Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Critical Race Theory : A Lens For Viewing Racism In American Education Policy And School Funding, Susan A. Klupchak

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This thesis discusses Critical Race Theory (CRT) as a foundation to understand race and racism in the U.S. and provides a brief introduction to how components of CRT can be used as a conceptual framework to understand how educational inequity undergirds the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and Race To The Top (RTTT) policies. This thesis also provides a comprehensive review of CRT and uses CRT as a method of analysis to fully understand how race and racism are applied in NCLB policy. CRT is used as a method of analysis to show that race and racism are embedded in …

A Study Of Self-Efficacy In A Group Of Hmong Refugees, Mai M. Yang

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

Social cognitive theorist Albert Bandura defined resilience as the ability to organize thoughts and actions to manage prospective and unknown situations. He called it the theory of perceived self-efficacy (Bandura, 2010). The tool used to measure this construct is called the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES), which assesses a broad stable sense of an individual's personal competence to efficiently deal with a variety of stressful situations. Previous research suggested that due to its positive association with mental health and well being, the GSES and theory of self-efficacy are worthy of further examination in refugees (Sulaiman-Hill and Thompson, 2011). This study examines …

Still Unconstitutional: Our Nation's Experiment With State-Sponsored Sex Segregation In Education, David S. Cohen, Nancy Levit

Faculty Works

Since federal regulations authorized single-sex education in 2006, there has been an explosion of single-sex schools and classes. Although the Supreme Court has not ruled, three federal court decisions have addressed the constitutionality of single-sex classes, and the issue will percolate toward Supreme Court review soon. The arguments are that parents should have choices and “diversity” of educational options, that “brain research” shows that boys and girls are so biologically different to need sex-specific educational environments, that educational outcomes are better, and single-sex learning environments allows boys and girls to break through gender stereotypes. This article dissects these arguments within …

A Study Of The Implementation Of Restorative Justice At A Public High School In Southern California, Brian Robbins

Pitzer Senior Theses

This thesis begins with an introduction and methodology that presents two major research questions: “Can restorative justice exist within a zero-tolerance framework,” and, “What are the challenges that stand in the way of implementing restorative justice ideologies fully at Glenside High School?” The author provides an autobiographical statement to give context to his positionality within this research. A comprehensive literature review highlights a brief history of restorative justice, a description of the harmful effects of punitive discipline, and results from different communities that have implemented restorative justice. The three major respondents are introduced in order to provide context to their …

Behind The Mirrors: Examining The Role Of African American Cosmetologists And Salons In Domestic Violence Advocacy And Education, Pangela H. Dawson

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation

African American beauty salons across the country have historically served as settings for social interaction, political activism, and community organizing in the African American community. These settings often offer opportunities for intimacy between cosmetologists and their clients. Research findings suggest that the unique bonds between women in salons can be a viable option when providing health intervention and education to large numbers of women. Data indicates that salon campaigns and promotions which focused on health issues such as stroke and diabetes education, breast and cervical cancer awareness, healthy living, and smoking cessation, have been efficacious in changing unhealthy habits or …

Evaluation Of Health And Education Impacts Of A Girls’ Safe Spaces Program In Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Annabel Erulkar, Girmay Medhin

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Approximately one in eight of the world’s population is a girl or young woman aged 10–24 and attention is increasingly focusing on the central role of adolescent girls in achieving global health and development goals. Areas of focus by the development field include girls’ education, health, child marriage, and the experience of violence. This study analyzes the educational and health impacts of a program for slum-dwelling girls, including child domestic workers and rural-urban migrants. Established in 2006, Biruh Tesfa (Bright Future) aimed to increase social networks and support for the most marginalized girls in the poorest urban areas of Ethiopia. …

English Language Learners In Nevada, Robin Gonzales

Brookings Mountain West Publications

While leading the rest of the country in population growth, immigration, and increasing ethnic and linguistic diversity, Nevada’s mostly Latin American population experiences high poverty, low educational attainment, and high employment. As a result, Nevada has increasingly high numbers of English Language Learner students (ELLs) – students who speak a language other than English at home – and show low educational attainment compared to their English speaking counterparts. According to a 2013 report from the Lincy Institute of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, if the state wants to reverse its populations’ dismal educational attainment and poor national rankings in …

