Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

"Playing The Game Or "Buying In": Charter School Teachers And Professionalism In An Era Of Choice And Accountability, Beth Louise Wright

Dissertations

Charter schools were initially created with the intention of empowering teachers to implement school and classroom strategies in accordance with their educational expertise. Such autonomy and respect for teacher expertise indicates a commitment to teacher professionalism. Yet charter schools have also have higher rates of teacher turnover and hire fewer credentialed, experienced teachers. In the context of shifting and contested notions of teacher professionalism, charter schools provide insight into how teachers fare under contemporary educational policy arrangements. This comparative qualitative case study investigates how charter schools have lived up to their theoretical promise for teacher professionalism. The study finds that …

Thrown To The Wolves: The Obstacles And Barriers Of International Student Athletes Prior To And During Enrollment In American Universities, Mary Elizabeth Boucher

Master's Theses

International student athletes (ISA’s) play an integral role among our nations university system. They diversify our colleges, provide our American students a chance to become familiar with other cultures, and they add intense value to our collegiate athletic programs. In order to maintain this diversity in our nation’s universities, we need to further understand the experiences of these student-athletes. It is inherent to provide international student-athletes with positive experiences as to fuel the globalization of sport.

This project is a small pilot study which focuses on male and female swimmers from Division I universities. It provides a closer look at …

“Creating A New Mythos”: Reassessing Race Standards And Latina/O Students, Margarita Vizcarra

Master's Theses

This research will focus on the race and ethnicity categories used to classify people in the United States in relation to school age students. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) first standardized federal race and ethnicity categories in 1977 in order to enforce compliance with civil rights laws. In 1997 revisions were made to these standards due to increasing criticism by the public, advocacy groups, and government agencies (Williams, 2006). The 1977 decision by the OMB designated the category of Hispanic, or Latino, as an ethnicity rather than a race which was once again upheld in the 1997 update. …

Privatizing Laws: Examining The Relationship Between Privatization Elements In State Education Laws And Fourth Grade Academic Performance, Stephanie Romeo

Master's Theses

In the midst of a global context tied to expanding market connections, the United States adopted privatized education reform that has only been increasing over the years. Specific states have adopted privatization in varying degrees and forms, including vouchers, charter schools, public-private partnerships, contracting out services, and virtual education. States have implemented privatization forms for different reasons, such as to improve student achievement, save money, or provide for increased student choice. This research study evaluates the impact of privatization reforms on student achievement by examining the relationship between various privatization elements in state laws and student achievement. To do so, …

Chicago Public Schools And The Creation Of Global Citizens, Rebecca L. Kijek

Master's Theses

This article examines the role different high schools in Chicago Public Schools play in providing students with the type of knowledge needed to better prepare them for success in a globalized society. As Chicago strives to solidify itself as a global city, its need to educate youth for a new economy are clear. The global economy demands that students are educated in science, technology, engineering, and math, world languages, expanded cultural perspectives, and attend a four-year college. Through a comparative analysis of the academic programming features at Chicago's selective enrollment and neighborhood high schools, this study will answer the question: …

Toward The “Better Than Well” Cultural Ideal: Understanding Changing Conceptualizations Of Illness And Wellness And North American Parenting, Pedagogy, And Education Policy (19th-21st C.), Nicole Ortegon

Dissertations

In the history of the United States, dominant conceptualizations of mental illness and wellness have been informed by scientific discourses situated in somatic and psychogenic-based paradigms – each affecting parenting, pedagogy, and education policy. From the late nineteenth through twentieth century, the field of psychiatry would come to endorse a primarily psychogenic rather than somatic-based approach to mental health, conceiving of the mind rather than body as the primary locus of illness and wellness. This resulted in a shift from a problem-focused paradigm of mental illness to prophylactic-focused paradigm of mental wellness. Secondary scholarship on the history of psychology and …

Getting Students Employed: 21st Century Learning Competences And Career Competences, Kelly Cebold Sundberg

Master's Theses

This thesis explores the nexus between education and the economy in the 21st century knowledge-based economy to understand the relationship between the learning competences – as described in 21st century frameworks – and career competences – as recommended in the job descriptions of available employment opportunities. Theoretically, this study is grounded in human capital theory and it explores the indiscriminate nature of the data regarding a student’s required education level to achieve the prescribed learning competences. With the aid of a quantitative content analysis of selected employment opportunities, the research sought to explore: How are learning competences, as outlined by …