Curriculum and Instruction Commons^™

P17 Black Male Summit, Brandon Jackson

Black Male Summit

Tale of Two African American Males and Their Journey to Ivy League Schools: A Case Study

How do we get more African American males to show their GREATNESS and academic prowess? Can Black Males attend Ivy League schools? How do we prepare our Black Male Scholars for college and career readiness to maximize their education?

P18 Black Male Summit, Brandon Jackson

Black Male Summit

GRAB “A Hands-On Approach to Student Engagement and Academic Performance for African American Males”

Can a handful of words change the trajectory of a persons’ life? Can this acronym G.R.A.B. lead to enhanced college and career readiness in addition enhance their quality of life?

Mastery Learning For 9th Grade Mathematics: Can The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy Close The Achievement Gap?, Rhonda Jeffries, Hope Reed

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

This presentation critiques educational tracking as a default system of grouping that perpetuates inequities particularly for students most likely to experience challenges with academic achievement (Rubin & Noguera, 2004). The research explores the mastery learning method in 9th grade Algebra I CP to improve achievement for students who enter high school without Pre-Algebra skills.

When All Hope Is Gone, Trust Then Believe: “At Risk” Or “At Potential"?, Erica C. Pooler, Barbara Kirby-Bentley Dr.

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

The Cards of Life, when all hope is gone; trust then believe forces educators to view students differently. The notion that we can’t teach students until we truly begin to know them and they begin to trust us is challenged. The fact that our actions have to align with our words and meaningful conversations and relationships must be established in the classroom. At Risk or At Potential? Every school across the nation have students that struggle, academically, socially or behaviorally. There are a variety of reasons as to why? We can no longer ignore these students and pad the numbers …

Bailamos Juntos: Salsa En Los E.E.U.U. Y El Mundo, Betty Tran

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

This composition traces the history of Cuban-American cultural identity formation through the lens of music and dance. As the author explains, Cuban immigrants cultivated a rich music and dance culture in New York City by creating a series of Latin and Afro-Cuban music genres and dances that brought diverse groups of people together. As a Vietnamese-American woman, Tran sees several connections between her family’s Vietnamese heritage and the cultural histories of Cubans who came to the United States as refugees seeking asylum from political oppression. As a first-generation college student, Tran believes it is important to share this composition as …

A Tres Pasos De La Muerte, Samuel Temblador

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

"A Tres Pasos de la Muerte" tells the story of a son of Mexican immigrants and his search for his roots. Here, Temblador attempts to communicate a bicultural experience through the frame of border literature (Literatura Fronteriza) born out of the intersection between Mexican and American culture.

It's Not Just A Leave, Genesis L. Montalvo

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

In this piece, the author sets out to explore the first-generation college identity through a gothic lens. In the early stages of this project, Montalvo had considered doing research on narratives from other first-gen college students as a way to trace the uncanny and the abject in their experiences. However, as she began reflecting on her own personal history, she realized that in a matter of only two years she had already experienced moments of distance, uncanniness, and confusion, which are recorded here. In presenting these installments in non-chronological order, Montalvo intends to insert a gothic element of disorder, which …

Flashlight, Min-Jung Kim

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

This poem illustrates the struggle of an undergraduate first-generation college student who knew little about the first-gen identity or the experiences she would encounter until she became a First To Go Scholar at Loyola Marymount University. The poet represents the First To Go Program as a flashlight that has helped her to navigate a once dark and unfamiliar environment.

A Neoliberal Critique: Conceptualizing The Purpose Of School, Jennifer Desaxe

Catalyst: A Social Justice Forum

Throughout this manuscript, I discuss the current trend of neoliberalism, privatization, and deregulation within our educational communities and public schools. Throughout this analysis, I examine the ways in which many neoliberal policies aim to takeover public education through such consequences as false meritocracy, high stakes testing, and drastic funding inequities. I argue that we must seek to understand and challenge such policies in order to speak out against ideologies and “reform” movements that frame the purpose of schooling in ways that go against conceptualizing and actualizing it in a democratic and just manner.

White Privilege And Social Studies Pre-Service Teachers, Kristal Curry

Catalyst: A Social Justice Forum

This article explores the dynamic of the Silenced Dialogue within a graduate-level, teacher preparation diversity course by analyzing student-created reflections about Peggy McIntosh’s article regarding White privilege. The paper compares themes that emerged in White vs. Black student reflections, male vs. female student reflections, and those of students preparing to teach social studies compared to those preparing to teach in other disciplines available in the program. Social studies candidates had complex responses to race. They seemed to feel comfortable with the topic, but were also world-weary and likely to dismiss current racism as being less than it used to be, …

Loudness In The Library: Empowering Students To Think Critically About Identity And Bias, Anshu Wahi, Allie Bruce, Jamie Steinfeld

Progressive Education in Context

Describes how an unplanned, informal discussion about how race and identity are depicted on book covers evolved into a year-long investigation with a class of 11 and 12-year-olds where the interests and comments of the students drove the curriculum.

