Education Commons^™

Upward Bound Math-Science At Umass Boston, Upward Bound, University Of Massachusetts Boston, Lawrence High School

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

We seek to increase the number of low-income and first-generation college students majoring in mathematics and the sciences at the undergraduate level. We motivate students to achieve at their highest potential by facilitating exploration and discovery in an active learning environment drawing on values embedded in the complementary philosophies of UMass Boston and the Noble and Greenough School.

The Value Of Teamwork, Oderra Jones

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

Beacons Academy is a collaboration between UMass Boston Athletics, Codman Academy, Dorchester YMCA and the Walter Denney Youth Center to expose students in our local community to sports they may or may not have played through instructional sessions with our intercollegiate coaches and athletes. The goal is to teach the sport while also promoting the value of education, hard work, and teamwork.

Pacific Visual Impairment Project, School For Global Inclusion And Social Development, University Of Massachusetts Boston, College Of Education And Human Development, University Of Massachusetts Boston, University Of Guam - Center For Excellence In Developmental Disabilities Education, Research & Service

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

The primary goal of the Pacific Vision Impairment Project (VIP) is to increase the pool of fully credentialed, effective personnel educating students who are blind or have a Vision Impairment in remote areas where services either do not exist or need additional support.

Partnerships In Employment Brief: Engaging Families Of Youth With Intellectual Disabilities In Systems Change Efforts, Sean Roy

All Institute for Community Inclusion Publications

This brief will highlight the reasons why parents and families are essential partners in any systems change effort. It will describe the importance of the family’s perspective, and how their experiences should be used to shape policy recommendations. It will offer strategies on how to engage parents and families in systems change efforts, and how to promote family involvement to state-level partners.

Two-Way Bilingual Education In Boston Public Schools: Required Features, Guidelines And Recommendations, Virginia Diez, Faye Karp

Gastón Institute Publications

The current investigation was conceived to support the expansion of two-way bilingual programs in BPS. Two-way bilingual (TWB) is an intrinsically equitable educational model which provides children from different linguistic, socio-economic, and racial backgrounds a rigorous, enriching education. All students are expected to attain high achievement markers by state and federal standards, as well as bilingualism, biliteracy, and cultural competencies in English and a partner language (Spanish most frequently). This report, which defines TWB narrowly as one in a handful of dual-language education options, establishes a baseline of practices that are widely regarded as pivotal features of well-implemented TWB programs. …

Veterans Upward Bound: A Federally Funded Trio Program, Preparing Veterans For College At Umass Boston Since 1973, Veterans Upward Bound Program, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

The Veterans Upward Bound Program at the University of Massachusetts Boston provides a unique opportunity for men and women veterans of all ages to acquire the academic skills required for entry into higher education and/or to acquire the equivalent of a high school diploma.

Helping Developing Countries Implement The Young Athletes Program, Paddy C. Favazza, Kathleen Ghio, Gary N. Siperstein, Center For Social Development And Education, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

The Center for Social Development and Education is implementing Young Athletes (YA), a motor play program, in five developing countries: Kenya, Romania, Malawi, Venezuela, and Tanzania. Young Athletes is a theoretically-based program designed to improve the motor development of children with disabilities (ages 3-7) through various motor activities. Clinical trials conducted by CSDE (Favazza et al., 2013) indicate that the Young Athletes program significantly improves the motor skills of children with disabilities. The program is now being introduced internationally to address the needs of children in developing countries.

School For Global Inclusion And Social Development: Expanding The Umass Boston Community On A Regional, National, And International Level, David Temelini, Institute For Community Inclusion, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

The School for Global Inclusion and Social Development (SGISD) is the newest graduate school at UMass Boston. We are the first graduate program in the world to focus on wellness, disability, and economic development from an international perspective. The first students in our master's program will start classes in January 2014, with our PhD program to launch in September 2014. SGISD's emphasis is on groups of people who are excluded from communities here in the U.S. and abroad, due to disability or other conditions. Instruction will be delivered on campus, online, and through international exchange programs.

