Digital Commons Network^™

College Latino Students: Cultural Integration, Retention, And Successful Completion, Robert Hernandez

Staff Publications & Research

The purpose of this study was to examine and gain a deeper understanding of Latino College students' sub-cultures and how their cultural integration can affect their retention and completion of a baccalaureate degree. Also, this study sought to understand the cultural factors that influenced student retention. The participants were given a survey to complete for demographic information, and then were interviewed to capture each of their stories and experiences.

Twenty participants were involved in the study. All of the participants were self-identified as Latinos and came from several different, four-year, residential universities. There were nine men and eleven women. Of …

Taking The Stand: The Lessons Of The Three Men Who Took The Japanese American Internment To Court, Lorraine K. Bannai

Seattle Journal for Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Remedying Unequal Access: The Role Of Outreach In Shaping College Opportunities For Underserved Students, Eddie Comeaux

Essays in Education

The discourse regarding affirmative action in California, stemming in recent years from the passing of SB 1 in 1995 and Proposition 209 in 1996, has major implications for African Americans’ struggle for higher education in California. This legislation signals a need to understand where African Americans are now and how to identify strategies and practices that are efficacious in improving access as well as preparing these students for competitive college eligibility. In an attempt to illuminate the current status of African American students in California, this article analyzes patterns and trends of academic preparation at the secondary level and undergraduate …

Supervising A Struggling Student Teacher: A Midterm Action Plan, Paul J. Riccomini, Robin E. Fish

Essays in Education

A large shortage of qualified special education teachers is one of the most serious and pervasive problems facing students disabilities. With both the quality and the quantity of special educators requiring improvement, teacher educators are becoming more aware of the necessity to train better-prepared special education teachers. In response to the problems, the Clemson University undergraduate program in Special Education has developed rigorous curricula and performance standards to prepare highly trained special educators. In addition to the standard program requirements, a systematic plan was developed to facilitate the improvement of struggling student teachers who are not meeting expected performance competencies. …

Family And Cultural Issues In Assistive Technology, Howard P. Parette, Joan Breslin Larson

Faculty Publications - College of Education

To ensure effective assistive technology (AT) decision-making for children with disabilities, families should ideally be actively involved in the process. An evolving issue in family-centered practice is the role of cultural and linguistic issues that may influence the participation of family members in AT decision-making and subsequent implementation of and support for devices and services. Culturally and linguistically-based values may wield strong influences on family perceptions of AT, and successful implementation of AT solutions agreed upon by team members.

This discussion will address issues related to identifying and developing an understanding of family perspectives about goals and expectations for AT …

The Evaluation Of The Use Of Technology/Electronic Media In Teaching Or Delivering Instructions/Lectures At A Florida University: History, Philosophy And Practices, Iwasan D. Kejawa

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

According to the previous survey conducted by Florida Atlantic University Student Academic Affairs department in 2001, it was indicated that faculty uses of teaching and learning technologies/electronic instruction media to teach and deliver their lectures at the college were lacking.

With the current research study, investigations were thoroughly made and suggestions are provided on the improvement of faculty performance in the use of technologies at the institution to teach and convey knowledge to their students. In this report, the institutional personnel and its administration are made aware whether all existing technologies are being optimally used by faculty. This study also …

Investigation Into The Effects Of An After School Gepa Math Program In Raising Student Achievement, Denise J. Costigan

Theses and Dissertations

The intent of this paper is to determine the effectiveness of an after school math program on raising student achievement on the Grade Eight Proficiency Assessment (GEPA). Regular education students were selected based on a review of their fourth grade standardized test, and the trend in their yearly Terra Nova scores from 5^th , 6^th and 7^th grade, if available. Based on a proficient score of 200, students who scored in the range of 185 to 210 were invited to attend the eighteen-week after school program. In addition, all special education students were invited to attend. Forty-five …

Inside Unlv, Erin O'Donnell, Diane Russell, Carol C. Harter

Inside UNLV

No abstract provided.

Current Special Educator And General Educator Perceptions Of Inclusion And Collaboration As A Service Delivery Model In A Middle School Educational Setting, Kathryn Wilkens, Peggy L. Tarpley, Ph.D.

