Education Commons^™

High-Stakes Testing In The Warm Heart Of Africa: The Challenges And Successes Of The Malawi National Examinations Board, Elias Chakwera, Dafter Khembo, Steve G. Sireci

Stephen G. Sireci

In the United States, tests are held to high standards of quality. In developing countries such as Malawi, psychometricians must deal with these same high standards as well as several additional pressures such as widespread cheating, test administration difficulties due to challenging landscapes and poor resources, difficulties in reliably scoring performance assessments, and extreme scrutiny from political parties and the popular press. The purposes of this paper are to (a) familiarize the measurement community in the US about Malawi’s assessment programs, (b) discuss some of the unique challenges inherent in such a program, (c) compare testing conditions and test administration …

Race And The Metropolitan Origins Of Postsecondary Access To Four Year Colleges: The Case Of Greater Boston, Joseph B. Berger, Suzanne M. Smith, Stephen P. Coelen

Center for International Education Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The American Democratic Tradition & The Quest For Access & Equity In Higher Education: The Browns And Blues Of Social Change, Amilcar Shabazz

Afro-American Studies Faculty Publication Series

In this lecture I revisit the meaning of the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision and the legal and social struggles that led to the ruling and its consequences especially in the area of higher educational opportunity. I develop the idea of the American Democratic Tradition not as a fossilized ideal but as a contested terrain. The Brown decision and the blues of social change as a protracted, continuous process of struggle is the moment I am trying to render here in this lecture.

The Cornell Law Review invited me to participate in its 2004 Symposium, particularly Panel One …

Use Of Public-Private Partnerships To Deliver Social Services: Advantages And Drawbacks, Bjorn Nordtveit

Center for International Education Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

How To Approach Institutional Partnerships Program From The Perspectives Of Socio-Cultural Differences In Management, Olga Okhlopkova

Master's Capstone Projects

The idea of developing an analysis of institutional partnership program for my Master’s thesis came to me last fall, 2003 when CIE team started working on a grant proposal for a partnership program between the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and Yakutsk State University (Sakha, Russia). The project was initiated by the CIE professor Gretchen B. Rossman and a group of international students from the former Soviet Union

The project was developed by an open grant competition from Freedom Support educational Partnership Program with Eurasia. The FSEPP is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs. …

Coming Together While Falling Apart: Networking To Prevent Conflict, Yvonne Shanahan

Master's Capstone Projects

This paper is based on a consultancy evaluation conducted in 2002 for an international network on early warning and early response to conflict. The author of this paper was the lead consultant. The work of the consultancy has been subsequently developed as a case study in this paper.

A growth in networks as an organizational form and rising currency for knowledge are beginning to stimulate the demand for an evolution of evaluation approaches that will capture key learning and outline strategies for the development of networks on conflict prevention. The research of this paper seeks to capture key reflections on …

The Magnitude And Causes Of Dropout In Malawi: A Study Of Chiradzulu District, Christopher Winston Naunje

Master's Capstone Projects

Dropout is one of the problems many public education systems face all around the world. In Malm-vi, the problem worsened after l994 when primary education was made free and an influx of children came into the system. Soon after, the children started to quit. It is estimated that about 10 per cent of the children who were enrolled into primary school that year dropped out during the first six months of the school year. This trend is still going on, sometimes with as little as 25 percent completion rate (to the last class of the cycle).

The study sought to …

What Do We Think About Them? Stereotypes In Russia About U.S. High Schools., Svetlana Pivovar

Master's Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

Celebrating Diversity God's Way! Increasing Multiculturalism In Christian Early Childhood Settings: A Practical Manual For Practitioners, Tamari Nduaguibe

Master's Capstone Projects

This project combined an extensive literature review, the creation of a practitioners manual and teaching materials, as well as the presentation of the ideas at a regional conference for Christian early childhood educators. For the literature review, I chose writers who dealt with multicultural education in general (such as Nieto, Bennett, and Banks), with Christian multiculturalism (such as Wilkerson, and Breckenridge), and also with those that wrote about how to affirm diversity and promote tolerance in early childhood education (Derman-Sparks, Spodek, Brown, Vold). I brought these three areas together in the practitioners manual, a seventy-page practical resource targeted for Christian …

Policy And Planning For Basic Education In The Context Of Hiv/Aids In Malawi, Lindiwe Christina Chide

Master's Capstone Projects

The Education sector in Malawi has experienced a negative impact of the HIV I AIDS pandemic. Since the 1990's the education sector has registered an increased number of problems due to the pandemic. This study examines how cmTent human resource policies in the Education ministry address the impact of HIV I AIDS, explores the impact of HIV I AIDS on planning for basic education and the interventions that have been put in place to address the impact Data was collected from key policy makers and implementers in the Education Ministry using in-depth interviews and document reviews. The study found that …

Teachers’ Knowledge, Attitudes, And Practices Towards The Conduct And The Discipline Regulations For The Teaching Profession In Malawi: Case Of Zomba Urban Conventional Secondary Schools., Antonie Lyson Chigeda

Master's Capstone Projects

If we were to take a poll asking people whether they wou]d vote for or against morality, one would expect a rather overwhelming endorsement. There is little disagreement that people should behave morally, should respect moral rules and should be concerned about justice and responsibility (Berkowitz & Oser, 1985, p. 1 ). This study examines teachers' knowledge and attitudes towards conduct and discipline regulations as outlined in the Malawi government teaching service regulations, analyzes the relationships between their know ledge, attitudes and self reported practice. It ftn1her explores the contribution of pre­service teacher training to teachers' knowledge and understanding of …

