Section archive - Theories & Approaches

In this study, we discuss the scaffolded design of ODRES (Observe, Discuss, and Reason with Evidence in Science), a computer tool that was designed to be used with elementary school children in science, and report on the effects of learning with ODRES on students’ conceptual understandings about light, color, and vision.

This article focuses on the call for more male teachers as role models in elementary schools and treats it as a manifestation of 'recuperative masculinity politics' (Lingard & Douglas, 1999). Attention is drawn to the problematic gap between neo-liberal educational policy–related discussions about male teacher shortage in elementary schools and research-based literature which provides a more nuanced analysis of the impact of gender relations on male teachers' lives and developing professional identities.

The article explores the use of the methods of portraiture and critical race theory (CRT) to evaluate success and failure in urban classrooms. Used in combination, the author believes that the methods evoke the personal, professional and political features of race, gender and class in education research and create possibilities for reform.

The article provides a framework that integrates recent institutional analysis guides for theorizing K-12 public education in the United States. The author introduces three constructs and applies the, to a case study of district reading and mathematical reform.