Education Commons^™

Teacher Implementation And Impact Of Academic Vocabulary Instructional Protocols For Long Term English Learners, Rosa I. Isiah

LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations

English learners are expected to acquire academic language and content simultaneously. Long Term English Learners (LTELs), a growing English Learner subgroup, struggle academically and do not have the necessary academic vocabulary proficiency to achieve academic success in our current educational system.

This mixed-methods study examined the implementation of Academic Vocabulary Instructional protocols in the upper grades in a small urban elementary school district. Semistructured interviews, focus group, observation protocol, and data analysis methods were used as primary methods for data collection. Overall, four key themes emerged in this study. First, all 4th- and 5th-grade teachers implemented the new Academic Vocabulary …

Is Your Teaching Style Racism Free?, Shani Byard

Faculty Pub Night

No abstract provided.

An Examination Of Catholic School Teachers’ Perceptions And Legal Understanding Of Cyberbullying, Mary Beth Boyer

LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations

The bully has been a figure in adolescent life for decades; however, the nature of bullying in the 21st Century has changed as it has moved to cyberspace. Bullying has taken on a new form termed cyberbullying. This quantitative survey design study examined Catholic school teachers’ legal understanding and perceptions of cyberbullying. In examining Catholic school teachers’ understanding of the law governing cyberbullying, their concerns about cyberbullying, their perceived responsibility in addressing cyberbullying, and their perceived ability to respond to cyberbullying, the study examined the human interactions that reflect not only legal responsibilities, but also ethical obligations as caring and …

Children Are The Messengers: A Case Study Of Academic Success Through The Voices Of High-Achieving Low-Income Elementary Students, Stephen Howard Mccray

LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations

For low-income minority and marginalized communities, American democracy’s educational mission remains unfulfilled. Student voices have provided insight into ways that schools disserve and serve students and how schools can improve in promoting academic achievement; however, academically successful low-income students’ voices—particularly those at the elementary school level—are largely excluded from the literature. Providing a platform for student voices, this qualitative, intrinsic critical case study explored six high achieving low-income students’ views of their academic success and how that success was achieved. Participants were six fifthgrade students, their parents, and teacher, in a school-wide Title I urban public school. Data were collected …

Silencing The Critics: A Conceptual Framework In Teacher Preparation For Social Justice, Allison P. Schildts

LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations

Teacher preparation programs are making concerted efforts to prepare practitioners to transform urban education. Current studies rely heavily on self-reported data with little to no inclusion of the voices of teachers or perceptions of principals. This qualitative case study aimed to fill that gap by exploring how alumni of one social justice–themed University Teacher Preparation Program (UTPP) defined and implemented socially just teaching practices in urban elementary classrooms. Participants included six teacher alumni in their first, second, or third year of teaching, two supervising principals, and one UTPP staff member. Methods included semistructured interviews, full-day classroom observations, and a review …

Relational Aggression, Middle School Girls, And The Development Of Critical Consciousness, Casey Quirarte

LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations

This study, Relational Aggression, Middle School Girls, and the Development of Critical Consciousness, engaged both feminist theory and critical pedagogy as a means to deconstruct the issue of relational aggression among adolescent girls. The objective of this research was to contribute to the growing body of literature pertaining to relational aggression and fill some gaps in the literature surrounding preventative programming. This study investigated the experiences of middle school girls engaged in a solution- oriented approach in order to postulate possible program approaches and educational initiatives to decrease the prevalence of relational aggression in middle school girls. The collection and …

Situated Learning And Latino Male Gang Members At Homeboy Industries, Mauricio Arocha

LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations

Gang intervention is crucial to improving the lives of Latino males in Los Angeles. The effectiveness of these programs is dependent on society’s perspective of gang members, and its ability to support the work of gang intervention programs. As documented in this research, Latinos face unique obstacles and situations, in education and in life. This qualitative research study aimed to provide insight as to the perceived impact of a Gang Intervention Program, Homeboy Industries, on Latino males. This study also provided insight as to the methods, behaviors, strategies, and situated learning perceived to positively affect former gang members at Homeboy …

Indigenous Education Through Dance And Ceremony : A Mexica Palimpsest, Ernesto Colín

Faculty Pub Night

No abstract provided.

White Elephants On Campus: The Decline Of The University Chapel In America, 1920-1960 (Book Review), Thu T. Do

Journal of Catholic Education

Review of White Elephants on Campus: The Decline of the University Chapel in America, 1920-1960.

Catholic Teaching Brothers: Their Life In The English Speaking World, 1891-1965 (Book Review), John White

Journal of Catholic Education

Review of Catholic Teaching Brothers: Their Life in the English Speaking World, 1891-1965.

Leadership For Culturally And Linguistically Responsive Schools (Book Review), Andrew D. Reynolds

Journal of Catholic Education

Review of Leadership for Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Schools.

Inspiring Teaching: Preparing Teachers To Succeed In Mission-Driven Schools (Book Review), Dan Reynolds

Journal of Catholic Education

Review of Inspiring Teaching: Preparing Teachers to Succeed in Mission-Driven Schools.

