Secondary Education Commons^™

Betsy Devos Is No Ruby Bridges, Dave Powell

Education Faculty Publications

So maybe you saw this cartoon that was drawn by Glenn McCoy for the Belleville (Ill.) News-Democrat under the headline "Trying to Trash Betsy DeVos." If you didn't, take a look.

In the cartoon, of course, you see little Betsy DeVos walking to school, book in hand, surrounded by faceless men who are there to protect her. It seems to barely be working: there is profanity scrawled on the wall ("NEA"!; "Conservative"!; an anarchy symbol) and what appears to be a really juicy, nasty tomato thrown against the wall. For context, you might also be interested in looking at this …

And What If Devos Is Confirmed?, Dave Powell

Education Faculty Publications

So today is the big day: the Senate is expected to finally vote on Betsy DeVos's nomination to become the next U.S. Secretary of Education, and Vice President Mike Pence is poised to break an expected tie in her favor. I doubt very much that aything other than the expected result is going to happen. After all, we live in an age when too many politicians pick their voters, not the other way around. My bet is that Collins and Murkowski were allowed to announce their votes against DeVos because the leadership had already conducted a tight whip count …

What If Betsy Devos Is Not Confirmed?, Dave Powell

Education Faculty Publications

After her disastrous turn in front of the Senate committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions last week, the odds of Betsy DeVos not being confirmed as secretary of education have to at least be a lot higher than they used to be. It seems like no stretch to say that she is no slam dunk, if she ever was. [excerpt]

Betsy Devos Fails The Test, Dave Powell

Education Faculty Publications

Mitt Romney said: "Betsy DeVos is a smart choice for education secretary." The Wall Street Journal said DeVos "knows how to fight and how to make the moral case for reform." Andrew Rotherham called her "a pretty mainstream pick." Rick Hess, purveyor of "straight talk" on education issues, informs us that DeVos is a "solid pick" who is "smart, thoughtful, and committed to doing what she thinks is best." It's too bad none of that was on display yesterday when DeVos in the hearing yesterday to determine if she should become the next U.S. Secretary of Education. …

Obama's Legacy For Education Policy, Dave Powell

Education Faculty Publications

Last night Barack Obama delivered his farewell address to a raucous crowd in Chicago. This morning, Donald Trump delivered his first press conference as president-elect in front of a surprisingly raucous crowd at Trump Tower in New York. The difference between the two, in tone as well as substance, could not have been more stark. [excerpt]

Douglass High School: Students' Perspectives On Attending A Segregated School, Lee Ann Hvizdak Porter

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Douglass High School (DHS), named for the abolitionist Frederick Douglass, was a segregated high school built in 1924 located in Huntington, West Virginia. For thirty-seven years the three-story brick building served as a major academic, social, and cultural resource for African American families in Huntington. Many students considered the school to be the heart of the black community, even given the challenges of segregated schools of the era. This study traces the historical development of Douglass as a segregated African American junior/senior high school in Cabell County, West Virginia. The research focuses on the experience of DHS alumni to gain …

Lost & Found, Owen Gottlieb, Ian Schreiber, Kelly Murdoch-Kitt

Presentations and other scholarship

Lost & Found is a strategy card-to-mobile game series that teaches medieval religious legal systems with attention to period accuracy and cultural and historical context.

The Lost & Found games project seeks to expand the discourse around religious legal systems, to enrich public conversations in a variety of communities, and to promote greater understanding of the religious traditions that build the fabric of the United States. Comparative religious literacy can build bridges between and within communities and prepare learners to be responsible citizens in our pluralist democracy.

The first game in the series is a strategy game called Lost & …

The Experiences Of Teachers At Southern California Continuation High Schools: Exposing The Barriers Within Alternative Education, Gabriela R. Ornelas

Pitzer Senior Theses

My project explores the role of teachers at Southern California continuation high schools as it relates to serving low-income students of color in the face of the institutional barriers within alternative education. My study focuses on the teachers’ career, interactions with students, and opinions on accessibility to resources and funding. I have examined their experiences through twenty in-depth, semi-structured interviews with teachers from three districts. My findings indicate that district members’ misconceptions of Latinx students as inherently deviant and academically unengaged drive institutional issues creating financial burden for which teachers are forced to compensate. My study highlights that continuation high …

The District's Stepchild: The Total Erasure Of Low-Income Latinx Students' Needs At Continuation High Schools, Gabriela R. Ornelas

