Education Commons^™

Milwaukee Youngstar: Exploring The Racialized Experiences Of African American Early Care And Education Providers, Michele Turner

Theses and Dissertations

In 2010, the State of Wisconsin passed legislation to implement a program called YoungStar. YoungStar is a quality rating improvement system that is used to prevent fraud in the Wisconsin childcare subsidy program called Wisconsin Shares and to rate the quality of early care and education centers (ECECs) on a scale from one to five stars. Programs rated as two stars receive assistance from technical consultants to help programs to make improvements. The purpose of this study was to understand the experiences of African American early care and education providers (ECEPs) and their interactions with YoungStar technical consultants. This study …

Enacting A Third Space Pedagogy In An Art Museum Setting: Strategies, Intersections, And Values, Claudia Patricia Orjuela Borda

Theses and Dissertations

This ethnographic case study investigates the theory and practice of third spaces in relation to a

professional development program for K-12 teachers in an art museum setting, with emphasis on

arts-based programming, lived curriculum, contemporary art, and critical teaching strategies. I

investigate how museums negotiate the transition from a pedagogy of place towards a pedagogy

of third spaces. The questions guiding my study were: how a third space is valued by educators

and museum staff? What are the components, strategies, and methodologies that allow for the

emergence of third spaces in professional development programs? What does a third space

pedagogy …

A Case Study: The Effects Of Restorative Justice Course On African-American Students In An Urban School., Troy D. Washington

Theses and Dissertations

This ethnographic critical case study investigated the usefulness of a restorative justice course as an alternative to punitive discipline in a high school setting, the goal of which was to holistically address ways to effectively deal with conflict, safety and wellness issues of African-American students in an urban high school. The researcher has worked closely with the school and identified the strengths of an under-utilized approach that has the potential to completely eradicate excessive suspensions and expulsions. Given the research purpose of studying a model of discipline with possible replication at other sites, the research approach was that of a …

Determining Predictor Importance In Multilevel Models For Longitudinal Data: An Extension Of Dominance Analysis, Luciana Pacheco Cancado

Theses and Dissertations

Longitudinal models are used not only to analyze the change of an outcome over time but also to describe what person-level and time-varying factors might influence this trend. Whenever a researcher is interested in the factors or predictors impacting an outcome, a common follow-up question asked is that of the relative importance of such factors. Hence, this study aimed to extend and evaluate Dominance Analysis (DA), a method used to determine the relative importance of predictors in various linear models (Budescu, 1993; Azen & Budescu, 2003; Azen, 2013), for use with longitudinal multilevel models. A simulation study was conducted to …

A Qualitative Study Of Adult Students' Experiences With Persistence Support, Patricia Leong Kappel

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

A QUALITATIVE STUDY OF ADULT STUDENTS’ EXPERIENCES WITH PERSISTENCE SUPPORT

by

Patricia Leong Kappel

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2018

Under the Supervision of Professor Barbara J. Daley

This qualitative study examined the perspectives of young adults on their experiences as participants in a General Education Development certificate and high school diploma program with persistence support. The perplexing issue of persistence has prompted the efforts of similar adult basic education (ABE) programs serving at-risk populations to identify means to encourage and support sustained participation and credential completion. The literature on persistence reveals the importance of positive disposition and social context …

The Fear Of Science: A Study Of Science Anxiety And The Learning Capabilities Of Adult College Students, Erik Alton Sanstad

Theses and Dissertations

One of the most challenging things a professor of science in a college setting deals with is the apprehension of students toward the very idea of science and scientists. This feeling of science anxiety does not appear to be limited by nation or culture and is often spread across all ages of students. The concept of “science is hard” is widespread and constant for many students entering a science course. This is quickly becoming a critical issue in education during a time in our world when we need to increase the numbers of well-qualified scientists. In a world where technological …

Factors Affecting The Professional Autonomy Of Public School Principals In The United States: A Quantitative Study, Steven Ross Williams

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to evaluate work domains within the principalship to determine whether principals have greater perceived autonomy in some work domains versus others. In addition, this study identified the usefulness of several demographic factors as predictors for perceived autonomy in both curricular and budgetary decisions. To conduct these analyses, data from the 2015-16 National Center for Educational Statistics was used to complete a repeated measures t-test to compare the work domains the literature suggested principals have the most autonomy in as compared to the domains the literature suggested are areas of shared responsibility with district office. …

A Preliminary Evaluation Of An Academic Support Program, James Colin Bumby

Theses and Dissertations

The responsibility for graduating students is a school responsibility. A large urban Midwestern research university created the Nursing Endeavor Program (NEP) to ensure that students from underserved minorities, first generation, and/or low income are enabled to graduate successfully. There is a 100% retention rate for the period from admission to the nursing major in the junior year; however, in the pre-nursing years, the retention rate is only 50%. The role transition from pre-nursing student to student nurse can be challenging and stressful. A qualitative phenomenographic research approach was utilized to identify the factors facilitating and the factors hindering this transition. …

