Microaggressions In A Women's College. Understanding Language, Race, Class And Gender In Teaching Spanish: A Testimonio, Thelma Belmonte-Alcantara

Doctoral Dissertations

With a microethnographic approach that foregrounds the particular uses of language and connects them with larger processes of social activity, this study examines moment-to-moment interactions between an instructor and a group of learners who participated in a particular lesson that was part of a language course where Spanish was used, learned and taught as a foreign language at a women’s college. Through the analysis of these interactions, I present my understandings of language, race, class and gender and how these social categories can be interrelated in the form of subtle attacks or microaggressions. In the context of a private small …

Subscore Reliability And Classification Consistency: A Comparison Of Five Methods, Fen Fan

Doctoral Dissertations

Previous studies focused on reporting subscores themselves; however, most proficiency tests are criterion-referenced, reporting classification consistency and accuracy of student placement into performance categories within each subdomain are thus more suitable. Therefore, the primary purpose of this study was to investigate the decision consistency (DC) and decision accuracy (DA) of student placement into performance categories within each of the subdomains measured by the test of interest. A second purpose of this study was to compare the performance of five subscoring methods under some realistic conditions in terms of subscore reliability and classification. To do so, a simulation study was designed …

Investigating The Relationship Between Implicit Theories About Intelligence And Teacher-Student Relationship Quality, Woodbury B. Clift

Doctoral Dissertations

This study investigates the influence of teacher held implicit theories about intelligence on the quality of their relationships with students within the context of a school co-located in a secure juvenile justice setting serving adjudicated adolescent boys. In Massachusetts, adjudicated youth attending schools co-located in juvenile justice residential settings have significant gaps in their formal schooling, are culturally diverse, come from impoverished communities, and have high rates of learning disabilities. Their teachers, on the other hand, are mostly middle class, white, and well educated. As such, an immense social and cultural relational divide inherently exists between the teachers and their …

Multimodal Assessment In Action: What We Really Value In New Media Texts, Kathleen M. Baldwin

Doctoral Dissertations

As the Framework for Success in Postsecondary Writing illustrates, writing teachers at all educational levels can no longer ignore multimodality and the challenges that come with incorporating multimodal writing—texts composed using a combination of sound, images, video, etc.—into the classroom (NCTE, Framework). A chief struggle most writing teachers face is how to evaluate the multimodal texts their students produce, texts that are inherently diverse. In answer to the calls of scholars such as Yancey, Herrington, and Moran for research exploring multimodal assessment in situated classroom practice, my dissertation examines what K-16 writing teachers are and should be valuing in …

Contemplative Practices And Learning: A Holistic Approach To Education In Bhutan, Yang Gyeltshen

Doctoral Dissertations

This study examines the comments, behavior, and products of young student monks, who are exposed to an integrated curriculum of contemplative practices and secular lessons, about whether and how they bring their social-emotional learning from the contemplative practices to bear when learning secular functional skills and knowledge. At the beginning of my self-study, I hypothesized that an integrated curriculum of secular learning combined with contemplative practices would result in deeper learning, based on the research and literature on the connection between affective and cognitive learning. My findings support and do not negate previous research that an integrated curriculum, integrating contemplative …

Understanding Stem Learning Outcomes Using A Phenomenographic Approach, Cheryl L. Brooks

Doctoral Dissertations

Today’s STEM professionals are called upon to meet the nation’s technical challenges with innovative technologies that push the boundaries of our current understanding and practices. While the total number of STEM graduates may be sufficient for the number of STEM jobs, many lack the specific competencies needed for practice, suggesting that science and engineering graduates may not be adequately prepared for careers in the STEM fields (U.S. Joint Economic Committee, 2012). Using a phenomenographical approach, the researcher interviewed 18 STEM professionals to understand the qualitatively different ways in which they gained the technical and professional competencies needed to be successful …

Acculturation Stress, Psychological And Sociocultural Adjustment, And Development Of American Adolescents: A Qualitative Study Of Newton High School Exchange Students In China, Binbin Zhu

