Educational Sociology Commons^™

The Use Of Agents In International Student Recruitment: International Education Professional’S Opinions, Emily M. Kirsch

Capstone Collection

The use of recruitment agents in international student recruitment is a controversial topic with divisive and differing opinions among international education and higher education professionals. This paper researches international educator’s opinions on the use of recruitment agents in international education and explores the idea of a framework to regulate their use. A survey was sent out to international educators across the United States. 119 respondents gave their opinions on the use of agents and provided a valuable snapshot of the current outlook on the ethics and necessity of the use of agents.

Teachers At Work: Factors Influencing Satisfaction, Retention And The Professional Well-Being Of Elementary And Secondary Educators, Patrick Edward O'Reilly

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The purpose of this study has been to explore the question of how factors in the work lives of teachers influence their experience of workplace satisfaction, and how satisfaction influences retention in the teaching profession. This study had three specific goals: (1) to examine whether five specified factors that teachers' encounter as workers influence their professional satisfaction, (2) to explore whether teacher satisfaction influences retention in the profession and (3) to determine whether school level taught plays a role in degrees of satisfaction a teacher experiences.

Data was collected over a period of five months, using a survey administered to …

On Becoming A Teacher (Or Not): Students Of Color's Perceptions Of Teachers' Work, Consideration Of Teaching As A Career, And Implications For Diversifying The Teaching Force, Amanda Lee Winkelsas

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The racial/ethnic demographics of the American public school teaching force stand in contrast to the racial/ethnic demographics of the students and families who are served by our public school system. In an effort to understand the racial/ethnic demographic disparities between the teaching force and the public school student population, this study explores the perceptions of students of color as they relate to teachers' work, authority, and power. Utilizing a participatory, mixed methods approach in one public, urban, college preparatory school, I analyze the experiences, cultural models, and knowledges that shape students' perceptions of teachers' work and their own consideration of …

Head Start And Child Care Providers’ Motivators, Barriers And Facilitators To Practicing Family-Style Meal Service, Dipti A. Dev, Katherine E. Speirs, Brent A. Mcbride, Sharon M. Donovan, Karen Chapman-Novakofski

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

This paper presents a qualitative investigation of the motivators, barriers, and facilitators for practicing family-style meal service (FSMS) from the perspective of 18 child care providers serving preschool children in Head Start (HS), Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) funded, and non-CACFP child-care centers. Providers were selected based on maximum variation purposive sampling and semi-structured interviews were conducted until saturation was reached. Provider responses were systematically coded using thematic analysis. HS and CACFP providers reported being motivated to practice FSMS because it created pleasant mealtimes, opportunities to role model healthy eating, and healthful child development. CACFP and non-CACFP providers …

Environmental Sustainability, Cultural Awareness, And Personal Growth: A Short-Term Study Abroad Program Design For The University Of Colorado, Boulder, Jana K. Howlett

Capstone Collection

The University of Colorado (CU), as with many academic institutions in the United States, has seen a consistent increase in the number of students opting for short-term study abroad programs. A growing concern in the field of international education is whether it is possible for students to mature in cultural competence from such a short time spent abroad. In an initiative to deliberately increase students’ intercultural growth during short-term excursions, Global Seminar: Environmental Sustainability and Cross-Culture Contact in Costa Rica (GSCR) proposes a program that implements two new aspects to CU’s study abroad options: a course-linked program and an …

Another Nibble At The Core: Student Learning In A Thematically-Focused Introductory Sociology Course, Jay R. Howard, Katherine B. Novak, Krista M.C. Cline, Marvin B. Scott

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Identifying and assessing core knowledge has been and continues to be a challenge that vexes the discipline of sociology. With the adoption of a thematic approach to courses in the core curriculum at Butler University, faculty teaching Introductory Sociology were presented with the opportunity and challenge of defining the core knowledge and skills to be taught across course sections with a variety of themes. This study of students (N = 280) enrolled in 12 sections of a thematically-focused Introductory Sociology course presents our attempt to both define and assess a core set of concepts and skills through a pretest-posttest questionnaire …

A Reflective Conversation: Community And Hei Perspectives On Community-Based Research., Niamh O'Reilly, Catherine Bates

Staff Articles and Research Papers

This paper is a reflective correspondence between a community partner and a community-based research coordinator in a higher education institute (HEI). We asked each other questions about our experience of collaborating on two community-based research (CBR) projects, in order to share our learning from our collaboration, and to relate this to the wider context in order to develop recommendations for others – community partners and HEI staff – who would like to initiate CBR projects in the future.