Theses & Honors Papers

The purpose of this study was to examine, through quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection, current special educator and general educator perceptions of inclusion and collaboration as compared to similar perceptions examined in 1995 (Tarpley, 1995). A self-made survey was implemented to explore educator perceptions. Quantitative selective response items were analyzed using a Chi Square procedure. Methods of naturalistic inquiry (Lincoln & Guba, 1985) were used to analyze qualitative open-ended questions. Significant values were noted based on the Chi Square analysis across four demographic areas: (a) current teaching assignment, (b) area of training, (c) number of years teaching experience, …

Examining The Keyword Mnemonic Strategy As An Effective Academic Intervention For High School Students Labeled Emotional Or Behavioral Disordered, Karen A. Kleinheksel

Dissertations

This investigation explored whether keyword mnemonic strategies were effective for high school aged students labeled emotional or behavioral disordered(E/BD) in recalling the definitions of scientific vocabulary terms. Ten students labeled E/BD from a suburban public high school in a Midwestern state participated in this investigation. A demographic description of the subjects indicated the following information: (a) all students' ethnicities were Caucasian, (b) sixty percent of the subjects were male, (c) the average subject's age was 17 years 1 month, and (d) all students were in the tenth through twelfth grades.

In a multiple baseline across subjects design using a single …

Developmental Approaches For Young Children On The Autism Spectrum, Kimberly J. Sawtelle

Kimberly J. Sawtelle

One-day conference hosted by the Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies to examine five developmental approaches to working with children on the Autism Spectrum. Methods discussed include: the Denver Model; DIR, Incidental Teaching, SCERTS, and TEACCH.

Brochure Layout and Design by Kimberly J. Sawtelle

Cultural Schizophrenia: An Examination Of Societal Practices And Their Academic Consequences, Hakim Shahid

Essays in Education

Socio-economic exclusion, unequal schooling, and social reproduction are code words describing facets of racism that subsist in education. As a doctoral student in higher education, I have come to realize that the astonishing depth of the achievement gap that exists in many schools across this nation may be for reasons other than academic ability. In fact, many ill-conceived ideological practices of dominant society have become manifested in the educational psyche of minority students in America. This paper examines the psychological phenomenon that exists in both dominant mainstream and oppressed minority groups that is the life force for this type of …

Women In Science: Biological Factors Should Not Be Ignored, Kingsley R. Browne

Law Faculty Research Publications

No abstract provided.

The New Idea: Shifting Educational Paradigms To Achieve Racial Equality In Special Education, Robert A. Garda Jr.

Robert A. Garda

African American students are being re-segregated in today's public schools by their disproportionate placement in special education classes for the disabled pursuant to the Individuals With Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA). At the same time, the overall number of children found disabled and entitled to special education under the Act has skyrocketed over the past decade, leaving special education classes with swollen roles and inadequate resources. Congress attempts to remedy this divisive dual eligibility crisis when it re-authorized the IDEA in 2004 by promoting an educational paradigm of individualized instruction in general education. The new IDEA seeks to "fix" special …

Jaepl, Vol. 11, Winter 2005-2006, Kristie S. Fleckenstein, Linda T. Calendrillo

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Essays

Kami Day. We Learn More Than Just Writing.

In a composition class, students learn a great deal more, for good or ill, than just strategies for writing. This article shows that, as students and teachers learn to recognize and value their own inner teachers, they can also develop relationships with each other that nourish their spirits as well as their intellects.

Gina DeBlase. 'I Have a New Understanding': Critical Narrative Inquiry as Transformation in the English-History Classroom.

This case study highlights what roles classroom discussion and activity around literature, history, and society play in developing one student’s …

Headstands, Writing, And The Rhetoric Of Radical Self-Acceptance, Geraldine Deluca

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

By emphasizing the importance of patient practice as an end in itself, yoga offers a model teaching and learning writing that can help students move forward in a context of self-acceptance and find the sources of their own talents and values.

Reviews, Edward J. Sullivan, Gabriele Rico, Megan Brown, Kim Mccollum-Clark

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Reviews

Edward J. Sullivan. Ken Wilber: Thought as Passion. (Frank Visser, 2003).

Gabriele Rico. A Way to Move: Rhetorics of Emotion and Composition Studies. (Ed. Dale Jacobs and Laura R. Micciche, 2003).

Megan Brown. Living the Narrative Life: Stories as a Tool for Meaning Making. (Gian S. Pagnucci, 2004).

Kim McCollum-Clark. Personally Speaking: Experience as Evidence in Academic Discourse. (Candace Spigelman, 2004).

Family And Cultural Issues In At Service Delivery, Howard P. Parette, Tom Nurse

Faculty Publications - College of Education

Effective assistive technology planning and decision making for children and youth with disabilities should include careful consideration of family and cultural factors. Inclusion of the family when considering assistive technology needs of the child is the key to identifying important family and cultural perspectives that can “make or break” the successful integration of assistive technology in the home, school, and community.

Despite the recognition that families should be integral to the AT decision-making process, family and professional partnerships have often been difficult to establish in practice. Cultural and language barriers may compound the difficulty of forging a strong connection between …

The Challenge Of Ethnic Diversity, Gary L. Rose

Political Science & Global Affairs Faculty Publications

As the census data reveals, the state of Connecticut will experience a sizeable increase in the percentage of Blacks and Hispanics by the year 2025. The projected increase in Blacks and Hispanics will most certainly have political and public policy ramifications in the years ahead.

