Education Commons^™

The Cumulation Of Relationships, Vanessa Martinez Rios

CGU Theses & Dissertations

This is an approach to understand the complexities of becoming an effective educator using an ethnographic lens. This narrative outlines my first impressions of teaching, and it goes beyond to discuss the impact that community, school, and teacher relationships have on student success. The purpose of this ethnography is rooted in my progressive understanding of how to become an effective and socially just educator in Lincoln Heights. Through an impeccable experience in my very own classroom, I was able to capture the essence of quality relationships with my students and fellow teachers. A year packed with great content and strategies …

The Journey That Led Me To Becoming A Critical Social Justice Educator, Stephanie Gatica

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Within this ethnographic narrative, the works of several theorists who discuss the importance of Critical Social Justice and its effect on students within the classroom will be discussed and put to practice. Beginning May 2019 and carrying through July of 2020, I held these theories closely as they helped pave the way of my first year as a teacher of record, and have since shaped me into the woman I recognize myself as today. Within this document, you will read about the expectations I held myself subject to before going into the classroom, case studies of three students whom I …

Visualizing Girlhood: Visibility And The Power Of The Black Girl Gaze To Understand Adolescent Girls’ Identity, Darielle Blevins

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Black feminist scholars have highlighted the various ways Black women and girls are rendered invisible throughout many U.S. institutions. In the past few years, advocates have called attention to the ways gendered-racialized biases contribute to the punitive and dehumanizing treatment of Black girls in school. This study will demonstrate how Black adolescent girls negotiate their identity at school through the creation of self-portraits. By using dual self-portraits, in which girls are able to express their own perspective and imagine the perspective of their teacher, Black adolescent girls are allowed the space to explore the relationship between power, culture and their …

Beyond Language: Critical And Sustainable Sociocultural Competence In A Dual Language Program, Verónica González

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Despite the ideological controversies and political backlash that surround the field of bilingual education in the United States, current research indicates a growing interest in dual language (DL) programs—an additive bilingual education model. However, this growing interest has been accompanied by inequities in the implementation of DL programs that negatively affect minoritized students. One recommendation is for DL programs to center equity through sociocultural competence—the third goal of DL education (Howard et al., 2018). Through an analysis of administrator and teacher interviews, school documents, and field observations, this single case study examines educators’ ideologies and practices in regards to sociocultural …

Cultural Social Capital Impact For Male Latino Students At The Community College, Lisa Christine Nashua

CGU Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to apply Yosso’s community cultural wealth framework to understand the role of cultural social capital on the successful attainment of the higher education goals of Latino male students at the Community College while identifying the best methods to increase engagement including creating a sense of belonging. The researcher conducted 24 semi-structured face to face interviews with 20 Latino male students enrolled full or part time, three tenured faculty members and one staff member at a single community college in southern California. Findings revealed that the important role the development of cultural social capital on …

Transcending Compromise: Principal Practices Predicting Teacher Effectiveness And Teacher Morale, David George Grant

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Two leadership styles have dominated the literature- instructional leadership and transformational leadership. No study could be found quantitatively integrating principal practices from these styles in ways that simultaneously predicted teacher effectiveness and teacher morale. Therefore, this study sought to better understand the complex relationships between principal practices, teacher effectiveness and teacher morale. First, this study synthesized meta analyses of principal effects for studies produced between 1978-2008 and presented a unique empirically grounded integration framework summarizing principal effects for student achievement and teacher morale. Second, the study used this framework to explore four research questions. An online survey was utilized to …

Mindfulness, And Workplace Outcomes For Secondary Teachers, Jonathan Erickson

CGU Theses & Dissertations

For teachers to most effectively teach and support students in their classrooms, we want them to feel good about the work they do and burnout from emotional exhaustion. This study investigates how mindfulness, as measured by a comprehensive questionnaire, may play an important role in supporting teachers’ well-being, and specifically asks how mindfulness and other demographic factors may affect the key workplace outcomes of job satisfaction, efficacy, burnout, and resilience. Analyses were performed on data collected from 86 participants, of 330 who were contacted, and who were all secondary teachers in the Los Angeles area at total of five urban …

Organizational Readiness, Resistance And Race: Examining Faculty Attitudes Toward Faculty Diversification In Higher Education, Krystal Denise Miguel Rawls

CGU Theses & Dissertations

The national demographic is changing, and institutions of higher education must prepare to change if they are to meet the needs of their new population. Identifying change readiness and potential resistance factors are primary steps in motivating organizational change. This study will investigate the academy’s organizational readiness for change using historical analysis to ascertain: 1) does the demographic mismatch require a change? 2) is faculty diversification the best solution to the demographic mismatch? And statistical analyses to determine: 3) the extent to which faculty feel they benefit or are harmed by faculty diversification? 4) does administration tangibly support development of …

