Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons^™

Exploring That Fulbright Magic: A Transcendental Phenomenological Study Of Fulbright-Mescyt Alumni Who Return To The Dominican Republic, Joshabel De La Cruz

Dissertations

International higher education graduates may experience challenges related to reentry to their home countries as their expectations upon returning home may not match their reality (Alandejani, 2013; Butcher, 2002, Gaw, 2000). This study utilizes a transcendental phenomenological approach to understand the lived experiences of seven Fulbright-MESCYT alumni who completed U.S. graduate degree programs and returned home to the Dominican Republic (DR) between 2015 and 2018. The Fulbright-MESCYT Program in the DR is a joint initiative of the U.S. Embassy in Santo Domingo and the Dominican Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology (MESCYT) and adds funding for up to 10 …

An Ethnohistorical Study Of The Dowagiac Chieftains, Kathryn A. Bishop

Masters Theses

This research uses ethnohistorical methods to examine the use of imagery appropriated from American Indian cultures by the Dowagiac Union Schools. High School yearbooks from 1899- 2014, along with other artifacts, were identified as sources of information to describe students’ experiences. Applying Brayboy’s (2005) Tribal Critical Race Theory, an off-shoot of Critical Race Theory, combined with the research of historical and theoretical scholars like Davis (2002), Pewewardy (2001), and Deloria, King, and Springwood (2001), a case is made for the removal of American Indian mascots used by educational institutions, including the Dowagiac Chieftains. Though over 1,750 occasions of American Indian-appropriated …

Killing Me Softly: The Missed Education Of African American Females, Margaret Daphne Cattenhead

Masters Theses

Using a literature review and personal experience, this paper aims to examine the paradoxes and barriers of African American girls in education. The educational system has left black females without support to ensure consistent results across a variety of settings and environments. There are a variety of voices on what barriers African American girls face and how those barriers influence their educational progress. Despite some progress, many African American girls are at risk for suspension, expulsion, and grade retention. They are at risk to be pressured into dominant culture norms for behavior, to be regarded as subordinate, to be negatively …

From Descendants Of Refugees To First-Generation College Students: The Untold Story Of Southeast Asian American College Students’ Lived Experience, Vunsin Hiew Doubblestein

Dissertations

Aggregate data on Asian Pacific Americans (APAs) may show APAs to have exceptionally high educational attainment and economic mobility compared to other racial groups (Museus & Buenavista, 2016). In reality, various APA sub-groups face significant obstacles to academic access and success and are found at both the highest and lowest levels of the achievement, as well as educational attainment and income spectrums. In spite of the growing awareness of and scholarship on the complexity of APA student experience in higher education, there is limited research on Southeast Asian Americans (SEAAs) who have come to the U.S. as refugees, the circumstances …

Senegal's Language Problem: A Discourse Of Disparity, Monica Naida

Honors Theses

The purpose of this research is to assess the deficiencies of the Senegalese education system and to evaluate improvements to the system so that it works for the Senegalese, instead of against them. My research is mostly concerned with the process in which the French language is taught in schools. I explain these deficiencies in the education system through elucidation of the discourse used by the French colonizer, politicians, non-governmental organizations, teachers, and parents. My approach to this research includes an extensive literature review as well as my own personal observations during a faculty-led research trip to Dakar, Senegal during …

A Study Of The Effects Of Charter Schools On Achievement, Attendance And Selected Mitigating Factors In A Midwestern State’S Small Urban School Districts, Frederick C. Clarke

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine whether students attending urban charter schools did better, or worse, than students attending traditional public schools, over a five-year time period, in a Midwestern state. Thirty-one urban school districts affiliated with a Midwestern Urban Education Association, and corresponding charter schools, located within these Midwestern school districts, were selected to participate in this study.

This study utilized a quasi-experimental research design and was supported by the earlier research of Dr. Gary Miron and Dr. Jerry Horn from Western Michigan University (Miron & Horn, 2000; Miron & Horn, 2002; Miron, 2005) and Dr. Scott …

Traveling With A Purpose: Stories Of Contradiction And Transformation In International Service-Learning, Rebecca A. Mcnamara

Dissertations

Different conceptualizations of service‐learning are found in higher education, ranging from charity to social justice focused. Little is known about the lasting impact of social justice focused service-learning on undergraduate participants, especially in a global education setting. This study examined the experience and meaning making of participants of critical international service-learning (ISL) over time. Nineteen alumni of five ISL courses at three different higher education institutions were interviewed in this phenomenological study. Participants described contrasting experiences of being both stretched and destabilized, friend and foreigner, and finding the service‐learning both enjoyable and unsettling. The long term impact of ISL course …

Testing The Tests: An Investigation Into The Effectiveness Of Alternative Assessment Methods For Bilingual Language-Impaired Children, Lena G. Caesar

The Hilltop Review

Alternative language assessment procedures are gaining in prominence as authentic alternatives to traditional measures, but scant data exist regarding the relative effectiveness of the data they provide. This paper first summarizes the criteria for effective language assessment of bilingual children as documented in the literature, and then comparatively evaluates the effectiveness of research studies employing the three most-cited alternative assessment approaches: descriptive, dynamic, and curriculum-based. Conclusions regarding the impact of appropriate assessment on issues of over- and under-representation of bilingual Hispanic students are also discussed.