The Forgotten Children: The Educational Demographics Of An Austrian Diocese 1848-1852, Mathew Richard Boyeson

Graduate Masters Theses

Educational demographics of an Austrian diocese in Styria were examined between the years of 1848 and 1852, to show both the importance of the data and the possibility for further research. The data was examined in conjunction with the imperial education law that directed the Austrian educational system in the nineteenth century. Both the micro and macro elements of the paper were influenced by the strong Austrian Catholic tradition and were integrated heavily into the paper to help put the data in perspective. The limited amount of research on the topic restricted specific conclusions for the research, however there are …

Meanings And Typologies Of Duboisian Double Consciousness Within 20th Century United States Racial Dynamics, Marc E. Black

Graduate Masters Theses

Americans still have more work ahead before we can come together and laugh together as a race-conscious people. This thesis is about the sad and painful work we need to do so we can heal and rejoice as a truly free and equal partnership of all our various communities. To tie ourselves together through and after our healing of our racial conflicts, we will share a special intimacy, a human connection, where our shared culture, our partnership, (overlapping with our primary cultures) includes our high proficiency at understanding how we appear to each other. This new cultural understanding and partnership …

Community University Project For Literacy (Cupl), Carol Chandler-Rourke

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

The Community-University Project for Literacy (CUPL) provides an academic structure for undergraduates to work as tutors in community-based learning centers. Students who enroll in CUPL commit to tutoring four hours each week at a community learning program while attending a credit-bearing academic seminar at UMass/Boston offered each semester. That is the Language, Literacy and Community in the Fall semester and ESL Tutor Training Seminar in the Spring semester.

Honduras: Local, Regional And Global Partnerships To Improve Health In Olancho, Lisa Kennedy Sheldon, Hasan Bailey, Carlo Najera, Mary Roy

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

The Honduran Mission Team-New Hampshire (HMT-NH) in partnership with the Olancho Aid Foundation (OAF), works in the Olancho department to improve the health and education of the Honduran people. The HMT-NH 2012 Healthcare Team included UMass Boston faculty and a nursing student working with American and Honduran doctors and nurses to provide culturally-appropriate healthcare and collect data about the needs of the Honduran people in Olancho.

In Students' Words: The Development Of Student Attitudes Toward Mathematics - A Social Perspective, Dianne Kathryn Kelly

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Student interest in pursuing advanced studies and careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) has garnered much attention lately from government, business, and education leaders due to inadequate flow in the United States' STEM pipeline. Existing research points to mathematical self-efficacy and to mathematical self-concept beliefs as integral to the likelihood that a student will pursue a career in a STEM field. Students' identities, such as the "good-math-student" identity need to be verified in order for students to enact them. Both identity verification and attitude are influenced by self-efficacy and self-concept. Existing research also points to teachers, parents, and …

Facing Up: Managing Diversity In Challenging Times, Carol Hardy-Fanta, Paige Ransford

Publications from the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy

Since its launch in 2008, Commonwealth Compact has grown steadily, employing several strategies to promote diversity statewide. The Benchmarks initiative has collected data, analyzed in this report, on a significant portion of the state workforce. Guided by Stephen Crosby, dean of the McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies at UMass Boston, Commonwealth Compact has conducted newsmaking surveys of public opinion and of boards of directors statewide. In addition, it has convened ongoing coalitions with its higher education partners, and established a collaborative of local business schools aimed specifically at increasing faculty diversity. The Compact has sponsored or co-sponsored …

The State Of Latinos And Education In Massachusetts: 2010, Billie Gastic, Melissa Colón, Andrew Flannery Aguilar

Gastón Institute Publications

Schools are critical public institutions for Latino youth in the Commonwealth, who make up 15% of the public school enrollment in the state. Sadly, despite leading the nation in student achievement, Massachusetts is still leaving its Latino students behind. This is evident from several indicators of Latino students’ academic success. School attendance is a significant concern since Latino students lose an average of more than two and a half weeks of school each year due to absences. Latino students are also frequently disciplined for behavioral is- sues at school. Latinos account for 23% of the incidents that result in disciplinary …

