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Culturally And Linguistically-Adapted School Systems: A Study Of Promising Practices In Odds-Beating Elementary Schools, Kristen Campbell Wilcox, Karen Gregory, Fang Yu

Educational Policy & Leadership Faculty Scholarship

This multiple case study investigated characteristics of six elementary schools in New York State with statistically significant better performance outcomes among their English language learner (ELL) students. Through documentary evidence, classroom observations, and interviews with students, teachers, and administrators, a system-wide approach to adaptations that benefit ELL students was identified. These adaptations were evident in: (a) school cultures that embrace ideals of equity of opportunity and celebrate diversity; (b) school climates that evoke a sense of safety and welcome; and (c) processes and practices that support advocacy for ELLs and their families. While the schools shared these common characteristics, educators …

¡Que Viva The Scholar!, Bill Piatt

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract forthcoming.

Afterword - Agape And Reframing, James Boyd White

Other Publications

In a provocative essay, philosopher Jeffrie Murphy asks: 'what would law be like if we organized it around the value of Christian love, and if we thought about and criticized law in terms of that value?'. This book brings together leading scholars from a variety of disciplines to address that question. Scholars have given surprisingly little attention to assessing how the central Christian ethical category of love - agape - might impact the way we understand law. This book aims to fill that gap by investigating the relationship between agape and law in Scripture, theology, and jurisprudence, as well as …

The Lived Experiences Of Men Attracted To Minors And Their Therapy-Seeking Behaviors, Heather Cacciatori

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This study explored the lived experiences of men attracted to minors who believed they would benefit from therapy but did not seek out or attend therapeutic services; and sought to gain an understanding of how the decision to seek help or not impacted their well-being. Participants included 7 men who were recruited through the B4U-ACT online forum, which provides peer support for the minor attracted community. Participants were interviewed over Skype. Data from these interviews was analyzed and coded according to the interpretative phenomenological method as outlined by Smith et al. (2012). Five main themes emerged, providing insight as to …

Relationship Between Admission Criteria And Program Completion In A Radiation Therapy Program, Adrienne Mae Dougherty

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Poor completion rates in the radiation therapy associate's degree program offered through a community college did not meet the standards set by the college and damaged the program's reputation. The relationship between admission criteria and program completion was not known. The purpose of this study was to determine if there were any relationships between the admission criteria (GPA in prerequisite courses, interview scores, writing sample scores, and preadmission testing scores) and students' completion of a radiation therapy associate's degree program. This correlational study used 2 stages of Tinto's retention theory: (a) recruitment and admission to college and (b) pre-entry assessment …

Effects Of A One-To-One Ipad Initiative Program On 11th Grade Standardized Test Scores, Brendan James Howard

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The iPad and other mobile devices have become so popular over the past few years that many school districts are purchasing these devices and implementing them in the classroom with little to no research. Because there has been no previous research at one rural school district in Michigan, the primary purpose of this quantitative causal-comparative study was to investigate the effects that a 1-to-1 iPad initiative program has had on only 11th grade student achievement and determine if 11th grade students' test scores on the Michigan Merit Exam in the areas of mathematics, science, and social studies for each school …

The Impact Of Transitional Justice On Conflict Resolution And The Maintenance Of Peace, Joe Lambongang

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Ethnic conflicts persist in Ghana despite the efforts of governments to resolve them. Governments are increasingly concerned not only about their massive human rights abuses and wide-scale destruction of property that characterize these conflicts, but also the difficulty of resolving them and restoring permanent peace. The purpose of this qualitative exploratory case study was to provide a deeper understanding of the processes and mechanisms of transitional justice implemented in Dagbon after war broke out in 2002 and explore the conditions under which these initiatives can be more effective in resolving the conflict and maintain peace. Data were collected through individual …

The Effects Of Leveled Literacy Intervention For Students In The Rti Process, Lisa Taylor

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Low reading skills constitute a serious achievement problem. Although there are remedial support in schools, between 2% and 6% of the student population continues to show persistent reading difficulties despite intensive intervention. The research problem in this study addressed the lack of effective reading interventions for students who were in Tier III of the Response to Intervention (RtI) process. Piaget's cognitive development theory, constructivism, and Vygotsky's zone of proximal development theory made up the theoretical framework. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine the effects of Fountas and Pinnell's Leveled Literacy Intervention (LLI) on reading achievement of students …