Gender Spectrum : Exploring Gender Diversity In Schools : A Project Based Upon An Investigation At Schools That Received Gender Spectrum Training On The Topics Of Gender And Gender Diversity, Meredith S. Abrams

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

The world is witnessing a major shift in the way individuals in the helping professions and Western society understand gender outside the historical binary of male/female. In response to the limited literature that examines how gender and gender diversity is understood, taught, and integrated into educational institutions, the researcher provides an overview of a selected literature which informs the specific topics of gender and gender diversity in schools. This study explored how the information presented in Gender Spectrum trainings was utilized and integrated into four identified natural entry points (personal, structural, interpersonal, and instructional) for creating gender inclusive schools and …

Exploring Ways White Children Are Taught About Race And Racism, Angela M. Clark

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

In this theoretical study, I will explore ways White children are taught about race and racism, and ways this subject can be explored with White youth in therapeutic contexts. In the United States, racism continues to have a significant negative impact on the material and psychological experiences of people of color, limiting life chances while it is largely ignored by White individuals and White-dominated institutions. One factor that serves to maintain the existence and influence of racist systems is White people's ignorance of the degree to which racism is present in our institutions, dominant discourse and ideology, and in ourselves. …

Population And Health Dynamics In Nairobi's Informal Settlements: Report Of The Nairobi Cross-Sectional Slums Survey (Ncss 2012), African Population And Health Research Center (Aphrc)

Reproductive Health

This report documents the living conditions and health risks of slum-dwellers across Nairobi’s informal settlements a decade after the Nairobi Cross-sectional Slums Survey (NCSS) of 2000. It aims to not only highlight the needs of slum-dwellers but also inform policymakers on the changes that have occurred in the living conditions of Nairobi’s urban poor since 2000, considering development interventions by the Government of Kenya and its development partners. The NCSS 2012 results highlight marked improvements in environmental, health, and educational indicators among slum dwellers. However, these improvements were not uniform, with subgroups of younger women and women without formal education …

Leadership With Liberal Arts : From Ehebia To Jepson, Shaye Ellis

Honors Theses

“Leadership is one of the most observed and least understood phenomena.” Despite his extensive research and knowledge in the field, James MacGregor Burns still professes the complexity of the concept of leadership. The abstract nature of the topic does not lend itself to a brief synopsis or a limited understanding of a specific aspect of leadership. In many ways it eludes being confined to a particular category and exists across and between different academic disciplines. In the absence of a prescribed curriculum or method of study, institutions of higher education establish programs and departments that disseminate a distinct model or …

Mass Incarceration And Employment, Steven Raphael

Employment Research Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Seattle Public Schools Educators' Perceptions Of The Efficacy Of Autism Inclusion Programs, Roslyn Clare Hower

Scripps Senior Theses

The number of children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) is on the rise, both in the United States and around the world. The Individuals with Disabilities ACT (IDEA 2004) and No Child Left Behind Act (2001) mandate that children with disabilities, including children with ASD, be educated in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE). The general education classroom is increasingly identified as the LRE. General education teachers are increasingly responsible for educating students with ASD, often with little or no training on ASD or intervention methods. Few previous studies have explored general education teachers’ experiences and attitude towards inclusion of …

The New Scarlet Letter? Negotiating The U.S. Labor Market With A Criminal Record, Steven Raphael

Upjohn Press

This book explores the difficulties facing ex-offenders as they try to enter and remain in the U.S. labor market.

Que No Te Eduque La Rosa De Guadalupe - Stereotypes In Telenovelas, Ana Gomez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Gender-based discrimination and gender-based violence prevail in cultures where sexism and violence are usual. According to feminist organizations our best solution is education from an early age. However, in places where means of formal education are scarce, we may turn to alternative solutions such as television. Television has been examined in multiple studies for its role in the formation of gender, and other type of stereotypes. But also it has been considered a useful tool in challenging traditional notions about gender and in helping to promote social change. For this reason, a textual analysis was conducted on La Rosa de …

Implicit Category Priming Capacity, Edward Paulus Hahn

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Past research has shown that accessing a memory allows faster subsequent access to the memory activated as well as to related information (priming). There has been much research devoted to implicit category priming (unintentional priming of a category of information), but this research has not determined the number of categories that can be implicitly primed simultaneously. The goal of the present quantitative study was to address that gap. Twenty participants (ages 27-54 years, M=44 years), who volunteered through an online participant pool, were presented with 2 tasks over the Internet. A scrambled phrase task implicitly primed 5 unrelated categories and …

