A qualitative collective case study explored variables that had an effect on decisions to pursue postsecondary education for twelve Cambodian Americans; the meanings they ascribed to engagement in the postsecondary educational process; factors that had an influence on selection of an institute of higher education; and self-described challenges and efforts to overcome challenges in the educational process. Results indicate Cambodian refugee parents supported their children's educational aspirations and nine of twelve respondents are currently engaged in or plan higher education, and one respondent plans vocational postsecondary education. Most respondents who lived in an ethnic enclave chose careers that contribute to the collective paradigm and have a positive sense of identity. Respondents identified academic challenges in English writing, vocabulary, and in higher mathematics. Female respondents cited desires for independence and self-determination as rationale for higher educational aspirations while males cited a desire to improve family quality of life. Respondents rarely received guidance counseling sufficient to support educational endeavors. Most attended community college and chose transfer universities that would allow them to live with relatives. Attaining fluency in Khmer supported academic achievement as did close relationships with instructors and teaching methodologies compatible with collectivistic cultural paradigms. Personal standards of achievement and motivational strategies were important to academic success and a connection between religious association, collectivism, and being male was in evidence.

The purpose of the study was to examine the sense of efficacy of 250 mainstream teachers (K-6) of limited English proficient (LEP) students. Respondents to a questionnaire consisted of 125 who participated in a Language Development Specialist (LDS) course and another group who consisted of 125 mainstream teachers who had not participated in the LDS course. Both groups teach in school districts with high numbers of LEP students. A sample of 187 mainstream teachers in five Northern California school districts responded to the questionnaire. The questionnaire included a modified Teacher Efficacy Scale (Gibson & Dembo, 1984) and was used to measure teachers' sense of efficacy. Independent variables for the study were: Teachers' experience with LEP students, the LDS training, their personal characteristics, and the school setting. The dependent variable was teachers' sense of efficacy. Through a series of multiple regression equations several significant relationships were found. Teachers who did not receive LDS training had a higher sense of total efficacy than teachers who received LDS training. For both groups, results also indicated that the greater the number of LEP students in class, the lower the teaching efficacy. A higher sense of both teaching efficacy and total efficacy was revealed from the male teachers. Personal efficacy was higher if teachers perceived their site principal had a substantial knowledge base in regard to pedagogy for LEP students. Personal efficacy was higher if teachers participated in schoolwide curriculum planning for LEP students. In order to ensure teacher implementation of acquired instructional techniques, it is recommended that training be longitudinal, include more practical applications, include site principals in training and provide mentor bilingual teachers to coach novice teachers of LEP students. This study recommends that research be conducted on the effects of LDS training and academic gains of LEP students. Research should be conducted to determine if there is a positive relationship between a high sense of efficacy and use of instructional practices recommended for LEP students as well as to determine if there is a relationship between high sense of efficacy and LEP student achievement.

Understanding why and how parents participate in Mexican schools can inform the efforts of American principals and teachers in their work with Mexican newcomers or with the parents of Mexican-American students. The purpose of this study is to describe parent participation opportunities, attitudes, and practices in Mexico according to parents, teachers, and administrator. The study was carried out as a qualitative research of a case study using phenomenology as the approach to collecting data. Data collection had three facets: interviews, observations, and documents. Findings revealed that parent participation is active in the Mexican school studied. All stakeholders held high regard for parent involvement. Also, each group had a conceived boundary of responsibilities. Parent involvement varied within the conventional and nonconventional. Similar barriers to parent participation were expressed by the stakeholders in Mexico as are indicated in the literature review for the United States. The findings from the case study were used to offer ideas to the United States schools on how to involve Mexican immigrants parents in their children's education.

This study investigated the social factors affecting female Hispanic transfer students. The importance of the study relates to the relatively low graduation rates for this population and the fact that the Hispanics represent the fastest growing segment of the population in California. This study explored the topic through qualitative inquiry leading to the formation of a grounded theory. The population was limited to female Hispanic students under the age of 30, who transferred from a local 2 year college, and who applied for graduation. There were two groups: (a) neither parent attended college, and (b) at least one parent attended college. Data collection occurred in three stages: (a) collection and review of demographic data, (b) rating importance of involvement factors, and (c) guided questions to facilitate opportunity for discovery. The most universal finding was that family was their most influential social connection regarding support to attend and graduate from college. This finding was true irrespective of parental educational level. Most of the students felt their experience at the 2 year college was an extension of high school . All of the students had at least some fear about transferring and all of the students held down jobs while attending college. Each student had very a different experience in this process. This led the researcher to caution college and university decision makers to be careful not to oversimplify solutions to this issue. Faculty support was found to be particularly important in this study because the time students did spend on campus was almost exclusively in the classroom. This confirmed that faculty provides a key opportunity for individual attention and support for persisting to graduation. Other researchers should further examine the concept of the Three Connections in Social Integration : (a) personal connections, (b) extra curricular connections, and (c) academic connections. Examine the concept of the Five Stages to Graduation : (a) early experiences, (b) decision to attend the 2 year college, (c) the 2 year college experience, (d) transition, and (e) the 4 year college experience.

