Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons^™

The Evaluation Of Family-School Collaboration With Culturally And Linguistically Diverse Families, Samantha Silver

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

Research has demonstrated that when parents are involved in their children’s academic and school life, children experience improved language achievement, overall behavior, grades, test scores, have improved attendance, and a lower chance of dropping out of school (Friend and Cook, 2007). Despite the growing diversity of U.S. schools, there is a still a systemic lack of effort to include parents of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. This research study sought to examine barriers to establishing a successful collaborative relationship with these families from the perspective of elementary, middle, and high school teachers using an online survey. A total of 39 …

Exploring The Effects Of Positive Behavioral Supports On Disciplinary Practices In Schools And It's Potential To Mitigate Disproportionality In Disciplinary Outcomes For African American Students, E'Lexus Emily King

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

Disproportionality in special education and school discipline in the U.S. Education system has been a crucial and complex issue. Research has shown that evidence-based interventions that lie within the positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) framework has been effective in improving educational outcomes for all students. In this study, the author investigated the impact of the School-Wide Benchmarks of Quality, a PBIS fidelity measure, on student disciplinary outcomes. 380 schools presented four years of disciplinary outcome data. Results showed that the PBIS fidelity measure had a modest effect on the overall student disciplinary outcomes but did not address the disproportionate …

Critical Pedagogy And Participatory Democracy: Creating Classroom Contexts That Challenge "Common Sense." A Response To "The Political Nuances Of Narratives And An Urban Educator's Response", Lilia D. Monzó, P. Zitlali Morales

Democracy & Education

In this response to “The Political Nuances of Narratives and an Urban Educator’s Response,” the authors applaud Pearman’s critical approach to deconstructing and challenging narratives of heroic figures who single-handedly change the world and agree with him that these narratives restrict the sense of agency that may propel citizens to become actively involved in social change efforts. We argue that it is important to question why these narratives exist and to understand them in light of the hegemonic capitalist structure that exploits the masses in service to the capitalist class. Although we agree with Pearman that democracy is best served …

Building The Dream: Transformational Resistance, Community-Based Organizations, And The Civic Engagement Of Latinos In The New South, Eleanor A. Petrone Dr

Democracy & Education

This article examines how a group of Latino youth living in the Southeast experienced, adapted to, and resisted oppressive social structures within their community through their involvement with youth media. Through the content analysis of a teen radio show produced by and for Latino youth, in conjunction with semistructured interviews and ethnographic field notes, the author investigates how five Mexican-born high school students confronted and attempted to transform the educational practices that served to keep them subordinate. The study posits the community organization that sponsored the radio show as a pedagogical site of resistance and transformation, which provided the students …

“I Didn’T See It As A Cultural Thing”: Supervisors Of Student Teachers Define And Describe Culturally Responsive Supervision, Linda B. Griffin, Dyan Watson, Tonda Liggett

Democracy & Education

Student teaching supervisors can play an integral role in teacher candidates’ ability to understand and enact culturally responsive pedagogy (CRP). However, supervisors may lack the awareness, knowledge, skill, or willingness to serve as culturally responsive supervisors. This paper reports the findings from a qualitative study to find out how supervisors described and supported CRP. We found that supervisors hold unsophisticated views of CRP and face the following challenges enacting culturally responsive supervision: feelings of inadequacy, difficulty talking about race, color-blind orientations, and a tendency to purposefully avoid race talk. We provide recommendations for professional development to address these challenges and …

Culturally Specific Bilingual Arts Integration, Danielle L. Malan

Student Research Symposium

Today's young people are a source of growing social and academic concern. Combined with economic, cultural and linguistic barriers, Latino students are an even greater concern. Studies have demonstrated qualitative improved learning with either arts integration or with bilingual education. After a literature review, there was no conclusive quantitative evidence done prior to this study in 2015, for the benefits of combining the two to use bilingual arts integration as a method for improved learning. Could bilingual arts education improve learning? The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of bilingual arts integration on learning, and the positive …