Doctoral Dissertations

Theories from the extant acculturation literature functioned to categorize international students’ adaptation experiences and predict their acculturation outcomes. Also, relevant studies focused mainly on students at the tertiary level. For adolescent students seeking self-development toward independence and autonomy, how they negotiated their identity challenges and tensions in a cross-cultural context, and how surrounding others in their socialization impacted on their psychosocial adjustment process and transformative experiences have not been actively explored. This qualitative study approached adolescent students’ acculturation as an integrated development and learning process to explore the effects of developmental and cultural factors on their cross-cultural adaptation, especially examined …

Detecting Candidate Preknowledge Of Items Using A Predictive Checking Method, Xi Wang

Doctoral Dissertations

In on-demand high-stakes testing programs such as GRE and TOEFL, some items are repeatedly used across test administrations to reduce the cost of developing new items constantly. Item exposure provides an opportunity for examinees to have knowledge of particular test items in advance of their administration. It poses a threat to test security and ultimately will result in invalid test scores. Therefore, many testing programs conduct quality control to monitor test compromise at individual and/or group level. A predictive checking method is proposed in this study to detect examinee preknowledge on exposed items. We consider a scenario where a test …

Identifying Examinees Who Possess Distinct And Reliable Subscores When Added Value Is Lacking For The Total Sample, Joseph A. Rios

Doctoral Dissertations

Research has demonstrated that although subdomain information may provide no added value beyond the total score, in some contexts such information is of utility to particular demographic subgroups (Sinharay & Haberman, 2014). However, it is argued that the utility of reporting subscores for an individual should not be based on one’s manifest characteristics (e.g., gender or ethnicity), but rather on individual needs for diagnostic information, which is driven by multidimensionality in subdomain scores. To improve the validity of diagnostic information, this study proposed the use of Mahalanobis Distance and H^T indices to assess whether an individual’s data significantly departs …

The Role Of Training In The Development Of Amerindian Communities In Guyana: A Qualitative Case Study, Laureen Adele Pierre

Doctoral Dissertations

The Role of Training in the Development of Amerindian Communities in Guyana: A Qualitative Case Study SEPTEMBER 2016 LAUREEN ADELE PIERRE, B.A., UNIVERSITY OF GUYANA M.A., UNIVERSITY OF GUYANA Ed.D., University of Massachusetts Amherst Directed by: Professor Cristine A. Smith Training is widely used in the field of international and community development as a capacity-building strategy, but evaluations of its impact on individuals and communities raise concerns about the effectiveness of training. Scholars and program planners also question the appropriateness of training in non-western contexts as a tool aligned with dominant development approaches. These concerns are pivotal to current development …

Talking The Walk: Incorporating Intergroup Dialogue Processes Into A Critical Service-Learning Program, David Neely

Doctoral Dissertations

Service-learning, particularly critical service-learning, is relational work that endeavors to create and maintain more just relationships among students and community members within and across social identity groups (Mitchell, 2008). It is essential that students in service-learning courses learn how to talk, listen and collaborate with community members in ways that acknowledge and explore how social identities, privilege, and oppression impact people’s life experiences and relationships. However, in our socially-segregated society, in which schools and neighborhoods are as divided by race and income as they were half a century ago (Reardon & Bischoff, 2011; Reardon & Owens, 2014), many college students …

Teaching Students With Autism Spectrum Disorder To Mand Within The Inclusive Classroom, Jennifer L. Mcintire

Doctoral Dissertations

Recent federal legislation mandate that students with autism (ASD) be educated within the general education environment and held to high standards of achievement. Many interventions exist to teach language skills to children with ASD. Most have been developed in clinics or segregated settings, and have not been demonstrated as effective within general education classrooms. This research assessed the effectiveness of an intervention to teach two students with ASD to mand (request) within the general education classroom. Generalization and maintenance of independent manding (requesting) skills will be assessed. Both students learned to mand within the natural environment and demonstrated maintenance and …

