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- Creator:
- Cordero, Preciosa Karina
- Description:
- This study examined how the strategies of one start-up charter school influenced the engagement level of the linguistically and culturally diverse Latino parents it served. By analyzing the practices of one school, located in an urban, low-income neighborhood, the study described the instances in which Latino parents were or were not engaged. In addition, this study addressed the variation and discrepancy found in two commonly interchanged terms relating to parents: engagement vs. involvement. The school in this study was observed during its inaugural school year, as a case study using a convenient purposive sample of participants from three different groups: parents, teachers, and administrators. The major research strategy was mixed-methods using a partially mixed sequential dominant status design. Parents completed a survey prior to the start of the study, which provided support to the qualitative aspects of the study by using quantitative information to substantiate and develop the interview questions. Data were collected from surveys, individual interviews, observations, and documents/artifacts. This study discovered that in order to improve the quality and quantity of Latino parent engagement, communication, access, and preventing barriers are vital resources for Latino parents and the school's staff.
- Resource Type:
- Dissertation
- Campus Tesim:
- Los Angeles
- Department:
- Applied and Advanced Studies in Education
- Creator:
- Gallegos, Dolores
- Description:
- This study examined the perceptions of four preschool teachers regarding the importance of students' social-emotional development, as well as the implications social-emotional assessment and curriculum had on their teaching. Research shows that social-emotional development at the preschool level is important because it contributes to later academic success and ability to build and maintain positive relationships (Epstein, 2014). A qualitative research design was employed to analyze the insights gained through the analysis of the preschool teachers' experiences with state-mandated assessments that focused mainly on preschoolers' social-emotional development. The researcher found that the use of two assessment tools, in addition to teacher-student interaction, offered further insight into a teachers' knowledge about how their interactions with their students build social-emotional development. Based on the findings, this study offers recommendations for the field, which include examining preschool teachers' teaching and assessment practices, especially when screening and assessing social-emotional competence.
- Resource Type:
- Dissertation
- Campus Tesim:
- Los Angeles
- Department:
- Applied and Advanced Studies in Education
- Creator:
- Gonzalez, Crystal
- Description:
- This mixed methods research study explores the factors that prevent students with learning disabilities from requesting and using reasonable accommodations in a community college. Eleven students with a learning disability attending a community college were interviewed about factors that may have affected whether they requested and used reasonable accommodations. The same eleven students along with other 49 students responded to a survey based on a 4-point Likert-scale addressing the same factors. The ANOVA analysis was not significant however; two variables were significant predictors of whether students regularly requested reasonable accommodations. Seven themes emerged from the qualitative data: poor self-concept, negative faculty attitudes, self-advocacy, satisfaction with reasonable accommodations, and dissatisfaction with reasonable accommodations, disability-related barriers, and Disabled Student Programs & Services (good experiences vs. bad experiences).
- Resource Type:
- Dissertation
- Campus Tesim:
- Los Angeles
- Department:
- Applied and Advanced Studies in Education
- Creator:
- Onofre Vásquez, Berenice R.
- Description:
- This qualitative study was undertaken to critically explore and explain the parent engagement of a group of immigrant Latina mothers at an elementary school located in a primarily White and relatively affluent school district in California, United States. The study examined the barriers that the group of Latina mothers encountered, along with the enabling factors available to them. Three research question guided the study: 1) How did one group of Latina immigrant mothers engage in a majority White and relatively affluent public school district, and how did they advocate for maintenance of a cultural event? 2) What barriers might inhibit Latino parent engagement in their children’s school? 3) What enabling factors might enhance Latino parent engagement in their children’s school? The study used Critical Race Theory as the theoretical framework. Data was collected through participant observation, interviews, document review, and field notes. A narrative inquiry method was used to chronologically narrate, as a series of events, the lived experiences of the group of immigrant Latina mothers. The study discovered a different situation than the deficit concept that Latino parents are not involved in their children’s school. The findings narrate a counterstory in that a group of Latina immigrant mothers, with the assistance of community advocates, was able to infiltrate the elementary school’s space of power and influence and effect change for the betterment of Latino parents, students, and the school in general. The group of Latina mothers was confronted with many barriers. Some of the specific obstacles that inhibited their engagement at their children’s school were: 1) systemic White privilege; 2) race, racism, and a lack of Latino power and influence in school decisions; 3) administrative disregard for the importance of culture, 4) a Latino parent engagement equity gap, 5) parent low socioeconomic status, 6) parent language barriers, and 7) low parental educational attainment. On the other hand, there were enabling factors that supported the Latina mothers’ engagement at their children’s school, including: 1) resilience and resistance to being silenced, 2) in-group and community support, and 3) the parent educational programs in the community and at school. These factors supported their arduous trajectory to resolve their concerns, with one of their main concerns being the re-instatement of a 42-year-old Cinco de Mayo event at an elementary school. The results of this study are significant because, as the Latino community continues to expand into new reaches of the United States, Latino parents could likely encounter similar situations in their new communities.
