This book aims to extend the educational literacy of student teachers. It will enable them to deconstruct policy, research and media texts and place them within historical, social and literary contexts.

Stats, stats, stats. It seems everything written about education today is full of stats. With this book, nimble-minded number cruncher and award-winning researcher Gerald Bracey takes your hand and walks you through the process of figuring out the meaning behind the figures. You don't need to be a math whiz to follow Bracey because he writes with clarity and humor, explicitly defining statistical terminology in easy-to-understand language and even offering you thirty-two specific principles for assessing the quality of research as you read it.

This book collects studies with a 'critical education policy orientation', and presents itself as a handbook of matters of public concern. The term 'critical' does not refer to the adoption of a particular theoretical framework or methodology, but rather it refers to a very specific ethos or way of relating to the present and the belief that the future should not be the repetition of the past. This implies a concern about what is happening in our societies today and what could or should be happening in the future. As a consequence, the contributors to the book rely on a general notion of public policy that takes on board processes, practices, and discourses at a variety of levels, in diverse governmental and non-governmental contexts, and considers the relation of policy to power, to politics and to social regulation. Following the detailed introduction that aims at picturing the landscape of studies with a 'critical education policy orientation', the book presents re-readings of six policy challenges; globalization, knowledge society, lifelong learning, equality/democracy/social inclusion, accountability/control/efficiency and teacher professionalism. It seeks to contextualise these in relation to issues of current global concern at the start of the 21st century. Despite the diversity of approaches, this collection of critical education policy studies shares a concern with what could be called 'the public, and its education, ' and represents a snapshot of education policy research at a particular time.

If you’re studying education much of what you do is informed by educational research but how do you interpret it effectively? How do you judge whether results are valid or relevant? This is the perfect guide to engaging with educational research. It explores how to read journal articles critically; what key academic terms really mean; different approaches to educational research, how they are used and what they aim to uncover, and how high quality findings can be meaningful for teaching and learning. Supported by examples that demonstrate the use (and misuse) of research in education, this is your essential guide to understanding and effectively using research.

The Science of Reading: A Handbook brings together state-of-the-art reviews of reading research from leading names in the field, to create a highly authoritative, multidisciplinary overview of contemporary knowledge about reading and related skills. Provides comprehensive coverage of the subject, including theoretical approaches, reading processes, stage models of reading, cross-linguistic studies of reading, reading difficulties, the biology of reading, and reading instruction Divided into seven sections:Word Recognition Processes in Reading; Learning to Read and Spell; Reading Comprehension; Reading in Different Languages; Disorders of Reading and Spelling; Biological Bases of Reading; Teaching Reading Edited by well-respected senior figures in the field

In a time of pressures, challenges, and threats to public education, teacher preparation, and funding for educational research, the fifth volume of the Handbook of Reading Research takes a hard look at why we undertake reading research, how school structures, contexts and policies shape students’ learning, and, most importantly, how we can realize greater impact from the research conducted. A comprehensive volume, with a "gaps and game changers" frame, this handbook not only synthesizes current reading research literature, but also informs promising directions for research, pushing readers to address problems and challenges in research design or method. Bringing the field authoritatively and comprehensively up-to-date since the publication of the Handbook of Reading Research, Volume IV, this volume presents multiple perspectives that will facilitate new research development, tackling topics including: Diverse student populations and sociocultural perspectives on reading development Digital innovation, literacies, and platforms Conceptions of teachers, reading, readers, and texts, and the role of affect, cognition, and social-emotional learning in the reading process New methods for researching reading instruction, with attention to equity, inclusion, and education policies Language development and reading comprehension Instructional practices to promote reading development and comprehension for diverse groups of readers Each volume of this handbook has come to define the field for the period of time it covers, and this volume is no exception, providing a definitive compilation of current reading research. This is a must-have resource for all students, teachers, reading specialists, and researchers focused on and interested in reading and literacy research, and improving both instruction and programs to cultivate strong readers and teachers.

Methods in Educational Research Methods in Educational Research is designed to prepare students for the real world of educational research. It focuses on scientifically-based methods, school accountability, and the professional demands of the twenty-first century, empowering researchers to take an active role in conducting research in their classrooms, districts, and the greater educational community. Like the first edition, this edition helps students, educators, and researchers develop a broad and deep understanding of research methodologies. It includes substantial new content on the impact of No Child Left Behind legislation, school reform, quantitative and qualitative methodologies, logic modeling, action research, and other areas. Special features to assist the teaching and learning processes include vignettes illustrating research tied to practice, suggested readings at the end of each chapter, and discussion questions to reinforce chapter content. Praise for the Previous Edition "A new attempt to make this subject more relevant and appealing to students. Most striking is how useful this book is because it is really grounded in educational research. It is very well written and quite relevant for educational researchers or for the student hoping to become one." -PsycCRITIQUES/American Psychological Association "I applaud the authors for their attempt to cover a wide range of material. The straightforward language of the book helps make the material understandable for readers." -Journal of MultiDisciplinary Evaluation