Teaching, Learning, Policy & Leadership
Permanent URI for this communityhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2228
The departments within the College of Education were reorganized and renamed as of July 1, 2011. This department incorporates the former departments of Curriculum & Instruction, Education Policy Studies, and Organizational Leadership & Policy Studies.
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Item Who Wants to be a College President? Forms of Capital and the Career Aspirations of Senior College Administrators(2003) Umbach, Paul D.; Birnbaum, Robert; Teaching, Learning, Policy & Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md)This study used the theories of human, social and cultural capital as a lens to study the career aspirations of senior administrators, specifically vice presidents and deans already in the pipeline to the college presidency, particularly as they related to race and gender. More than 2,700 vice presidents and deans at American Association for State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) member institutions were asked to provide demographic information, ant to respond to survey items assessing their accumulation of capital, their experiences with discrimination and their aspirations. More than 1,600 surveys were returned resulting in a 61 % response rate. The typical senior administrator at state colleges and universities was a 54 year old, White, male from a middle to upper class family. Approximately 30% of the senior administrators were women. People of color made up approximately 13% of the senior administrators. African Americans represented the largest number of people of color at 8% of the respondents, followed by Latinos/as (3% of the sample) and other minorities (2% of the sample). The study found that most senior administrators did not aspire to be college presidents. Forms of capital were found to have a strong relationship with aspirations. Greater accumulation of human, social and cultural capital led to higher levels of presidential aspirations. Race and gender also were related to presidential aspirations. African Americans were significantly more likely than Whites to aspire to the presidency, and women were significantly less likely than men to want a presidential post, even after controlling for capital and discrimination. The majority of women and people of color in the study experienced discrimination in their career. For women, their experiences with discrimination appeared to have a negative impact when predicting some of the measures of aspirations. For people of color, their reported experiences had little impact on their presidential aspirations. The findings of this study highlighted the importance of issues of networks and mentoring. It also furthered the understanding of the impact of forms of capital, the pipeline to the presidency and discrimination on the aspirations of senior administrators.Item INTERNATIONALIZATION POLICIES OF JESUIT UNIVERSITIES: A CASE STUDY OF JAPAN AND THE U.S.(2009) Jung, S.J., Kang-Yup; Lin, Jing; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)In the wake of globalization, higher education institutions almost inevitably have adopted and implemented internationalization policies as their primary strategy for responding to the challenges and opportunities brought about by globalization. This study concerns the comparison of the motivations, program strategies, and organization strategies of the internationalization policies of two Jesuit universities: Sophia University in Japan and Georgetown University in the United States. This study focuses on understanding internationalization policies at the two universities and developing a conceptual framework that might be useful in the expansion of scholarship of internationalization theory. There are three key research questions: (a) Is the noticeable shift from social and cultural rationales for internationalization to for-profit rationale ubiquitous?; (b) How do the policies of internationalization of the two universities resonate with the particular contexts surrounding them?; and (c) To what extent do the programs of internationalization reflect the core value of the Jesuit philosophy of education which is to prepare men and women for others? Qualitative comparative case study was conducted at both research sites through semi-structured interviews with senior administrators, deans, faculty, and administrative staff members. On-site materials are collected and analyzed. Cross-case analysis is used to compare and synthesize the findings of the two single case studies. This study found that no noticeable shift from socio-cultural rationale to for-profit rationale has taken place at the two universities. Despite financial constraints, the two universities' internationalization polices are affected most strongly by the socio-cultural rationale and the academic rationale. Sophia puts an emphasis on the motivation for intercultural understanding stemming from its history and origin, while Georgetown gives its highest attention to the motivation for human development. The two universities are able to appropriate their contexts and surroundings so that the universities' idiosyncratic features of local contexts play a significant role in defining their specific responses to the challenges of globalization which are inscribed in their