Young Children Positioned As Storytellers In The Classroom: An Examination Of Teacher-Child Interactions And The Storytelling Event, Peggy L. Martalock

Doctoral Dissertations

ABSTRACT YOUNG CHILDREN POSITIONED AS STORYTELLERS IN THE CLASSROOM: AN EXAMINATION OF TEACHER-CHILD INTERACTIONS AND THE STORYTELLING EVENT SEPTEMBER 2016 PEGGY MARTALOCK, B.A., UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN MADISON M.A. UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN LACROSSE Ed.D., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Directed by: Professor Claire E. Hamilton Responsive, well-attuned, sensitive, dynamic, and individual interactions between teachers and children in early childhood classrooms support language and literacy development. This study looks at the nature and qualities of teacher – child interactions during Vivian Paley’s storytelling approach when implemented as a curricular activity. This is a microethnographic study conducted from a socio-cultural theoretical framework of two …

"How Many Generations Will Be Spoiled At The Cost Of Such Compromises?" The Resolution Strategies Of High School Principals In Value-Conflict Situations Between School Law And Moral Values In Azad Kashmir, Muhammad N. Khawaja

Doctoral Dissertations

The phenomenon of ethical administration and decision-making in the context of school administration is a recent trend even in the Western scholarship on school administration. Although there have been a many academic endeavors in the last two decades of the 20^th century to explore the ethical dimension of school leadership mainly in the works of Greenfield (1985), Starratt (1991,1994), and Hodgkinson (1996). However, in the first decade of 21^st century, there have been much more concerted efforts to explore and propose theoretical models to explain the ethical dimension of school leadership. There have been a many attempts to …

Shared Focus/Collective Responsibility: The Lived Experience Of Educators As Members Of A Data Team In A Connecticut Public High School, Abbie-Jean M. Lareau

Doctoral Dissertations

ABSTRACT SHARED FOCUS/COLLECTIVE RESPONSIBILITY: THE LIVED EXPERIENCE OF EDUCATORS AS MEMBERS OF A DATA TEAM IN A CONNECTICUT PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL This study explores the experiences of five high school English Teachers in a Connecticut public school acting as an Instructional Data Team as prescribed by the Connecticut Accountability for Learning (CALI) model. Data Teams are teams of educators that participate in collaborative, structured, scheduled meetings, which focus on the effectiveness of teaching as determined by student achievement. Data Teams adhere to continuous improvement cycles, analyze trends, and determine strategies to facilitate analysis that results in action. Data Teams can …

The Gaps Between Values And Practices Of Global Citizenship Education: A Critical Analysis Of Global Citizenship Education In South Korea, Hye Seung Cho

Doctoral Dissertations

This study examines how Global Citizenship Education (GCE) is perceived and implemented in South Korea. GCE has received much attention worldwide among educators, policy makers, and organizations, as reflected by the Global Education First Initiative (GEFI), the Post-2015 education agenda, and The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Consistent with this global trend, the World Education Forum, held in South Korea, also facilitated interest and discussions in GCE in South Korea. Within the context of heightened interest in GCE both in the global society and South Korea as well, my dissertation explores the core features of GCE in South Korea focusing on …

Synergy Between Digital And Traditional Literacy Practices: A Framework For Building A Reading Culture In A Secondary School, Nina Kositsky

Doctoral Dissertations

Integration of digital technologies into the English classroom requires that we rethink pedagogical frameworks within which education occurs. This study examines traditional and digital literacy practices in a high school that committed itself to building a strong reading culture among its students as it digitized its library collection. Through a series of in-depth, phenomenologically based interviews and classroom observations, the researcher focused on identifying factors that foster an interest in literary reading as a personally meaningful literacy experience among 21st century adolescents and explored the following questions: What kind of teaching practices promote this interest? What kind of social environments …

Differential Prediction And Validity Of Advanced Placement (Ap®) For Student Subgroups, Minji K. Lee

