Prediction in Educational Research: An Application to the Study of Teacher Bias

Out-of-sample prediction is not often applied within educational research, although it can complement existing methods in important ways. Prediction gives an intuitive measure of a model's (in)ability to structure an outcome of interest, and complements the aggregate statistics usually obtained from typical in-sample methods. In this paper, I illustrate the potential of prediction through the study of teacher bias in tracking in the Netherlands. I show how the use of prediction identifies misspecification in the simple interval-model often estimated in the field, and can be used to obtain insights when estimating less interpretable, albeit more appropriate models. Substantively, I find that girls are positively biased in tracking net of observed ability, while students of low parental education are negatively biased. Importantly, the latter effect may have been structurally under-estimated in prior work. I also identify the school level to be a more substantial source of bias than student-level demographics, lending further support to calls to study school-level heterogeneity in tracking. My findings further accentuate the risks involved in tracking and fall broadly in line with increasing calls to re-evaluate the Dutch tracking system.

Conclusion

This chapter argues that the middle-class advantage is, at least in part, a negotiated advantage. That argument has implications for research on cultural capital, teacher bias, student resistance, and teacher authority. It also supports recommendations for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers interested in reducing class-based inequalities in school. First, I urge teachers to be sensitive to social class differences in student problem-solving. Second, I encourage schools to alleviate the challenges teachers face in assessing and responding to students’ individual needs. Third, I call on policymakers to avoid deficit-oriented programs that teach working-class students to act like their middle-class peers. Those programs ignore the fact that working-class families are often the ones complying with institutional expectations and the fact that middle-class families are the ones demanding support in excess of what is fair or required. Thus, unless educators are willing to deny such requests, middle-class children will always stay one step ahead.

Evaluating values-centred pedagogies in education for sustainable development

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report an attempt to quantitatively evaluate pedagogies designed to help learners clarify their personal values systems in a sustainability context. Design/methodology/approach – A pre-test/post-test survey was used to assess shifts in values orientations among 113 undergraduates from the same discipline, following the completion of intensive values-based sustainability training workshops. Findings – The results indicate that small but statistically significant shifts in participant perceptions of their personal values orientations occurred, particularly in relation to values correlating with sustainability. Research limitations/implications – The survey data were collated in six separate groups, potentially introducing unforeseen variables. As value types, rather than individual values, were used as the basis of the survey, there could be variations in participant perception and understanding of the value-type labels. Practical implications – No control group was possible because the training intervention was a compulsory aspect of the participants’ degree programme, and the surveys were administered by the participants’ tutor, which could lead to “teacher” bias. Social implications – This research evaluates pedagogies aiming to allow individuals to clarify their values and better understand the motivational role these have in influencing “sustainable” behaviour. The research can inform the design and execution of “holistic” educational and training programmes seeking to help individuals understand their personal role in creating a more sustainable future. Originality/value – The originality of this research lies in the quantitative analysis of values-specific education for sustainable development pedagogies. Findings point to the need for further research to assess the application of the pedagogies across different disciplines.