Health + Equality + School Engagement: Scenarios Usa Reinvents Sex Education, Rafael Mazin, Andrea Lynch

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This issue of Quality/Calidad/Qualité highlights the experience of Scenarios USA, an innovative nonprofit program that has integrated a gender and rights perspective—and a critical-thinking approach—into sex education curricula, while fostering new pedagogies and greater awareness among teachers. Scenarios USA approaches sexual health not as a stand-alone issue but as intertwined with young people’s overall lives and agency. As such, the organization’s “sex ed” work is part of a broader strategy of fostering self-expression, leadership, and advocacy among youth, especially among those living in marginalized communities. The approach has made Scenarios a vanguard in the field of sexuality education. Scenarios’ experience …

An Outreach Program Case Study: Assessing And Imparting Social Capital, Autumn Lynn Thompson

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

College outreach programs have been on the rise in the past couple of decades. They hope to help historically underrepresented students (first generation, low income, and minority) aspire to and prepare for higher education. However little research has been done on the effectiveness of these programs and more specifically which components are most effective for increasing student enrollment and retention. This study addresses this lack studying the effectiveness of social capital in college outreach programs, in an effort to move towards more evidence based research and practice. The study uses qualitative methods and in-depth interviews to directly investigate social capital …

Academically Resilient Minority Doctoral Students Who Experienced Poverty And Parental Substance Abuse, Marcia Boatman

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

There is a lack of research on the academic resilience of minority, first-generation, online doctoral students (MFOD) who experienced poverty and parental substance abuse (PSA). The purpose of this study was to explore how MFOD who overcame poverty and PSA developed academic resilience. Resilience theory and Kember's model of attrition in online programs provided a conceptual framework for this study. The research questions guiding this qualitative study concerned how MFOD perceive and interpret their academic resilience and protective factors. A purposeful sample of 6 students participated in semistructured interviews. An interpretative phenomenological analysis was conducted, which included a case by …

Children’S Attitudes Towards Peers With Disabilities: Associations With Personal And Parental Factors, Soo-Young Hong, Kyong-Ah Kwon, Hyun-Joo Jeon

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to investigate the following: (i) associations among children’s prior contact with people with disabilities and the three dimensions of children’s attitudes towards people with disabilities: children’s understanding of and their feelings about people with disabilities and their behavioral intentions to make inclusion decisions; (ii) the relation between children’s behavioral intentions to make inclusion decisions and the demands of activity contexts and the types of disabilities; and (iii) the association between parents’ attitudes and children’s attitudes. Participants included 94 typically developing four- and five-year-old preschoolers. Children’s understanding of disabilities and their prior contact with people …

Right-Skilling: Rabbis And The Rabbinic Role For A New Century, Barak D. Richman, Daniel Libenson

Faculty Scholarship

This chapter applies Clayton Christensen's model of organizational innovation to Jewish contexts. It observes a parallel between the many challenges that currently confront U.S. healthcare and American Jewry: a mismatch in the skills acquired by professionals and the needs expressed by the broader public; expensive institutions with high fixed costs that are struggling to provide value and maintain sustainable revenues; a failure to respect individual autonomy and cultural mores; and a disenfranchised public that suffers from high costs and unmet demand for meaningful services. It then applies Christensen's adapted model for the healthcare sector to American Jewish institutions, suggesting reforms …

Reconceptualizing Cultural Competence: White Placeling De-/Reterritorialization Within Teacher Education, Melissa Winchell

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

This ethnography reconceptualizes the paradigm of cultural competence used within the literature on teacher education to describe the multicultural learning of White teacher candidates. Within the cultural competence framework, White learning is problematic, dichotomously defined, and fixed. The binary of competence/incompetence established by this paradigm has recently been questioned within the literature as deficit-based and in conflict with postmodern, critical theories of learning and teaching espoused by multicultural education espouses. This study of the researcher's multicultural education class at a private, religious, four-year undergraduate college on the East Coast of the United States used co-constructed pedagogical practices--including a co-constructed community …

Segregation, Inequality, Demographic Change, And School Consolidation, William England, Edmund T. Hamann

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

We describe a rural/micropolitan example of the intertwining of school consolidation and demographic change with exacerbated segregation and inequality. To do this we consider Dawson County, Nebraska, which hosts the state's most Latino/a school district (Lexington) and which saw its number of schools decline from 37 to 19 during this century's first decade, and the number of local school districts lessened from 18 to 5. In particular, we call attention to the irony that consolidation was pursued with an explicit call for more equality in schooling in Dawson County (Swidler 2013) and yet population concentrations and variation in expenditures seemed …

How (And Why) Nclb Failed To Close The Achievement Gap:Evidence From North Carolina, 1998-2004, Roslyn Mickelson, Jason Giersch, Elizabeth Stearns, Stephanie Moller

The Bridge: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Legal & Social Policy

Recent state and national policy changes for public education are premised upon the idea that high-stakes tests can improve student outcomes and close achievement gaps. Opponents maintain that such policies fail on both counts. Using a unique longitudinal dataset from North Carolina, we find that high-stakes tests have failed to close achievement gaps associated with social class and race, and that the persistence of these gaps is related, at least in part, to academic tracking. Such findings add to the questions being raised about such policies as No Child Left Behind.