Progressive Education: Why It's Hard To Beat, But Also Hard To Find, Alfie Kohn

Progressive Education in Context

Looks at the varying ways educators characterize progressive education, why progressive education makes sense, and why it might be the exception rather than the rule in educational philosophies.

From Capstones To Strategic Partnerships: The Evolution Of Portland State University’S Community Engagement And Partnership Agenda, Erin Flynn

University Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

Portland State University’s (PSU) reputation as an engaged, urban-serving university continues to distinguish it both nationally and locally. Key partnerships with local, public, and private partners provide students, faculty, and staff with remarkable opportunities to contribute to the physical, social, and economic development of the Portland metropolitan region. This article traces the evolution of PSU’s engagement and partnership agenda and shares lessons learned by PSU as it seeks to better coordinate and centralize key components of its vast engagement and partnership portfolio. This reflection describes why and how PSU created an Office of Strategic Partnerships and the role of the …

Tools For Life - Lower School Coordinator Laura Guarino's Address To Lower School Families On Curriculum Night, October 25, 2012, Laura Guarino

Progressive Education in Context

In a message to parents of young children, Laura Guarino emphasizes Bank Street School for Children's focus on helping children develop their capacity to be learners, to be flexible thinkers, and creative problem solvers.

“Can The Use Of Online Learning And Reflective Journals Improve Students’ Performance And Engage Them In Independent Learning For A Practically Taught “Timber Jointing Module”?, Jennifer Byrne

Other resources

The Technological University Dubiln is one of the largest multi-level higher education providers in Ireland. The Institute’s traditional mission has always been focused on teaching and learning in the field of advanced technical vocational education and training (TVET), and one of its agendas is to foster and encourage changes in teaching practice and methodology in order to enhance the student learning experience.

This research concerned the performance levels of first year students of the Timber Product Technology (TPT) programme. I wanted to investigate whether the use of independent online learning and reflective journals would encourage these students to continue their …

One Size Does Not Fit All: When Honors Housing May Not Work, Laura Feitzinger Brown

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

The gracious donor, the dean, and the other honors program director and I walk down the corridor of an old campus building needing repair but possessing a great deal of charm. While a science classroom building is being renovated, this hall houses temporary offices for displaced faculty. We look at the high ceilings in a room now used as a faculty break room and admire the way the morning sunlight plays on the walls. This room would make an amazing honors student lounge. Renovating the entire building would create a terrific honors dorm that could attract talented prospective students and …

It Came With Everything: A Baby Grand Piano, Hardwood Floors, Regular Flooding, 200 Honors Students, And A Live-In Scholar, Gloria Cox

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

When the University of North Texas (UNT) opened its new Honors Hall on a hot Sunday in late August 2007, it was a residence hall in which everyone took considerable pride. Students loved the many amenities that the building featured, and they took pride in being able to call Honors Hall home. From the perspective of the honors college, the most significant feature was an apartment in which a scholar would live—a scholar who would be involved in the life of the hall and would, therefore, be engaged with the students who lived there. At that time, no other residence …

Where Honors Lives: Results From A Survey Of The Structures And Spaces Of U.S. Honors Programs And Colleges, Linda Frost, Lisa W. Kay

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

The ninth item on the National Collegiate Honors Council’s (2014b) list of “Basic Characteristics of a Fully Developed Honors Program” reads:

The program is located in suitable, preferably prominent, quarters on campus that provide both access for the students and a focal point for honors activity. Those accommodations include space for honors administrative, faculty, and support staff functions as appropriate. They may include space for an honors lounge, library, reading rooms, and computer facilities. If the honors program has a significant residential component, the honors housing and residential life functions are designed to meet the academic and social needs of …

Living To Learn, Learning For Life: Housing Honors Classrooms And Offices In An Honors Residence Hall, Karen Lyons

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

I left the interview with high-hopes: being Assistant Director of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Honors Program sounded like an excellent fit for me. A full-time job, a real income, and no longer having to depend on year-to-year contracts as an adjunct were appealing. The opportunity to teach tied into my strengths, and since I had taught UNL honors classes previously, I knew the high quality of the students. I also knew the director and was excited about the prospect of working with him. As I wended my way, in heels and suit, through the extensive construction going on in the …

Building Community In Árbol De La Vida, Patricia Maccorquodale

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

Building community has been part of the mission of the University of Arizona Honors College since its founding in 1962. In 2011, a new honors residence hall opened that epitomizes its community of scholars. This essay explores how an honors hall— through its design and programming—can build community, emphasize sustainability, facilitate learning, and encourage an outward focus. This housing experience reinforces the values and goals of honors education and contributes to a personalized, close-knit community in the context of a large, public university.

