Mary McCaslin

Compliant Cognition: The Misalliance of Management and Instructional Goals in Current School Reform

We examine the social context of current school reform efforts, focusing specifically on the interrelated areas of management and instruction. We maintain that in order to reform schools significantly, we must consider the various constructions of students in the popular culture and educational community and their implication for school management policies. We believe that the intended modern school curriculum, which is designed to produce self-motivated, active learners, is seriously undermined by classroom management policies that encourage, if not demand, simple obedience. We advocate that a curriculum that seeks to promote problem solving and meaningful learning must be aligned with an authoritative management system that increasingly allows students to operate as self-regulated and risk-taking learners. We note, however, that the analysis of management systems is only a small part of a set of complex and interrelated factors (e.g., testing policies, in-service mandates, curriculum content) that should be considered in any attempt to change schools. Our review indicates that too many reforms (e.g., more homework) are undertaken for political rather than educational reasons; hence, most reforms are irrelevant or self-defeating because they are symbolic and expedient.

Co-Regulation of Student Motivation and Emergent Identity.

In this article I outline a co-regulation model of identity that is based on an emergent interaction perspective derived from Vygotskian theory. I use this model to suggest the role of motivation in identity development. The co-regulation approach is one of many modern attempts (e.g., social cognitive, social constructivist, sociocultural) to understand how social and cultural influences might impact the development of the individual or perhaps transcend the individual. This article articulates a co-regulation model of emergent identity and provides an illustration of its potential for understanding how students might make school personally meaningful.

Educational Psychology, Social Constructivism, and Educational Practice: A Case of Emergent Identity

Psychology has long been a field beset with identity crises of one sort or another. At midcentury, psychology openly struggled with self-definition-what is psychology?-and the role-whom or what does it serve?-it was to play in individual and societal issues. Educational psychology has suffered similar identity issues. This article examines briefly the history and futility of educational psychologys in-house fights over mission and contests for theoretical dominance, allegedly in the name of unity. This article suggests instead the desirability of collaboration among diverse participants and theoretical integration for the improvement of educational practices. This article illustrates this goal with discussion of current work within a social constructivist framework.

How Well Do 1st-Year Teachers Teach: Does Type of Preparation Make a Difference?.

The authors present a program of research on the teaching practices of 1st-year teachers that has evolved within a partnership between and among a university and area school districts. The research links observed 1st-year teaching practices with school level (elementary, middle, high school) and type of teacher preparation (traditional bachelors degree or nontraditional masters degree or postbaccalaureate certification). This study was conducted during 3 consecutive years, and results suggest that 1st-year teachers, as a group, performed adequately. School-level analyses reveal higher quality classroom management practices at the elementary level. Type of preparation analyses reveal higher quality management practices among teachers who attended traditional programs. The potential interaction between school level and type of preparation was not definitive but suggests further research is needed on the match between type of preparation and school level as expressed in quality of teaching practices.

Student Motivational Dynamics in the Era of School Reform

This article traces the conception of “the problem with the public school” as represented in 3 reform documents: A Nation at Risk (1983), the National Education Summit Policy Statement (1996), and the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB). I examine the problem definitions and solutions manifested in each reform for beliefs about student motivation to learn. These beliefs in turn are compared to research illustrations of student motivation obtained in each reform period. The article ends with suggestions for “small changes” in classroom practices that might improve student motivation to learn, promote the goals of NCLB, and enhance the healthy development of children.

Comprehensive School Reform: An Observational Study of Teaching in Grades 3 through 5

This observational study involved literacy and mathematics instruction of 145 teachers in grades 3 through 5 in 20 low‐income schools enrolled in the U.S. governments Comprehensive School Reform (CSR) Demonstration program. Observed curriculum and instructional practices were primarily and coherently focused on acquisition of basic facts and skills and related elaborations and thinking. With few exceptions, students were on task and productive and teacher‐student relationships were friendly and mutually supportive. Observations were compared with normative teaching practices. This comparison supported the conclusion that instruction in CSR classrooms did not differ from instruction typically observed in elementary school. Recommendations for enhancing normative practice within the constraints of modern school reform are made.