An Exploration Of Elementary Teachers' Views Of Informal Reading Inventories In Dual Language Bilingual Programs, Laura Ascenzi-Moreno

Publications and Research

This study examines how elementary teachers (grades three through five) in dual-language, bilingual programs (Spanish/English) view informal reading inventories (IRIs) to support their students’ reading growth. The research, conducted in an urban district in the Northeastern United States, draws on interviews with 20 teachers in these programs. One significant finding is that although teachers in the sample collected IRIs in the two languages of instruction, they did not examine English and Spanish reading assessment data side by side in order to construct a unified portrait of their students as bilingual readers. This study highlights the finding that IRIs are currently …

Separate But Not Equal: Questioning La Separacion De Idiomas Of Dual Language Instruction, Tess Leverenz

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This paper is separated into two parts: (1) an investigation and analysis of the separation of languages in dual language schools in the United States and (2) a guide for educators in developing translanguaging spaces within a Spanish/English dual language Unit of Study. The first part of this paper looks at the current popular trend of dual language instruction with the notion that bilingual programs are implemented to serve the interests of the dominant group in society; in this case, White families of privilege. Along this vein, a clear separation of languages in dual language instruction models is seen as …

Promoting Education Abroad, Kayla Mitchell, James Materson

Celebration of Student Scholarship Poster Sessions Archive

No abstract provided.

High School Performance Of Cape Verdean Immigrant Students In New Bedford: A Linguistic Perspective, Mauro S. Dos Reis

Master’s Theses and Projects

The English language (EL) has become the world’s lingua franca. It has entered a great number of countries’ educational systems and it has become a requirement to succeed academically and professionally. Cape Verde is one of the countries that have included EL in their school programs; the quality of the learning process in English is a permanent issue for Cape Verdean schools. In this project, Cape Verdean immigrant students in New Bedford, Massachusetts, who started their high school education in Cape Verde and continued in the New Bedford High Schools will be interviewed in order to explore their integration in …

Parent Motivation Regarding Dual Language Immersion Programs, Bryan W. Taylor

Education Dissertations and Projects

Some consider the current arrangement of public education to be counterproductive to change and improvement. There are those who call for more parental choice when it comes to education. One way to provide more choice is bilingual education, more specifically, dual language immersion.

This study sought to determine if dual language immersion programs are viable choice options. This study also investigated and analyzed motivating factors that led parents to enroll their children in dual language immersion programs. This study involved 91 families from three elementary schools in three North Carolina school districts. Participants were surveyed to determine what factors motivated …

Disrupting Eurocentric Education Through A Social Justice Curriculm, Joanna Cidalia Miranda Dacunha

Sustainability and Social Justice

This paper will illustrate the project conducted to disrupt Eurocentric education through a social justice curriculum. Eurocentric education has silenced and misconstrued the history and truth of marginalized communities. There is a need for curriculums that challenge the dominant narrative and help students of color acknowledge the triumphs and challenges their people face. This curriculum was created to assist students of color towards the process of developing critical consciousness and self-awareness. Through Critical Race Theory and other frameworks we were able to conduct a series of workshops. Through these workshops youth began a process of self-awareness and critical consciousness through …

Exploring Effective Reading Strategies That Promote Higher Level Thinking And Comprehension For A Chinese-Speaking College Student, Panyang Wu

Masters Theses/Capstone Projects

The purpose of the case study was to explore some effective literacy strategies that prompt higher-level thinking abilities to help one Chinese English as Foreign Language (EFL) student who struggles with academic reading in college classes at a small, liberal arts college. Only one participant named Cathy was involved in the study. Cathy is a Chinese student who studied at college as a regular undergraduate student and had poor performance in her college level literacy class, as indicated by her professors and Cathy herself. Cathy was expected to improve reading comprehension by receiving an intensive one-month reading development intervention, which …

Refugee Youth Challenges And Unique Needs In Worcester Public Schools That Are Satisfied By African Community Education, Heidi L. Biron