Bridging Worlds: Advocacy Stigma And The Challenge Of Teaching Writing To Secondary Ell Students, Laurie Zucker-Conde

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Standardized interviews with nine high school ESL teachers in nine Massachusetts high schools were conducted. The study examined current writing practices and teacher beliefs about ELL student capacity to achieve higher-level writing ability in the current high-stakes writing environment in urban public schools. Four major research questions were addressed: (1) How do teachers think about their role as advocates for ELL students? How do their classroom practices respond to the stigmatized position of ELL students? (2) How does ELL teacher advocacy influence how ELL teachers teach writing to ELL students? (3) How do teachers enable the higher-level writing abilities of …

‘The Despair Of His Tutor’: Latin As Socioeducational Marker In Les Trois Mousquetaires, Emily A. Mcdermott

Classics Faculty Publication Series

A significant motif in Les Trois Mousquetaires is to communicate the four heroes’ differing natures through their differing relationships with the Latin language. The separate academic pedigrees thus suggested for the three actual musketeers, Porthos, Athos and Aramis, each represent one of the major education models of early 17th century France: the courtly academy, private tuition, and the Jesuit collège. In the case of the up-and-coming d’Artagnan, by contrast, Dumas proffers less a type of 17th century education than an updating of the social values of that period to coincide with those of his own time. The successes of this …

Status Of Latino Education In Massachusetts: A Report, Nicole Lavan, Miren Uriarte

Gastón Institute Publications

Educational reform has brought great improvements in educational outcomes for Massachusetts students. In the past decade, achievement scores have risen for all students in Massachusetts; today the Commonwealth ranks first among all states in the overall National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores. However, it also ranks among the five states with the widest “gap” in achievement between white and Latino students in both NAEP Math and Reading. These gaps in achievement show that the benefits are not reaching all children. Latinos especially, but also African American children, are often left behind in a state with excellent academic institutions. Examining …

The Race Gap: Education Of Black Youth In Boston, Alix Cantave Ph.D., Cheryl Holmes Ph.D., Barbara Lewis Ph.D.

William Monroe Trotter Institute Publications

On April 23, 2007, The William Monroe Trotter Institute held a Roundtable convening more than fifty individuals at UMass Boston for a two-hour conversation on the education of black children in Boston. Roundtable attendees represented a balanced mix of professional and lay persons, including educators, advocates, academics, elected officials and policymakers, and donors. Attendees included the Suffolk County Sheriff, the Acting Superintendent of Boston Public Schools (BPS), and the president of the Boston Teacher’s Union.

Editor's Note, Padraig O'Malley

New England Journal of Public Policy

In 1990, the New England Journal of Public Policy published a special issue on Women. The subject was women & economic empowerment. The authors found that while women had made significant gains during the 1970s and 1980s in many spheres relating to the workplace, true equity with respect to their male peers was still elusive, and gender bias, despite remedial legislation, continued to be the acceptable norm.

Seventeen years on, another group of women, under the direction of guest editor Sherry H. Penney, herself a contributor to the 1990 journal, looks anew at some of these issues and expands the …

Foreword, Sherry H. Penney

New England Journal of Public Policy

The author of the foreword speaks about how this issue touches on the subjects of women's rights and how their struggle to break through the glass ceiling has given them more empowerment than ever. The article also speaks about the works within the issue and how each one talks about the struggle, the progress, and success of women in today's working and educational world.