Teacher Perceptions Of Violence Prevention Approaches And Self-Efficacy: Where Do We Go From Here?, Kristie Jo Redfering

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

This research project explored teachers’ beliefs of violence prevention approaches and self-efficacy. Relevant research indicates the value of violence prevention and conflict resolution education as well as the importance of teacher support of such programs. Theories of decision-making and self-efficacy provide the foundation for the variables that were examined through use of a survey instrument developed by Dr. K. King and Dr. T. Kandakai. Participants were sampled from two Florida school districts. Independent variables included teacher background and experience indicators including demographics and teaching/training experience. Dependent variables were comprised of multiple indicators of outcome value, efficacy expectation, and outcome expectation. …

Explaining Public Opinion Towards A Federal Educational Reform: The Impact Of Accountability, Symbolism, Group Interest, And Authoritarianism On Support For The No Child Left Behind Law, Jonathon Holland

Theses and Dissertations--Sociology

This study focuses on public opinion of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). The act is a federal reform act, therefore politicians will pay attention to voters’ opinions of the law when considering if they should pass future legislation like it. Data were collected from a sample population of United States citizens by the Princeton Survey Research Associates International. People’s educational views, political views, group interests, and authoritarian views were all used to measure which groups have a positive attitude toward NCLB. Logistic regression was used to test several models to predict which groups have the strongest opinion of …

Inspiring Change: Exercise Self-Efficacy, Dispositional Optimism, And Perceived Stress In College Seniors, Joshua M. Garrin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Prohealth competencies, positive outcome expectancies, and adaptive stress appraisals have profound implications for the real-world transition of college seniors—a population for which engagement in physical activity reflects a preeminent concern. Prior studies on exercise self-efficacy (ESE), dispositional optimism (DO), perceived stress (PS), and physical activity have yielded inconclusive evidence of the emergent psychosocial challenges encountered during the final year of the college experience. Using a triadic framework of self-efficacy, attribution, and cognitive appraisal theories, this crosssectional, quantitative study was conducted using a web survey to examine (a) the impact of physical activity level on ESE, DO, and PS; (b) the …

Let Us Rank Journalism Programs, Joseph Weber

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Faculty Publications

Unlike law, business, and medical schools, as well as universities in general, journalism schools and journalism programs have rarely been ranked. Publishers such as U.S. News & World Report, Forbes, Bloomberg Businessweek, and Washington Monthly do not pay them much mind. What is the best journalism school in the country? The top ten undergraduate and graduate schools? It is impossible to know. That should change, and the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) should lead the way. It should develop a ranking system that would be helpful to anyone interested, especially because federal policy makers soon will …

Social Justice Issues In The Education Of Aboriginal English Speakers, Ian G. Malcolm

Language as a Social Justice Issue Conference

Most Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia use a variety of Aboriginal English for communication, at least within their own speech communities. This paper provides an overview of some of the issues of social justice which are entailed in providing for these people, as Australian citizens, a fair and equitable education.

Concerns are raised in four areas:

1. Linguistic myths surrounding Aboriginal English and Standard English (SE). Traditionally, SE has been assumed to be unified, accent-free, inherently superior and unchanging. On the other hand, traditionally Aboriginal English has been ignored or variously described as a non-language, a poor …

Estimating The Efficiency Of Philippine Public High Schools Using Spatio-Temporal Stochastic Frontier Analysis, Michael Ralph M. Abrigo, Rouselle F. Lavado, Erniel B. Barrios, Brian C. Gozun

DLSU Business & Economics Review

This paper proposes a method for modeling production function of education using a stochastic frontier model with spatial temporal terms. Using a unique dataset that combines school achievement scores with school characteristics from 2005-2008, the efficiency of 4,900 public high schools in the Philippines in converting school inputs into test scores was estimated. Results show that the average inefficiency is at 41% and that there is a significant positive spatial externality in efficiency, which means that efficiency in one school can spill over to its neighbors. The model was found to be robust to various environmental variables included in the …