Being In The World: A Quotable Maritain Reader (Book Review), Randall Woodard

Journal of Catholic Education

Review of Being in the World: A Quotable Maritain Reader.

Catholic Schools And The Future Of The Church (Book Review), Leonardo Franchi

Journal of Catholic Education

Review of Catholic Schools and the Future of the Church.

Transformation From Within: Grounded Practice Of Teachers Amidst Cultural Change, Jesse Jovel, Brandi O. Lucas

Journal of Catholic Education

Francis High School (pseudonym) was opened in Los Angeles during the 1960s in response the Civil Rights issues facing the African American community at the time. In 2001, after years of declining enrollment, Francis High School became a Jesuit owned and operated school and began operating under the Cristo Rey financial model. Despite its historical presence in the community and its rich athletic and academic legacies, the demand for a dynamic approach to education was imminent. Fortunately, a transformation ensued as the school’s mission, goals, and policies changed in order to become more aligned with their new Jesuit, Cristo Rey …

Parent Engagement At A Cristo Rey High School: Building Home-School Partnerships In A Multicultural Immigrant Community, Thomas M. Crea, Andrew D. Reynolds, Elizabeth Degnan

Journal of Catholic Education

Catholic social teaching affirms the primary role of parents in their children’s education, as well as the importance of a home-school partnership. The purposes of this article are to review the results of a mixed methods study of parent engagement at Cristo Rey Boston High School, and how the results of this study led to specific efforts to include parents more closely in the life of the school. Results suggest that parents in multicultural communities perceive their engagement to be an important part of their children’s education. Yet, this engagement may take different forms that may go unrecognized by school …

“Does Jesus Want Us To Be Poor?” Student Perspectives Of The Religious Program At A Cristo Rey Network School, Ursula S. Aldana

Journal of Catholic Education

The structure of Catholic schools improves achievement by providing multiple opportunities for face-to-face interaction, the development of meaningful relationships between students, teachers, and other members of the school community, and a shared set of beliefs among all school members (Bryk, Lee, & Holland, 1993). Despite a substantiating body of research for this assertion, few empirical studies exist on how the religious program might impact the intrapersonal and interpersonal development of students. The Cristo Rey Network (CRN) of schools was developed in response to the material realities of students and families living in Chicago (Kearney, 2006). The leaders of the network, …

The Jesuit Social Justice Dialectic Within The Cristo Rey School Model, Sajit U. Kabadi

Journal of Catholic Education

This article reports findings from a qualitative case study of a Cristo Rey Jesuit high school. The Jesuit social justice dialectic strives to maintain a balance between the preservation of the virtue of the Jesuit mission and the selling of the Jesuit brand. The Jesuit mission consists of Catholic evangelization through cultural immersion and social justice. The Jesuit brand consists of the accumulation of financial wealth and political influence essential to the ambitions of the Jesuit mission coming to fruition. This journal article explores this Jesuit social justice dialectic in action looking at the corporate work-study program utilized in the …

Introduction To The Focus Section: The Cristo Rey Network Of Schools, Ursula S. Aldana

Journal of Catholic Education

Introduction to the focus section.

Educating For Social Justice: Drawing From Catholic Social Teaching, James R. Valadez, Philip S. Mirci Dr. (Ph.D.)

Journal of Catholic Education

This article uses a duoethnographic process to develop a model for socially just education based on social justice theory and Catholic social teaching. Three major issues are addressed, including: (a) the definition of socially just education, (b) explaining a vision for establishing socially just schools, and (c) providing a practical guide for educational leaders to promote social justice ideals. The authors propose a vision for socially just education that calls for schools to instill social justice virtues into young people, much as one would instill virtues such as morality, honesty, and fairness. As Pieper (2003) declared: “the good [person] is …

What Can Jesus Teach Us About Student Engagement?, Glenn James, Elda Martinez, Sherry Herbers

Journal of Catholic Education

This article examines Jesus’s teaching methods as described in the four Gospels, highlighting the ways in which He led listeners to participate actively in their learning. We identify similarities between many of Jesus’s techniques and current practices in the field of student engagement, with a focus on applications for instructors in higher education. Several of His approaches, most notably storytelling and the use of analogies, point to recommendations for improving teaching practice by increasing student engagement in the learning process.

Qu'est-ce que Jésus peut nous apprendre sur l'engagement des élèves?