international programs and projects. Finally, the Jesuit philosophy of education, "men and women for others," plays a crucial role as a bedrock on which the direction of internationalization policies is defined. However, despite the strong relationship between the Jesuit philosophy of education and policy, there is only a weak correlation between the philosophy of education and programs. This research will contribute to a wider perspective on internationalization policies through cross-cultural comparative research at an institutional level, an expansion of literature about a global university, and a re-visioning of internationalization for the sake of conscientizing internationalization at an individual level and responsible internationalization at an institutional level.Item Culturally Responsive Poetry: The Lived Experience of African American Adolescent Girl Poets(2009) Bacon, Jennifer Nicole; Hultgren, Francine; Wiseman, Donna; Curriculum and Instruction; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)In this phenomenological study, I explore the lived experience of African American adolescent girl poets in an organized poetry group in their school. My research question unfolds, "What is the lived experience of writing poetry to uncover the power for African American adolescent girls to name who they really are?" My exploration calls upon the works of such phenomenologists as Edward Casey, John O'Donohue, Michael D. Levin and Martin Heidegger. My study is further augmented by Black feminists scholars and writers such as Patricia Hill Collins, Alice Walker and Zora Neale Hurston. Furthermore, Max van Manen provides a research guide pedagogically on this journey, alongside culturally responsive educators such as Gloria Ladson Billings and Jacqueline Jordan Irvine. The paths, thoughts, and meanings of phenomenology and poetry danced through, between and alongside one another. Poetic Eight is what the African American adolescent poets of my study have named themselves. The eight poets' names are brought forth by their external identities, lived experiences and cultural collective as African American adolescent girls. And while these identities and names offer some insight into who these girl poets are, the girls, themselves, reveal who they are through their writing and voices. Through the process of writing and weaving between concealing and revealing, individually and collectively, identities begin to unfold. As each participant begins to reveal her poetic identity (ies) and lived experiences, themes quickly emerge around grief, loss, naming as I Am, love and divinity. Finally, I offer poetic and pedagogical insights into the lived experience of writing poetry for African American adolescent girl poets to uncover and maintain their power through naming. These insights and suggestions are concluded with my own poetic reflections. As an educator, igniting poetic voices for listeners and readers occurs through a process of unraveling and writing renderings with the intention of embodying the hope, joy, rage and love that the poets have spilled onto the pages, as they read in the group in earnestness and conviction.Item Starting Our Day the Room 119 Way: A Qualitative Study of an Elementary Classroom Community and its Alternative to Traditional Morning Work(2009) Domire, Aimee; Selden, Steven; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This study explores the experiences of multicultural, Title I second-grade students as they experience a daily "Soft Landing," the time and space set aside for the first thirty minutes each morning for students to make choices about what activities to engage in. The portraiture methodology as outlined by Lawrence-Lightfoot and Davis (1997) establishes the framework for this narrative inquiry. I address four questions: What is "Soft Landing;" How do students choose to use their "Soft Landing" time and how do these choices change over time; What does "Soft Landing" mean to students; What have I learned about myself as a teacher during "Soft Landing?" By observing and interviewing nine second-grade students over three months, I learn that when children are in charge of their own learning and thinking, they actually know how to structure their academic lives without waiting for someone else to do it for them.Item Teachers and Teaching: Conceptualizing Quality Education in Rural Nicaragua(2009) Sanyal, Anita; Klees, Steven; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Policy discourses reflected in the World Declaration on Education for All (EFA) (Inter-Agency Commission,1990) and the subsequent Dakar Framework for Action and EFA: The Quality Imperative (UNESCO, 2001, 2004), have called for the improvement of the quality of basic education. These discourses emphasize student-centered pedagogical approaches in an effort to improve quality of education at the classroom level. The Nicaraguan government has sought to improve educational quality through the promotion of such pedagogies (MECD, 2000, 2001, 2006a). However, research on teaching in contexts of reform asserts that many factors influence how teachers understand and implement instructional reform, and highlights the difficulties in challenging existing teacher-centered practices (Cohen, 1990; O'Sullivan, 2004; Smylie, 1996). This dissertation relies on case studies of four primary school teachers to explore how each