The overarching objective of this study is to become more closely attuned to the politics of curriculum by identifying the discursive practices employed by governments to position curricular reform. In particular, this analysis aims to show how the twinning of neoliberalism and neoconservatism has served to justify shifts in curriculum at three…

As many U.S. school administrators create policies around hair, many often neglect to consider racial differences, especially those pertaining to hair care and maintenance styles. News media outlets have recently highlighted the ways schools create and sustain racially biased policies and schooling environments, demonstrating the media's role in…

This study analyzes the internal and external forces that led to the creation and revisions of a community college's mission statement over the course of its 53-year history. We used discourse-historical analysis to examine published college mission statements, transcripts of interviews with the founding dean of the college, and the college's…

In this critical discourse analysis, we examined 18 college student government campaign platforms from 9 institutions in the state of Florida. We used neoliberalism as a conceptual framework to examine platforms and, in particular, the way(s) students running for office described neoliberal agendas, policies, and thought. Findings revealed concern…

Background: Although the contexts, structures and administrations of early childhood education (ECE) may differ internationally, effective pedagogical leadership remains an essential component in supporting young children's development and learning. This paper reports on a comparative study which considered ECE in two different settings, Finland…

The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) has been emphasizing the importance of teachers' pedagogical communication as part of mathematical teaching and learning for decades. Specifically, NCTM has provided guidance on how teachers can foster mathematical communication that positively impacts student learning. A teacher may have…

Academic discourse communities and learning circles are characterized by collaboration, sharing commonalities in terms of social interactions and language. The discourse of these communities is composed of jargon, common terminologies, and similarities in how they construe and communicate meaning. This study examines the extent to which discourse…

This critical discourse analysis examines the construction of an "appropriate" education by Florida administrative law judges in their special education final orders over time. The results indicate that despite each child being different, the construction of an appropriate education was uniform within the given time periods. Prior to the…

The purpose of this study is to explore how a Florida administrative law judge (ALJ) adjudicated the giftedness of one student who was found ineligible to be enrolled in a gifted education program. Specifically, we explore the discourse in an ALJ's final order to uncover how an ALJ navigates through conflict and deconstructs the conflicting expert…

In recent years, several states have engaged in significant action surrounding a key policy area-- teacher policy reform. In Florida, for example, the passage of Senate Bill (SB) 736, the Student Success Act, heralded substantial shifts in the boundaries defining the profession of teaching in the state. Through SB 736 and its unsuccessful…

Over the last 40 years, American institutions of higher education have been encouraged to align with the private sector by policymakers, think tank experts and businessmen in order to become more efficient and more accountable. In a wider sense, this new partnership may be evidence of what has been termed "disaster capitalism." In…

Trans* individuals have recently received greater attention in mainstream media. Trans* students and their concerns are also becoming more visible, as evidenced by the recent increase in the number of colleges and universities that are offering trans*-inclusive housing options. However, such increased visibility does not readily equate to…

Suburban school districts are in the midst of rapid racial/ethnic and socioeconomic diversification, although the teaching force remains much more homogenous. This article examines how educators in increasingly more diverse suburban schools conceptualize diversity. Qualitative data comes from interviews of 40 teachers, 23 principals and assistant…

A content analysis of early adolescent X-bar = 12.02 years) Latino girls' (n = 44) responses to open-ended questions embedded in an electronic survey was conducted to explore strategies girls may use to resist peer pressure with respect to sexual behavior. Analysis yielded 341 codable response units, 74% of which were consistent with the REAL…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the discourse patterns characterizing individual special education teachers as they participated in a collaborative professional development (PD) group, and how these individual discourse patterns influenced other group members' opportunities to learn about reading instruction for upper elementary…