Honors Space: What To Do When There Isn’T Any, Joy Ochs

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

I direct a small honors program from my faculty office in the English Department at Mount Mercy University, which is an institution that is outgrowing its tiny campus. It is an exciting time, with new graduate programs and athletic facilities being added. But there is not enough space. At the end of May 2013, a memo from Academic Affairs made this request: “please contact your students to pack up any personal items they have left in the Honors Lounge, as we need to repurpose that room over the summer.” I have received a memo like this about every year or …

Life Of The Mind/Life Of The House: “This Place Matters”, Vicki Ohl

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

“This Place Matters,” the slogan of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, proclaims the importance of a physical property to the understanding of history, traditions, and values (“This place matters,” 2013). “This Place” may be a single room, a building, a neighborhood, or an entire city. The National Collegiate Honors Council has long recognized the power of place by dedicating an extended session at its annual meetings to the exploration of the host city, its popular City as Text™ explorations. Although a community is ultimately defined by its people, the location and architecture contribute to a setting and a history …

Anomalies And Ambiguities Of A Faculty-In-Residence, Paul Strom

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

The idea of housing faculty with college students on a campus can certainly be traced back centuries to the college structures within universities such as the University of Paris, Oxford University, and Cambridge University. To be a faculty-in-residence at a modern university requires a conscious decision to live in an ambiguous and sometimes anomalous space that connects housing operations and academics. I occupy such a space, along with my wife and dog, a Golden Retriever, at the University of Colorado, Boulder.

The Commonwealth Honors College Residential Community At The University Of Massachusetts Amherst, Melissa Woglom, Meredith Lind

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

This article provides a project overview of the newly constructed Commonwealth Honors College Residential Community, an historical context for the honors college at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, a description of the facility design, information on the collaborative planning process, and a brief discussion of initial impacts on the operations and services of the honors college.

Unit 2: Hetch-Hetchy Talk-It-Out, Wendy Rouse

Faculty Publications, Social Sciences

This unit is from Professor Wendy Rouse of the Social Science Teacher Preparation Program at San Jose State University. She shares a specific way to have students talk through an issue that includes document analysis and a summative persuasive writing task. She has also (not included here) a separate essay explaining a research base for this activity that may come later as a CCSS Occasional Paper.NOTE: This excerpt is part of the larger article “Units That Illustrate Measurable Performance Activity Models,” p. 92-107.

Icontact: The Digital Feedback Process In A University Setting, Kathleen M. Wilson, Laurie A. Friedrich

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

This practitioner research in the form of a case study examined the digital feedback process related to teacher growth in learning and instruction. Graduate students fulfilled course requirements utilizing iPad applications to generate assignments, coach undergraduate preservice teachers, and tutor low performing readers. Course instructors provided online written feedback on all written assignments. An analysis of data through the perspective of the formative process allowed four themes to emerge: (a) teacher learning through iContact, (b) immediate digital feedback and enduring learning, (c) creating an affinity space, and (d) transfer with a ripple effect.

Do Your Homework First, And Then Go Play!, Larry Andrews

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

In the fall of 2006, after five years of planning, the Kent State University Honors College inaugurated in the heart of the campus a new honors center: two residence halls framing an office, library, and classroom space came to life. The new center overlooked the Commons, an open green space home to student games and student protests. The hill above the Commons was the site of the National Guard shootings of May 4, 1970, and the relationship of this tragedy to honors at KSU became an important part of the thinking about this new location.

The Kent State University Honors …

Honors Housing: Castle Or Prison?, Richard Badenhausen

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

In its “Basic Characteristics” of fully developed honors programs and colleges—lists that have become increasingly prescriptive over the years—the National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC) identifies “best practices that are common to successful” honors programs and colleges (2014a). One of those practices includes the establishing of separate honors residential opportunities for students, despite the fact that such dedicated space is a bad idea in many instances. In light of the old saying that “one man’s castle is another man’s prison,” I will lay out some of the reasons why honors housing is not a good in itself. I hope to complicate …

Pick Your Battles: It Is Possible To Have Belonging Without A Space To Belong To, Mariah Birgen

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

When Wartburg College began its new honors program 10 years ago, its architects thought they had done everything right. They sent a team to the National Collegiate Honors Council National Conference. They studied the “Basic Characteristics of a Fully Developed Honors Program” (National Collegiate Honors Council, 2014). They even decided to start small. Unfortunately, even meticulous preparation cannot overcome all difficulties. One of the characteristics, however, is to have a location to house the honors program. Wartburg’s 10-year saga of honors locations and lessons learned about honors space has produced this wisdom: honors directors and supporters should never give up …

We The Students: Surveying Spaces And Envisioning The Future, Tatiana Cody, Rachael Poe

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

To apprehend the panoply of spaces that house honors on a national scale requires input from administrators and faculty. Nevertheless, one of the most important and often overlooked perspectives is that of honors students themselves. Admittedly, students are transient. After four or five years, most complete their undergraduate degrees, leaving their campuses, clubs, and honors programs behind after graduation. Despite their relatively brief time on campus, however, no one has more firsthand experience concerning housing honors students than honors students themselves, and some current honors students will certainly become honors administrators and faculty in the future. In the fall of …