Cet article examine la manière dont les méthodes d'enseignement de …

School Science Capacity: A Study Of Four Urban Catholic Grade Schools, Lara K. Smetana, Elizabeth R. Coleman

Journal of Catholic Education

Working from the view of schools as a system, and of school improvement as an ongoing journey (Hallinger & Heck, 2011; Jackson, 2000), this study investigated the perspectives of teacher leaders and principals from four metropolitan Catholic grade schools engaged in efforts to improve their school science programs. Built upon existing conceptualizations of school capacity, a model of school science capacity is presented and used as a framework for the development of four case studies. Findings gleaned from collecting and analyzing reports of teacher leaders’ and principals’ interpretations of their school systems illustrate how elements of the school science capacity …

Difficult Knowledge And The English Classroom: A Catholic Framework Using Cormac Mccarthy's The Road, Scott Jarvie, Kevin Burke

Journal of Catholic Education

In this article, the authors explore the generative possibilities of risk-taking in the Catholic school English classroom. They associate pedagogical risk with what Deborah Britzman (1998) has called “difficult knowledge”—content that causes students to consider social trauma. Incorporating difficult knowledge meaningfully requires English teachers to take significant pedagogical risks, especially in the Catholic school classroom. Drawing on critical theology and Cormac McCarthy’s novel The Road (2006) as a difficult text, the authors employ a case study looking at how the traumatic difficulty of the novel could be fruitfully taught at a Catholic school. How might students reckon with The Road …

Love, Charity, & Pope Leo Xiii: A Leadership Paradigm For Catholic Education, Henry J. Davis

Journal of Catholic Education

The treatment of workers is an ongoing social issue affecting society. No organization is immune to questionable employee practices, including Catholic educational institutions. For Catholic leadership to fully embody its intended justice-based role, it must first be aware of the social teachings put forth by the Roman Catholic Church. In this study, the researcher suggests Pope Leo XIII’s social writings as a guiding presence for beginning this formation, starting with the concepts of love and charity within labor. The analysis of Leo’s work shows love and charity as interchangeable virtues that enhance our God-given dignity by acknowledging other people’s inherent …

When Did It Begin? Catholic And Public School Classroom Commonalities, Richard T. Ognibene

Journal of Catholic Education

Catholic educational historians note that although preserving Catholic identity has been a constant in the mission of Catholic schools, their curriculum and instructional practices evolved in ways that were similar to public schools, thus enabling Catholic parents to select schools that were both faith based and modern. Since there is an absence of information about when and how this change in Catholic education began, this article documents its origin in the 1940s when Catholic educators joined a public school reform movement called Life Adjustment Education. Once begun, there was no turning back, and Catholic educators participated in the major reforms …

The Usccb Curriculum Framework: Origins, Questions, And A Call For Research, Carrie J. Schroeder

Journal of Catholic Education

The promulgation of Doctrinal Elements of a Curriculum Framework for the Development of Catechetical Materials for Young People of High School Age by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) in November, 2007, represented a milestone in the efforts of the U.S. bishops to monitor and shape the Religious Studies curricula of U.S. Catholic secondary schools. This article contextualizes the Framework, providing comprehensive information about its origins. With the release of the English translation of the new Catechism of the Catholic Church in 1994, the U.S. bishops launched a full-scale effort to address what they perceived to be …

Editors' Introduction, Mary Mccullough, Martin Scanlan, Karen Huchting

Journal of Catholic Education

Editors' introduction to the September 2015 issue.

No.4, September 2015: Incorporating Scaffolded Dialogic Reading Practice In Teacher Training: An Opportunity To Improve Instruction For Young Dual Language Learners In Transitional Kindergarten, Carola Matera Ph.D.

Education and Policy Briefs

Findings from a joint collaborative between the Center for Equity for English Learners (CEEL) at Loyola Marymount University and the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) to provide professional development and coaching to Transitional Kindergarten (TK) teachers on the Scaffolded Dialogic Reading (SDR) are presented in this policy brief. SDR is a method to enhance language skills through dialogue and research-based scaffolds between teachers and small groups of children mediated through repeated readings of storybooks. The purpose of this brief is to: 1) state the opportunity to ensure Dual Language Learner (DLL) support within California’s TK policy; 2) provide a …

Media Literacy And The Common Good: A Link To Catholic Social Teaching, Maria Rosalia Tenorio De Azevedo

LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations

In order to effectively teach students how to critically consume media it is paramount for teachers to be media literate (Ian & Temur, 2012; Keller-Raber, 1995; Schmidt, 2012). Using Freirean critical literacy as a theoretical framework, this case study investigated how a 60-hour teacher training program in media literacy promoting Catholic Social Teaching and how undergoing this training has influenced teachers’ perceptions of media literacy, Catholic Social Teaching, and the link between the two. As the researcher, I performed participant-observation as a trainee in the program. Five teachers, alumni of the program, participated in this study: one middle school teacher, …

Teacher Alienation: Reconceptualizing The Educational Work Environment, Jesse Robert Soza

LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations

The following dissertation examined the relationship between dissatisfaction found within teacher working conditions and Melvin Seeman's theory of alienation. More specifically, it showed that all forms of teacher dissatisfaction engender feelings of alienation and that the oppressive nature of alienation is the root cause of all the negative consequences associated with teacher dissatisfaction. After an introduction, the literature review presents detailed descriptions of Seeman's theory of alienation, Paulo Freire's theory of empowerment, and the latest information surrounding the issue of teacher dissatisfaction. Next, qualitative narratives from interviews with six teachers about their experiences with dissatisfaction are presented. The researcher then …