Special Interest Groups (SIGs) provide a forum within AERA for the involvement of individuals drawn together by a common interest in a field of study, teaching, or research when the existing divisional structure may not directly facilitate such activity. The Association provides SIGs program time at the Annual Meeting, publicity, scheduling, staff support, viability, and the prestige of AERA affiliation.
We are pleased to offer five webinars intended to familiarize you with the concept of a Networked Improvement Community, and each of the four important components and elements of a successful NIC. An introductory 30-minute webinar will feature one or two experts from out team providing key background information about the focal challenges of building a NIC. A facilitated discussion forum will continue for two weeks after the video is posted to this site. At the end of the two weeks, another live webinar with the same expert will be featured. This follow-up webinar will focus on the topics that have arisen through the online forum, as well as questions that are asked live during the webinar.
Bryk, A. S., Gomez, L. M., & Grunow, A. (2011). Getting Ideas into Action: Building Networked Improvement Communities in Education. In M. T. Hallinan (Ed.), Frontiers in Sociology of Education (pp. 127–162). Springer Netherlands. http://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-94-007-1576-9_7
Daly, A. J., Moolenaar, N. M., Bolivar, J. M., & Burke, P. (2010). Relationships in Reform: The Role of Teachers’ Social Networks. Journal of Educational Administration, 48(3), 359–391. https://doi.org/10.1108/09578231011041062
Coburn, C. E., Russell, J. L., Kaufman, J. H., & Stein, M. K. (2012). Supporting Sustainability: Teachers’ Advice Networks and Ambitious Instructional Reform. American Journal of Education, 119(1), 137–182. https://doi.org/10.1086/667699
Cohen, D. K., Raudenbush, S. W., & Ball, D. L. (2003). Resources, Instruction, and Research. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 25(2), 119–142. https://doi.org/10.3102/01623737025002119
Hopkins, M., & Spillane, J. P. (2015). Conceptualizing Relations Between Instructional Guidance Infrastructure (IGI) and Teachers’ Beliefs About Mathematics Instruction: Regulative, Normative, and Cultural-Cognitive Considerations. Journal of Educational Change, 16(4), 421–450. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10833-015-9257-1
Kincheloe, J. L., & McLaren, P. (2011). Rethinking Critical Theory and Qualitative Research. In K. Hayes, S. R. Steinberg, & K. Tobin (Eds.), Key Works in Critical Pedagogy (pp. 285–326). SensePublishers. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6091-397-6_23
Bryk, A. S., & Schneider, B. (2002). Trust in Schools: A Core Resource for Improvement. Russell Sage Foundation. https://www.russellsage.org/publications/trust-schools-0
Adler, P. S., & Kwon, S.-W. (2002). Social Capital: Prospects for a New Concept. Academy of Management Review, 27(1), 17–40. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2002.5922314
Coburn, C. E. (2001). Collective Sensemaking about Reading: How Teachers Mediate Reading Policy in Their Professional Communities. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 23(2), 145–170. https://doi.org/10.3102/01623737023002145
Hopkins, M., Spillane, J. P., Jakopovic, P., & Heaton, R. M. (2013). Infrastructure Redesign and Instructional Reform in Mathematics: Formal Structure and Teacher Leadership. The Elementary School Journal, 114(2), 200–224. https://doi.org/10.1086/671935
Penuel, W., Riel, M., Krause, A., & Frank, K. (2009). Analyzing Teachers’ Professional Interactions in a School as Social Capital: A Social Network Approach. Teachers College Record, 111(1), 124–163. https://doi.org/10.1177/016146810911100102
Spillane, J. P., Hopkins, M., & Sweet, T. M. (2015). Intra- and Interschool Interactions about Instruction: Exploring the Conditions for Social Capital Development. American Journal of Education, 122(1), 71–110. https://doi.org/10.1086/683292
Frank, K. A., Zhao, Y., & Borman, K. (2004). Social Capital and the Diffusion of Innovations Within Organizations: The Case of Computer Technology in Schools. Sociology of Education, 77(2), 148–171. https://doi.org/10.1177/003804070407700203
Penuel, W. R., Frank, K. A., Sun, M., Kim, C. M., & Singleton, C. (2013). The Organization as a Filter of Institutional Diffusion. Teachers College Record, 115(1).
