Education Commons^™

Equity Among Equity Workers: Public Service Motivation In An Educational Nonprofit Organization, Russell C. West Jr

Theses and Dissertations

What opportunities and challenges arise when an equity-focused educational organization aims to support employee’s individual equity practices while simultaneously developing the organization’s equity practice? In this study, employees of a non-profit educational organization were asked what rationales and expectations played a role in their decision to volunteer in an equity working group. Their responses were used to understand whether Perry’s (2000) process theory of Public Service Motivation helped describe their decision. In a second round of interviews, employees were asked what outcomes they perceived came from their participation. These responses were used to understand whether the outcomes aligned with those …

Assessing The Implementation Of Egypt’S Education 2.0 Reform: The Case Of Sohag, Norhan Zahran

Theses and Dissertations

Education is a key component contributing to a country’s socioeconomic status. Accordingly, countries that seek better economic development focus on the quality of education. Egypt realized that and started a series of educational reforms, none of which delivered the desired objectives. Regrettably, this was clear in Egyptian students' poor performance on international tests in the years 2013/2014 and 2014/2015 (World Economic Forum 2013; 2014). In 2018, the Egyptian Ministry of Education announced the launch of Education 2.0 (EDU 2.0) reform which adopted transformative, multidisciplinary, student-centered educational pedagogies to enhance the quality of education. This study presents the results of an …

Improving Student Attitudes Towards Stem Education By Building Self-Efficacy Through Robotics Education, Kevin Obillo

Theses and Dissertations

The United States must grow its science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) trained workforce in order to fill the jobs projected to be in demand. One of the ways in which this can be done is to tap into the vast population of minorities and women who are underrepresented in the STEM fields. The United States has been looking for ways to improve STEM participation in these groups for many years now, through outreach, legislation and innovative academic programs. The purpose of this research was to examine the impact that a robotics education enrichment program had on elementary, predominantly Latinx …

The Rurality Of Education: Best Practices To Improve The Quality And Accessibility Of Basic Education Service Delivery In The Rural Area Of Oke Ogun, Oyo State In Nigeria, Alice Jokodola

Theses and Dissertations

Nigeria’s educational system is riddled with issues and challenges, leading it to have the highest number of out-of-school children in the world. Not only have these issues and challenges led to a high number of out-of-school children, but it has also led to an increase in national poverty and illiteracy rates. Research points to the fact that these challenges result from a lack of quality and accessible basic education in Nigeria. It also indicates that rural areas are often the most vulnerable and affected when it comes to receiving quality and accessible education. This study focused on the rural area …

Underrepresentation Of Hispanic Bilingual Students In Gifted And Talented Programs: The Role Of Teacher Expectations, Melissa I. Leon Leal

Theses and Dissertations

There is currently an underrepresentation of Hispanic and bilingual students in Gifted and Talented (GT) programs. The present study examines the role of teachers’ expectations and preconceptions of what constitutes a gifted student as possible contributing factors to the underrepresentation of Hispanic and bilingual students in GT programs. Participants will include approximately 100 pre-service teachers and currently practicing teachers in the community. Measures will include a demographic survey, vignettes for identifying giftedness which describe bilingual and monolingual potential gifted students across three ethnic groups, and a survey about student qualities that includes both quantitative and qualitative items. Results and implications …

Out And Queer: Independent School Teachers Navigating The Personal And Professional, Caroline C. Dunnell

Theses and Dissertations

In recent years the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Queer (Queer) community has experienced unprecedented acceptance in U.S. culture. Yet, education, historically slow to change (Fullan & Miles, 1992), continues in many states to promote a heteronormative culture that does not recognize nor promote equity for the queer community that exists within their schools (Barrett & Bound, 2015).

