Curriculum and Instruction Commons^™

Cssc Program [2012], Cssc

Curriculum Studies Summer Collaborative (2011-2025)

N/A

My Sister, Our Stories: Exploring The Lived Experience Of School Leavers Through Narrative And Poetics, C. Amelia Davis, Jennifer L. Pepperell

Curriculum, Foundations & Reading: Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to explore the educational experiences of two adult female siblings who are both school leavers. Through the use of thematic narrative analysis, sibling narratives and poetic re-presentations, their stories were developed. These stories represent the participants’ experiences of prior schooling and their current commitments to education. While each story conveyed a profound similarity in terms of prior schooling, contrasting narratives were illustrated through description of transitional moments and sibling relationship. The analysis also explored the intersections of race, gender,and social class within educative moments of the life experiences of the participants.

"A Play Is Not A Journal Article:” A Review Of Johnny Saldaña’S Ethnotheatre: Research From Page To Stage, C. Amelia Davis

Curriculum, Foundations & Reading: Faculty Publications

Johnny Saldãna’s book, Ethnotheatre: Research from Page to Stage, does exactly what it sets out to do: It is a hands-on guide that walks researchers across disciplines step-by-step through interpreting and representing data in an ethnodramatic format. It really is “research from page to stage.” For those with little theatre experience, Saldãna provides excellent suggestions for additional readings and comparisons of different types of plays. There is much merit in this book as a text for a qualitative research class or special interest class. The exercises provided are great way for students and researchers to be more reflective as they …

Ua64/2 The Challenge: Magazine For The Center For Gifted Studies (No. 28, Winter 2012), Center For Gifted Studies, Tracy Inman Editor

Gifted Studies Publications

No abstract provided.

Curriculum Circus: Juggling Curriculum, Science, And The Arts, Domenica Devine

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Education should open the door to better lives and better jobs. The fact is that it does not. In part, there are many causes including rigidity, political interference, and the separation between disciplines that we teach without context and without dialogue with our students. Specifically, I think that we should use education as a way to help students make better choices and have a better life. One way we can do it is by reconciling science with the other disciplines. And that is what is at the heart of curriculum studies.

There is a pervasive belief that the Western ideology …

Teachers' Perceptions Toward The Secondary Physical Education Program In The State Of Kuwait, Khaled A. Al-Kandari

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to determine the perceptions of physical education teachers and supervisors toward the secondary physical education program in eight domains in the State of Kuwait. Stratified and cluster sampling were used to select two schools of female teachers and two schools of male teachers from each district (6 districts); therefore, 24 schools were selected randomly. One hundred thirty-eight physical education teachers were selected and 66 supervisors were selected. A four-point rating scale (i.e., strongly disagree to strongly agree) and open-ended questions were included in the survey. Cronbach's alpha reliability, descriptive statistics, and independent sample t …

Supporting Native Indian Preschoolers And Their Families Family–School–Community Partnerships, M. Susan Mcwilliams, Tami Maldonado-Mancebo, Paula S. Szczepaniak, Jacqueline Jones

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

In this urban midwestern public school district, families of Native Indian students, pre-K through grade 12, attend four multigenerational gatherings like this one during the school year—one of a number of events orchestrated by the Native Indian Centered Education (NICE) program. NICE is a program in the school district that partners with families to provide Native-centric educational opportunities for preschool children. Family events such as the storytelling activity in the opening vignette represent trends in early childhood education: building family-school-community partnerships to enhance learning and build family resources. The all- Native-Indian preschool program is unusual and rare in urban areas. …

Improving Educational Outcomes Of English Language Learners In Schools And Programs In Boston Public Schools, Miren Uriarte, Faye Karp, Laurie Gagnon, Rosann Tung, Sarah Rustan, Jie Chen, Michael Berardino, Pamela Stazesky, Eileen De Los Reyes, Antonieta Bolomey

Gastón Institute Publications

Using 4 years of student-level demographic, enrollment and testing and school-level characteristics, this study analyzes the enrollment and outcomes of English Language Learners (ELLs) in Boston Public School between SY2006 and SY2009 and assess the relative impact of individual and school level factors in testing outcomes of ELLs. The study reports on the improvement in ELL dropout rates and testing outcomes during the period of observation. It reports also on the outcomes of ELLs at different levels of English proficiency and finds (1) higher dropout rates and lower testing performance among low English proficiency students; (2) a minimal proportion of …