Moolenaar, N. M. (2012). A Social Network Perspective on Teacher Collaboration in Schools: Theory, Methodology, and Applications. American Journal of Education, 119(1), 7–39. https://doi.org/10.1086/667715
Borko, H., Wolf, S. A., Simone, G., & Uchiyama, K. P. (2003). Schools in Transition: Reform Efforts and School Capacity in Washington State. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 25(2), 171–201. https://doi.org/10.3102/01623737025002171
Bristol, T. J., & Shirrell, M. (2019). Who Is Here to Help Me? The Work-Related Social Networks of Staff of Color in Two Mid-Sized Districts. American Educational Research Journal, 56(3), 868–898. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831218804806
Burt, R. S. (2000). The Network Structure Of Social Capital. Research in Organizational Behavior, 22, 345–423. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0191-3085(00)22009-1
Chawla, L., Keena, K., Pevec, I., & Stanley, E. (2014). Green Schoolyards as Havens from Stress and Resources for Resilience in Childhood and Adolescence. Health & Place, 28, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2014.03.001
Daly, A. J., Liou, Y.-H., & Brown, C. (2016). Social Red Bull: Exploring Energy Relationships in a School District Leadership Team. Harvard Educational Review, 86(3), 412–448. https://doi.org/10.17763/1943-5045-86.3.412
Elmore, R. F., & Burney, D. (1997). School Variation and Systemic Instructional Improvement in Community School District #2, New York City. High Performance Learning Communities Project. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED429264
Frank, K. A., Zhao, Y., Penuel, W. R., Ellefson, N., & Porter, S. (2011). Focus, Fiddle, and Friends: Experiences that Transform Knowledge for the Implementation of Innovations. Sociology of Education, 84(2), 137–156. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038040711401812
Giroux, H. A., & Penna, A. N. (1979). Social Education in the Classroom: The Dynamics of the Hidden Curriculum. Theory & Research in Social Education, 7(1), 21–42. https://doi.org/10.1080/00933104.1979.10506048
González Canché, M. S., & Rios-Aguilar, C. (2015). Critical Social Network Analysis in Community Colleges: Peer Effects and Credit Attainment. New Directions for Institutional Research, 2014(163), 75–91. https://doi.org/10.1002/ir.20087
Holland, W. H., Powell, R. B., Thomsen, J. M., & Monz, C. A. (2018). A Systematic Review of the Psychological, Social, and Educational Outcomes Associated With Participation in Wildland Recreational Activities. Journal of Outdoor Recreation, Education, and Leadership, 10(3), Article 3. https://doi.org/10.18666/JOREL-2018-V10-I3-8382
Hopkins, M., Lowenhaupt, R., & Sweet, T. M. (2015). Organizing English Learner Instruction in New Immigrant Destinations: District Infrastructure and Subject-Specific School Practice. American Educational Research Journal, 52(3), 408–439. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831215584780
Hopkins, M., Spillane, J. P., & Shirrell, M. (2018). Designing Educational Infrastructures for Improvement: Instructional Coaching and Professional Learning Communities. In S. A. Yoon & K. J. Baker-Doyle (Eds.), Networked By Design (pp. 192–213). Routledge.
Hopkins, M., Weddle, H., Gluckman, M., & Gautsch, L. (2019). Boundary Crossing in a Professional Association: The Dynamics of Research Use Among State Leaders and Researchers in a Research-Practice Partnership. AERA Open, 5(4), 2332858419891964. https://doi.org/10.1177/2332858419891964
It is well documented that members of racial and ethnic minority groups tend to visit national parks at lower rates than whites, and a large body of literature has explored a number of hypotheses for this finding. These explanations are usually grouped into three categories: (1) marginality, which focuses on economic-related reasons for non-participation; (2) ethnicity, which purportedly focuses on cultural factors; (3) discrimination, which centers on the role of hostile behaviors on the part of whites and/or institutional discrimination. Despite the size of this literature, it suffers from a number of shortcomings. To begin with, the data used to test the hypotheses are usually not nationally representative. In addition, the possible explanations have not been comprehensively evaluated. For instance, a full range of demographic items has generally not been used in tests of marginality, actual measures of culture have rarely been employed in examining ethnicity, and the discrimination hypothesis has received very little testing. In this paper, we add to the literature by testing all three perspectives with national-level data from the National Park Service Second Comprehensive Survey on the American Public. Findings indicate larger differences between African Americans and whites than between Hispanics and whites, with some racial differences growing over time. We find evidence for all three explanations considered, with the subcultural hypothesis receiving the most support.
