Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons^™

Intensive English Program Design For Minnesota Public School District, Ellen Bialka

Capstone Collection

The recent rise in undocumented immigrants in Minnesota has brought to light significant demographic shifts within the state. Many individuals in this population have limited or no proficiency in English, which highlights the challenges immigrant communities face in adapting to their new linguistic surroundings. As a result, educators have been presented with the challenge of serving a growing number of immigrant children in their schools. To tackle this issue, an intensive English program was developed for a suburban public school district in Minnesota to offer a more targeted approach to improving English proficiency among students before beginning courses required for …

International K-12 Schools Seeking U.S. Accreditation: An Analysis Of The Rationales Involved In Earning Accreditation Through The Western Association Of Schools And Colleges, Kerri Knapp

Capstone Collection

The international K-12 school market is growing fast, and new international schools are opening every year. Hundreds of those international K-12 schools seek out accreditation to help validate their institution’s authenticity. Accreditation allows potential students and families to trust that the education provided is legitimate according to a set of principles and standards provided by the accreditation organization. Colleges and universities, particularly those in the United States, where thousands of international students strive to be accepted, typically require students to matriculate from an accredited school. With this market growth comes a need for accountability, and therein lies accreditation. The United …

Pathway Provider Programs: The International Student Experience, Aaron A. Mendez

Capstone Collection

As part of their commitment towards internationalization, many higher education institutions seek new recruitment practices to increase international student enrollment, to both enhance cultural diversity and increase the potential for revenue. Partnering with third-party pathway providers offers international students an opportunity to refine their English language skills, all while taking for-credit-bearing academic courses that ultimately prepare them for their second year upon matriculating into their degree-seeking programs. One difference between direct-entry international students and pathway program international students is the additional level of support for the latter.

This study explores the following research question: What are the experiences of international …

Diversity And Worldliness At The Compass School, Luiz A. Batista

Capstone Collection

This paper demonstrates how the application of International Education principles and practices to curricula at the Compass School of Westminster, Vermont would augment worldliness and diversity as well as improve the overall quality of education offered at this secondary school. This research identifies deficiencies in areas pertaining to internationalization and diversity and provides recommendations to remedy these deficiencies. The realization of these recommendations would help to increase students’ preparedness for participation in a globalized society and would provide an enhanced educational experience for all. This research is intended to support faculty and staff at the Compass School by providing an …

L'Enracinement Et L'Ouverture: A Relevant Global Citizenship Education In Senegal, Alanna Margaret Ross

Capstone Collection

As the international community strives to work together to respond to globalization implications in education, global citizenship education (GCE) has become more prominent in the educational agenda of the international community. While much literature has critiqued GCE’s potential neo-imperialist effects in postcolonial context, there have been very few studies that have sought out the voices of key stakeholders, such as students, parents, teachers, and school leaders. A total of nineteen school leaders, teachers, parents, and students were interviewed to examine whether they found global citizenship education relevant to students in Senegal. The study found that global citizenship education was perceived …

Creating Global Citizens Through Returnee Programming, Kristen Foos

Capstone Collection

The purpose of study abroad is to facilitate students’ journey to global citizenship and a large part in doing this is having effective returnee programming. This research focused on what type of program models best facilitate this goal and are of interest to students at Washington State University (WSU). To answer this question, 12 WSU peer advisors, 4 global learning advisors at WSU, and 5 global learning advisors at other institutions were all interviewed. Along with that, a survey was sent out to all WSU student who had studied abroad within the past year. The results demonstrated that when WSU …

Language Matters: What Are The Primary School Teachers' Perspectives And Lived Experiences Of Burundi's Language Policy?, Leah Passauer

Capstone Collection

Burundi is a small country in the Great Lakes region of Africa. Burundian language policy dictates that four languages, Kirundi, French, English, and Kiswahili, must be taught starting in the second trimester of grade one. The language policy decision is not an obvious one since the country is linguistically homogenous, meaning that almost the entire population speaks Kirundi as their first language. Primary school teachers in the public education system typically receive training in a vocational setting that may not fully prepare them for the complex multilingual classroom environment they are expected to cultivate. The aim of this small-scale mixed-methods …

Advantages & Challenges: An Assessment Of Suny Oneonta's Current Approach To International Student Services, Sarah Busche

Capstone Collection

The decision to become an international student is a choice that is as challenging as it is rewarding, and is one that I am familiar with from both a professional and personal standpoint. Per a recent Open Doors’ account, 1,043,839 students from around the world have made the decision to study in the United States in 2016. These individuals make up 9% of New York State’s student population, and 10.1% of the State University of New York system (SUNY, 2016). Currently SUNY Oneonta is host to 56 of these international students, whom I was excited to work with through my …

The Dynamics Of Participatory Monitoring And Evaluation (Pm&E) In Traditional Pakistan., Aamer Shams

Capstone Collection

This research seeks to explore the interpretation and application of Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation (PM&E) in the context of Educational Empowerment by analyzing insights gathered from multiple stakeholder groups in four cities of Pakistan, Islamabad, Lahore, Quetta, and Peshawar. Analysis of the findings reveals nuances of PM&E, including “Equality and Equity, Respect and Tolerance” (pg. 58-61) that limit the potential of this transdisciplinary empowerment process. Empowerment and educational programs often employ the continuous processes of Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) to gain an understanding of the implementation, efficiency, impact, and overall performance of the program. M&E also provides valuable information about …