Doctoral Dissertations

Concerns over fairness permeates every aspect of the testing enterprise, and one characterization of fairness in testing defined by the Standards (AERA, APA, & NCME, 1999) is a fairness as lack of bias. One important way to study bias in college admission context concerns the degree to which prediction equations are equivalent for different groups. To the extent that the AP variables are used together with admission test scores and previous academic records to predict future academic achievement, it is important to know if members of one group are systematically predicted to obtain lower or higher grades than they actually …

Turning Around The Culture Of Teaching And Learning: A Turnaround School Success Story, Rachael B. Lawrence

Doctoral Dissertations

In 2009-2010, Riverton Elementary School in Portland, ME was awarded a School Improvement Grant (SIG), supported by the Federal Department of Education (Federal DOE) through the Maine Department of Education. With this funding, Riverton undertook the challenge of the turnaround school model between 2010-2013, which resulted in positive change in academic achievement for their students and an improved teaching and learning climate and culture. This dissertation examines why the turnaround model may work, what is currently known about SIG funded turnaround schools, and what the specific actions and changes that led to the successful turnaround of this school were. While …

The Development And Validation Of The Emotion Knowledge And Awareness Test, Catherine A. Rossi

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to develop, test, and pilot a general outcome measurement tool that will allow educators to test young children’s knowledge of factors of emotional development: emotional identification and fluency, understanding situations where multiple emotions are present, understanding that others may feel differently in situations, and emotional regulation (CASEL, 2014). There are few assessments that reliably measure emotion knowledge in early elementary grades. The Emotion Knowledge and Awareness Test (EKAT) has been developed for kindergarten through second grade students to measure emotion awareness across two domains: knowledge and management. It was developed as a pre/posttest assessment …

Ownership In The Development Discourse: A Case Study In Education In Tanzania, Satomi Kamei

Doctoral Dissertations

Today, there is a solid consensus in the international development community that “country ownership” is essential to promoting sustainable development in developing countries. Many donors also address ownership as essential to improving aid effectiveness. In this context, there have been continuous debates and emphasis on the importance of ownership. Meanwhile, the debates were further accelerated by the “Paris Declaration” to reform aid delivery and country ownership as an aid effectiveness principle. Despite various attempts to better define ownership, the notion remains unclear and debatable. Furthermore, the development discourse is still largely dominated by international donors. Consequently, the ownership agenda is …

Transformative Learning Facilitated Dialogue: As A Tool For Social Change An Autoethnography, Leslie A. Saulsberry

Doctoral Dissertations

It is my goal, through this autoethnography, to take you through a reflective journey and present to you my personal theory of how facilitated dialogue in the context of transformative learning, critical reflection, systems thinking, shared vision, and holarchy can create a paradigm shift in our personal consciousness, decisions, behaviors, practice, and social policies—social change. My objective is to show how each theory is like a stepping-stone in the path towards social change. The purpose of this living work is to offer an alternative way of creating a healthy and whole society by exploring how facilitated dialogue can lead to …

Reclaiming Voices And Identities: An Examination Of African American Educators’ Experiences Before And After Brown V. Board Of Education, Leta Hooper

Doctoral Dissertations

The Brown v. Board of Education rulings in 1954 and 1955 are often regarded as cases that set the precedent for dismantling schools operating on a racially “separate but equal” system. The outcome of the Brown v. Board of Education rulings led to the closing of Black schools as well as the dismissal and displacement of Black educators (Fultz, 2004). Black educators’ experiences of teaching in segregated and desegregated schools, as well as their role in challenging inequitable education conditions, are topics that continue to be ignored in mainstream society (Fultz, 1995; 2004; Siddle-Walker, 2013). The purpose of this life …

Effect Of The Banking Time Intervention On Student-Teacher Relationships And Problem Behaviors In Early Childhood, Tara M. Strand Balunis