Project Managers' Strategies For Megaproject Success, Nkenamchi Benedict Oputa

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In Africa, most oil and gas megaprojects exceed their original budget and time deadlines despite advancement in project management processes and systems. This study explored strategies project managers used for megaprojects' success in the oil and gas industry in Nigeria, from the perspectives of the owner and contractor organizations. Multiple case study design was utilized to collect data by asking open-ended questions in separate interviews with 4 project managers. Archival project data was also reviewed to eliminate information incongruences. The conceptual framework for the study is the contingency theory that there is no universal management structure for every project. The …

The Influence Of Language On The Teaching And Learning Of Mathematics, Oneil St.Orbine Smith

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A majority of students at the local University College of Science and Education (UCSE, pseudonym) in Jamaica do not have the conceptual understanding of mathematical principles to function in a competitive and highly globalized marketplace. In 2013 and 2014, 88% and 92% of freshmen education students scored at the lowest 2 levels on the Mathematics Diagnostic Test (MDT). The instructional language at UCSE is Standard English (SE) whereas most students speak Jamaican dialect (JD). The purpose of this study was to determine the effect that the language of instruction has on student achievement in math as measured by the MDT. …

Seeds Of Neocolonialism In Development Discourse: A Study Of Neoliberal "Megarhetorics" Of Global Development And Ecofeminist Resistance, Moushumi Biswas

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This paper is based on a case study of www.monsanto.com, the official website of biotech company Monsanto, and transnational voices of resistance as exemplified by eco-critical activist Vandana Shiva. My rhetorical inquiry concerns the future of the global farming sector and allows for an interdisciplinary exploration of transnational development discourse through the overlapping but complementary lenses of ecofeminism and critical discourse analysis (CDA). The purpose of my study – spanning rhetoric, composition, critical theory, cultural theory, communication studies, business ethics, and postcolonial studies – is to trace new notions of discourse creation in the 21 st century using a combination …

From The Fangs Of Monsters: Gender, Empire, And Civilization In The Pacific, 1800-1850, Michael David Chavez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

As the nineteenth century commenced, contact between Pacific Islanders and Anglo-Americans increased as did the concern for what resulted from those interactions. In the United States, antebellum restrained men––those who upheld their Protestant faith, self-reliance, and familial values––used ideals of gender to combat the perceived “savagery” of Pacific Islanders and the corruption of American sailors among them. In the mission field, restrained men consciously sought after Anglo-American women’s influence often believing them to be the moral authority of a softer form of empire. This particular form of empire was not government led; nor did it entail the immediate conquest of …

/S/ Aspiration In Ciudad Juárez And Speech Accommodation, Sandra Esparza

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Phonological variation in Spanish mainly affects consonants rather than vowels. One of the consonants that is part of the variation is /s/ (Hualde, 2005). The phonological process that commonly affects /s/ is aspiration and is defined as the absence of the oral place features while a glottal friction is retained (Clements, 1985). Aspiration occurs in about half of the Spanish-speaking world (Terrell, 1981) and constitutes one of the most useful stylistic and sociolinguistic variables that characterizes Spanish social dialects and discourse models (Lipski, 1991). Aspiration is present in several Spanish dialects in Latin America (Resnick, 1975). In the specific case …

An Echo Of Swelling Voices, A Meta-Fictional Novella, Adolfo Danilo Lopez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Horacio P. is an exiled Nicaraguan American poet living and teaching in Austin, Texas since the 1970s. Despite his enormous reputation and highly supportive wife, he feels incapable to write his last, and best, novel. This novel is about the life of Asdreni, an Albanian poet who was also exiled in Romania during the time before World War II, and his quest to find out who sent him a mysterious box containing the unpublished manuscripts of an unknown poet. One day, Horacio himself also receives a mysterious box containing the unpublished manuscripts of an unknown poet. His novel and his …

Agent Of Social Capital: An Autoethnographic Study Of A First Time Superintendent, Juan I. Martinez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This autoethnography analyzes how my experiences growing up on the Mexico-United States border influenced my superintendency. My particular focus was on my role as an agent of social capital for all students, including low-socioeconomic, at-risk and minority students. Collectively, over fifty percent of school-aged children in the United States are now from a minority ethnic group, of which Hispanic/Latino students constitute the vast majority. Research on academically successful minority students suggests that the social capital students receive from institutional agents at school expands opportunities for academic and lifelong success. Traditionally, however, institutional agents are teachers, counselors, and social workers, not …

New Black Boxes: Technologically Mediated Intercultural Rhetorical Encounters On The U.S.-Mexico Border, Beau Scott Pihlaja