Learning From Consistently High Performing And Improving Schools For English Language Learners In Boston Public Schools, Rosann Tung, Virginia Diez, Laurie Gagnon, Miren Uriarte, Pamela Stazesky, Eileen De Los Reyes, Antonieta Bolomey

Gastón Institute Publications

Against a backdrop of increasing BPS ELL enrollment, district ELL leadership transitions, state and federal policies affecting ELL education, and with the knowledge that many teachers and administrators within the Boston Public Schools are expert practitioners with ELL students, we addressed the following research questions:

• In which BPS schools were ELL students performing at a consistently high level or showing steady improvement during SY2006-SY2009?
• What were some of the practices that these schools’ staffs credited with their success with ELL students during SY2006-SY2009?
• Which of the practices identified by school staff were shared among the selected schools?

Through case study …

Feel Free To Change Your Mind. A Response To "The Potential For Deliberative Democratic Civic Education", Walter Parker

Democracy & Education

Walter Parker responds to Hanson and Howe's article, extending their argument to everyday classroom practice. He focuses on a popular learning activity called Structured Academic Controversy (SAC). SAC is pertinent not only to civic learning objectives but also to traditional academic-content objectives. SAC is at once a discourse structure, a participation structure, and an instructional procedure; and it centers on Hanson and Howe’s autonomy-building fulcrum—exchanging reasons. At a key moment in SAC, students are invited to step out of an assigned role and to form their “own” position on the issue. Parker argues that SAC is one way to mobilize …

Queer Youth In Heterosexist Schools: Isolation, Prejudice And No Clear Supportive Policy, Olivia Jo Murray

Curriculum and Instruction Faculty Publications and Presentations

In the wake of institutionalized homophobia afflicting public schools, the nation faces a unique opportunity to acknowledge and transform the assumption that all people are or should be heterosexual and gender-conforming. In this article, the author examines how people, as a nation, can reform schools to be more inclusive of diverse student identities, such as queer, by transforming educational policy to include the voices of marginalized youth. She begins by first describing federal legislation that excludes the protection of queer youth, subjecting millions of children to exploitation, humiliation, and condemnation within classrooms across the nation. Then, drawing from bell hooks …

Let's Talk About Race: Developing Anti-Bias Curricula In Elementary Schools, Harper Keenan

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This study investigates the theories and potential teaching practices for implementing an anti-bias curriculum in today's elementary schools. Drawing on the work of Louise Derman-Sparks (1989, 1997, and 2011), Frances Kendall (1996), Gary Howard (2006), Ann Pelo (2000 and 2008), six characteristics of effective anti-bias curricula are explored and analyzed as frameworks for developing curricula. In addition, the study chronicles the experience of one grade level team of four teachers working to transform the social studies curriculum they were given into one that is more intentionally anti-bias. Finally, it offers lessons learned and implications for future curriculum development.

Enhancing The Cultural Competence Of Women’S Health Nurses Via Online Continuing Education, Ella T. Heitzler

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

By 2050, current minority groups will comprise almost half of the US population further challenging healthcare providers and nurses to deliver culturally competent care. Numerous organizations have published documents supporting cultural competence and its incorporation into nursing curricula has been encouraged since 1986. However, practicing nurses, specifically those providing care to childbearing women and families, continue to acknowledge their lack of cultural competence. This is concerning as large health disparities exist between culturally diverse women and cultural competence can lead to greater health equality and better client care. Studies have shown face-to-face education increases the cultural competence of healthcare providers; …

Ua64/2 The Challenge: Magazine Of The Center For Gifted Studies (No. 27, Summer 2011), Center For Gifted Studies, Tracy Inman Editor

Gifted Studies Publications

No abstract provided.