Doctoral Dissertations

This study explored the role of the Banking Time intervention on student-teacher relationships and problem behaviors in early childhood. Ninety elementary students (5-7 year-olds) were placed in either an experimental or control group. Students in the experimental group participated in the Banking Time intervention with their classroom teacher. Students in the control group participated in one-on-one reading sessions. Students in both groups were evaluated pre- and post-intervention using the Student Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS; Pianta & Hamre, 2001), Teacher Report Form (TRF; Achenbach, 1991) and a behavior observation tally form. A sample of students from both groups were administered a …

Reading Power: Female Sexuality, Bullying, And Power Relations In Young Adult Literature, Cara C. Crandall

Doctoral Dissertations

READING POWER: FEMALE SEXUALITY, BULLYING AND POWER RELATIONS IN YOUNG ADULT LITERATURE

CARA CRANDALL, B.S., MASSACHUSETTS COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS

Disproportionate Suspension Rates: Understanding Policy And Practice In One State, Kristine A. Camacho

Doctoral Dissertations

This paper presents the findings from two studies. The first study examined the individual and school level factors associated with the risk of suspension for specific groups of students. Results indicated that gender, race, and disability status were individual factors associated with an increased risk of suspension. Multiple school level factors were also found to be associated with an increased risk of suspension including school enrollment, attendance, mobility, the percent of highly qualified teachers, the percent of students receiving free and reduced priced meals, the percent of special education students, Title One status, the student to teacher ratio, English Language …

Who Is Like Whom? Reclassification And Performance Patterns For Different Groupings Of English Learners, Molly M. Faulkner-Bond

Doctoral Dissertations

Approximately 10 percent of the US K-12 population consists of English learners (ELs), or students who are learning English in addition to academic content in areas like English language arts (ELA) and mathematics. In addition to meeting the same academic content and performance standards set for all students, it is also a goal for ELs to be reclassified – i.e., to master English so that they can shed the EL label and participate in academic settings where English is used without needing special support. Working with a longitudinal cohort of ~28,000 ELs in grades 3 through 8 from one state, …

Educational Implications: Homeless Children's Perception Of Resilience, Maria M. Costa

Doctoral Dissertations

There is a historic high number of homeless children in the United States, based on the most recent U.S. Department of Education count of homeless children in public schools and on the 2013 U.S. Census data. There was an 8% increase nationally in the number of children experiencing homelessness from 2012-2013. In the United States 1 in 30 children are homeless. Research has focused primarily on risk and protective factors as reasons why some children are able to cope with adversity, while others are not. Most studies have relied heavily on the perspective of parents or educators working with homeless …

Critical Literacy And Identities In World Language Education: Telling Reflective Stories Of Digital Storytelling, Keiko Konoeda

Doctoral Dissertations

This paper explores a digital storytelling project in world language education conducted as critical literacy (Janks, 1991; 2000). Digital storytelling here entails the analysis and production of short videos (called digital stories) that tell a storyteller's personally significant experience by digitally combining a voice-over, images, and music. In other words, this study theorizes digital storytelling in a world language as pedagogical opportunities to examine the effects of language in use and to transform their relations to language through the production of and reflection on "identity text" (Cummins et al., 2005). Two areas of guiding questions were: the design process and …

Transnationalizing Social Justice Education: Interamerican Frameworks For Teaching And Learning In The 21st Century, Mirangela G. Buggs

Doctoral Dissertations

Social Justice Education currently uses mostly U.S.-based theories and concepts, and it often relies upon nation-specific historical legacies and nation-centric contemporary understandings of patterns of inequality. This study offers interdisciplinary conceptual-historical frameworks garnered from historical studies, African Diaspora Studies, Gender and Women’s Studies, along with studies of frameworks and pedagogies in critical and multicultural education to enlarge Social Justice Education. This conceptual study utilizes a world-historical analysis and focuses on the interconnectedness of the Americas—Latin America, the Caribbean, and North America— establishing a hemispheric and regional framework to inspire more transnational work in educational projects. Arguing that there are shared …