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Activity theory (AT) and actor-network theory (ANT) as theoretical frameworks begin their analysis of the world with the concept of "actors" engaged in activity towards some objective and with other actors in the human and non-human world. In this project, I use AT and ANT to analyze the mediating effect of communication technologies in intercultural rhetorical contexts, in this case a binational small business, and address two questions: 1.) How do common communication technologies (email, phone, IM chat, texting applications) define and transform intercultural rhetorical encounters? And 2.) How do individuals rhetorically engage perceived cultural others using common communication technologies …

Emergent Bilinguals' Engagement In An Online Mathematics Course Utilizing An Intelligent Tutoring System, Julian Viera Jr

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Students in today's digital world draw from multiple sources of information, hypertext, videos, educational software, social media, and video games to create a multimodal learning environment (Luke, 2005). In 1994, Griffiths, et al. (1994) found that the impact of information technology on oppressed cultures hampered their education when the technology was not available in their native language and culture. Students from countries that did not have the resources to develop software in their native language felt that their language and culture did not relate to the modern world. When these students arrived in the United States and found technology in …

An Environmental Scan Of Diagnostic Practices For Children With Disabilities In El Paso, Alezandra Martinez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

With the prevalence of developmental disabilities in the rise in the United States, it is important that these children are identified and diagnosed as soon as possible so that they may receive appropriate medical treatment and intervention. However, research suggests that there are several factors that influence screening, referral, and diagnostic practices. This study aimed to analyze key themes that arose when parents of children with disabilities and pediatric healthcare providers discussed screening, referral, and diagnostic practices for children in El Paso, a medically underserved community. Researchers conducted a 2- phase study that employed both quantitative and qualitative methodology. Results …

Psychometric Properties Of The Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire In An Argentine Sample, Maria Noel Anchorena, Fiona Ghiglione, Martin Nader

Archives of Assessment Psychology

Mindfulness-based interventions have proliferated in both clinical and non-clinical contexts in recent years, as has scientific research investigating their effectiveness. To date, numerous questionnaires have been developed for measuring state and trait mindfulness. Very few, however, have been validated within non-English speaking populations, in which mindfulness is now increasingly of interest. In this regard, this study examined the psychometric properties of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire for a Spanish-speaking sample from Argentina. Reliability, convergent, and discriminant validity scores were acceptable and in line with previous studies. Using CFA techniques, the results show a reduction in the scale to 22-items and …

Principle And Politics In The New History Of Originalism, Logan E. Sawyer Iii

Scholarly Works

The emergence of a new form of originalism has sparked an interest in the theory’s past that is particularly welcome as developments on the Supreme Court and in the Republican Party unsettle the theory’s place in American law and politics. Our understanding of the theory’s development, however, has been limited by an unfortunate and unnecessary division between what are now two separate histories of originalism. One history examines the theory’s development in academia and emphasizes the influence of principled argument. A second investigates its role in politics and highlights the role of conservative interests. This review essay identifies this division …

The Relationship Between Transmission Of Sexual Knowledge, Sexual Attitude, And Culture, Esther M. Hooley

Dissertations

Purpose

Sexual knowledge is important for healthy development of adolescents and adults. Currently, there is no consistent mode of introducing the topic of sex to an individual who has not previously learned about the topic. If a shift were to occur in transmission of sexual knowledge, whether by creating a consistent mode, a culture-specific mode, or focusing on sexual attitude rather than behavior, future populations would be positively influenced. If the educational system, religious organizations, and families could be informed of an appropriate and meaningful way to communicate sexual knowledge to adolescents, negative sexual outcomes have the potential to decrease …

Development And Application Of Self-Awareness In Project Leadership: A Multiple Case Study Of Department Of Defense Project Managers, Jeffrey Brian Hart

Dissertations

Problem

This study explored how Project Managers (PMs) in the Department of Defense (DoD) come to understand, develop, and apply self-awareness in leading their projects. The DoD invests heavily in developing their project leaders by providing training, experiences, developmental assignments, and other tools such as self-assessments presumably to help them lead more authentically and become more self-aware as a way to improve project management. Despite this investment, it is unclear how self-awareness is actually developed in PMs and integrated into their leadership practice. In view of the importance of self-awareness in leadership, more understanding is needed on how self-awareness is …

Cultural, Linguistic, Curricular And Financial Stories Of Andrews University International Undergraduate Students And Their Experiences Of Coping During The Academic Year 2014-2015: A Narrative Study, Renaude Etienne Saint-Phard

