College of Education

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    Bilingual in a Monolingual District: Stakeholder Perspectives on Equitable Access to Dual Language Programs
    (2020) Marcus, Margaret Sullivan; MacSwan, Jeff; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    This qualitative comparative case study explores the perspectives of 30 critical stakeholders, including parents, school administrators, and central office personnel, on perceptions of dual language education (DLE) programs at two public dual language schools in a large Mid-Atlantic metropolitan district. This study also explores how these different stakeholders access and perceive access to these programs. Grounded in a conceptual framework that includes Ruiz’s orientations of language (1984), interest convergence (Bell, 1980), critical consciousness (Cervantes-Soon et al., 2017; Palmer, et al., 2019), and equity (Espinoza, 2007; Monk, 1990; Murphy, 1988), this study uses semi-structured interviews to demonstrate converging and diverging views on equitable access to dual language programs. In the focal district of this study, a lottery system offers a mechanism for school choice, but this process does not always lead to access to dual language programs due to high demand and long waitlists. Latinx families choose a bilingual program for different reasons than their English-speaking counterparts. For the Latinx population, dual language represents a way for these families to maintain a connection to their language and heritage. For English-speakers, the DLE program decision is connected to attending their neighborhood school, the idea of their children having early exposure to a language, and the diversity of the community. This study contributes to the current body of literature that explores Latinx and English-speaking parents’ reasons for choosing a DLE program. This study differs from current literature because it includes multiple stakeholder perspectives to understand different interpretations of access to these highly sought-after programs. This study concludes with implications and suggestions for policy, practice, and research. As part of the Memorandum of Understanding with the focal school district, this work will be shared with central office personnel. This research has important implications for policy decisions regarding equitable access to DLE programs, particularly in terms of program intentions and communication between stakeholders.
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    “Never Give up:” The Strengths and Strategies Used Among Undocumented College Students From Central America to Access and Persist in U.S. Higher Education
    (2015) Hernandez, Belkis Pamela; Espino, Michelle M.; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    The purpose of this study was to identify the strengths and strategies that undocumented college students from Central America used to access and persist in United States higher education. A multiple-case study design was used to conduct in-depth, semi-structured interviews and document collection from ten persons residing in Illinois, Maryland, Ohio, Texas, and Washington. Yosso’s (2005, 2006) community cultural wealth conceptual framework, an analytical and methodological tool, was used to uncover assets used to navigate the higher education system. The findings revealed that participants activated all forms of capital, with cultural capital being the least activated yet necessary, to access and persist in college. Participants also activated most forms of capital together or consecutively in order to attain financial resources, information and social networks that facilitated college access. Participants successfully persisted because they continued to activate forms of capital, displayed a high sense of agency, and managed to sustain college educational goals despite challenges and other external factors. The relationships among forms of capital and federal, state, and institutional policy contexts, which positively influenced both college access and persistence were not illustrated in Yosso’s (2005, 2006) community cultural wealth framework. Therefore, this study presents a modified community cultural wealth framework, which includes these intersections and contexts. In the spirit of Latina/o critical race theory (LatCrit) and critical race theory (CRT), the participants share with other undocumented students suggestions on how to succeed in college. This study can contribute to the growing research of undocumented college students, and develop higher education policy and practice that intentionally consider undocumented college students’ strengths to successfully navigate the institution.
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    Examining the Status of Equity in Undergraduate Enrollments for Black, Latino and Low-Income Students at Public Four-Year Universities and Flagship Campuses
    (2007-11-27) Gerald, Danette Stacie; Milem, Jeffrey F.; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    This study extends prior research (e.g., Bensimon, Hao & Bustillos, 2006; Perna, et al., 2006) that has examined postsecondary access and equity in enrollments for underrepresented student groups. Descriptive statistics are used to examine the status of equity in undergraduate enrollments for Black, Latino and low-income students, as well as trends in the status of equity for these groups from 1994 to 2004, at public flagship campuses and at other public four-year universities. Multivariate regression analyses are used to test the study's conceptual model which explores whether a relationship exists between variables shaped by human capital and institutional isomorphism, and institutions' equity indices. This study advances understandings of the degree to which the public four-year sector is adequately enrolling students from underrepresented groups, the relationship between institutions' flagship status and the enrollment equity indices for various groups of, the relationship between the pursuit of prestige and equity in undergraduate enrollments, and how variables within institutions' purview of control are related to their enrollment equity indices. The study's findings suggest that Black, Latino and low-income students do not achieve equity in undergraduate enrollments at public four-year universities or flagship campuses in a majority of states. In most states, Black and low-income students are more likely to achieve equity at public four year universities than at flagships, while Latinos are more likely to achieve equity at flagship campuses than at other public four-year universities. Of all three student groups, however, low-income students are most likely to be underrepresented in undergraduate enrollments at both public four-year universities and flagship campuses. The descriptive analyses also show that, over a 10-year period, the enrollment equity indices for Black and Latino students have decreased at public four-year institutions and flagship campuses in a majority of states. Conversely, the enrollment equity indices for low-income students increased at public four-year and flagship universities in a majority of states during the same time period. However, despite the upward trend in the enrollment equity indices for low-income students, in 2004 this group achieved equity at public four-year universities in only five states and at the public flagship university in only one state. The results of the multivariate analyses suggest that a relationship exists between human capital and institutional isomorphism variables, and the enrollment equity indices for Black, Latino and low-income students. The analyses also reveal a statistically significant negative relationship between institutions' flagship status and their enrollment equity indices for Black and low-income students, but not for Latino students. The study's findings have implications for policy, practice and research. Specifically, the findings underscore the need to examine the status of equity within state-specific contexts, and to calculate separate equity indices for different institutional sectors. The study also identifies several directions for future research.