An Approximation Of The Internal Rate Of Return Of Investment In Selected Undergraduate Degree Programs, Editha A. Lupdag–Padama, John Paolo R. Rivera, Rhory C. Fernandez–Go, Krista Danielle S. Yu, Francesca Dianne B. Solis, Rosanina A. Sayoc

DLSU Business & Economics Review

The situation of a typical Filipino household, overseas employment, and the culture of migration are deemed as determinants for investing in higher education such as in the specialized fields of accountancy, education science and teacher training, engineering, and nursing. We examine both local and international labor demand for accountants, teachers, engineers, and nurses as well as its underlying implications on the exodus of professionals. As such, the determination of the internal rate of return to investment is of crucial importance to households to fully maximize educational opportunities and for the government and other institutions to confront this globally-changing situation. Using …

A Look Into The Latino Experience: The Process Of Identity Formation For Latinos In The United States, Angelica M. Ferreira

CMC Senior Theses

This paper examines the educational acculturation experience of Latinos in the United States (U.S.) and the processes of identity formation. Through the historical Latino experience in the early 20th century, we can see the remaining influences of historical inequality (e.g. exploitation of labor, de jure segregation) through negative perceptions of Latinos. Negative stereotypes and incorrect assumptions presented in society (e.g. media, educational system, and justice system) perpetuate inferiority in comparison to White Americans. In the context of a school environment, Latino children begin to realize they are different. When non-native English speakers enter the classroom, immediate differences in language, cultural …

The New Drug War Or The New Race War: Incarceration's Impact On Minority Children, Families, And Communities, Karen P. Lawrence

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

This non-experimental study examines the issues of over-representation of minorities in the criminal justice system due to drug-related incidences, race relations, and the impact such representation has on families, children, and communities. The exploration of the current criminal justice efforts against drugs is presented through a meta-analysis qualitative lens in an effort to disseminate the information on those arrested, sentenced, and subsequently incarcerated for various drug offenses. In an attempt to understand the encyclical racial disparities that promulgate the criminal justice system, the study relies on information from several key theorists to cement the discussions in the research. Qualitative data …

Manjako Literacy And Issues In Language Of Instruction, Miles Avery Pearson

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Students in Caio, Guinea-Bissau cannot read. This is due largely to the mismatch between the language at home and the language of instruction in schools. Students in Caio speak Manjako, but classes are taught in Portuguese, the official language, which students do not understand. This makes it more difficult for students to develop literacy skills and succeed in school. Literature shows that literacy is achieved best when it is taught to students in their mother tongue. This project involved creating and testing Manjako literacy materials and concludes with recommendations for implementing a Manjako literacy program. The materials included flashcards, sample …

Engagement Of Academic Libraries And Information Science Schools In Creating Curriculum For Sustainability: An Exploratory Study, Maria A. Jankowska, Bonnie J. Smith, Marianne A. Buehler

Library Faculty Research

In 2010, the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education released, “Sustainability curriculum in higher education: A call to action,” encouraging infusion of sustainability topics into universities' teaching and research. Since then, academic programs and research related to social, economic, and environmental sustainability have enriched university curricula. An exploratory study was conducted to determine the position and engagements of academic libraries and information science schools in their contributions to scholarly sustainability activities and curricular initiatives. This article presents the results of the study which reveals a number of engagements by library professionals in the areas of sustainability, such …

The Peculiar Case Of Nevada's Higher Education Governance, Robert E. Lang

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

No abstract provided.

The Metropolitan Revolution And Unlv As A Carnegie-Tier 1 University, Robert E. Lang

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

No abstract provided.

“I Would Like To Live A Better Life:” How Young Mothers Experience Entrepreneurship Education In East Africa, Elisabeth E. Lefebvre, Amy Pekol, Brooke L. Krause

Education Faculty Publications

This paper examines the capabilities, values, and constraints of young mothers participating in a youth entrepreneurship program in Tanzania and Uganda. Entrepreneurship education is an increasingly popular development strategy for vulnerable and out-of-school youth. The ultimate value of these programs rests in the ability of these youth to convert the knowledge and skills they acquire into valued livelihood opportunities. It is therefore important to understand the characteristics, experiences, and needs of the participants, as well as the socio-economic conditions that shape their abilities to apply their newly acquired knowledge and skills. Findings from this study suggest young mothers enter the …