era of Jim Crow

This article describes the cultural characteristics of four elite African American high schools, initiated prior to Brown v. Board of Education, that produced outstanding graduates. Positive school culture characteristics examined were leadership, faculty, curriculum and instruction, student qualities, the environment, and internal and external relationships. The authors posed questions investigating how educators and alumni of Gary, Indiana’s Theodore Roosevelt High School viewed the characteristics of its culture and how the culture compared to other elite African American high schools in the extant literature. Using surveys, archival information, and the research literature, the authors collected information describing the high school’s distinctive features. Comparing the results of Rooseveltwith the other exemplary high school cultures of Dunbar, Sumner, and Terrell, they reported these insights about their cultural characteristics: (a) high caliber and sustained leadership of individuals who cultivated positive school environments and created institutions that were a distinctive blend of school and community; (b) highly educated and qualified faculty members; (c) a rigorous and challenging curriculum emphasizing the preparation of students for higher education; (d) students who exhibited a strong sense of self-esteem, self-efficacy, and a rejection of the concept of inferiority; (e) a family-like environment that was welcoming, inclusive, and receptive to individuals from varied backgrounds that fostered a strong sense of pride and efficacy; and (f) a family climate experienced by internal and external stakeholders that created a sense of belonging and place.

Psychological Impacts of Teaching Models on Ibero-American Educators during COVID-19.

Educational systems globally, and notably in the Ibero-American context, underwent significant adaptations in response to the myriad challenges imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The pedagogical evolution unfolded through three discernible phases: predominantly online, hybrid, and ultimately, a return to face-to-face instruction. While these phases were universally apparent, cultural, socio-economic, and health disparities across regions subtly influenced the quality and experiential aspects of teaching and learning within these models. This study seeks to illuminate the psychological profiles and evaluative perspectives regarding teaching and learning quality among university educators during COVID-19's tri-phase educational transformation. Engaging 601 university instructors from various Ibero-American countries, a comprehensive questionnaire mapped demographic, academic, and psychological landscapes across the pandemic's distinctive epochs. The pivot to online educational methodologies, supplanting traditional modalities, permeated numerous facets of the educational endeavor, particularly impacting faculty life and wellbeing. Data underscored a prevalent sentiment of loneliness, indicative of broader mental health challenges, especially pronounced among educators in Latin American nations. Notwithstanding these hurdles, Latin American educators demonstrated a predilection towards online instruction, in stark contrast to their European peers, who exhibited a preference for in-person pedagogy. This study unveils the divergent pedagogical preferences and mental health challenges among university educators in the Ibero-American realm during COVID-19's educational shifts, underlining the need for adaptable educational frameworks and robust mental health support, attuned to the region's distinct socio-cultural and economic contexts.

A Review of the Suggestions of Acculturation for Chinese International Students in America

As the top destination for international students, America receives a large number of international students. Among these international students, Chinese students make up the majority of the population, but their adjustment rate is consistently low. In this context, it is worth discussing how to improve the cross-cultural adaptation of Chinese students. This study provides a review of suggestions given by previous researchers. Drawing on acculturation theory, these suggestions have been reorganized and summarized. The review aims to provide guidance to Chinese students and help them improve their cross-cultural adaptation. It provides a new approach to improving cross-cultural adaptation. This review finds the relationship between cross-cultural adaptation and internationalization. There are many similarities and even overlaps between strategies to improve internationalization and strategies to improve cross-cultural adaptation. And the advance of internationalization is positively related to the improvement of cross-cultural adaptation of international students. Additionally, the cross-cultural adaptation of minorities needs constant attention, especially Chinese students. American government and schools continue to accept international students and must also pay attention to their acculturation. Strategic updates should keep pace with the times and look at issues from new perspectives.

A glimpse into Victor Papanek's "critical design theory" and its contemporary applications

Victor Papanek is a famous American designer, design educator and design theorist after the war. Among them, his "critical design theory" plays a crucial role in the formation of sustainable development and environmental protection concepts. In his controversial Designing for the Real World, he called on the American industrial design community to oppose commercial profit-oriented design and focus on the real needs of those ignored by designers. This article explains Papanek's "critical design theory" and his "three principles" of environmental protection, and then explains some of his own insights into this view, and finally constructs Papanek's responsibility framework for designers.