Youth Of Promise: Academic Success And Future Stem Aspirations At An Alternative Education Program, Anthony Peña

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Providing an equitable science education to Black and Latinx youth who have dropped out of their traditional schools is a significant issue for three reasons: (a) it can provide a pathway to a quality employment opportunity, (b) success in science classes can support success in academics, and (c) development of youth who have an efficient and critical understanding of science phenomena is an issue of social justice. The idea that education is the great equalizer depends on many factors, such as socioeconomic status, racial background, and the zip code in which you live. Students of color (i.e., Black and Latinx) …

Ethnographic Narrative Project- My Journey To Teaching, Linda Melendez

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Abstract

When a flower doesn’t bloom, you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower.

Alexander Den Heijer

This is one of my favorite quotes because the message it portrays is very powerful. This is the motto that I have abided by in the past and will continue to abide by in the future as an educator. Like the quote states, I feel that educators, are the environment and it is up to us to build an environment where students are given diverse opportunities to feel empowered and acquire the tools to succeed. Being a first year …

Southeast Asian American Students’ Perspectives On Influences That Lead To High School Dropout, Elizabeth D. Kuo

CGU Theses & Dissertations

High school dropouts continue to happen in the U.S. without a clear solution. Southeast Asian American (SEAA) is a population with significantly disproportionate high school dropout rates and one of the lowest enrollment rates in higher education. This study seeks to challenge the notion that “all” Asians are high-achieving by analyzing the reasons why a surprising number do not do well, i.e., drop out of school. A better understanding of the perspectives of Southeast Asian American students on the factors and influences that lead to their decision or cause to drop out of high school is the focus of this …

Translanguaging In Community College English As A Second Language: Exploring A Rubric For Teaching During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Debra Hills

CGU Theses & Dissertations

English language learners represent one of the fastest growing, and diverse, group of students in California community colleges. The successful adoption of translanguaging to English as a second language (ESL) classrooms may provide an equitable way for teachers to ensure students reach their academic goals and foster bilingual identity development. With the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic comes new challenges for ensuring continued access to learning for ESL students. The pandemic also calls into question the traditional norms of language teaching as students and teachers must move to digital spaces to learn and teach. Using a theoretical framework rooted in …

Investigating The Social Capital & Help-Seeking Behaviors Of High School Latino Foster Youth, Rachel Acosta

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Foster youth in high school face a barrage of obstacles not faced by their peers, obstacles which make it challenging to finish high school and gain acceptance into four-year universities. But foster youth are resilient in ways that we can only begin to understand, navigating how to codeswitch, and speak to social workers, lawyers, foster parents, teachers, and peers to gain the resources they need to be successful. Within the past ten years, there has been a multitude of research on foster youths, which examine mental health, graduation rates, college acceptance, and the importance of mentorship. Missing from the research …

The Triumvirate Woman: Reconceptualizing Academic Career Messages For African American Women In Engineering, Latrice Diane Bonner

CGU Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to understand the importance of access, equity, inclusion, and diversity in engineering by intentionally focusing on academic career messages for African American women who are tenured and tenure-track in engineering through the lens of Critical Race Theory, Black feminist thought, and intersectionality. This study illuminates within-group differences at the intersection of race, gender, field, and rank, while incorporating a conceptual framework that examines both the macro and micro perception of higher education. There was also a need to transform simultaneous forms of oppression into sources of empowerment. Therefore, this study utilized empirical research to …

Factors Influencing The Retention And Graduation Of Latino Male Students: Four-Year Hispanic-Serving Institutions, Freddie Sánchez

CGU Theses & Dissertations

This qualitative dissertation explores factors that contribute to first-generation Latino male retention and graduation at California State Universities (CSU) that are also designated as Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI). This study is informed by the main research question: How do Latino males use their own Community Cultural Wealth for their retention while enrolled at southern California CSUs designated as Hispanic-Serving Institutions? Utilizing Yosso (2005) Community Cultural Wealth model as the Theoretical framework guiding the research study, the study explores how participants used the various forms of capital: Aspirational, Familial, Linguistic, Navigational, Resistant and Social to successfully graduate. A phenomenological design was used …

Reimagining The Polynesian Pipeline Phenomenon: An Intersectionality Of Race & Athletics In The College-Going Decisions Of Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander High School Student-Athletes, Samara Iusitina Suafo'a