An Investigation Of The Perception Of Gains From Undergraduate International Exchange Programs: The Tale Of Atlantis, Donal Mchale, Gul Okudan Kremer, Michael Dyrenfurth, Brian Bowe

Conference Papers

In this paper, we provide the quantitative results collected through a two-column survey instrument with which students recorded their perceptions of their educational experiences, and then summarize the qualitative study findings to outline the benefits of being immersed in different educational settings through study abroad experiences. Given the current resource constraint environment in higher education settings, we hope to help our community in making better decisions relevant to developing and sustaining study abroad programs

Rfid Classroom Management System, Andrew W. Wright

Master's Theses

Professors who manage large classes are unrealistically expected to grade each student fairly and accurately.  Even with all of the technological advancements that have occurred in the past thirty years, very little progress has been made in classroom management, and as a result, professors are not equipped with enough tools to successfully manage large class sizes.  Because radio frequency identification (RFID) technology is making its way into student issued identification cards, there is an opportunity to use it as a tool to aid professors in the classroom.  The focus of this paper is to discover the most effective system that …

Personalismo, Small Schools, And Latino Students' Academic Success, Isabel Mesa Collins

College of Education Theses and Dissertations

A growing body of research indicates that Latino students continue to struggle academically presenting educators and school leaders with serious concerns about a cultural achievement gap. Guided by the work of Lee & Loeb, (2000); Lee & Freidkin, (2007) and Stevens, (2008) who have examined small personalized learning communities, this paper examines the concept of personalismo as a conduit for establishing a platform that may help narrow the achievement gap within the Latino population in the public school system. Through a series of T-Tests, conducted in two small public schools with varying levels of personalismo, within a Chicago Public School …

Intersections: The Schooling Experiences Of African-American Females Inolved In Long-Term Foster Care And Their Transition Into Womanhood, Sonia Kennedy

College of Education Theses and Dissertations

African-American girls are entering foster care and experiencing longer stays in a system that was not intended to facilitate adolescents transitioning into adulthood. For African American adolescent girls many remain in care indefinitely and move from one temporary foster home, group home and institution to another, with little stability or preparation for the future. Although the Adoption and Safe Families Act (AFSA) of 1994 and other policy reforms were designed to guide the temporary placement of children in foster care, this has not been the case, particularly for African American females. Upon entrance into foster care, African American adolescent females …

A Case Study On Perspectives, Whitney Tallarico

Senior Honors Projects

The Rhode Island Training School becomes a home to juvenile offenders of the law.  Home, in so far as it is a place that they sleep, eat, and spend a lot of time in, as well as the atmosphere in which learning and growth occur during the adolescent phase of their lives.  There is a very high rate of released inmates who return to the facility for things like running away from group homes, not checking in with their parole officers, or other misdemeanors.  It is my belief that this is, at least in part, due to the fact that …

Bank Street And Teach For America: Process And Preparation, Paul Shirk

Graduate Student Independent Studies

In this paper I analyze the goals and practices of education that are implied in the mission statements and literature of Bank Street College of Education (Bank Street) and Teach for America (TFA). I noticed and struggled to understand the tension between the mission statements of the two organizations that I was a part of during my master's program. While analyzing the readings and my experiences, I began to see differences between these two organizations' theories and beliefs about child development. I considered how my experiences with children supported or refuted these beliefs. From Bank Street, I recognized many beliefs …

Middle School Students' Perceptions Of The Gender And Ethnic Gap In Achievement, Marian Elizabeth Hendrickson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study used a mix-method approach to determine achievement gap in gender and ethnicity. Quantitative data was collected from the 2008-2009 Arkansas state Benchmark exam to investigate the extent of the gap in the school. Qualitative data was gathered through semi-structured interviews with 13 students. The students were asked to explain their perceptions of the gender and ethnicity gap in the school. The use of two methods for this study enabled the researcher to better understand the actual achievement gap that appeared at the school and compare this information to the information provided by the participants. The Quantitative data gathered …

Does A Co-Learner Delivery Model In A Mathematics Methods Course Affect Pre-Service Teacher Candidates’ Self-Efficacy In Teaching Mathematics?,, John J. Ribeiro, Denise Demagistris

Teacher Education

This study is related to a previous study (Ribeiro, 2009) that examined teachers’ perceptions of teaching self-efficacy. In the first study the sample consisted of two groups of teachers that took the same professional development course in mathematics. The comparison group took the course in their school district with other teachers and the experimental group took the course with pre-service teachers in a university classroom. After completing the course, both groups were measured in three dimensions of teaching self-efficacy: student engagement, instructional strategies, and classroom climate. Findings indicated that although both groups had significant gains in self-efficacy toward teaching mathematics …

Character Education Seeking The Best Of Both Worlds: A Study Of Cultural Identity And Leadership In Egypt., Rania M Rafik Khalil, Nevien Mattar

English Language and Literature

No abstract provided.