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological heuristic inquiry was to explore my experience, and those of eleven other queer out independent school educators, to understand how we makes sense of, and navigate, the heteronormative, traditionally male-dominated, independent school environment. This study used in-depth …

The Lived Experiences Of Counseling Graduate Students And The Impact Of Their Studies In Their Marital Satisfaction, Vania S. Palacios

Theses and Dissertations

Due to high levels of stress that students find throughout graduate programs, professional and personal lives are at times not prioritized. The heuristic study focused on analyzing common themes among counseling graduate students at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, the coping mechanisms students have used to improve their marital/relational satisfaction, and common stressors in their marriage as a reflection of the counseling graduate program. The researcher provided a personal narrative for the study and analyzed transcriptions of the interviews of four counseling graduate students at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.

Unemployment, Does It Really Hurt?, Claudia Vargas

Theses and Dissertations

This paper analyzes the consequences of changes in the unemployment rate in Colombia on the level of education attained for adolescents. Increases in the unemployment rate are associated with an increase in the average number of years of education. No significant effect was found for men of the same age.

Racial Integration And Institutional Change, 1965-1971: A Case Study Of Uw-Milwaukee’S Human Relations Institute, Center For Afro-American Culture And Spanish Speaking Outreach Institute, Toni Johns

Theses and Dissertations

This historical case study explores the development of the Institute for Human Relations, the Center for Afro-American Culture and the Spanish Speaking Outreach Institute. These three university entities demonstrate the evolution of class-and race-based policy development at UW-Milwaukee between 1965 and 1971. There is limited literature regarding the historical development of programs that served to racially integrate UW-Milwaukee. Much of the existing literature was written by former University administrators (Klotsche 1966, 1972, 1985, Cassell, Klotsche and Olsen 1992) and highlights the positive actions taken by the administration. Literature written by non-administrators (J. Rodriguez 2005, M. Rodriguez 2015) focuses on community …

Bullying And Human Capital Accumulation: Evidence From The National Longitudinal Survey Of Youth, 1997, Jessica Lum

Theses and Dissertations

Data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1997 (NLSY97) is used to study the effect of bullying on human capital accumulation. Findings suggest that adolescent bullying has a significant and negative impact on the highest educational level attained, as well as income earned as an adult.

Global-To-Local-To-Global: A Model For Tutoring Esl Students In The Writing Center, David Aguilar

Theses and Dissertations

Since its inception, the writing center has always focused on traditional students, and today that tradition is continued in such a way that the overwhelming amount of research dedicated to writing center theory and practice addresses the concerns of those students. However, universities with unique student populations, such as the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley with its majority of Hispanic students, require novel practices within their writing centers. Moreover, much of the linguistic, social, and cultural factors of the region are not well documented and therefore are not addressed by the mainstream theory and practices of other universities. With …

Navajo Nation Brain Drain: An Exploration Of Returning College Graduates' Perspectives, Quintina Ava Adolpho

Theses and Dissertations

American Indian tribes face the phenomenon known across the world as the brain drain. They invest millions of dollars in educating their members, only to have little return on their investments. Many nation members leave reservations to get postsecondary education but never return, contributing to the brain drain. Those who get education off the reservation and choose to return are the exceptions to this rule. Although there is an abundance of literature regarding the brain drain across the world, there has been little research done with American Indians. In order to begin to understand the brain drain phenomenon this study …

Mckinney Vento Legislation: A Policy Analysis Of The Evolution Of Homeless Law In Illinois, Cathleen J. Weber

Theses and Dissertations

This policy analysis looks at the evolution of homeless education laws both through federal legislation and state laws. A policy analysis was utilized to show changes through the reauthorization of the McKinney-Vento Act.

One aspect of this analysis utilized qualitative data from four individual administrators in four central Illinois school districts. The qualitative data reviewed the training received by each administrator and the policies guiding their enrollment procedures.

