Education Commons^™

Imagining What Could Be: The Role Of Youth Leadership In Realizing College For All, Tara Bahl

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In New York City, there exists an uneven landscape of college guidance among high schools, creating a college "guidance gap". While some schools offer robust counseling that helps students contextualize college admissions information toward making relevant college decisions, other schools have elevated student-to-counselor rates and do not have access to other educational resources necessary to effectively support students. Using ethnographic research and survey data, anchored by dynamic narrative inquiry, this dissertation explores how young people enrolled in under-resourced schools can act as agents of change in the lives of their peers within the context of college planning. Youth Leadership for …

View From The Front Gate: A Comparative Study Of Nyc Schools From A College Admissions Perspective, Sharon Hardy

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study evaluated patterns of college applications from NYC Schools to CUNY. Specifically, a cohort of former large high schools that were reorganized into small schools of choice (SSCs) under the City's Children First education plan were studied. Coupled with the assessments of college admissions directors, the study concluded that despite an increase in applications, the outcomes of student academic quality and college preparation from a college admissions perspective were mixed.

College Graduation Rates Of Hispanic Students: A Review Of The Literature, Jessica Hall

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This literature review examines what factors cause Hispanic college students to drop out before completing their bachelor's degrees. Factors include the type of college attended, financial aid, attending college part-time, enrolling in college later in life, stopping-out, taking a gap year, parents' educational levels, whether students are native- or foreign-born, high school academics, SAT and standardized test scores, college academics, the peer group, multiple disadvantages can compound for Hispanic students, sense of belonging on campus, stereotype threat, and a mentoring program. Recommendations are made for how non-college-educated Hispanic parents can be better informed about the college application process, what student …

What's "Black" Got To Do With It: An Analysis Of Low-Income Black Students And Educational Outcomes, Derrick E. Griffith

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Well-known social scientist William Wilson notes the Black underclass is particularly at risk of developing behaviors and attitudes that promote educational and social isolation. This situation has become characteristic of America's inner cities (Wilson 1996). Education as the great arbiter of social mobility seems to be less true for America's most vulnerable Black students. Low-income Black students graduate high school at a much lower rate than their middle- to upper-income counterparts. This statistic prompts the examination of low-income (vulnerable) students and their high school educational outcomes.

The educational (under)achievement of Black students has been well documented and researched. Far too …

Children First Reforms, Fair Student Funding And The Displacement Of Accountability In The New York City Department Of Education, Daniel Voloch

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

During the first decade of the 21st century, Chancellor Joel Klein and Mayor Michael Bloomberg oversaw a radical transformation of the New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) into a portfolio management district in which the primary responsibility of the NYCDOE was not to develop the capacity of school leaders or teachers, but instead to create a marketplace through which strong schools could be created and failing schools could be closed. Central to these reforms was a focus on the individual school as the site of both reform and accountability. In a 2006 interview with William Ouchi (2009), Joel Klein …

El Bilinguismo Espanol-Ingles Y La Nueva Politica Educativa En Espana: Analisis Ideologico-Linguistico, Vi­Ctor M. Meirino Guede

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The global integration of the labor market, in particular integration at the European level, has produced a tendency towards the integration of educational demands for school populations. An important part of this integration is the formation of a space of transnational linguistic communication, based on the establishment of English as a lingua franca. Within this context, linguistic competency in English is seen not only as a cultural resource, but above all as an economic opportunity--or even a prerequisite. This is why many countries have proposed educational policies that attempt to provide a higher level of linguistic competence in English for …

The Effects Of School Autonomy On Students' Reading Achievement In Early Grades: A Dose-Response Treatment Approach, Esther Ferreira Dos Santos Carvalhaes

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

School autonomy is at the core of influential educational policies aimed at improving school effectiveness and students' academic performance both in the United States and abroad. Initiatives that promote a transfer of authority from higher levels of the school system to local schools, such as the charter school movement and School-Based Management (SBM), have become increasingly popular in the last two decades. These initiatives operate under the premise that local stakeholders (principals, teachers, and parents) understand their students' needs better than higher-level administrators, which enables them to make better educational decisions regarding students' academic success. However, despite the prominence of …

Teachers At Work: Factors Influencing Satisfaction, Retention And The Professional Well-Being Of Elementary And Secondary Educators, Patrick Edward O'Reilly

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The purpose of this study has been to explore the question of how factors in the work lives of teachers influence their experience of workplace satisfaction, and how satisfaction influences retention in the teaching profession. This study had three specific goals: (1) to examine whether five specified factors that teachers' encounter as workers influence their professional satisfaction, (2) to explore whether teacher satisfaction influences retention in the profession and (3) to determine whether school level taught plays a role in degrees of satisfaction a teacher experiences.

Data was collected over a period of five months, using a survey administered to …

In And Out Of Uniform: The Transition Of Iraq And Afghanistan War Veterans Into Higher Education, Vienna Messina

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

IN AND OUT OF UNIFORM:

THE TRANSITION OF IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN WAR VETERANS INTO HIGHER EDUCATION

by

Vienna Messina

Advisor: Professor Colette Daiute

With the exit of US combat troops from Iraq in 2011 and the subsequent drawdown of forces in Afghanistan, much public attention became focused on the reintegration of veterans of these wars into all aspects of civilian life. Record numbers of returning veterans enrolled in higher education. Abramson (2012) reported that, since 2009, when the Post-9/11 GI Bill became effective, more than 860,000 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans had used its generous provisions for further education and projected …

On Becoming A Teacher (Or Not): Students Of Color's Perceptions Of Teachers' Work, Consideration Of Teaching As A Career, And Implications For Diversifying The Teaching Force, Amanda Lee Winkelsas

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The racial/ethnic demographics of the American public school teaching force stand in contrast to the racial/ethnic demographics of the students and families who are served by our public school system. In an effort to understand the racial/ethnic demographic disparities between the teaching force and the public school student population, this study explores the perceptions of students of color as they relate to teachers' work, authority, and power. Utilizing a participatory, mixed methods approach in one public, urban, college preparatory school, I analyze the experiences, cultural models, and knowledges that shape students' perceptions of teachers' work and their own consideration of …