Access Abroad: A Design In Equitable Access To Education Abroad, Matthew Zielsdorf

Capstone Collection

Access Abroad is an innovative short-term, faculty-led education abroad design that increases accessible, transformative study abroad programming and enhances academic and intercultural program quality for students enrolled in the Educational Opportunity Fund (EOF) at The College of New Jersey. The unique design of Access Abroad harnesses key institutional and financial resources at the college to allow 12 EOF undergraduate students to study in La Paz, Bolivia for four weeks in May 2015 with a faculty leader from the School of Humanities and Social Sciences. The curriculum will foster student exploration of culture, identity, and community and contribute to the development …

Social Compass Curriculum: Three Descriptive Case Studies Of Social Skills Outcomes For Students With Autism, Louanne E. Boyd, Deborah M. Ward

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

The Social Compass Curriculum (SCC) was investigated for its effectiveness in improving core social skills in three descriptive case studies of students with autism. Treatment fidelity of the SCC was also measured in the school setting. The Social Responsiveness Scale and the Autism Social Skills Profile were completed by parents to measure pre- and postintervention social skills for three students aged 8 to 11 years who participated in the present multisite pilot study. Fidelity of implementation data were collected via a checklist during observations for three educators who implemented the intervention. Results indicate that the SCC improved core social deficits …

"I Cannot Teach Because I Am Not Smart": Working Class Mothers’ Support For Their Children's Education In Japan, Yoko Yamamoto

2013 New England Association for Asian Studies Conference

Social class is a powerful element which predicts mothers’ support for their children’s academic development in Japan. Middle class mothers tend to hold higher educational expectations, invest in their children’s educational opportunities, and interact with the teachers more frequently than working class mothers (Stevenson & Stigler, 1992; Yamamoto, 2006). While ample evidence shows social class differences in parents’ academic support, few have examined why working class mothers are not as involved in their children’s education as middle class mothers. In order to understand the mechanisms of social class reproduction and mobility, it is critical to investigate the experiences and elements …

L’Association "Alliances Et Cultures Nord" : Son Rôle En France Et Mon Rôle Avec Elle, Carolyn Raithel

France: Language, Community and Social Change

Alliances et Cultures est une association dans le quartier Nord en Toulouse. Elle sert du centre social et elle offre beaucoup de programmes différents pour tous les âges et leurs besoins. J’y ai travaillé avec un programme spécifique qui s’appelle « Contrat local d’accompagnement à la scolarité », ou « CLAS » en acronyme. C’est un programme national dont il y en a aux plusieurs centres sociaux en France. Ce programme a le slogan « pour apprendre autrement ! » et il donne une opportunité qui est rare en France aux enfants de recevoir l’aide individuelle à la scolarité au …

Más Allá De Las Fronteras: Pasos Hacia La Educación Intercultural Basados En La Experiencia Con Alumnos Migrantes En 6 Escuelas Primarias En Buenos Aires, Argentina Y Santiago, Chile, Kendra Layton

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Esta investigación explora los efectos y los beneficios de la inmigración en Chile y Argentina en el ámbito escolar al tomar como foco seis escuelas en Santiago y Buenos Aires. Situadas en tensión con culturas que prescriben al paradigma de la asimilación, el objetivo general es indagar sobre la presencia de programas interculturales que se adapten a los alumnos migrantes, una modalidad basada en la apertura, reconocimiento y enriquecimiento de culturas distintas. Para indagar que tanto las escuelas emplean el enfoque de interculturalidad, la investigación analiza el discurso del personal, observa su práctica en el aula y explora los alcances …

The Impacts Of Education: A Case Study Of Muslim Women In Ngaoundéré, Cameroon, Margo Brookfield

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper is the product of a study on the ultimate impacts that education can have on the lives of Muslim women in the city of Ngaoundéré, Cameroon. Women in the North of Cameroon have been confined within traditional gender roles that have been in place for generations, due to deep ties with culture and religion in the region. This research explores Muslim women’s opinions on the impacts of the modern education system in place in the city. In addition it looks into the impacts that this education can have on different aspects of a woman’s life, including her relations …

Catalog, 2013-2014, Anderson University - South Carolina

Catalogs

The 2013-2014 graduate & undergraduate academic catalog and introduction to the university.