Pitzer Senior Theses

My study explores the underlying factors that allow systemic structural issues to exist within continuation high schools which result in the low educational performance of low-income Latinx continuation students. My study focuses on educators’ experiences, as I conducted 20 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with Southern California continuation high school teachers. I focused on the following areas of study: the teacher’s career, the teacher’s interactions with students, and the teacher’s opinions regarding their accessibility to funding and resources. My findings indicate that teachers, the outer community, and school-board administrators utilize cultural deficit thinking and stigmatization as tools of total erasure to exchange …

The Effects Of Overcrowding On Student Academic Performance In Kentucky High Schools, Maura Shirley

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Overcrowding in schools has been a popular topic reported by local newspapers across the state of Kentucky. Concerned parents often write letters to the editor, pleading their case for new school construction to alleviate the overcrowding that their students are facing. Approximately 27 percent of Kentucky high schools have experienced overcrowding for three consecutive years between 2002 and 2015. The National Center for Education Statistics reported in 2005 that only 18 percent of schools reported that they were overcrowded, a decrease from the 1999 study when 22 percent reported overcrowding. Overall, the problem of overcrowding is trending downward, but for …

The Middle Class, Urban Schools, And Choice, Michael Lewyn

Scholarly Works

It is common knowledge that middle- and upper-class parents tend to disfavor urban public schools, and often move to suburbs in order to avoid having to send their children to those schools. Thus, the condition of urban public schools contributes to suburban sprawl- that is, the movement of people and jobs from city to suburb.  This article discusses a variety of possible solutions to the unpopularity of urban schools among middle-class parents.  Part I of the Article suggests that this problem is a cause as well as a result of middle-class flight: that is, urban schools have poor reputations because …

The Effect Of A College-Going Intervention On The College-Going Self-Efficacy Beliefs Of Middle School Students, Kaley D. Mitchell

Education Dissertations

The need for students of all backgrounds to access and persist in postsecondary education informs a need for additional support related to postsecondary attainment for all people. Social cognitive theory (SCT; Bandura, 1987) and social cognitive career theory (SCCT; Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994) both support the design, implementation, and measurement of college-going interventions that work to enhance self-efficacy, a mediator in college interest, choice, and attendance. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of a college-going intervention on the college-going self-efficacy beliefs of a group of diverse middle school students. Specifically, this study examined the …

Developing Conceptual Understanding And Procedural Fluency In Algebra For High School Students With Intellectual Disability, Andrew J. Wojcik

Theses and Dissertations

Teaching students with Intellectual Disability (ID) is a relatively new endeavor. Beginning in 2001 with the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act, the general education curriculum integrated algebra across the K-12 curriculum (Kendall, 2011; National Governors Association Center for Best Practices & Council of Chief State School Officers, 2010), and expansion of the curriculum included five intertwined skills (productive disposition, procedural fluency, strategic competence, adaptive reasoning, and conceptual understanding) (Kilpatrick, Swafford, & Findell, 2001). Researchers are just beginning to explore the potential of students with ID with algebra (Browder, Spooner, Ahlgrim-Delzell, Harris & Wakeman, 2008; Creech-Galloway, Collins, Knight, …

Review Of Years 9 To 12 Tasmania : Final Report, Geoff N. Masters, Kathryn Moyle, Sheldon Rothman, Hilary Hollingsworth, Bill Perrett, Paul R. Weldon, Kate Perkins, Justin Brown, Ali Radloff, Patricia Freeman, Sofi Damianidis

Program monitoring and evaluation

The Tasmanian Government is currently implementing significant reforms to improve students’ retention and attainment in Tasmania’s schools. There is a concern in the Tasmanian community however, that their students’ performances are among the lowest in the nation. Reasons nominated for these results include weak literacy and numeracy levels; low attendance rates; high anxiety around transitions between Year 10 and Year 11 by some students, especially among those living outside of the larger cities; students seeking alternative education options; and family, financial, health and carer based issues. It is against this backdrop that the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) was …

A Mother's Spiritual Journey With Her Disabled Son: An Autoethnography, Margaret C. Higgins Edd

Dissertations

Abstract

This autoethnographic research delves into a mother’s experiences with her disabled son over thirty-five years. Beginning with a thick description of the crib accident that resulted in physical and cognitive disabilities that profoundly change the course of both mother and son’s life, this research chronicles the search for meaning, community, and healing as they negotiate the realms of medicine, education, career, family, and spirituality. Models of disability that seek to explain various ways in which society often views disability are examined, but none resonate with the researcher’s intimate experiences nor satisfies her deepest needs for insight and healing. Making …

How Do Latino Students Fare In Massachusetts Charter Schools?: An Analysis Of Student Outcomes, Enrollment, Teacher Preparation, And Discipline Across 10 Districts, Michael Berardino, Lorna Rivera, Trevor Mattos

Gastón Institute Publications

The objective of the research was to better understand the experiences and outcomes of Latino students in Massachusetts charter schools. To reflect the diversity of the Latino population in Massachusetts, this research is built on comparisons of demographics and student outcomes between traditional public school districts and the charter schools that serve each school district.