Resistance Meets Spirituality In Academia: "I Prayed On It!", Vonzell Agosto, Zorka Karanxha

Educational Leadership and Policy Studies Faculty Publications

We describe the lived experiences of a Black Woman educational leader who has studied and worked in the academy and in the field of K-12 education. This partial life history, excavated through the tenets of Critical Race Theory (CRT), illuminates the social construction of race and the pervasiveness and permanence of racism. We determined through a series of interviews that the participant's resilient resistance is guided by critical spirituality so that circumstances and people who challenge her also confront this source of power. Her lived experience, from student to faculty member, conveys the challenges and opportunities she faces and adds …

Unlv Magazine, Cate Weeks, Afsha Bawany, Gregean Wingert, Shane Bevell, David Wrobel, Tony Allen

UNLV Magazine

No abstract provided.

The Degree Qualifications Profile, Lumina Foundation

UNLV Libraries-Greater Western Library Alliance Conference

The need for a Degree Profile

Higher learning has taken on new importance in today’s knowledge society. To succeed in the contemporary workplace, today’s students must prepare for jobs that are rapidly changing, use technologies that are still emerging and work with colleagues from (and often in) all parts of the globe. The challenges that graduates face as citizens during their lives are similarly complex and also are affected by developments around the world.

Recognizing the economic and societal importance of higher levels of learning, national leaders, policymakers, analysts and major philanthropies have called for a dramatic increase in the …

The Quality Imperative: Match Ambitious Goals For College Attainment With An Ambitious Vision For Learning, Board Of Directors Of The Association Of American Colleges And Universities

UNLV Libraries-Greater Western Library Alliance Conference

Facing an avalanche of evidence that the United States no longer leads the world in postsecondary attainment, educational leaders at all levels have begun a far-reaching effort to increase significantly the number of students entering and completing higher education. This is a top priority for the Obama administration, for policy leaders and philanthropy, and for colleges and universities.

The Association of American Colleges and Universities welcomes and strongly supports the emerging national commitment to expand appreciably both access to college and successful completion. We are especially concerned that higher education provide equitable access and expanded opportunity for groups and communities …

Avatars, Blabberize, And Cell Phones: Abc's Of The Digital Age [Paper], Kay S. Gandy, Rebecca Stobaugh

School of Teacher Education Faculty Publications & Presentations

The Digital Age is revolutionizing education. Educators need to be well-trained on the variety of technology tools available. Technology tools captivate the interest of students and encourage high-levels of engagement. Often, the daily lives of students are rich in technology, while teachers lack the knowledge or skills to integrate technology into the curriculum. Two university teacher education professors will share innovative technology tools to enhance instruction. The tools were modeled in education courses for preservice teachers and transferred into K-12 classrooms. Technology tools included: Skype, PhotoPeach, Prezi, Blabberize, Xtranormal, Poll Everywhere (voting with cellphones), Tagxedo, GPS, and GIS. For example, …

Loving The World And Our Children Enough--Nurturing Decidedly Different Scientifc Minds, By Design, Stephanie Pace Marshall

Publications & Research

Wise world-shaping and problem-solving requires that we and our children think in decidedly different, integral and wise ways. This transformation requires a fundamental shift in consciousness and the emergence of global minds that can creatively live into a new worldview of an interconnected planet and a sustainable and interdependent human family. "The fullness of our humanity and the sustainability of our planet rest with the nurturing of decidedly different minds."

Applications Of The Theories Of Mikhail Bakhtin In Science Education, Jason Delgatto

College of Education Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this literature review is to investigate the work of Russian philosopher and literary critic Mikhail Bakhtin (1895 – 1975), and more specifically, how his theories on language in a social context apply to science education.  In response to ongoing concerns regarding declining student achievement in the sciences, this paper follows a growing trend to integrate perspectives from the fields of language, anthropology and sociology, in order to reform science instruction and improve student scientific literacy.  Bakhtin’s major theories around dialogue, and his views on the celebration of carnival, are presented through an analysis of secondary resources that …