Understanding Teacher/Coach Role Stressors And Burnout, Kevin Andrew Richards

Open Access Dissertations

Teaching has long been considered a stressful profession and is becoming even more stressful because of recent changes in state- and national-level educational policies that govern K-12 education. Teachers who take on additional, extracurricular roles, such as athletic coaching, may be even more prone to stress and burnout. Using occupational socialization theory and role theory, the purpose of this dissertation was to develop a more comprehensive understanding of role stressors, burnout, and resilience among teacher/coaches and non-coaching teachers. The study was divided into two phases. In phase one, 415 teachers (209 teacher/coaches, 206 non-coaching teachers) across a variety of academic …

Bas D’Immeubles, Emma Benjamin

France: Language, Community and Social Change

Bas D’immeubles est une association loi 1901 à but non lucratif, qui fait des activités et de l’intégration pour les familles de Reynerie. Aux banlieues de Toulouse, France, l’association est située en bas d’un HLM, un Habitation à Louer Modéré. Ces grands bâtiments qui aujourd’hui constituent les banlieues comme Reynerie et Bellefontaine, comprennent pour la plupart des immigrés de l’Afrique du Nord. Les associations comme Bas D’immeubles étaient mise en place pour intégrer les gens du quartier ; les adultes de la première génération, et leurs enfants de la deuxième ou troisième génération qui sont nés en France. Pendant mon …

Fearless: Raksmeymony Yin, Raksmeymony Yin

SURGE

This summer, Raksmeymony Yin ’14, otherwise known as Rex, fearlessly taught from his own lesson plans, graded students’ papers, and organized brand new curriculums as one of twelve interns at the Breakthrough Collaborative in Philadelphia. During the nine-week program, Rex worked long hours in and outside of the classroom, effecting change by investing in the education of dozens of middle school students.

Fearless: Nadejiah Towns, Nadejiah Z. Towns

SURGE

This week we would like to recognize Nadejiah Towns ’15 as a fearless fighter against poverty. This summer she has served as a Heston intern for the South Central Community Action Program (SCCAP) and has spent the majority of her time with the Work Ready program, a “welfare to work” organization that helps low-income community members gain the skills needed to by obtaining a reliable, professional job and become self-sufficient.

Among Friends? Classed Navigations Of An Elite Social Scene (Asa Paper), Megan Thiele

Faculty Publications, Sociology

Both class and racial status matter for establishing connections within a university setting and peer groups exert a heavy influence on the thoughts and actions of students (Flores-Gonzalez 2002). This research assesses socialization patterns across these demographic cleavages, in part by showing how students encounter and react to the dominant elite culture at an elite, private university. Recent research has portrayed the undergraduate experience as the great equalizer (Torche 2011). However, if disadvantaged students are unable to fit in socially, they will be less likely to benefit from the unique network opportunities offered by a highly selective university. This work …

A Social Justice Perspective In Anti-Bullying Program Implementation, Monica Vanderheiden

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Oppression is in our everyday lives. Children get to experience it first hand in school by simply being different than others. Bullying has become a serious problem in American schools and many programs have been implemented to address it. This thesis grew out of a large evaluation study of anti-bullying program implemented in a large school district located in the Pacific Southwest. The main goal of this thesis is to continue the research process of the large evaluation study by focusing on the theme of implementation. Another goal is understand social justice as it relates to anti-bulling program evaluation. In …

I Don't Want To Save Your Children, Katherine M. Patterson

SURGE

A few weeks ago, the moment that I’ve been dreaming of for almost half of a year finally arrived. I started the Heston Summer Experience as an intern in Gettysburg. An embarrassing amount of my winter break was devoted to writing and rewriting my applications. After receiving an invitation for an interview, I convened my roommates to help me choose an outfit and ask me practice questions, which is not something I do…ever. Getting my acceptance letter in the mail was the ultimate highlight of a long and difficult year. When I was home for the first few weeks of …

Brown Eyes, Brown Mind: What We Learn From What We See, Mauricio E. Novoa

SURGE

My summer days aren’t spent in a house on the beach or travelling to different states or countries with my family or friends, forgetting about the worries of the rest of the year and wondering what could be better than life under the sun. They are spent in a school building, the first place my younger self would have been eager to escape during off time. This is the second summer I am working at the LIU Migrant Education Summer School of Excellence. Unlike normal summer school, which usually consists of remedial classes for students who can’t seem to …