A glimpse into Victor Papanek's "critical design theory" and its contemporary applications

Victor Papanek is a famous American designer, design educator and design theorist after the war. Among them, his "critical design theory" plays a crucial role in the formation of sustainable development and environmental protection concepts. In his controversial Designing for the Real World, he called on the American industrial design community to oppose commercial profit-oriented design and focus on the real needs of those ignored by designers. This article explains Papanek's "critical design theory" and his "three principles" of environmental protection, and then explains some of his own insights into this view, and finally constructs Papanek's responsibility framework for designers.

Public Schools and Their Pensions: How Is Pension Spending Affecting U.S. School Districts?

Abstract State and local government decisions about how school funding is raised and allocated have profound impacts on American public education; in recent years, experts have documented large increases in one type of spending in particular: public pensions. Because most data on school district pension expenditures are at the state level, it has so far been difficult to assess what changes local school districts have made in response. In this paper, I analyze a new dataset of the annual pension expenditures of approximately 200 unified school districts across the United States from 2005 to 2016. Consistent with findings in the literature, I find that pension expenditures rose in real terms in most of them, but also that there has been significant variation in that growth. Moreover, in a descriptive analysis, I find that larger within-district pension expenditure growth is associated with (1) greater revenue growth in the subsequent year and (2) reductions in school district employment, mainly through reductions in the number of non-teaching staff. Finally, there is evidence that districts’ responses to rising pension expenditures may depend on state political institutions, in particular whether the states have mandatory collective bargaining for teachers.

Confronting Propaganda

Education is facing a critical threat as those in positions of authority utilize propaganda to advance and promote an exclusionary worldview that serves their own interests. This essay focuses on one such misinformation campaign, which seeks to limit the rights of transgender individuals, including their very existence—a cause championed by right-wing politicians. The paper investigates how the American educational system fuels discrimination towards marginalized bodies, particularly transgender people, and suggests performative pedagogy as a strategy to counteract this oppression.
 The essay begins by examining how the concept of performative pedagogy is used in contemporary drag shows and how deeply ingrained the idea of white supremacy is in transgender oppression. Through case studies, the paper shows how performative pedagogy serves as a powerful counter to the fundamental ideology of hatred. It explains how, through performative pedagogy, marginalized voices can be strengthened and serve as an effective communication tool for influencing society’s future by expressing what cannot be spoken through actions. This study argues that equipping today’s children with performative pedagogy enables them to withstand the challenges that they may face and helps them become more resilient in the face of difficulties. It draws attention to the fundamental responsibility of educators to teach for the benefit of society and to provide students with the skills necessary to face and overcome the challenges that will be used against them. Through the embracement of performative pedagogy, contemporary society can raise and foster a generation that actively opposes the oppressive forces that are reinforced and perpetuated by those in power.

Impact of Incentives on Physician Participation in Research Surveys: Randomized Experiment.