The Influence Of Teacher Expectations On Black And White Students' Academic Achievement: A Hierarchical Linear Modeling Analysis, Syprose A. Owaja

Masters Theses

This study examined the influence of teacher expectations based on student's and teacher's race on academic achievement of white versus black students using data from the National Educational Longitudinal Study. Modeling of interaction terms in level-1 resulted in six separate models (two for reading, and four for math). A two-level hierarchical linear modeling with students at level-1 and schools at level-2 was used in each model with application of a three-step modeling procedure in each analysis.

The results of the study were consistent with previous research that black students had lower achievement, and also elicited lower teacher expectations regarding achievement …

Resilient Teachers: A Qualitative Study Of Six Thriving Educators In Urban Elementary Schools, Paul Giroux

Dissertations

This qualitative research study used elements of phenomenological and narrative research methodology to explore the common characteristics and experiences of a sample of resilient elementary teachers working in urban schools. The six research subjects in this study’s sample each had at least eight years of teaching experience, and each participated in a cycle of three in-depth interviews designed to determine their degree of resilience and to develop a portrait of their personal and professional characteristics, experiences, attitudes and beliefs. Once the data collection phase was complete, data was coded and then analyzed to identify which of the characteristics and experiences …

The Effects Of The Michigan Transition Outcomes Project, Jane E. Finn

Dissertations

This study investigated whether the Transition Outcomes Project used in Michigan resulted in improved compliance with the transition components required by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1997 (IDEA 1997) and interviewed staff who have implemented this model to identify their perceptions ofhow it affected the transition planning process for students with disabilities. The study used qualitative and quantitative measures. The quantitative measures studied the effectiveness of the model, while the qualitative measures investigated the perceptions of the school personnel who implemented the model in their district.

Findings showed that the Michigan Transition Outcomes Project is an effective model …

The Relationship Between Selected Environmental Variables And Attrition, Persistence, And Academic Success Of Majority And Minority College Students, Carole J. Woolford-Hunt

Dissertations

Research indicates that college student persistence, attrition, and success is related to the student’s ability to gain academic and social integration into the university community. This theory has guided researchers to explore either the academic or social factors that promote integration. Under the umbrella of social integration exists the underresearched category of environmental factors.

The overall purpose of this study was to identify selected environmental factors that affect minority and majority students’ persistence and success rates in a Midwestern state-run university. The environmental variables of size of college within a larger university, residential versus nonresidential nature of colleges within a …

A Case Study Of Academic Achievement Of African American Males, Loistean Mason

Dissertations

Several areas are often identified as barriers to the academic achievement of African American males. They include racial inequality, segregation between schools, segregation within schools, cultural insensitivity to learning styles, the theory of cultural deprivation, teacher/student interaction, and the discipline of African American students. The study was conducted in a Midwestern school with a predominantly African American student body and faculty at the end of the final grading period before graduation. This study of 12th-grade males sought to determine if the climate of an African American high school with African American administrators and faculty would enhance the achievement of African …

Evaluation Of A Home-School-Community Liaison Scheme In Irish Elementary Schools, Sandra Ryan

Dissertations

This dissertation describes an evaluation of a Home-School-Community Liaison scheme in Irish elementary schools. The scheme represented an effort to combat educational failure in areas suffering from social and economic disadvantage associated with poor quality housing, high levels of unemployment, dependence on state aid, and crime. The central aim of the scheme was to increase parents' involvement in their children's education. The evaluation study examined how programs in the scheme were constructed and implemented over a three-year period and monitored specified outcomes of program activity. Methodology included questionnaires, interviews, site visits and observations, and standardized achievement testing.

The scheme generated …

Adolescent Students At Risk: The Roles Of Stress, Distress, And Coping, Jennifer Massicotte

Dissertations

Male and female adolescents who reported recent suspension/ threats of suspension or academic failure were compared to male and female adolescents who did not report these two variables of dropping out on three measures--the discrete negative uncontrollable events experienced (LEQ-A, Garmezy, Masten, & Tellegen [1985]), the level of distress (GHQ-30, Goldberg [1972]), and the types of coping skills used (A-COPE, Patterson & McCubbin [1983]). Native and non-Native at risk for suspension and academic failure rates were also compared using archival data from a community mental health survey of 714 adolescents (36 Native) attending high school in Northern Ontario.

Native adolescents …

Attitudes Of Black Secondary School Teachers Toward School Guidance In The Potchefstroom Area, South Africa, Elias H. Masibi

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Western Education On Employees' Participation And Job Satisfaction In Saudi Arabian Industries, Abdulrahman Y. Al-Selaim

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate to what degree Western education and Saudi Arabian employees' degree of participation in quality circle programs influences their job satisfaction. These variables were investigated using a survey administered to 150 Saudi Arabian employees working in the production department of a Saudi Arabian company. The Questionnaire of Participation and Satisfaction (QPS) instrument that was used in this investigation is a 20-item questionnaire; items 1-13 were developed by the researcher, and items 14-20 were developed by Abbas (1985). The questionnaire consisted of three components designed to determine: where employees were educated, as well as …

A Comparative Study Of High And Low Achieving Inner-City African-American Sophomore Males’ Expectations Of Self, In-School And Out-Of-School Support, John L. Jackson Sr.

Dissertations

Academic and personal successes and failures of young inner-city African- American males are invariably linked to the dynamics of family life, societal acceptance, economic and political opportunities and participation, and cultural expressions and peculiarities. Additionally, there may be other important factors, such as personal meanings, present and projected insecurities, differing values, hopes, and so forth, which may be highly contributive to determining the extent to which these youngsters perceive their chances of succeeding in the larger society. The implication here is that academic and other life successes are not only depended on individual responsibility and commitment, but also the supportive …