International and Comparative Education Commons^™

Population Definitions For Comparative Surveys In Education, Martin Murphy

Assessment and Reporting

This paper provides an overview of population definitions for large-scale comparative educational surveys. It has been prepared to help inform the development of a population definition and sampling framework that will be used in the British Council Global English research project. This paper examines a number of large-scale surveys including the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), which is conducted by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), as well as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), and the Assessment of Higher Education Learning Outcomes (AHELO), both of which the Organisation for Economic Co-operation …

Contemporary Chinese Parents’ Socialization Priorities For Preschoolers: A Mixed Methods Study, Lixin Ren, Carolyn P. Edwards

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

This mixed methods study focused on the socialization goals for preschool-aged children among parents from three small-sized cities located in northeastern China. A total of 154 parents with preschool-aged children completed questionnaires measuring parental socialization goals for children’s social-emotional competence and academic achievement. Quantitative results showed that parents generally placed more importance on children’s social-emotional skills than academic skills. Ten mothers were selected from the sample and participated in a semi-structured qualitative interview to help understand reasons for parents’ prioritization of social-emotional wellbeing over academic performance. Four themes emerged, including parents’ concerns about children’s psychological wellbeing under excessive academic pressure, …

An Analysis Of Education Reform In Sub-Saharan Africa, Katharine Eger

CMC Senior Theses

Sub-Saharan Africa continues to fall behind other developing regions regarding educational attainment, despite recent progress in enrollment. This thesis examines a variety of external conditional factors that could contribute to a country’s relative success, in terms of years spent in school using a prediction model that compares years enrolled in secondary education as a foundation to determine over- and under-performing countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

By exploring various educational policies, historical patterns, and projects executed in Rwanda, South Africa, Ghana, and Botswana, this thesis sheds light on four main challenges that can impact educational attainment: ethnic and racial tensions, an acute …

First-Year Experience: International Students, Kaitlyn M. Gentling

Capstone Collection

International students come from various backgrounds, academic ability, English fluency, and knowledge of American and academic culture. Through a series of student surveys and interviews with both students and international education professionals, this capstone attempts to meet the need that international students are expressing at Worcester State University (WSU). One way international educators can attempt to fill this gap is through building a First-Year Experience (FYE) program that is uniquely for international students. The FYE will start as a series of workshops called International Student & Scholar Workshop Series. The workshops will cover the areas students said they were lacking …

Preservice Teacher Reflections About Short-Term Summer Study Abroad Experiences In Italy, Jaime Colwell, Diane Nielsen, Barbara A. Bradley, Mindy Spearman

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

This chapter studies 21 preservice teachers' blog reflections about working in an Italian classroom and living with a host family during a four-week study abroad program in Northern Italy. During the program, preservice teachers were required to blog about their experiences living and studying abroad using personal blog sites. To encourage more candid reflection about the program, the blog posts could be related to any aspect of the program preservice teachers chose to reflect on. After setting the context of the study through description of the study abroad program and its requirements, the authors present qualitative findings regarding preservice teachers' …

Developing A Faculty-Led Study Abroad Program For Education Majors In A Non-English Speaking Country, Barbara A. Brandley, Jaime Colwell, Mindy Spearman

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

This chapter describes how faculty can plan, develop, prepare, and lead a study abroad program in a non-English speaking country for students majoring in education. It presents an overview and timeline for directing a program, discusses how to plan and develop a program, tells how to recruit and prepare participants, and describes how to support participants while living and teaching abroad. It also presents issues that faculty should consider during each phase of a study abroad, and it provides suggestions for addressing these concerns.

Navigating The Challenges Of Becoming A Culturally Responsive Teacher: Supportive Networking May Be The Key, Nina L. Nilsson Ph.D., Ailing Kong Ph.D., Shantel Hubert

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Research shows graduates of teacher education programs do not always transfer, or apply, the best practices they learn to instructional practice due to factors related to course features, the student, and workplace environment (e.g., Brown & Bentley, 2004; de Jong et al., 2010). This study examined the challenges a secondary-level English teacher in the United States encountered when she attempted to implement culturally responsive teaching practices she learned from a graduate course to her class with ELLs. Findings indicate she faced strategy- and language-related challenges due to student culture and school environment factors (“external challenges”), as well as her own …