School-Based And Museum-Based Makerspaces, Rebecca Helen Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

Making and makerspaces, as a means and setting for creation, have grown in popularity in recent years. As makerspaces appear in schools and community educational settings, the Maker Movement’s prominence and influence on education grows. As different people have served as the developers and facilitators for these makerspaces, no makerspace is the same, because the intentions and values of these developers and facilitators differ. Studying the effects of these different intentions and values on the decisions made by the facilitators has allowed me to research the theories surrounding the Maker Movement in actual practice. My research contributes to the conversation …

Teaching And Learning In The Co-Teaching Model: Analyzing The Cooperating Teacher/Teacher Candidate Co-Planning Dialogues, Jennifer Brownson

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

TEACHING AND LEARNING IN THE CO-TEACHING MODEL:

ANALYZING THE COOPERATING TEACHER/TEACHER CANDIDATE

CO-PLANNING DIALOGUES

by

Jennifer Brownson

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2018

Under the Supervision of Drs. Hope Longwell-Grice and Linda Post

Planning is a central component of the teaching experience in which the teacher draws on curriculum and pedagogy as well as learners and their context. Planning is also a teacher standard at both the state and national level (WI DPI Teacher Standards, InTASC, 2013). For teacher candidates (TCs), an opportunity to learn to plan occurs during the student teaching experience, and the planning session can reveal how …

Motivators And Barriers To Health Behaviors In African American Women, Teresa M. Depratt

Theses and Dissertations

Women who identify as African American are at particularly high risk of developing obesity and associated health concerns such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancers. Eating healthfully and engaging in a minimal amount of physical activity are known to be both preventative and curative. Based on review of research, this study investigated potential constructs of Motivators and Barriers to health-supporting behaviors as they are perceived in African American women. The study also constructed a novel scale, Motivators and Barriers to Health Behaviors (MBHB), which intended to capture some constructs of each domain via two surveys. Also of interest was if …

Effects Of A Mindfulness-Based Program On Children’S Social Skills, Problem Behavior, And Emotion Regulation, Jessica Bartley Willenbrink

Theses and Dissertations

This quasi-experimental wait-list control study examined the effects of a mindfulness-based program on students in two open-enrollment public charter schools located in a mid-sized urban city. Participants (n=176) were 3rd through 6th grade students. Students were identified as 54% Hispanic/Latino, 39% African American, and 7% other (e.g., White, Asian, American Indian). Three classrooms at each school served as the treatment group, and three classrooms at each school served as the control group, for a total of 12 participating classrooms. Students and teachers reported on students’ social skills, problem behavior, emotion regulation, and mindfulness before and after the program. The mindfulness …

Speech-Language Pathologists' Practices And Attitudes Toward App Use In Therapy, Tessa Alexandra Benedon

Theses and Dissertations

Numerous national surveys have established that Americans of all ages are using mobile technologies (e.g. cell phones, smartphones, and tablets) more than ever before (Pew Research Center, 2018; American Academy of Pediatrics, 2016a; American Academy of Pediatrics, 2016b; Reid-Chassiakos et al., 2016; Tsetsi & Rains, 2016; Kabali et al., 2015). In the same vein, Morris, Jones, and Sweatman (2016) found that Americans with visual, hearing, motor, learning, and speech disabilities area also engaging with apps on smartphone and tablet technologies for vocational, educational, and social purposes. Developers of the iOS and Android operating systems have prioritized user-friendly design and accessibility …

Promoting Meaningful Learning Through The Use Of Concept Maps, Duaa Amr Hafez

Theses and Dissertations

Background and significance: There have been dramatic changes in the healthcare system with the high use of technology. The healthcare needs of patients have increased due to the chronic diseases, and an increase in the number of the older population. These changes require nurses with high levels of thinking, knowledge and skills. It is vital to reconsider the teaching and learning methods used in nursing schools to ensure graduating nurses are capable of working in these challenging environments. The purpose of this naturalistic inquiry descriptive study is to explore the experiences and perspectives of undergraduate and graduate nursing students and …

Arab Americans’ Perceptions Of Their Experiences With Police Post 9/11 In Metropolitan Milwaukee, Ayman Khatib

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

The September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks had a serious impact on local police relations and their local minority groups. September 11, 2001, negatively shaped the treatment of Arab Americans at the hands of local police and many arms of the federal government. This was due to the increased role of local police in intelligence gathering and immigration law enforcement.

