Education Commons^™

Educational Assessment: Exploring The Relationship Between Computer Adaptive Testing, Data Analysis, And Student Achievement, Michael Donhost

College of Education Theses and Dissertations

The research on the potential relationship of the Northwest Evaluation Association's Measures of Academic Progress (NWEA MAP) and the Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) was conducted in two phases and focused on middle schools with a grade configuration of 6-8 in the state of Illinois. The first phase of the research examined whether or not a significant relationship existed between NWEA MAP test participation by middle schools in Illinois, and ISAT growth over time. A total of 86 schools were involved in the research associated with Phase 1. The second phase of the study aimed to find out if the …

Parental Involvement In A New Environment: Igbo Families In Chicago And The Education Of Their Children—A Narrative Inquiry, Obiefuna Onwughalu

College of Education Theses and Dissertations

Parents, family, school and community have overlapping spheres of influence in the education of children (Epstein, 2001). Schooling isolated from the home will have significant consequences for child behavior and development (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). A fact of life is that a people’s socio-political, cultural and historical life situation, context or environment, or ecological systems (Bronfenbrenner, 1977) affects their way of life.

This study seeks to understand the nature of parental engagement of Igbo families, a newer immigrant community in Chicago, in the education of their children. All immigrants are not the same, and knowing about Igbo experiences will enable scholars and …

Jovenes Indocumentados: Exploring The Educational Aspirations Of Undocumented, Latino Students In The U.S.A., Katherine Moone

College of Education Theses and Dissertations

With 1.8 million undocumented students under the age of 18 living in the shadows in the United States, it is indisputably clear that teachers, administrators, and policy makers must pay attention to their educational needs and aspirations. As the undocumented population disperses across more states in the U.S., it is imperative that people who work with undocumented students know their stories, issues, complexities, and difficulties. This ethnographic case study follows two students who are in their first and second years of community college. Through extensive interviews, the students share who they are, issues of power, concerns for the future, and …

African-American Males’ Perception Of Factors Involved In Their Resilience And Academic Success, Johnnie Thomas

College of Education Theses and Dissertations

Understanding the factors that contribute to the educational success and failure of African-American males continues to be a topic of current research. Frequently, educational performance outcome data, report African-American males as low performers. Some African-American males are able to overcome family issues, community violence and school dysfunction, and achieve academic success. They are resilient. Masten, Best, and Garmezy (1990) define resiliency as “the process of, capacity to, or outcome of successful adaptation despite challenging or threatening circumstances” (426). In this study, the internal and external factors motivating the academic success of five African-American males who grew up in Chicago, Illinois’ …

What's All That Noise?: A Study Of Constructed Gender Meanings In News Publications For High School Students, Laura M. Moran

College of Education Theses and Dissertations

It is nearly impossible to escape from the influence of media in today’s world, between newspapers, magazines, radio, television and the internet. School settings are no exception to this rule and even allow the in-school distribution of publications produced by major media companies. These publications can be used for entertainment purposes or as supplements to classroom lessons, but they can also contribute to the replication of unbalanced and highly stereotypical representations of gender at a time when their readers are typically struggling to create their own identities. Four issues of two different in-school news publications were studied to gain a …

Understanding Empowerment, Informal Education, And Access To Decision-Making In A Community Organization, Maurya Delaney

College of Education Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this case study was to explore how participants of a community organization are engaged in the problem solving and decision-making process regarding neighborhood issues and concerns. In addition, this study explored the informal education process embedded within the problem solving and decision-making processes and the various forms of empowerment that exist within the organization. My data collection involved participant and non-participant observations, four in-depth interviews, and analysis of organizational and media documents. This organization’s power-based confrontational approach to organizing consisted of local leadership development, community-led outreach and action, and community and organizational identified accomplishments. Community participants engaged …

Museum Education And The Climate Of Accountability, Rebecca Manuel

College of Education Theses and Dissertations

This study examines how the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2002’s accountability mandates for public schools have affected museum education programs in a large, Midwestern city. For this multi-method study, relevant educational materials were analyzed, and fourteen educational professionals affected by the relationship between museums and public schools were interviewed. As public schools are increasingly pressured to increase students’ test scores, cuts in fieldtrip attendance are seen as justifiable, since these experiences do not directly result in students’ making Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) on standardized tests. To remain relevant to these new goals for public education, many museums …

Understanding Multiple Perspectives Of African American Males In A Suburban High School, Ravi Hansra Matrenec

College of Education Theses and Dissertations

Research on African American males in high school often looks at their experiences from a deficit perspective, and is often conducted in low resourced, high-risk settings, thus perpetuating the image of failure in school. We know less about how African American males experience education in well-resourced schools. In an attempt to fill this research gap, this qualitative inquiry study explores the schooling experiences of African American males at a predominantly White, affluent, and suburban high school of a major metropolitan city. The focus of this study was to understand how the participants made sense of their schooling experiences, paying special …

A Comparative Study Of The Impact Of Charitable Donations On The Financial Viability Of San Miguel Model Schools, Michael Quirk