Web-based surveys can be effective data collection instruments; however, participation is notoriously low, particularly among professionals such as physicians. Few studies have explored the impact of varying amounts of monetary incentives on survey completion. This study aims to conduct a randomized study to assess how different incentive amounts influenced survey participation among neurologists in the United States. We distributed a web-based survey using standardized email text to 21,753 individuals randomly divided into 5 equal groups (≈4351 per group). In phase 1, each group was assigned to receive either nothing or a gift card for US $10, $20, $50, or $75, which was noted in the email subject and text. After 4 reminders, phase 2 began and each remaining individual was offered a US $75 gift card to complete the survey. We calculated and compared the proportions who completed the survey by phase 1 arm, both before and after the incentive change, using a chi-square test. As a secondary outcome, we also looked at survey participation as opposed to completion. For the 20,820 emails delivered, 879 (4.2%) recipients completed the survey; of the 879 recipients, 622 (70.8%) were neurologists. Among the neurologists, most were male (412/622, 66.2%), White (430/622, 69.1%), non-Hispanic (592/622, 95.2%), graduates of American medical schools (465/622, 74.8%), and board certified (598/622, 96.1%). A total of 39.7% (247/622) completed their neurology residency more than 20 years ago, and 62.4% (388/622) practiced in an urban setting. For phase 1, the proportions of respondents completing the survey increased as the incentive amount increased (46/4185, 1.1%; 76/4165, 1.8%; 86/4160, 2.1%; 104/4162, 2.5%; and 119/4148, 2.9%, for US $0, $10, $20, $50, and $75, respectively; P<.001). In phase 2, the survey completion rate for the former US $0 arm increased to 3% (116/3928). Those originally offered US $10, $20, $50, and $75 who had not yet participated were less likely to participate compared with the former US $0 arm (116/3928, 3%; 90/3936, 2.3%; 80/3902, 2.1%; 88/3845, 2.3%; and 74/3878, 1.9%, for US $0, $10, $20, $50, and $75, respectively; P=.03). For our secondary outcome of survey participation, a trend similar to that of survey completion was observed in phase 1 (55/4185, 1.3%; 85/4165, 2%; 96/4160, 2.3%; 118/4162, 2.8%; and 135/4148, 3.3%, for US $0, $10, $20, $50, and $75, respectively; P<.001) and phase 2 (116/3928, 3%; 90/3936, 2.3%; 80/3902, 2.1%; 88/3845, 2.3%; and 86/3845, 2.2%, for US $0, $10, $20, $50, and $75, respectively; P=.10). As expected, monetary incentives can boost physician survey participation and completion, with a positive correlation between the amount offered and participation.

The structural-demographic theory revisited: An empirical test for industrialized societies.

The structural demographic theory for industrialized societies generates three testable predictions. The first prediction is that labor oversupply leads to declining (relative) wages. The second prediction is that labor oversupply leads to elite overproduction: as relative wages fall, elite incomes display a hump-shaped pattern while elite numbers increase. The third prediction is that elite overproduction leads to political instability. I test these predictions on US data by combining evidence from existing studies with empirical proxies for elite numbers and elite income. The predictions are not supported by the data. First, labor oversupply cannot explain the polarization of wages and the decline in relative wages. The largest share in wage variance is explained by automation. Second, the data shows that as relative wages fall, elite incomes increase, in contrast to the hump-shaped pattern displayed by the model. Third, elite overproduction did not predict political instability in the last decades. Political instability is modelled by the Political Stress Index (PSI). The reviewed evidence shows that the increase in the model based PSI in the last decades is driven by the increase in inequality. The rise in inequality was caused by technological change, globalisation and to a lesser extent by the erosion of labor market institutions. Attributing the rise in inequality and the resulting increase in political instability to labor oversupply rather than to the lost race between education and technology may weaken incentives to design effective policies addressing the inefficiencies in the US education system.

UNESCO-UNDP’s “Save Carthage” Campaign: Americans and Internationalisation of Heritage in Tunisia

ABSTRACT In the early 1970s, the Tunisian government sought to balance the preservation of cultural heritage and tourism with urban development at the sprawling archaeological site of Carthage. UNESCO launched the ‘Save Carthage’ campaign and brought together 18 international archaeological teams to survey, excavate, and stabilise the site. Two American teams from Michigan and Harvard represented the American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR). However optimistic their aims, we demonstrate how the internationalism that the ‘Save Carthage’ campaign embodied through the 1970s was undermined by disputes between the American archaeologists and their Tunisian hosts, limited funding opportunities, and a failure to integrate deeply with the postcolonial landscape of North Africa. Lessons learned from this case study illustrate the major role played by archaeology in the landscape of international development assistance and highlight the mixed success of both UNESCO and the United States in Tunisia.

Quality Genocide Education in American Schools: An Armenian Lens for Hope

Quality Genocide Education in American Schools: An Armenian Lens for Hope