teacher conceptualizes and enacts "quality" instruction in the context of reform in rural schools in Nicaragua. Findings from the case studies illuminate the complexities that teachers face in their daily work. Each of the four teachers, to varying degrees and in somewhat different ways, was committed to adopting or adapting the reform pedagogies. However, for them, what happens in the classroom is largely informed by local contextual factors. These findings offer insights into how teachers understand and enact "quality" teaching. Such insights can be used in planning and implementing professional development and other initiatives, especially as the Ministry of Education and international donors continue to promote initiatives aimed at improving the quality of education at the classroom level. This study also can inform the process for evaluating policies by providing an in depth description of teaching and the challenges that teachers face in putting into practice ideas being promoted globally as critical for quality instruction. Finally this study contributes to theorizing and research concerned with teachers' ideas and practices, by examining key issues in a context that is less-often in focus in the literature - rural teachers in a developing country context.Item The Impact of Curriculum Focal Points on State Mathematics Standards(2009) Vennebush, George Patrick; Campbell, Patricia; Curriculum and Instruction; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)State mathematics standards from six states were analyzed to determine the impact of Curriculum Focal Points on recent revisions. The standards were analyzed to determine the alignment between the state documents and Curriculum Focal Points. In particular, a comparison of the framework used in each state standards document was compared to the framework used in Curriculum Focal Points, and the content within the state mathematics standards, as represented by the grade level expectations for Grade 5, was compared to the content within Curriculum Focal Points. The results were used to compare state standards for consistency between one another and to determine what changes, if any, had occurred from standards developed prior to the release of Curriculum Focal Points to standards developed after the release of Curriculum Focal Points.Item Virtualizing the Teacher: The Lived Experience of Teaching within Technology(2009) Whitesel, Cynthia Hoff; Hultgren, Francine H; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This research seeks to heighten pedagogical understanding of the lived experience of teachers who teach online using computer technology. Philosophically based and grounded in hermeneutic phenomenology, it explores the question: What is the lived experience of teaching with/in technology? Using van Manen's Researching Lived Experience (2003) as guide, the researcher seeks to discover existential themes revealed through hermeneutic methodology, a pedagogically grounded research approach to human science research and writing with a focus on lived experience. This research is rendered phenomenological through philosophical texts by Martin Heidegger, Hans-Georg Gadamer, Emmanuel Levinas, Gaston Bachelard, Edward Casey, and Don Ihde. For a period of eight months in the fall of 2006 and spring of 2007, six teachers from different continents engaged in multiple, in-depth conversations with the researcher about their experiences as online teachers in multiple online programs. The conversations were text-based and took place in an online forum characterized as a discussion board. The conversational text, additional personal reflections, related literature, and philosophic writings intertwine to create a textual interpretation of this experience. Using the metaphor of knots, the researcher explores themes of presence in distance, presence in text, interface presence, teaching identity, the virtual classroom as place, and the role of imagination and flow in unraveling some of the paradoxes of teaching online. The research makes recommendations for preparing teachers for online teaching and for the development of policies relating to course design, interface design, and teaching practices. Pedagogical insights include the effects of teaching with technology on several aspects of online teaching: marginalization of contingent online teachers, technical interests related to virtual curricula, online text, teaching memory, and signature and interface pedagogies. A phenomenological rendering of Moore's (2007) theory of transactional distance explores teacher presence in distance. The researcher offers suggestions for future phenomenological research to explore the meaning of the experiences of contingent teachers, the "best practices" approach to teacher preparation programs, standardized course development models, and media/mediated and non-media/non-mediated teaching identities.Item A TALE OF TWO GROUPS: DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MINORITY STUDENTS AND NON-MINORITY STUDENTS IN THEIR PREDISPOSITION TO AND ENGAGEMENT WITH DIVERSE PEERS AT A PREDOMINANTLY WHITE INSTITUTION(2009) Hall, Wendell Diedrik; Cabrera, Alberto F.; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which minority students and non-minority students differ in their predispositions to engage in campus-based diversity activities upon entering college and engagement