Non-Native English Speakers And Their Experience In College: A Study Based On Interview Conducted With International Students At The University Of Massachusetts In Amherst, Amadou Kamara

Master's Capstone Projects

This study explores the experiences of international students within their learning environment and the community at large from the vintage point of being second, third, or fourth language speakers of English. Six undergraduate participants ( three male and three female) were selected from five disciplines and·one undeclared major at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. A phenomenological interviewing process was used to explore the experiences of the non-native English speakers. Three sixty-minute interviews were conducted with each of the participants and later transcribed. The study explores the educational and social experiences of the participants in college, and also their experiences of …

Multicultural Societies - Intercultural Citizenships: The Peruvian Case, Luis Martin Valdiviezo Arista

Master's Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

Peace Education Through Social Studies Curriculum In U.S. And Georgian School Settings, Nino Chubinidze

Master's Capstone Projects

This study is a comparative discussion of social studies curriculum content instructional practices, and learning environment between two countries' education settings--the U.S. and the Republic of Georgia.

Research on the peace skills education in secondary school settings shows a meaningful relationship between three variables: curriculum content, instructional practices, and learning environment. I conducted qualitative research to try and answer the question "How do schools educate students so they acquire peace skills?" This study argues for the recognition of the importance of the interdependence of these variables to reinforce students' achievement in peace skill dimensions: the recognition of contribution and success, …

Corruption In Central Asia, Askarbek Mambetaliev

Master's Capstone Projects

This project is dedicated to the exploration of the nature, the causes and the means of combating corruption. It focuses on the context and experience in Central Asia, seeking to contribute towards the betterment of these countries and peoples.

Growing attention is being given to the phenomenon of corruption worldwide. There have been established numbers of specialized International Organizations directly addressing to the issues of preventing and combating against corruption. According to Transparency International corruption traps people in poverty, undermines democracy, distorts national and international trade, diminishes ethics, contributes socioeconomic and political crises, threaten security, hinders development, and affects nature.

A Comparative Study Of Higher Education Reforms Of Three Central Asian Countries: Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan And Uzbekistan, Kunduz Maksutova

Master's Capstone Projects

The purpose of my research is to analyze the history, current status, and the further development of higher education in three Central Asian countries: Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. The focus of my research is Kyrgyzstan, my home country; however, higher education reforms of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are also important for comparative study. My study addresses the nature of the reforms in higher education system being implemented in these countries.

The research seeks to answer the following questions: (a) to identify the main changes in higher education systems since gaining independence; (b) to identify the key issues of ongoing reforms in …

The Invasion Of Civic Education Into The Armenian Education System, Tigran Tovmasyan

Master's Capstone Projects

The purpose of the study is to explore how different civic education initiatives implemented over the last six to eight years in Armenia reference one another and meet the needs of the Armenian educational environment.

The comparative analysis of two sets of civic standards, one developed in the U.S. by the Center for Civic Education (National Standards for Civics and Government) and the other for Armenia by the Armenian National Institute for Education (Individual and Society), draws parallels between those sets of standards portrayed by the Armenian and American education policy-makers. The study then focuses on …

A Critical Assessment Of Quality Education In Community Day Schools In Malawi: A Case Study Of Mulanje District, Henry English Benstone Gwede

Master's Capstone Projects

Distance Education Centers (DECs) were intended to provide alternative formal secondary school education to school going age children who had passed their standard eight examinations but had failed to gain access to Conventional Secondary Schools (CSSs) due to limited places. However, despite increasing access, DECs did not offer appropriate instruction and usually produced poor results in national examinations. Among other things, there were acute shortages of teaching and learning materials in these schools. In addition, the majority of teachers in DECs were drawn from primary schools and, therefore, not qualified to teach at a secondary school.

In December 1998, the …

The Impact Of The Malawi Secondary School Cluster System On The Management Of Community Day Secondary Schools: Case Of Blantyre District, Dezie Andy Mwanyumbu Noah Trigu

Master's Capstone Projects

The research was conducted in Blantyre district of Malawi in 2004 to investigate the impact of the Malawi Secondary School Cluster system on the management of Community Day Secondary Schools. As a background to the study, the paper discusses the Malawi educational structure, Secondary School mission statement, the Secondary School teaching force, the educational policies that led to the formation of the cluster system, and the objectives of the cluster system. The hypothesis was that the cluster system had resulted in visible and positive changes in the management practices of Community Day Secondary Schools.

Prior to sampling, literature from some …

Annual Report: October 2003 - September 2004, Care International

Sudan Basic Education Program (SBEP)

No abstract provided.

Grant Proposal Narrative, Morton Sternheim, Allan Feldman, Farshid Hajir

STEM Bridge for Noyce Scholars

No abstract provided.

Grant Proposal For Stem Act Conference, Morton Sternheim, Joseph B. Berger, Allan Feldman

STEM ACT Conference

The STEM Education Institute and the School of Education at the University of Massachusetts Amherst propose to hold a conference entitled Science, Technology, Engineering and Math - Alternative Certification for Teachers (STEM-ACT) in November 2005 in the Washington D.C. area. The conference will focus on alternative certification programs for the preparation of science teachers. The overall purpose of the conference is to identify key features and issues relating to the alternative certification of science teachers as a basis for developing a more systematic approach to the study of these efforts. In particular, the conference asks, "What do we know and …

Weather And Climate, Rob Snyder

Science and Engineering Saturday Seminars

No abstract provided.

Leading Organizations For Universal Design, Joseph B. Berger, Duong Van Thanh

Center for International Education Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.