Assessing The Influence Of Career-Linked Experiential Opportunities On The F-1 Undergraduate Student Enrollment Decision-Making Process, Harrison Fuerst

Capstone Collection

International mobility efforts in the United States have garnered increased attention and funding in recent years, with such government-led initiatives as Generation Study Abroad and 100,000 Strong driving up inbound and outbound student numbers. Recent inbound mobility reports from the Institute of International Education show double-digit percentage increases in international student enrollment. Other countries also experiencing an influx of international students continue to research these trends to shape their own education strategies. Research conducted by the International Education Association of Australia points specifically to hands-on professional experience and enhanced employability as key factors important to Australia’s international student population. As …

A Well-Rounded Experience: Connecting The Home Campus To The Study Abroad Experience And The Study Abroad Experience To The Home Campus, Mary Aurora Grandinetti

Capstone Collection

Many small liberal arts colleges across the United States partner with third-party providers or foreign institutions to provide their students with an opportunity to study abroad. Denison University, a small liberal arts school in Ohio, traditionally sends 50% of its student body to study abroad before they graduate. Since students have the option to spend a semester or two participating in study abroad, it is important for the students to be well prepared, for the experience to be integrated into their overall Denison education and for the students to transition back to campus successfully. To determine how students were preparing …

Program Design, Delivery, And Evaluation: Lpc Us Host Family Program, Gillian Wigton Bell

Capstone Collection

This capstone paper outlines the design, delivery, and evaluation processes of the 2017 LPC US Host Family Program, a short-term, pre-camp host family experience administered by the LPC Board, a US support group of Luethi-Peterson Camps, International. It seeks to evaluate the program effectiveness and to determine a set of recommendations for future organizers, based upon the results of evaluative surveys and literature review.

A full review of the research proposal was conducted by the SIT IRB, due to the sensitive nature of research participants below the age of 18. Once approved, online surveys were disseminated to participating campers, camper …

A National Bilingual Education Policy For The Economic And Academic Empowerment Of Youth In St. Lucia, West Indies, Gabriella Bellegarde

Capstone Collection

This campaign portfolio argues the case for a national bilingual education policy on the island of St. Lucia, where youth speak both St Lucian Creole and St. Lucian standard English. The portfolio consists of a policy paper and brief, an advocacy plan, a communications plan, monitoring and evaluation plan. The Bilingual Education Taskforce (BET), made up of teachers, parents and principals, is an advocacy organization that discovered the need for a bilingual education intervention when they observed, assessed and analyzed the written work of struggling readers at their school, the Anse la Raye Infant School on the west coast of …

The Current State Of Access To Basic Education For Syrian Refugee Children Living In The Za’Atari Camp, Theresa L. Frey

Capstone Collection

Using Rodman’s (2006) International Education Analytical Inquiry Matrix as a theoretical framework, the purpose of this study is to examine the current state of access to basic primary education for Syrian Refugee Children Living in the Za’atari camp. Within the scope of this study, access is examined in three parts, including:

(1) Who is accessing education within Za’atari and who is not?

(2) How are certain groups accessing education?

(3) What is the learning environment of Za’atari?

In addition to addressing existing issues of access to basic education in Za’atari, this study examines efforts made towards increasing access. By examining …

Experiential Language Learning: A Short-Term Study Abroad Program To Quetzaltenango, Guatemala For Canton High School, Michelle Traub

Capstone Collection

Canton High School (CHS) is a 485 student, small upper-middle class public school located in Canton, Connecticut. The mission of the school involves preparing productive, tolerant and responsible citizens with the character and independence to embrace and contribute to the global world. However, CHS is limited in its ability to provide students with opportunities to connect with the world outside of Connecticut and the United States, both linguistically and culturally. Although the majority of Canton students take a language class freshman year, the number of students continuing on in learning a language drops every year thereafter. Many students state that …

Engaging In Social Justice With Toddlers, Susan M. Nasiombe

Capstone Collection

This study was created as a way to highlight and begin filling a large void in academic information regarding the ways caregivers engage in social justice with the toddlers they care for. Through an online survey, participants were asked to explain their role and experience as caregivers, give their definition of social justice, share the social justice resources they use to help inform their engagement with toddlers, and list the limitations and barriers they face in achieving their goals in this area. Participants were also asked to assess their value of various elements commonly used to engage toddlers in social …

Long-Term Impacts And Outcomes: Sit Study Abroad, Marianne Mcgarrity

Capstone Collection

This capstone reports on the results of the SIT Study Abroad Long-Term Impacts and Outcomes survey, a research project designed to investigate how alumni would self-report impacts of their study abroad experience with regard to academic, personal, and professional outcomes. The principal question the study sought to answer was “How and to what extent do SIT Study Abroad programs impact alumni in the long term?” This paper focuses largely on the career outcomes of the alumni who participated in this research. A large percentage of SIT Study Abroad alumni report that impacts to their career choices were significant and that …

Teaching The Moral Imagination: How Global Education Aids In Peacebuilding, Charlee Bianchini

Capstone Collection

In this paper I present distinctive information from written resources and in-depth interviews with 17 constituents who are in some way involved in the incorporation of Global Education curriculum in the US. I specifically looked at Brookwood School in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts, a private school looking to develop programming around this subject. I also looked at World Learning Youth Programs in order to gain insight from an institution solely focused on GE. The aim of the research was to learn why and how Global Education programs are being incorporated into curriculums, what skills schools are aiming to have their students learn …