Many urban police departments shifted their policing strategies from community policing to traditional crime fighting and intelligence gathering after September 11, 2001. Arab Americans as a local minority community suffered the brunt of such strategies where police routinely disregarded many …

Enacting Art And Place Through Socially Engaged Art, Samantha H. Rausch

Theses and Dissertations

This narrative inquiry research project searches for a deeper understanding of the experiences of artists and educators whose practice reflects similar qualities to socially engaged artists. I ask how artists who work with communities construct social engagement through art and place. Through interviews with five artists, I analyze the methodologies and practices that exist, how they are used in relation to art-making, education, and collaboration, and how they are enabled. This research provides a look at how artists and educators working in the public sphere define their roles as facilitators, how they navigate the power relationships when constructing social engagement …

"Becoming A Multicultural Teacher: Reflections On Responsibility In First-Year Writing", Ingrid Jayne Nordstrom

Theses and Dissertations

Composition Studies teacher-scholars who are committed to working with multicultural student populations are trained to value writing from marginalized groups, recognize the intelligence that lies within “non-standard” forms, and encourage student writers to find and use their own voices. Too often, however, our thinking and writing focuses on what we teachers assume to be our responsibility: giving voice to the voiceless or empowering student success. This dissertation addresses this situation by re-conceptualizing responsibility itself, proposing that multicultural pedagogies are of limited use unless we examine the self-perceptions and preconceptions influencing our work with students in the classroom. Modeling a research-based …

An Anti-Deficit Approach To Examining The Career Choice Of African American Men In College, Gary Young

Theses and Dissertations

Awareness of congruence and discrepancies within an individual’s pathway from career interest to occupational choice offers significant insight into the process of conciliation and foreclosure (i.e., psychological disposition toward a circumscription of career options). Given the significant role of careers, understanding the career developmental process is of particular importance. Career interests to occupational choice mediated by self-efficacy are key components in the process of attaining career related goals. Lent, Brown, and Hackett (1994) proposed in the social cognitive career theory (SCCT) that under optimal conditions, career interests give rise to congruent occupational choice goals. Altogether, this leads to goal action …

Fourth Wave Student Development: Constructing Student Affairs-Driven Spaces That Deliver Knowledge And Tools For Effecting Social Change, Peter Burress

Theses and Dissertations

The following thesis explores how historical patterns of discrimination continue to pervade colleges and universities in ways that reinforce social inequity, lifting up work being done in divisions of student affairs as an opportunity to disrupt these patterns. After introducing a brief history of structural inequities in higher education, I turn to student affairs’ growing emphasis on programs that promote equity and social justice. I argue that because student affairs is positioned within colleges and universities, yet separate from some hierarchical power structures typical of academic affairs, it is uniquely able to provide co-curricular educational opportunities that convey the importance …

Dignity For Boys And Men Of Color: An Exploration With Practitioners In The Field Of Human Services, Monique Liston

Theses and Dissertations

Through “Shaping a Cooperative Vision for Boys and Men of Color” the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee Research Center of Urban Education Leadership Development found that organizations working with boys and men of color need tools to conceptualize and measure their efforts towards creating equity as an outcome and indicator of success. The data collected in this research revealed that organizations attribute aspects of their success to the dignity of the boys and men of color that they serve. However, this “dignity-work” is not accurately measured or evaluated. Successful organizations that attribute upholding the dignity of boys and men of …

Supports And Barriers To Universal Design For Learning In Schools Implementing Integrated Comprehensive Systems For Equity, Maxwell Long

Theses and Dissertations

These two qualitative descriptive case studies investigated supports and barriers to integrating Universal Design for Learning (UDL) as an instructional methodology in language arts and social studies departments at an urban and a suburban high school in Wisconsin. Integrated Comprehensive Systems (ICS) implementation was determined through the Four Cornerstones – Cornerstone One: Focus on Equity, Cornerstone Two: Align Staff and Students, Cornerstone Three: Transform Teaching and Learning, and Cornerstone Four: Leverage Funding and Policy. Classroom observations were conducted of the eleven participating teachers in this study. These teachers also participated in semi-structured interviews designed to explore supports and barriers to …

The Perceptions And Experiences Of Faculty Teaching A Mix Of Traditional And Nontraditional Students In Online Classes, Christina Marie Trombley

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this interpretive qualitative research study was to explore how faculty perceived and experienced teaching multigenerational (having traditional and nontraditional students) online classes. The online classes researched served only undergraduate students and had at least thirty percent of traditional students in the class. Ten tenured faculty were drawn from a four-year institution of higher education in the Midwest of the United States. Data were collected through semi-structured in-depth interviews. Findings revealed that research participants relied on their own personal experiences as students to inform their teaching and morph the definition of teaching as it relates to online education …