Daniel J. Walsh

A Systematic Test of the Effective Schools Model

This article presents cross-sectional data on the relation between school achievement and measures of school environment, particularly “effective schools” characteristics. The data are for 38 high schools, 32 middle schools, and 134 elementary schools, across 22 districts in the Milwaukee metropolitan area. The achievement measures include standardized test data in math and reading, as well as dropout rates. In addition to a wide range of school characteristics, key measures of school environment were collected through lengthy mailed surveys of 5,500 teachers in the districts. In addition to an effective schools index, we analyze the effects of parental involvement and variation in teacher control of key decisions in schools. The findings offer support for the notion that school environment has an effect on achievement. They also show that the complex of environmental variables that are significantly related to achievement are themselves highly intercorrelated and very much affected by the location of the school (city or suburbs) and the student population in the schools. These results lead us to question the direction of causality and thus the certainty of success of intervention programs along current effective schools lines.

Using Readiness Tests To Route Kindergarten Students: The Snarled Intersection of Psychometrics, Policy, and Practice.

In this article we examine the validity of inferences drawn from readiness tests when placing children in the regular or a 2-year kindergarten program. Using data from nine Virginia school districts, we studied the technical characteristics of four commonly employed readiness tests. Boys, minorities, children of low socioeconomic status, and young children scored consistently lower on all four tests. Three of the four tests were fairly reliable, but the fourth was highly inconsistent for minorities and those younger than 5 years. None of the four tests were impressive predictors of future test performance. The results are interpreted within specific selection and placement policies.

Knocking on kindergarten's door: Who gets in? Who's kept out?☆

Abstract In this article the initial placement decisions of six Virginia districts that gave screening tests to all children prior to school entry and that had junior kindergarten programs are examined. The relationships between placement into regular or junior kindergartens and socioeconomic status (SES), ethnicity, gender, and age are analyzed first separately and then in combination with each other. SES, ethnicity, gender, and age are each moderately predictive of placement. A main-effects model with SES, gender, and age is more predictive. Younger, poor boys are more likely than other groups to be placed in junior kindergartens—32 times more likely than older nonpoor girls. Policy implications are discussed.

Teaching children at-risk: An American preschool teacher’s folk psychology and folk pedagogy

This article examines how an American preschool teacher’s practice and her views of her practice for children considered at-risk for later academic failure are constrained by her cultural contexts. The research is framed by a cultural psychology and draws on an 18-month ethnographic and interpretive biographic study of Anita, an experienced preschool teacher. Anita emphasized: providing a controlled and predictable environment; helping children succeed in kindergarten; and promoting children’s ability to take care of themselves. Her practice and her discussion on her practice reflected European-American cultural beliefs about the independent self. We discuss how these cultural beliefs both enhance and restrict the teacher’s views of children from underprivileged families and of their development.

Independence and Community: Teaching Midwestern

This article investigates how a Midwestern early childhood teacher’s practice and her views of her practice are culturally constrained. The research is framed by a cultural psychology and draws on an ethnographic and interpretive biographic study of Mary, an experienced first-grade teacher. We explore Mary’s practice through four central themes: (a) raising independent decision makers, (b) developing self-motivated lifelong learners, (c) providing a basis for a successful life, and (d) building community. We explore how each theme is informed by a folk psychology that reflects Mary’s cultural beliefs and values. We conclude with implications for early childhood practice and research

Not the United Colors of Benetton: Language, Culture, and Peers

Abstract This study explores childrens social processes in a multicultural and multilingual after-school program. It extends the understanding of how culture and language affect childrens peer relations. Fieldwork was conducted over a four-month period. On average, 35 children, ages 5–11 and representing 13 cultural and linguistic groups, attended the program. Childrens peer group structures were heavily influenced by language. Nationality influenced peer groupings more than race. The presence of siblings and neighbors were contextual factors influencing peer relations. The influence of gender and age differed between groups, with cross-gender and cross-age play being more common in limited English-speaking groups than in fluent English groups. Implications for educators are noted.