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander (NHOPI) high school student-athletes are highly sought after by collegiate athletic programs across the country, creating the Polynesian Pipeline phenomenon (Johnston, 1976; Tengan and Markham, 2009; Uperesa, 2014; Vainuku and Cohn, 2015). However, the college graduation rates of NHOPIs remain comparable to those of other minoritized communities. Utilizing an adapted conceptual framework of college access (Ogbu, 1990; Tierney and Venegas, 2009) which argues that college-going decisions are impacted by multiple environmental influencers, this study examines the role of the Polynesian Pipeline one of those contextual factors in the college choice process for NHOPI student-athletes. Furthermore, this …

The Impact Of Gamification On Second-Language Learning, Maram Almufareh

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Background: The Technology-Enhanced Training Effectiveness Model (TETEM) has been used to assess the effectiveness of various technology driven solutions in improving students’ learning outcomes in multiple academic fields. However, limited research is available on the use of TETEM in the context of second language learning. Using a modified TETEM, this study seeks first, to assess the direct effects of student’s attitude, and experience with video-gaming on student’s achievement and second, to evaluate the effects of student’s attitude and experience that are mediated by student’s motivation. Methods: This study was conducted among preparatory year students at Al-Jouf University, Saudi Arabia. In …

My Life Long Dream: My Teaching And Educational Journey, Karla Torres Hernandez

CGU Theses & Dissertations

This ethnography follows my journey teaching kindergarten in the Ontario/Montclair neighborhood in San Bernardino. Its purpose is to understand the macro and micro levels of the community to inform my teaching practices and support my students and families. On a micro-level, I conducted case studies on three specific students. Data analysis of in-home interviews, personal interactions, and assessments allowed me to create action plans to best support these students’ academic, social, and emotional needs. On a macro level, I studied my students’ environments: community, school, and classroom. By analyzing whole class and individual student data and reflecting on my own …

My Journey On Becoming A Critical Social Justice Educator As A Woman Of Color, America Lopez

CGU Theses & Dissertations

This writing is a narrative that retells different stages throughout my life, including the different experiences I have endured being a graduate student and a first-year teacher at the same time. Its purpose is to share my journey from the beginning to the end of my first year as a teacher. I share my reflections as I continuously look back on how I began to slowly-but surely-develop my criticality lens. While being a graduate student [of color] in a space that was historically and intentionally not created for me, this roller coaster ride has been anything but easy. However, I …

The Impact Of A University/Online Program Management Provider Partnership On Faculty Approaches To Teaching Design: A Case Study Using Activity Theory, Swati Ramani

CGU Theses & Dissertations

As the number of online courses increase in Higher Education, many higher education institutions outsource online course development to an Online Program Management (OPM) provider because of a lack of budget, staff, and technology. Current research indicates that OPMs often do not have instructional design (ID) services tailored to a specific university. This research uses a Case Study in order to analyze how the nature and dynamics of a business partnership between a research university and an OPM provider impact faculty engagement and development of pedagogical and technological knowledge. They Activity Theory conceptual framework was used to direct inquiry and …

Struggling Readers And Dyslexic Readers: A Comparative Study Of Student Intervention Files, Katherine Casey Spengler

CGU Theses & Dissertations

This qualitative study framed in the Simple View of Reading (Gough & Tunmer, 1986; Hoover & Gough, 1990) examined similarities and differences between students labeled struggling readers and those labeled students with or at risk for dyslexia. The study utilized document analysis to analyze the clinical reading intervention files of 44 students, kindergarten through grade 3, from two afterschool literacy clinics, an urban, community-based clinic and a suburban, private clinic. Document analysis of the files of 21 students with or at risk for dyslexia and 23 struggling readers provided data for thematic analysis of the labels used to describe readers …

Unorthodox Support: How Mentors Of Undocumented Immigrant Students Leverage Community Cultural Wealth To Pave The Way For College Success, Keisha Chin Goosby

CGU Theses & Dissertations

This qualitative study explored the mentoring experiences of undocumented immigrant students (UIS) who have graduated from a four-year college or university in the United States. There has been an increase in research about undocumented immigrant students and there is an established body of literature about mentoring. However, there are few studies which focus on the mentoring of undocumented immigrant students. In addition, this study appears to be the first to focus primarily on the mentors of those students. The literature review establishes the multiple challenges that UIS face and their need for sustained support from capable mentors. Further, a prior …

A Humanizing Pedagogy And Curriculum: Lessons From Chicanx/Latinx Student Testimonios In A High School Ethnic Studies Classroom, Jorge Alberto López