Another aspect provided in this analysis is the changes established in response to court cases filed when school districts violated the provisions of the McKinney-Vento Act. The reauthorizations that followed each finding …

Assessing Students' Attitudes Towards Geography In A Problem-Based Learning Environment, Andrew Jasper Quain

Theses and Dissertations

Problem-based learning is an instructional strategy that is a growing trend in geographic education at all levels. The benefits of problem-based learning and how it improves students' content knowledge are well established in the literature. However, a gap in the literature exists in regards to the impact problem-based learning has on students' attitudes towards geography. This study focused on determining if high school students' attitudes towards geography improved after enrollment in a course taught with problem-based learning instruction. The study assessed other factors, such as preference for group work and problem-solving efficacy, which are associated with problem-based learning instruction. The …

Grammar Enhanced Biliteracy: Naskapi Language Structures For Facilitating Reading In Naskapi, William Joseph Jancewicz

Theses and Dissertations

The Naskapi language is the language of instruction in the early primary grades of the school in the Naskapi community. Only recently have Naskapi-speaking teachers received formal instruction in pedagogy, with a cohort of Naskapi teachers following courses for their Bachelor of Education degree towards careers teaching in the Naskapi language in their local school. These adults are highly motivated to become literate in their mother tongue in order to teach or prepare curriculum materials in the Naskapi language. This thesis explores how basic grammatical structures can be mastered, and provides insight into the form that pedagogical grammatical instruction should …

A Qualitative Analysis Of High School Students' Experiences In The Latinos In Action Program, Johann Paul Simonds

Theses and Dissertations

This research was a qualitative program evaluation of students' perceptions of Latinos in Action (LIA), a peer-mentoring program that seeks to improve high school Latino graduation rates and college admittance. The study was conducted with college students who participated in the program in high school. LIA graduates were interviewed to determine what major factors influenced and supported them in their academic decisions. Additional data included an interview with the program director, results from the High School Survey of Student Engagement (HSSSE), and a video of one of the interviewees. The researcher explored students' experiences in the LIA program with the …

Perceptions Of School Civility: A Survey Of School Of Education Alumni, Keely Marie Swanson

Theses and Dissertations

Very little empirical data exists on the topic of civility in schools, although much theory and philosophy are proffered in the literature. Literature on moral education and character education also informs the study of civility. Many of the philosophical theories mention education as a way of increasing civility in society. Some schools have attempted to implement various civility interventions and research supports the use of similar interventions to teach social skills; however, none have systematically collected data for these interventions to evaluate their effectiveness for teaching civility. The present research systematically gathered data on perceptions of civility and incivility in …

Understanding Acculturation Patterns Of Burmese Refugee Children In Utah Public Schools, Stacie Jai Fraire

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study explored the experience of 21 Burmese refugee adolescents as they acculturated into public schools in Salt Lake City, Utah. Unstructured, open-ended interviews were conducted to elicit information on the students' perception of the U.S. educational system, as well as their feelings about acculturation. The interviews were conducted with the aid of a Burmese/Karen translator and were transcribed and analyzed utilizing a grounded theory approach. The findings detail the acculturation process of the Burmese refugee students, the positive effect motivation has on the pace of acculturation, the impact of unfamiliar technology and language-based misunderstandings on the students' educational …

Defining The Components Of Academic Self-Efficacy In Navajo American Indian High School Students, Thomas R. Golightly

Theses and Dissertations

The academic difficulties experienced by a majority of Navajo American Indian students are well documented. Past research has focused on a variety of internal and external factors which possibly explain some of these difficulties. Low levels of academic self-efficacy (ASE) has been identified as one of the factors possibly contributing to lower than expected rates of academic achievement and low post-secondary education retention rates in this population. This investigation sought to further define the component structures of ASE using theoretical structures postulated by Bandura (1977a, 1997), namely: past success, modeling, verbal persuasion, and emotional arousal. Information about grade point averages …

Family Life Education In The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints In The 20th Century: A Historical Review, Ray W. Stringham

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis reviewed selected educational literature in almost 350 texts published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon) from General Authorities and manuals which included content curriculum in adult family life education; for the adult women's organization (Relief Society); for the men's Melchizedek Priesthood; and for parents instructing their children at home (Family Home Evening).

Topics were ranked by century, according to frequencies of occurrence (FO) in the five major publications. Topics were also summarized by each decade. Tables were provided which summarized the top 40 of 78 topics identified. Recurring Themes suggest family is the basis …