Sustainability and Social Justice

The influx of refugee youth in United States challenges the structure of the US formal school system, as it struggles to manage the unique needs of refugee youth. This research explores African refugee youth needs in the formal school system in Worcester, MA, and how some of these needs are better supported in a supplementary education institution, African Community Education (ACE). The research draws on individual interviews and focus group discussions with refugee youth and ACE’s staff to analyze the complexities and challenges refugee youth are confronted within formal schools and how they are motivated to seek supplementary education. The …

A Language Learning And Teaching Journey: Practicalities And Possibilities, Elizabeth Irene Abell

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Within this portfolio, the reader will find the work that the author has completed over the last two years in the Master of Second Language Teaching (MSLT) program at Utah State University and a demonstration of her professional growth as an instructor over this period of time. The first major part is the teaching philosophy, in which the author discusses: the experiences as a student that have shaped her as a teacher, the various teaching contexts in which she may work in the future, her personal philosophy of language teaching shaped by what she has learned in the MSLT program, …

Traditions And Proficiency Abroad - Spain (Tapas) Program: A High School Study Abroad Program For District 128, Michaela Kendzior

Capstone Collection

As colleges begin to internationalize campuses and global competencies continue to become a demand in the workforce, secondary schools should also aim to internationalize the curriculum and offer international education opportunities to their students. In an effort to do this, I have created the Traditions And Proficiency Abroad - Spain (TAPAS) Program for Community High School District 128 in Illinois. The TAPAS program is a 20-day summer intensive cultural and language immersion program created to maximize learning potential in D128 students. While the program’s focus is on Spanish language and culture education, the orientation and instructional activities have been designed …

How To Decolonize A Classroom, Celeste C. Hayes

Capstone Collection

This study is gathered from personal reflections of my time and experience with the Vermont Workers’ Center organization in Brattleboro Vermont USA. As a Community Organizer I highlight my internal and external work on projects specific to racial justice, and its use in organizing and educating members in the Southern Vermont region. The challenges as an active and involved community member of color, living and working in the context of a predominantly white setting has inspired me to curate a model and theory to “decolonize” or unlearn the prevalence of white supremacist culture in our educational spaces.

¿Como Se Dice “Techie” En Español?: An English Language Development Curriculum To Prepare Latinx High School Students To Enter San Francisco’S Tech Workforce, Caitlin E. Martin

Master's Projects and Capstones

In the age of informational technology being, quite literally, at the touch of a button, the demand for adequate talent in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) fields is higher than ever, and those who are qualified to supply work in STEM fields are valued, both monetarily and socially, above other professions. In looking at San Francisco, California, a dynamic, diverse, and cutting edge city, on the pinpoint of what is being called the “tech boom”, one can see that technical careers are highly valued in comparison to alternate professions, technical workers are more significantly valued, and therefore, are paid …

Writing Their Way To The University: An Investigation Of Chinese High School Students' Preparation For Writing In English In High Schools, Cram Schools, And Online, Cong Zhang

Open Access Dissertations

In this dissertation, drawing from activity theory, I investigate how Chinese students prepared themselves for undergraduate studies in U.S. universities in terms of English writing from three perspectives: English writing instruction in high schools, private supplementary tutoring (PST) in English writing in cram schools, and experience with writing online and using online resources. On the basis of data from a questionnaire, interviews, classroom observations, and examinations of written materials and a forum, I provide a picture of the writing instruction experience and writing background that Chinese students bring to writing classrooms in U.S. universities. It was found that other than …

Breastfeeding Rates In Marshallese Mothers; A Needs Assessment, Olivia N. Pennington

The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing Undergraduate Honors Theses

ABSTRACT

Background. Multiple health disparities are associated with the Marshallese population in Northwest Arkansas. Childhood obesity, linked to a decrease in exclusive breastfeeding, is one of the predominant issues. Since their migration to the United States, exclusive breastfeeding rates of Marshallese mothers have steadily declined throughout the years. Little research has been conducted to help combat this growing health disparity. Due to the increased growth in this population in Northwest Arkansas, it is imperative that measures are taken to decrease these disparities to improve the overall health of the future generations.

Objective: To determine the relationship between maternal age, …