Demographic trends in Connecticut pose distinct challenges for both political parties. The ability to understand the policy needs of the state's increasingly diverse population, an understanding of how policy needs translate into political behavior will be required among those who seek public office in Connecticut.

Secondary Mathematics Teachers' Perceptions Of The Achievement Gap, Linda Bol, Robert Q. Berry Iii

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to survey the perceptions of secondary mathematics teachers on factors contributing to the achievement gap and ways to reduce this gap. National Council of the Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) members were surveyed, and a total of 379 secondary teachers responded. Overall, respondents were most likely to attribute the achievement gap to student characteristics, such as differences in motivational levels, work ethic, and family support. Furthermore, teachers from schools with a higher population of White students were more likely to attribute the gap to student characteristics than were teachers in schools with higher percentages of …

Connecting, Helen Walker, Louise Morgan, Amy Wink, Marcia Nell, Gergana Vitanova, Judy Huddleston

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Louise Morgan—Street Science: An English Teacher’s Introduction to Street Life.

Amy Wink—'In the Middle of Difficulty Lies Opportunity'— Albert Einstein

Marcia Nell—The New Partnership

Gergana Vitanova—Negotiating an Identity in Graduate School as a Second Language Speaker.

Judy Huddleston—A Cat in the Sun: Reflections on Teaching.

What Happens When We Read: Picturing A Reader’S Responsibilities, Laurence Musgrove

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

A graphic representation of reading as a process enables students to respond more fully and responsibly to literature by attending to what they contribute to the act of reading, what the world to the text can offer, what kinds of responses are available to them, and what they can do to make sure they have responded as thoughtfully as possible.

Front Matter

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Editors' Message

Inner Work: Teaching and Learning (from) Within

”There lives the dearest freshness deep down things,” Gerald Manley Hopkins writes in God’s Grandeur, capturing in this line, as he sought to reveal through the marvelously unique sounds and rhythms of his poetry, the “inscape” or the unique inner essence of all natural things. “The dearest freshness deep down things” is also Parker Palmer’s focus in The Courage to Teach, where he argues for a teacher’s and a learner’s inner work: exploring “the inner landscape of the teaching self” because “[t]he more familiar we are with our inner …

Poverty And Children's Schooling In Urban And Rural Senegal, Mark R. Montgomery, Paul C. Hewett

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This paper presents findings of a Population Council investigation into the effects of living standards and relative poverty on children’s schooling in urban and rural areas of Senegal. The research shows that in Senegal’s urban areas, living standards exert substantial influence on three measures of schooling: whether a child has ever attended school; whether he or she has completed at least four grades of primary school; and whether he or she is currently enrolled. In rural areas of Senegal, however, the effects are weaker and achieve statistical significance only for the wealthiest fifth of rural households. To judge from the …

Building Assets For Safe, Productive Lives: A Report On A Workshop On Adolescent Girls' Livelihoods, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

For the 1.5 billion adolescents currently living in developing countries (325 million of them living on less than US$1 a day), the transition to becoming economically productive is particularly pivotal. Girls face numerous challenges in making this transition successfully, since in many settings females have less access than males to critical resources such as secondary school education, credit, land, training, and technology, and their labor is often unrecognized and unremunerated. A growing number of organizations and institutions have been using a livelihoods approach (which centers around the capabilities, assets, and activities required for gaining a means of living) to reach …

School Financial Equity Litigation: Black Hole Of Civil Rights, Michael W. Simpson

Essays in Education

This paper uses the sociology of the case and the legal sociology of Donald Black to examine the litigation over public school financing inequality. Initial examination is made of the United States Supreme Court decision in San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez and the Oklahoma Supreme Court decision in Fair School Finance Council of Oklahoma v. State of Oklahoma from a technical legal core perspective and a critical lens. Other cases are discussed along with other information to allow the reader a “big picture” of the issues and policies involved in the intersection of race, wealth, law, education, and …

Recovery With Results, Not Rhetoric, Joseph Marrone, Heike Boeltzig

All Institute for Community Inclusion Publications

This report was undertaken by staff from the Institute for Community Inclusion at the University of Massachusetts Boston pursuant to a task order from the Office of Disability and Employment Policy within the U.S. Department of Labor. While the great majority of the funding was provided by ODEP with an additional small amount allocated by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the intent of this report was to provide guidance to both ODEP and the Employment Training Administration. This focus is meant to assist them in their respective roles …

Environmental Education: The Equalizer, Jolanda Tracie Karr

Theses Digitization Project

This project explores and justifies using the local environment as an effective educational strategy for teachers of special education students.