Dissertations

Problem

The internationalization trends indicate that global growth of international students moving from one country to another is predicted to exceed 7.2 billion in 2025 (IIE, 2011)). This crossing of borders inevitably evokes that international students confront multifaceted challenges in their host country. Although many facets of research have addressed their multilayered challenges, most of these studies do not give a voice to international undergraduate students nor do they seek to understand their cultural, linguistic, curricular, and financial narratives. Most importantly, these studies do not explore how international undergraduate students cope with their challenges. It is essential to understand how …

Marlowe’S Radical Reformation: Christopher Marlowe And The Radical Christianity Of The Polish Brethren, Kristin M.S. Bezio

Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications

Although scholars of both literature and history have made arguments for Christopher Marlowe’s religious belief in Catholicism, the Church of England, and even atheism (which could have been conflated with both by different parties during his lifetime), few consider the belief system of the Polish Brethren, a precursor to Unitarianism established by one Faustus Socinus. This essay uses historical and social network analyses to suggest a close tie between Marlowe’s acquaintances and believers in Socinianism. Clues in Doctor Faustus and Massacre at Paris suggest Marlowe’s skepticism concerning the doctrines of Catholicism, Lutheranism, and Calvinism. Furthermore, repeated references to Poland and …

The Role Of The Short-Term Mission Trip Process In The Development Of Cultural Intelligence In University Students: A Collective Case Study, Ashley Haygood

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this collective case study was to determine how, if at all, Cultural Intelligence (CQ) develops in undergraduate students through a three-stage mission trip process for students at a large Christian university in the southeast participating in three separate short-term mission trips (Africa, Asia, and Europe). This study found that across the entire short-term mission (STM) trip process, religious faith was a consistent theme impacting CQ development. Three spring break short-term mission trip teams were used as three separate cases, from which several participants, or embedded units, provided their individual experiences within the case. Data collection methods occurred …

What Students Do With Words: Language Use And Communicative Function In Full And Partial Immersion Classrooms, Katherine Christoffersen

Writing and Language Studies Faculty Publications

Over the past 35 years, language immersion programs have been steadily increasing in number throughout the U.S. The popularity of these diverse, linguistically complex educational programs has led to a rather extensive body of research on language immersion and dual language contexts. Research, however, has thus far focused primarily on the quantification of language use (the amount of target language versus first language use) in different settings and with different interlocutors. Very few studies have probed the interesting and significant sociolinguistic question of what students ‘do’ with languages in the classroom. The present study fills this research gap by investigating …

Spanish Speaking Institutions And Language Assimilation In The Rio Grande Valley, Alexandre Couture Gagnon, Carlos Gutierrez-Mannix

Political Science Faculty Publications

The Rio Grande Valley in Texas, situated on the US-Mexico border, has a population of more than one million, of which more than 90% is of Latino descent.1 However, no public institutions formally function in Spanish, thus inhibiting institutional completeness2 and challenging long-term preservation of the language. Why does this population of Latino descent not demand Spanish-language service? Contrary to traditional research on institutional completeness, we consider institutions as the dependent variable and argue that the absence of institutions reflects the perception, within the population, of inferior status ascribed to Spanish when compared to English.

Mindset, Academic Motivation, And Academic Self-Efficacy As Correlates Of Academic Achievement Among Undergraduate Students In Communication Sciences And Disorders Programs, Heather Loraine Ferguson

Dissertations

Problem

Higher education serves many stakeholders including students, parents, faculty, staff, university administrators, and other contributors. Those stakeholders are all linked with one purpose: the success of the student. That success or failure is most commonly measured by achievement through grade point average (GPA). The academic demands within the college/university setting is high. Limited academic achievement can result in academic failure, being placed on academic probation, even losing scholarships and grants. Students enter college, progress through college, and often graduate without having a real understanding for what it truly takes to be academically successful and what factors may contribute to …

‘A Fluctuating Relationship With Nature’: Tom Raworth's Ecopoetics, Mandy Bloomfield

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

Cultural Differences In Attention: Eye Movement Evidence From A Comparative Visual Search Task., Albandri Alotaibi, Geoffrey Underwood, Alastair D. Smith

School of Psychology

Individual differences in visual attention have been linked to thinking style: analytic thinking (common in individualistic cultures) is thought to promote attention to detail and focus on the most important part of a scene, whereas holistic thinking (common in collectivist cultures) promotes attention to the global structure of a scene and the relationship between its parts. However, this theory is primarily based on relatively simple judgement tasks. We compared groups from Great Britain (an individualist culture) and Saudi Arabia (a collectivist culture) on a more complex comparative visual search task, using simple natural scenes. A higher overall number of fixations …