College of Education Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to measure and compare the advancement strategies employed by private faith-based middle schools which serve economically disadvantaged minority students in urban settings. The research compared six schools in two groups of samples chosen from a pool of Lasallian Catholic alternative middle schools. Data collected from extensive personal interviews with school administrators were divided into twelve categories to compare the school’s establishment, the school’s board makeup and advancement functions, the school’s advancement methods and programs, the school’s senior advancement administration, and the school’s relationship with religious sponsor. Additional data from the sample schools financial audits …

Court-Involved African American Males And Social Capital Within Chicago Public Schools, Troy Harden

College of Education Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study explores how eleven court-involved African American males in Chicago Public Schools gain entry and access into mainstream society via schooling, exploring their choices, interactions and networks in the context of schooling, and how they develop trust or the lack thereof in the educational process. Five themes emerged from interviews of the eleven young men, including school engagement, neighborhood bonds, school exclusion, purgatory and social capital reconceptualized. The young men in this study reported their trajectories associated with schooling, including how they were often “pushed out”, in part by their own behavior and attitude towards schools, and school …

Privatization And Democratization: The Usages Of Democracy In Chicago's School Reform Discourse, Erin Dyke

College of Education Theses and Dissertations

Since the start of Renaissance 2010, an initiative that is in the final stages of privatizing one-fifth of its over 600 schools, Chicago's public schools have undergone a massive transformation. The problem driving this inquiry is the opacity of the language and meaning of democracy and democratic principles within the context of the recent push for school privatization in Chicago. Using a framework of discourse analysis, I target the specific discursive formation in which democrary slips into a marketized version of itself in relation to Chicago's school privatization efforts. Through an analysis of scholarly articles, news media, and organizational literature …

Immigrant Perspectives: Social Reproduction And The Future Of Second Generation Mexican-American And Chinese-American Immigrants, Carolyn Bruner-Opps

College of Education Theses and Dissertations

Recent work done by Alejandro Portes and Ruben Rumbaut posits that future generations of Mexican Americans are not likely to improve on the poor socio-economic and cultural status inhibiting their success in the United States. While second generation Mexican American immigrants struggle to acculturate, both academically and economically, to their new homeland, other immigrant groups, such as Chinese Americans, are generally thriving. Through interviewing Chinese and Mexican parents of students at a Chicago elementary school, this study will examine the social and cultural capital of the two immigrant groups upon arrival to the Unites States, how these forms of capital …

Teaching To The World: The Internationalization Of A College Of Education In The United States, Elizabeth M. Robbins

College of Education Theses and Dissertations

This study illustrates the presence and importance of an international perspective for educators in higher education. Taking into consideration the growth of internationalization in higher education, it is necessary to observe how Schools of Education incorporate that focus into their curriculum. In this study, the panelist investigates the extent to which a university School of Education in the United States has internationalized the curriculum for educators, both in theoretical discussions and in practice. The questions at hand are to discover how a school of education incorporates an international focus to the curriculum. What challenges do they encounter? What is the …

Privatization And Cyber Charter Schools, Tammy Meyn-Rogeness

College of Education Theses and Dissertations

Until recently the resources available to students have been limited to the boundaries of their school district. Due to technological advances in web-based curriculum, more and more students are opting to enroll in virtual schools. Virtual school models vary, but the most controversial type is the cyber charter school managed by for-profit companies. Supporters of cyber charter schools maintain that the schools are an efficient method for education children who do not wish to be a part of the mainstream public school system. Critics see cyber charter schools as the newest trend in privatizing education. Educational management organizations use federal, …

Museum Education And The Climate Of Accountability, Rebecca J. Manuel

College of Education Theses and Dissertations

This study examines how the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2002’s accountability mandates for public schools have affected museum education programs in a large, Midwestern city. For this multi-method study, relevant educational materials were analyzed, and fourteen educational professionals affected by the relationship between museums and public schools were interviewed. As public schools are increasingly pressured to increase student test scores, cuts in fieldtrip attendance are seen as justifiable, since these experiences do not directly result in students’ making Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) on standardized tests. To remain relevant to these new goals for public education, many museums …

Msculine Identity And The Education And Parental Involvement Of African American Teen Fathers, Milissa Mcclaire Gary

College of Education Theses and Dissertations

African American males are more likely to become teenage fathers than their white counterparts, and the risk is increased for those living in low-income communities. This qualitative work is a case study exploring the life experiences of one African American teen father from a working class urban area. The research investigates the ways in which conceptions of masculinity impact the identity formation and parental engagement of African American teen fathers. It also explores the ways in which they may seek to fulfill multiple, and often competing, social roles including father, student, and young Black man in society. The findings acknowledge …

Developing A Social Justice Curriculum: Intersections Of Identity, Community, Inheritance And Experience, Melissa Rae Goodnight

College of Education Theses and Dissertations

Social justice is a frequently employed concept in the development of classroom curriculum and discussion of instructional practice in schools. This study documents the process undergone by two public high school educators to create a social justice curriculum. The study data is comprised of semi-structured interviews, classroom observations and a document analysis of curricular texts. The research goal is to gain a broader understanding of how educators’ values, life experiences, and political motivations impact the content and intended outcomes of curriculum for social justice. The data collection and analysis emphasize the educators’ voices as they reflect on: 1) how they …