Results From Ireland North And South's 2016 Report Card On Physical Activity For Children And Youth, Deirdre M. Harrington, Marie Murphy, Angela Carlin, Tara Coppinger, Alan Donnelly, Kieran P. Dowd, Teresa Keating, Niamh Murphy, Elaine Murtagh, Wesley O'Brien, Catherine Woods, Sarahjane Belton

Publications

Background: Physical activity (PA) is a key performance indicator for policy documents in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Building on baseline grades set in 2014, Ireland's second Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth allows for continued surveillance of indicators related to PA in children and youth. Methods: Data and information were extracted and collated for 10 indicators and graded using an international standardized grading system. Results: Overall, 7 grades stayed the same, 2 increased, and 1 decreased. Grades were assigned as follows: Overall PA, D (an increase); Sedentary Behavior (TV), C-; Physical Education, D-; …

Strengthening Students’ Information Literacy Skills As They Develop Original Research Proposals In A Scientific Process Course, Kimberly A. Reycraft, Nora E. Demers

Florida Statewide Symposium: Best Practices in Undergraduate Research

Scientific Process is a required course for all undergraduate science majors at FGCU. In this course, students develop original research proposals on topics of their interest. Information literacy skills are critical as students must be able to use multiple sources of information to develop their proposals. Biology and library faculty have collaborated to add instruction and assignments addressing research question development, search strategy, citation management, and more. Our goal is to improve students’ information literacy skills as well as the quality and quantity of citations in their final proposals. We will present on this initiative and our preliminary assessment results.

Embodiment And Becoming In Secondary Drama Classrooms: The Effects Of Neoliberal Education Cultures On Performances Of Text And Self, Kirsten Lambert, Peter Wright, Jan Currie, Robin Pascoe

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

This article explores the effects of neoliberalism and performative educational cultures on secondary school drama classrooms. We consider the ways Deleuze and Guattari’s schizoanalysis and Butler’s concept of gender performance enable us to chart the embodied, relational, spatial and affective energies that inhabit the often neoliberal and heterosexually striated space of the drama classroom. These post-humanist analyses are useful methodological tools for mapping the complexities of student becomings in the space context of the secondary school. We also show how Foucault’s governmentality and Ball’s theory of competitive performativity are particularly salient in the context of immanent capitalism that shapes the …

University Rankings: Evidence And A Conceptual Framework, Jonathan G.S. Koppell, Jacob Fowles, H. George Frederickson

Publications from President Jonathan G.S. Koppell

University ranking has high public visibility, the ranking business has flourished, and institutions of higher education have not been able to ignore it. This study of university ranking presents general considerations of ranking and institutional responses to it, particularly considering reactions to ranking, ranking as a self-fulfilling prophecy, and ranking as a means of transforming qualities into quantities. The authors present a conceptual framework of university ranking based on three propositions and carry out a descriptive statistical analysis of U.S. and international ranking data to evaluate those propositions. The first proposition of university ranking is that ranking systems are demarcated …

Student Success Skills: An Evidenced-Based Program To Impact Student Outcomes, Nick R. Abel

Scholarship and Professional Work – Education

No abstract provided.

Educational Donations And Inequality In The San Diego Unified School District, Jesse O'Sullivan

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Local educational foundations (LEFs) are nonprofit organizations affiliated with a school or a district that raise money on their behalf. Broadly speaking, these nonprofits are seen as philanthropic organizations that benefit the public. My research seeks to complicate this perception by contextualizing donations to schools in an unequal school system, and examine how donations from these foundations interact with this inequality. This research seeks to investigate whether LEFs benefit the schools in least need of assistance, that is, those with high test scores and white, middle or upper class students, thereby perpetuating the already existing inequalities. LEFs may also mask …

Impact Of Creative Arts On At-Risk Youth, Kasey Jacques, John Seipel, Nyairah Abdullah, Trelijah Miller

Education Presentations at National and International Conferences

The purpose of our study was to reflect on how community-based cultural arts programs have impacted academic achievement, academic performance and self-esteem among youth, aged 13 to 24 years old. Community-based cultural arts offer a creative medium through which youths direct their energy toward achieving positive social, emotional, and academic outcomes (Wright, John, Alaggia, & Sheel, 2006). Our study took an approach known as “Positive Youth Development (PYD).” According to Ersing (2009, page 27), “(PYD) is a promising approach that rejects labeling young people as “at risk” for a host of social, emotional, and behavioral problems and instead embraces a …