This study investigates teacher attitudes about language and education. The purpose of the study is to help program designers develop professional development efforts that successfully address some of the major identified challenges teachers face when transitioning into Mother Tongue Based Multi-Lingual Education (MTBMLE), including negative attitudes. It also suggests protocols and issues that trainers should consider when designing professional development for MTBMLE teachers. The research question guiding this study is: 1. Do teachers' attitudes towards and knowledge about mother tongue-based instruction change after they participate in professional development that is consistent with good professional development practice? a. What were teachers' knowledge and attitudes about MTBMLE before the professional development program? b. Did teachers' knowledge and attitudes change after participating in the professional development program? c. Why did teachers hold particular attitudes towards MTBMLE prior to professional development and what factors influenced their change? I conducted this research during a three-month MTBMLE professional development program with a group of indigenous first grade teachers and their school principals in Save the Children's outreach areas in rural Mindanao in the Philippines. I used a Q sort methodology for initial interviews conducted with a subset of five first grade teachers followed by a second interview after the professional development program. The interview data showed that teachers came into the trainings with two distinct viewpoints; mother tongue supporters and one mother tongue resister. After the professional development program, however, teachers were all more positive about using the mother tongue as the language of instruction. Interviews revealed that teachers were more positive and confident in teaching the mother tongue when they had the opportunity to: 1) spend time learning about their own language, 2) create mother tongue teaching and learning materials, and 3) reflect on their early learning experiences and experience what it is like to learn in a language that is not familiar. This paper will discuss the research findings in depth and will provide a clearer picture of how to train and support teachers who are transitioning into MTBMLE.

Parent involvement in political activities is a rare form of parent participation. Most parents who take an interest in schools become involved with their child's classroom, attend school functions and activities, assist with fundraisers, attend PTA meetings. As the process for funding public school education has become more difficult and as decisions about education become more political, some parents have reacted to that trend and have become involved in the politics themselves. Changes in laws and education funding formulas in Massachusetts over the last decade has caused parents to become more protective, more vigilant of the school budget process, and of the way politicians position themselves on school issues. This is the case study of six parents who have been involved in schools and community politics over a decade in Millville, a community in western Massachusetts. The population of Millville is mainly elderly and White, while the school population is more than seventy percent minority, the majority of whom are Puerto Ricans. This has caused a clash of culture, age, and priorities. The schools have become a political battleground, and with parents no strangers to those battles as they fight to protect the rights of children to an equitable education. The involvement of these parents has been directly influenced by the enactment of a tax limitation proposal known as Proposition 2 1/2. A document review reveals the nature of the political climate of the Commonwealth during the last decade as it influenced local and state decision making about public schools and the funding of them. This study explores for what reasons parents participate in parent involvement through governance activities; how the climate of the last decade has influenced the types of activities in which parents engage; why parents make governance activities their priority; how their earlier experiences in parent involvement were similar to or different from the types of activities they find themselves engaged in now; how their earlier impressions of their involvement different from the current climate for parental involvement; and what types of parent involvement, given the current political climate of the Commonwealth, are most important now.

This exploratory study examines the persistence patterns of Latino students attending a two-year college in North Central Massachusetts. Thirty-three persisting students participated in this study. They answered a questionnaire developed in English and translated into Spanish. Questionnaires were administered by the researcher who is bilingual and bicultural. Individual interviews were conducted with nine departing students. These interviews were analyzed using Ishikawa's (1982) fish bone charting techniques. The methodology, utilized by Japan's industries for problem-solving identification, was used in this study to generate cause-and-effect relationships and prioritize solutions. Results of this study conclude that Latino student persistence at Mount Wachusett Community College is affected by external and environmental factors, namely, health, and financial and family responsibilities. These factors affect goal-oriented and non-goal oriented students at the same rate. Role models of the same ethnic and cultural backgrounds impact students in ways that result in decreased isolation at the institution. Most salient recommendations for future institutional policy include: comprehensive support services delivered by ethnically compatible staff; increased on-campus job opportunities to increase students' institutional integration; block programming of academic courses during the freshman year; academic achievement recognition; and individual tracking using cause-and-effect charting.

The intent of this thesis is to study the diverse experiences of 13 University of Central Florida students who participated in the Bilingual Study Abroad Teaching Experience in Spain. The group included nine education students and four in other majors. The experiences of study abroad participants can help to better understand what future participants can look to gain from the program, and what the organizers of the program can potentially look to improve. The research involved was a qualitative study which sought to record the experiences of participants, and then interpret those experiences. The participants were asked to determine the benefits of the program across three dimensions: academic, professional, and personal. This was accomplished through Likert scale questions which gauged their opinions, and by reflecting on their experiences in a more open-ended way, writing broadly about the impact of the program. In analyzing the responses, connections were drawn between the quantitative data in the Likert scale questions, and the qualitative data in the open responses. It was found that as a whole, participants considered the study abroad experience to be overwhelmingly positive across all surveyed dimensions. In addition, a number of connections were found that could be drawn between the broad experiences of the participants, and specific benefits which they noted in the survey. A number of unique experiences and circumstances will be considered, both positive and negative. Finally, the conclusions and implications of the study will be discussed. Recommendations are included in regard to future participants can expect to gain, potential areas of improvement in the program, and things which should be included in the orientation for future participants in the bilingual teaching experience.

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