Education Commons^™

An Analysis Of Barriers To And Strategies For Improving Parent Engagement, Candice Renee Shakur

Master's Theses

Research shows that parent engagement can be a useful tool for improving student achievement. But, in many low-income urban schools, encouraging schools and parents to invest in parent engagement is a struggle. This paper explores some of the barriers that exist in low-income urban communities that work to limit parent engagement; it also identifies some of the strategies available to increase the frequency and quality of parent engagement in low-income urban communities.

Policy-Borrowing And Globalization Challenging French Universities In The 21st Century, Charlotte Stroumza

Master's Theses

French universities are currently undergoing an overhaul and, in my thesis, I analyze the 2007 Loi relative aux Libertés et Responsabilités des Universités (LRU), or law that makes universities autonomous, as a policy borrowed from the United States. This thesis attempted to analyze the process of policy borrowing using Phillips and Ochs' method. It also considered the role that the Bologna Process and globalization may have played in the creation of the LRU. The conclusion is that the LRU is the result of three phenomena: policy-borrowing from the United States; pressures from international and regional agencies; the individual understanding of …

Socially Including A 'Resistant People': Intercultural Education And The Roma In Italy, Mary Cristine Mcsweeney

Master's Theses

As "the situation of the Roma" in Europe has grown increasingly concerning, the European Union (EU) has urged Member States to promote the social inclusion of this diverse population. While the EU has challenged Member States to implement intercultural education, Italy has claimed its own "via Italiana" (or "Italian way") as to how it is going about this process. In an attempt to better understand intercultural education and the role of education in social inclusion projects, this paper aims to address the following questions: What are some of the implications of the intercultural educational initiative currently underway in Italy with …

One Sex, One School, Who Wins: How Single-Sex Learning Environments Impact Educational Attainment, Socio-Emotional Health, And Ambitions, Bradley Kirshenbaum

Master's Theses

Research on single-sex schools has covered a variety of matters regarding the effectiveness of their programs. This paper examines research on single-sex schools over the past 30 years in an effort to harmonize the past discourse with present trends. Journal articles and government research were used to synthesize the variety of methods used to ascertain whether single-sex schools have a positive influence on boys, girls, or both parties. Research trends have overwhelmingly supported all-girls schools, while remaining skeptical of any positive influence on boys. Much of the research supporting all-girls schools also suggests that single-sex schools' benefits are applicable to …

Cristo Rey And Christ The King Jesuit High School: Two Schools, Two Demographics, Two Realities: One Model, Alfredo Astorga-Velasquez

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study is to analyze two Catholic high schools that follow the same innovative private urban model called the Cristo Rey Model. In this model the students work one day per week in entry-level jobs in Chicago area firms and through this work-study program students earn money in order to pay a portion of their tuition. Both high schools are in Chicago, are run by Jesuits, and serve youths from low-income families. The model and goals are the same even though the schools serve different demographic groups and communities: one Latino and the other African American. The …

Muppets Abroad: Globalization Of Multiculturalism And The International Co-Productions Of Sesame Street, Julianna Carlson Palm

Master's Theses

In recent years globalization has been cited as the cause or force changing our world, making it more interdependent and "smaller" through new means of technology and communication. As such a force, globalization is seen as pervasive in all aspects of contemporary life. Sesame Street has been used as an educational tool in the United States since 1969 and since that time, the producers of the program have created a presence in various countries throughout the world, using the technology of television to communicate with preschool audiences. In particular in the last decade, new productions have begun and been funded …

The Reasons Why: Student Assignment Policies And Social Mobility In Wake County, North Carolina, Alicia Garcia

Master's Theses

The Wake County Public School System (Wake County) in Wake County, North Carolina has approached the student assignment process in different ways over the years. In 2000, Wake County instituted a policy designed to integrate schools based on socioeconomic status. In 2010, Wake County returned to assigning students to neighborhood schools. After a negative reaction to the 2010 policy, Wake County implemented a controlled choice student assignment policy for the 2012-2013 school year.

This thesis examines the three student assignment policies used by the Wake County Public School System over the last twelve years to answer the questions: Are any …

A Race To Educate: A Look At The Aims Of The Student Life Programming At Hampton University, From 1930-1940, And Its Intended Effects On The Black American Cultural Identity, Akela Louise Stanfield

Master's Theses

In 2010 President Barack Obama announced a 98 million dollar federal funding increase in the proposed 2011 national budget for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU). With such an amount of money earmarked for the HBCU, questions arise about the importance of the HBCU in a seemingly integrated 21st century American college and education system. One approach to answering the questions is to look at the aims and outcomes of HBCUs during the 20th century, a time period when most were producing college graduates and compare them to the current aims and outcomes of the HBCUs, to determine the rate …

Deconstructing Demand For Women And Girls' Education, Linda Lu

Master's Theses

There is an increasing focus on the recognition of women and girls' education as a universal right. Many feminist scholars have questioned this rights-based approach to gender education and evaluated the challenges and solutions based on the international policy discourse. What is notably absent from this scholarship is a comprehensive look at how women and girls' demand for education is constructed though such universal declarations.

This thesis uses a postcolonial feminist framework to analyze how women and girls' demand for education is constructed through international gender education policy. Ultimately, through an analysis of policy and an assessment of the feminist …

Service Learning In The International Context: How Can It Be Beneficial When Studying Abroad?, Marquita Anna-Belle Butler

Master's Theses

This study focuses on service learning in the international context and the benefits it has on higher education study abroad programs. Study abroad participation at the collegiate level is continuing to rise every year and some programs even require it. Implementing a service learning component into a study abroad program is an increasing trend. For these reasons it was important to conduct this study. The study was based on a program based out of the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. Three cohorts went abroad and had a service learning component. Students went abroad in 2008 and 2010. Interviews about their …