Can Student-Built Gsas Provide Positive Development For Lgbt Youth In High Schools? A Review Of Literature, Beau Coggsdale

AUCTUS: The Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Scholarship

Within school systems, there are sexual minority students that are not treated with the same amount of attention that the sexual majority gets. These minority students include individuals that identify as bisexual, gay, lesbian, transgender, or questioning. These students would fall under the category of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender/transsexual, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual, or pan/polysexual (LGBTQQIAP). Many LGBT students in high school report feelings of isolation, depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation (Hong, Espelage, and Kral 885- 886). Many of these students, especially in rural areas, require some form of support within the school system for healthy positive development. Gay Straight …

The Historiography Of Trench Journalism And Troop Morale In World War I, Marina Soucy

History - Master of Arts in Teaching

I. Synthesis Essay.........................................................................2

II. Primary Documents and Headnotes..........................................27

III. Textbook Critique......................................................................33

IV. Bibliography..............................................................................41

What Does Motivated Mean? Re-Presenting Learning, Technology, And Motivation In Middle Schools Via New Ethnographic Writing, Justin Olmanson

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

This article offers a critique of the way middle schoolers are often positioned as generalizable objects that can be acted upon to produce measurable increases in motivation and learning. The critique invites a reconsideration and cultural analysis of some of the dominant discourses and perceptions of technology, young adolescence, and the study of motivation. The use of New Ethnographic Writing—a method that performs a cultural critique via extended scenes—connects to the roles and status of motivation, technology, and educational research methods deployed within public schools. Coupled with weak theory, this approach offers a way to understand young adolescents as navigating …

Common Ground: Uniting Archaeology And Secondary Social Studies Curricula, Jeremy Allen Haas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Archaeologists have been attempting to establish stronger connections with communities for several decades. Concepts such as stewardship can be presented to a larger audience, and archaeology can be a valuable tool for public education. Public schools across the nation are struggling to improve with limited resources. Archaeology can provide teachers with inexpensive resources that improve student learning while simultaneously helping teachers meet more rigorous standards. Using historical, archaeological, and cultural resources from the World War II Japanese American internment camp, Amache, I created a new supplementary curriculum that focused on the experience of Japanese and Japanese Americans during that era. …

A Mixed-Methods (Quantitative-Qualitative) Study To Identify The Perceived Level Of, Zeky Zardo

Dissertations

Different approaches to developing leaders have been established through various forms of self-assessment, action learning, and education and training activities (Smither et al., 2005). The existing body of research on the impact and success of college and university leadership development programs focuses heavily on undergraduate leadership programs and not graduate-level programs such as the Master of Business Administration (MBA) or the doctorate. The purpose of this mixed-methods (quantitative–qualitative) study was to identify the perceived level of transformational leadership skill development by students enrolled in a doctoral program in organizational leadership. In addition, it was the purpose of this study to …

Opening Up The Dialogue Across Disciplines: Making Room For Inquiry And Creativity From Pre-Kindergarten Through University, Amanda Nicole Gulla, Limor Pinhasi-Vittorio, Alison Lehner-Quam

Publications and Research

Professional development with teachers, whether they are in pre-K-12 schools or in higher education, creates opportunities for discussions among teachers and teacher educators about how to find spaces for creativity and the imagination within the struc- ture of the Common Core State Standards, a set of national standards adopted on a state- by-state basis in the U.S. Two education faculty members and an education librarian from a large city university held workshops, bringing together university faculty in arts and humanities, science, mathematics and education, and pre-K-12 teachers to explore the potential for inquiry and creativity in the Common Core State …

Desiring Machines And Nomad Spaces: Neoliberalism, Performativity And Becoming In Senior Secondary Drama Classrooms, Kirsten Lambert, Peter Wright, Jan Currie, Robin Pascoe

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

This paper explores Deleuze and Guattari's schizoanalysis in relation to student and teacher becomings and the way these are actualised within the neoliberal and heterosexually striated spaces of the secondary school assemblage. Deleuze and Guattari considered a narrow approach to education problematic and called for creativity as a site of ‘resistance’. Drama is one subject rich with potentiality for students to strengthen their creativity and ‘speak back’ against the neoliberal project. What our research revealed is how the drama classroom is an open, dynamic space where students can embody different identities at a critical time in their adolescent development. What …