The New Division Of Labor In Massachusetts, Daniel Georgianna, Corinn Williams

New England Journal of Public Policy

In The New Division of Labor, Levy and Murnane describe a world of work re-shaped by computers where workers whose jobs can be reduced to steps based on rules are replaced, and where jobs that require judgment or negotiation are enhanced. The authors test the hypothesis of Levy and Murnane’s work with a close look at Fall River and New Bedford. These cities, with high unemployment and low rates of educational attainment, show patterns of job replacement by computers as compared with Massachusetts as a whole — a wealthy state with high rates of education, which shows a pattern of …

Editor's Note, Padraig O'Malley

New England Journal of Public Policy

The editor's note at the beginning of this journal briefly speaks about each article within. The author touches upon learning, the challenges to an education, the effects of the growth of technology, how world politics interfere with economy, and how employment is affected by technology.

Tools For Inclusion: Making Dreams A Reality: Using Personal Networks To Achieve Goals As You Prepare To Leave High School, Jaimie Ciulla Timmons, Mairead Moloney, Danielle Dreilinger, Jennifer Schuster

Tools for Inclusion Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

Leaving high school can be both exciting and stressful. This brief tells the stories of students who used their personal networks to exercise self-determination and follow their goals, and includes worksheets for students to build and use their own networks.

School District Performance Under The Mcas, Jie Chen, Thomas Ferguson

New England Journal of Public Policy

Education reform has spawned efforts to test learning across the nation. This paper analyzes the determinants of Massachusetts’ school district test scores under the state’s high stakes testing program, MCAS. The study is the first to demonstrate direct links between improvements in MCAS scores and state aid to school districts. The authors estimate “value added” for each school district in the state. The list of schools with high value added produces real surprises — while some affluent districts do well, others rank at the very bottom. Additionally, the study analyzes how teacher maximum salaries, district superintendent salaries, per capita income, …

Introduction, Philip Hart

Trotter Review

We are pleased to share with our readers this issue of the Trotter Review. The events of September 11, 2001, will forever reshape our world as we know it. In addition to the far-reaching effects of this tragedy, it has revealed our general lack of knowledge about Islam and places in the world where religion and faith shape governmental and civic engagement. In crisis often comes opportunity. This opportunity to learn more about other religions and cultural pluralism is positive. It underscores the continuing importance of education and learning in today's world. So I think it particularly appropriate that …

The Impact Of A Culturally Responsive School Environment On Pre-Service Teachers' Willingness To Teach In A School, Delois Maxwell

Trotter Review

In a climate that acknowledges the need for teacher educators to prepare new teachers for culturally diverse student bodies, the study examines the extent to which selected features of an urban school environment affect a preservice teacher's willingness to teach in the school. A survey was administered to 48 preservice teachers after they completed a 7-week student teaching experience in a large urban school district. The survey sample was drawn from a northeastern university which enrolls 90% Caucasian education students. The study pursues the following research questions: does race/ethnicity, gender, program level, school location and major relate to the preservice …

Commentary, Tammy Hart

Trotter Review

This interview of Dr. Philip Hart was conducted by his wife, Tanya Hart, an award-winning journalist. Tanya Hart is a graduate of the Michigan State University College of Communications Arts and Sciences. The university honored her as an Outstanding Alumnus in 1982. She also has a Master of Education degree from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education.

Brief 9: Practices And Policies For Dealing With Students With Mental Health Issues, New England Resource Center For Higher Education, University Of Massachusetts Boston

New England Resource Center for Higher Education Publications

One of higher education’s crowning achievements is that colleges and universities are currently educating many groups of people who have been denied access to this resource in the past. A growing percentage of the new population of students arrives on campus with unique mental health needs, which until now campuses have been largely unprepared to accommodate. This new student profile may be more familiar to Student Affairs’ offices, but the educational implications extend to the whole campus. Members of NERCHE’s Student Affairs Think Tank discussed this topic at one of their meetings and offer the following insights.

Designing A University Level Course: A Practical Approach, Joanne M. Riley

Joanne M. Riley

Teaching at the University level requires skills that are often outside the comfort and experience of many faculty, who have never been trained in basic pedagogical practice. A few guidelines based on learning theory and practical experience go a long way to ensure that college faculty have the tools they need to create a richly productive educational environment within which to teach and learn.