with diverse college peers during college. These ethnicity-based interactional differences were examined under a revised version of the Transition to College Model (Locks et al., 2008). The Diverse College Student Engagement Model accounts for the joint influence of student pre-college characteristics along with collegiate experiences, in shaping engagement with racially diverse peers at a predominantly White college. Using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and Latent Means Modeling (LMM), this dissertation examined direct and indirect effects of factors that influence engagement with diverse students in college. Findings indicated that engagement with diverse peers does not take place in a vacuum; conditions and mechanisms that facilitate engagement also matter. Several pre-college variables and college variables were shown to influence predisposition to engage in diversity-related activities and engagement among diverse peers in college. Findings from testing the proposed model indicate that minority students were significantly higher in the latent factor Predisposition to Engage when entering college; however, no significant differences were found in the latent factor Engagement after the sophomore year of college. The differences appear to have been attenuated by some of the campus mechanisms the University of Maryland has in place to foster engagement among diverse students.Item The Case for Degree Completion: African American Transfer Students at a Traditionally White Institution(2009) Younger, Toyia Kiana; Fries-Britt, Sharon L; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The purpose of this dissertation was to identify and understand the factors that contribute to the degree completion of African American transfer students at a traditionally White institution. Through qualitative methods and a case study design, the current study provides an examination of the educational journey of thirteen, African American recent college graduates. Using semi-structured individual interviews, data from the participants were collected, transcribed, and analyzed drawing from several major theoretical perspectives on college student persistence. Variables examined included interactions with faculty and with peers, racial experiences on campus, and support services offered to transfer students by the institution. Findings indicated that African American transfer students identified strong support networks, confidence in their ability to learn, intrinsic motivation and having clear educational goals as factors which contributed to their degree completion at a traditionally White institution. Implications for campus policies and practices, as well as recommendations for future research are presented.Item Examining the Influence of Selectivity on Alumni Giving at Public Universities: A Dynamic Panel Modeling Approach(2009) Simone, Sean Anthony; Titus, Marvin A; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This study examines the influence of institutional selectivity on alumni giving among public research universities, using a conceptual framework based on the economics of nonprofit organizations. This study introduces a dynamic panel modeling technique, which addresses many limitations that more traditional statistical models have when applied to panel data with lagged or "dynamic" variables. Using panel data from 147 public universities over 11 years, the analysis for this study compares the results from ordinary least squares (OLS), fixed effects, and instrumental variable (2SLS) regression with a dynamic fixed effects panel model using a procedure proposed by Blundell and Bond (1998). This dynamic panel modeling technique allows researchers to simultaneously discern the relationship between variables and take into account the possible endogeneity and omitted variable biases, as well as determine conditional convergence or divergence of the values of key observed variables over time.
The results indicate that ordinary least squares, fixed effects, and instrumental variable regression models yield different coefficients, standard errors, and probability values for hypothesis tests. Results from the most robust technique, a dynamic panel fixed effects model using system generalized method of moments, did not indicate that a statistically significant relationship exists between student selectivity and alumni giving. However, the presence of a law or medical program and institutional wealth were statistically significant. Additionally, there is no evidence of convergence or divergence of alumni giving rates.
The results from this analysis have a number of implications. First, the statistically insignificant relationship between selectivity and alumni giving challenges a major paradigm in the literature regarding the influence of this measure of prestige on alumni giving. Future studies should test the influence of other conceptions of prestige and donative support, using dynamic panel modeling, to see if the results are similar. Second, this analysis shows that statistical models prominent in the literature can yield misleading results when applied to panel data. Researchers, therefore, must take great care in using the most appropriate technique when examining dynamic panel data. Finally, this analysis indicates that more complex modeling techniques are required to study alumni giving over time.