CGU Theses & Dissertations

In this dissertation, I draw on the experiential knowledge of students in a high school ethnic studies classroom at Eastside High School in Los Angeles to distill concrete lessons for educators to bring humanizing teaching approaches the classroom, teacher-student relationships, and their students’ lives. Using a methodological approach grounded in testimonios , pláticas , and encuentros , and drawing on my seventeen years of ethnic studies-informed classroom teaching experience, I argue that the humanizing pedagogical project is an ongoing process—one that is at times contested and contradictory and one that is fundamentally grounded in reciprocity, relationality, and vulnerability. Building on …

Examining Intergroup Relationships Between Black And Latino Males At A 4-Year Public University, Matthew Smith

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Heightened competition between racial groups, coupled with negative perceptions of one another, has led to increased conflict between people of color in urban communities. Often at the center of conflicts are men of color. Despite vast research studying experiences of men of color, very little research has explored how men of color build relationships across racial differences. This study examines how Black and Latino males in a Male of Color Initiative (MCI) at a public 4-year university developed intergroup relationships across racial differences. This study used a phenomenological approach consisting of in-depth interviews with current and former participants in MCIs. …

Improving Outcomes For Children Impacted By Adverse Childhood Experiences (Aces): A Study Of Intervention Effectiveness Guided By Developmental Theory, Lisa Teachanarong Aragon

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) is the term often used to refer to a set of negative experiences occurring in childhood that hold high potential for inducing toxic stress and complex trauma in children (Felitti et al., 1998). Studies have shown that ACEs are common, often co-occur, and exhibit a strong dose-response relationship to many developmental outcomes across the lifespan (e.g., Anda et al., 2006; Blodgett, 2014; Dong et al., 2004; Metzler et al., 2017). As public awareness of ACEs, their prevalence, and their impact has spread, public interest in implementing effective prevention and intervention strategies has also increased (Donisch et …

Hwalbay Ginya Misi', Elise-Alexandria Green

CGU Theses & Dissertations

My life experiences shape me as who I am as an educator. I walk with the knowledge of my ancestors and the protection of the creator. The path of which I walk is full of obstacles and challenges. I use my positionality to put myself in the shoes of my students. I am more than what I appear to be. I am a sister, daughter, student, and educator. In the Hualapai language, Hwalbay ginya misi’, translates to “Hualapai sister and daughter”. I use this title to reflect my identity and honor my culture. My ethnography describes my experience as a …

Perfecting The Craft Of Teaching, Stephanie Nunez

CGU Theses & Dissertations

This ethnographic narrative follows my journey as a fifth grade teacher in the greater Los Angeles area. The purpose of this ethnography is to follow the development of my journey as a first-year teacher. In this ethnography, I explore my positionality and the levels of community, school, and classroom as ways to inform and improve my teaching practices as a social-justice educator. I begin this four part narrative by discussing my positionality and how it relates to my desires of becoming a teacher. Through this narrative, I was then able to conduct three case studies of students with different identities …

Ethnographic Narrative, Craig Bond

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Abstract

In this narrative you will see my journey in becoming a Critical Social Justice Educator. In addition to this, you will see how I made my decision to become a teacher along with the continued development in learning the craft. As this narrative continues, you will be introduced to my three focus students in a detailed manner as well as learn about the community in which I served during the 2019 - 2020 school year. The purpose of this narrative is to track both my and my students’ documented growth throughout the year, make connections to different elements that …

Shifting Education From Theoretical To Practical, Juan Ledesma Mendoza

CGU Theses & Dissertations

My parents always emphasized the value of education and the opportunity it could breed. With this in mind, I set out within my community and hometown, teaching at the very same high school I graduated from. My background directly shapes the educator I am, the values I hold, and the biases that may impact me. Through student research, I was able to look at three case studies and glean insight as to how to better serve my specific kids. I reflected on my community, school, and classroom allowing me to inspect the different layers impacting my students and how to …

Understanding The Personal And Academic Experiences Of Graduate Students With Disabilities, Andrea Mozqueda

CGU Theses & Dissertations

This qualitative research study explored current graduate students with disabilities personal and academic experiences. The three theoretical frameworks utilized were Disability Studies in Education (DSE), intersectionality and Disability Critical Race Theory (DisCrit) to connect how race, gender, sexual orientation, and disability identities impact graduate students with disabilities experiences. This dissertation study had a total of four research questions to explore the impact of graduate students with disabilities higher education experiences. This research study was conducted at three different California higher education institutions: two private universities and one public university. There was a total of twenty graduate student participants interviewed that …