Management implications
1. More management attention is needed to address underrepresentation of racial/ethnic groups in national parks and related areas, as this may violate the fundamental democratic character of these sites.
2. In addition, as underrepresented groups continue to grow in proportion to the historically dominant white European majority, underrepresentation is an increasingly urgent matter.
3. This issue may be further exacerbated by an apparent growing differential in visitation by younger African Americans.
4. Given global patterns of immigration, this matter is increasingly international in scope.
5. Support for the marginality hypothesis suggests that special efforts may be needed to help ensure equal access to parks and outdoor recreation, including provision of public transportation, location of parks closer to minority populations, and development and marketing of outdoor recreation programs to minority racial/ethnic groups.
6. Support for the subculture hypothesis suggests that park and outdoor recreation opportunities should be designed in concert with the values of minority racial/ethnic groups, including types of facilities and programming, establishment of parks honoring diverse cultures, and reinterpretation of existing parks in ways that are more culturally inclusive.
7. Support for the discrimination hypothesis suggests that park and outdoor recreation managers re-examine their agencies and programs for evidence of interpersonal and institutional discrimination, including hiring practices and pricing policies.
Leonardo, Z. (2004). Critical Social Theory and Transformative Knowledge: The Functions of Criticism in Quality Education. Educational Researcher, 33(6), 11–18. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X033006011
Louis, K. S., Marks, H. M., & Kruse, S. (1996). School-Wide Professional Community: Teachers’ Work, Intellectual Quality and Commitment. In F. M. Newmann (Ed.), Authentic Achievement: Restructuring Schools for Intellectual Quality (pp. 179–203). Wiley.
McCurdy, L. E., Winterbottom, K. E., Mehta, S. S., & Roberts, J. R. (2010). Using Nature and Outdoor Activity to Improve Children’s Health. Current Problems in Pediatric and Adolescent Health Care, 40(5), 102–117. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cppeds.2010.02.003
Milner, H. R. (2007). Race, Culture, and Researcher Positionality: Working Through Dangers Seen, Unseen, and Unforeseen. Educational Researcher, 36(7), 388–400. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X07309471
Moolenaar, N. M., Daly, A. J., Cornelissen, F., Liou, Y.-H., Caillier, S., Riordan, R., Wilson, K., & Cohen, N. A. (2014). Linked to Innovation: Shaping an Innovative Climate Through Network Intentionality and Educators’ Social Network Position. Journal of Educational Change, 15(2), 99–123. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10833-014-9230-4
Moolenaar, N. M., Sleegers, P. J. C., & Daly, A. J. (2011). Ties with Potential: Social Network Structure and Innovative Climate in Dutch Schools. Teachers College Record, 113(9), 1983–2017. https://doi.org/10.1177/016146811111300906
Morrell, E. (2009). Critical Research and the Future of Literacy Education. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 53(2), 96–104. https://doi.org/10.1598/JAAL.53.2.1
Penuel, W. R., Sun, M., Frank, K. A., & Gallagher, H. A. (2012). Using Social Network Analysis to Study How Collegial Interactions Can Augment Teacher Learning from External Professional Development. American Journal of Education, 119(1), 103–136. https://doi.org/10.1086/667756
Putnam, R. (2001, December 19). The Prosperous Community: Social Capital and Public Life. The American Prospect. https://prospect.org/api/content/27753724-6757-5e80-925d-9542fc7ad4cb/