- Resource Type:
- Dissertation
- Campus Tesim:
- Los Angeles
- Department:
- Applied and Advanced Studies in Education
- Creator:
- Stevenson, J. Edward
- Description:
- Community college leaders and research acknowledge the growth of single parents in the student population. For many single parents, community college is the access point into higher education. However, significant gaps in the understanding and profiling of this population still remain. Although many of the qualitative experiences of single parents are outlined in existing research, an analysis of specific academic achievements of single parents is needed. An analysis of persistence, retention, unit counts, grade point averages, and other quantitative measures, while collected state-wide, have not yet been effectively analyzed and introduced into the single-parent conversation. This project employed the milestone and momentum point analysis to examine how single parents are achieving both intermediate and broader educational objectives. The results reveal strong percentages of persistence and retention. Also, single parents were found to perform better than other student groups in credit accumulation especially in low-unit career-focused coursework. A discussion of data reveals additional assets of single parents within multiple areas of life: parenting, community, and career. Additionally, key momentum points for single parents are identified.
- Resource Type:
- Dissertation
- Campus Tesim:
- Los Angeles
- Department:
- Applied and Advanced Studies in Education
- Creator:
- Glickman, Ronald S.
- Description:
- ABSTRACT PREPARING LATINX COLLEGE STUDENTS FOR LEADERSHIP IN CALIFORNIA By Ronald S. Glickman With a majority Latinx population in California and the future of the state’s economy depending on college educated leaders, it is important to develop a deeper understanding of how Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) in the state can better prepare Latinx students for leadership in the workforce. In this qualitative case study, I investigated the experiences of four first-generation college students in an undergraduate leadership course at an HSI and their perceptions about how their experiences in the course influenced their beliefs about leadership and their behavior in the workforce. This study draws from the existing literature on theoretical understandings of authentic leadership and self-authorship. Authentic leadership theory asserts that leaders possess a strong sense of self (George, Sims, Mclean, & Mayer, 2007), whereas self-authorship theory provides a framework for understanding how college students develop a strong sense of self (Magolda, 2004). Since college students must develop a strong sense of self in order to develop into authentic leaders (Eriksen, 2009), these two theories form the conceptual framework that guided this study. The findings suggest that the professor’s persona and approach in the classroom created a learning environment that prompted cognitive dissonance, propelled students into The Crossroads (Magolda, 2009) phase of self-authorship, and fostered varying degrees of personal growth and authentic leadership skills development. The study concludes with a discussion of the findings, implications for practice, and recommendations for future research. KEYWORDS: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), Latinx college students, first generation college students, self-authoring theory, authentic leadership theory, leadership development programs
- Resource Type:
- Dissertation
- Campus Tesim:
- Los Angeles
- Department:
- Applied and Advanced Studies in Education
- Creator:
- Royster, Dale
- Description:
- As digital networks become more prevalent between people, information and curricular content, researchers such as George Siemens have proposed new pedagogical approaches based on the principles of Connectivism through which the process of learning is facilitated by, and even rests within, the electronic connections between people and artifacts over a digital network. Connectivism Learning Theory suggests that online peer networks, such as social media and online forums, play a vital role in learning development online. MOOCs expansion, as well as MOOC-based education, has become a major issue in higher education since 2008 without much research and analysis of its functions and educational strategies. This study is centered around the connectivist features in a MOOC that are used to facilitate and advance pedagogy. Key Words : Connectivism, learning theory, autonomy, synchronous, asynchronous, digital networks, Massive Open Online Courses, MOOCs.
- Resource Type:
- Dissertation
- Campus Tesim:
- Los Angeles
- Department:
- Applied and Advanced Studies in Education