Today, increasingly attention has turned to the impact that school experiences have on gay youth. However, research to date has focused disproportionately on crisis intervention strategies or on meeting individually based needs rather than on the school setting. This study contributes an organization-wide examination of one public school district's efforts to address the needs of gay youth at the high school level. This study examines the role of this public school district Safe Schools Committee and their participation in the Massachusetts Department of Education Safe Schools Program for Gay and Lesbian Youth and assesses the impact these efforts have had on the overall school setting in relation to gay youth issues. Two social justice change models provide the theoretical foundation for this study: multicultural education and multicultural organization development. The data for this study were gathered and analyzed using traditional qualitative research methods. Students, educators, parents, administrators, community members, and consultants at the statewide level were asked to describe their perceptions of change in the high school. The four recommendations of the Massachusetts Department of Education Safe Schools Program for Gay and Lesbian Students, the Stages of Multicultural Awareness model, and the Continuum of School Change Strategies provided useful perspectives in understanding how change initiatives impacted this school setting. Factors important to the success of this school district's change initiatives were identified. The importance of prior experiences in creating a state of organizational readiness for change, the role of the Safe Schools Committee as a subsystem for change in the organization, and the importance of collaborative relationships across the organization, with community stakeholders, and with statewide resources and experts emerged as significant. Conclusions drawn from this study indicate that a systemic perspective can be critical in supporting school-based change efforts to meet the needs of gay youth and that addressing the needs of gay youth in school settings can make important contributions to increased multicultural awareness and organization development. Organization factors and behaviors of members of the Safe Schools Committee identified as particularly important to the success of these efforts are also presented.

The fields of multicultural counseling and education have given increased emphasis to the relationship between minority students and academic performance in our classrooms. The literature on minority students' achievement has shown that public education in this country experiences criticism and controversy and fails to meet the educational expectations and demands of minority students, particularly those of Hispanic heritage. In addition, Hispanic students are affected by their high dropout rates and academic underachievement. In search for solutions and strategies, social scientists, educators and multicultural school counselors have identified minority students in our classroom as a vital part for teachers development. This study explored Puerto Rican first generation students' perceptions of their guidance counseling services and their opportunity to achieve a post-secondary education. The study explored how those perceptions enhance the educational and learning process. By using a phenomenological survey, data was gathered from 60 Puerto Rican first generation students. A triangulation strategy was used, as well as factor analysis and cluster methods for the data analysis, in search for patterns, categories and themes among participants' responses. There were four major findings in this study. It was found that these students want to be more aware of their guidance counseling services. It was found that the participants' perceptions in regards to their parents assistance with their school matters were important to them. It was also found that their perceptions in regards to their teachers' advising is a vital factor for their academic performance. Finally it was also found that these students believed that an academic after school program can benefit them with their academics and personal matters and furthermore it serves as an important liaison between students $\leftrightarrow$ teachers $\leftrightarrow$ counselors $\leftrightarrow$ principals and parents.

This year-long ethnographic study focuses on six Spanish dominant, English as a second language learners in an English mainstream kindergarten classroom. The study is based on a theoretical framework which views language as the site of social meaning construction and power negotiations (Fairclough, 1989). Four broad research questions address the local meanings of bilingualism, gender, and friendship and how the ideologies, identities, and social relationships relevant to these socially constructed discourses impact language learners. Broad, mid, and micro level analyses are conducted using standard interpretive analytic procedures. Findings are presented regarding the meanings of the local discourses of bilingualism, gender, and friendship and their implications for the English as a second language learners in the study. Findings indicate that: (1) Bilingualism was not highly valued in this setting and provided no status, and possibly reduced status, to the Spanish dominant students within their mainstream English dominant peer group, in spite of the classroom teacher's efforts to the contrary. (2) The children's gender ideology, which emphasized gender segregation and gender differences, limited the children's relationships, participation in whole class events, and interaction with opposite gender peers. Boys dominated public discussions and constructed themselves as superior to girls. (3) Friendship was highly valued among all the children. Friend relationships were less accessible to the Spanish dominant children due to a variety of contextual constraints. As a result they were not always able to claim the high status identity of close friend in the mainstream classroom. (4) The differing identities related to bilingualism, gender, and friendship had differing consequences for the children in the classroom. Implications of the study for second language learners, teachers, institutions, and the field of second language acquisition are presented. It is argued that a focus on effective second language instruction and language acquisition alone are inadequate for understanding and addressing complex learning environments and the needs of language learners. The consequences of the meanings of local discourses and their inherent power dynamics impact students' identities, classroom participation, access to relationships, access to knowledge, and ultimately their investment in school. A critical analysis of local discourses, their power relations, and meanings is suggested as a means of changing classroom practice when both students and teachers are involved in this process.

The 1993 Massachusetts Education Reform Act promotes the reorganization of curricula in several disciplines. This study examines World Languages curricula in selected Massachusetts school systems and ways in which schools are implementing change in that discipline. The research contributes to the literature available for educators and planners, informing them of the challenging and changing goals of state language curricula and of ways that educators in local communities are planning revisions. Data collection methods included surveys of World Languages program administrators and interviews of individuals who plan and operate the programs. Written surveys and individual interviews contribute to explanations of the fundamental organization of World Languages programs and the practices schools are using to reform them. Three communities in central Massachusetts with similar socio-economic status and demographic characteristics were the focus of the study. The participating communities have large percentages of Hispanic students, pupils who cannot perform ordinary classwork in English, and learners whose first language is not English. Results from the study show that the communities share similar problems in developing K–12 World Languages programs. Low funding, a need for technology, the shortage of qualified and certified instructors, insufficient training for practicing teachers, and inadequate program coordination and support were the primary deterrents to the expansion of programs. Despite the hindrances facing the school systems, educators have updated their curricula in several ways in order to prepare students for active involvement in their community. Teachers in the selected school districts realize the importance of helping students achieve a greater understanding of others and improve their second language proficiency to help them live and work with others in increasingly diverse communities. Schools need several more years to fulfill the goal of offering every student continuous K–12 second language study. Most schools in Massachusetts lack elementary World Languages programs, and despite the high numbers of native language speakers of the target languages taught in schools, not all systems fully view them as a resource. Most World Languages departments do not collaborate with Bilingual or English as a Second Language programs, offer courses designed for native speakers, or have procedures for properly placing these students in existing courses. The most effective strategies used by schools to improve programs are ones that encourage stronger community support and involvement and those that promote greater program organization.

The quality of interactions between facilitators and groups is critical to the success of social justice educational experiences. Given the importance of these interpersonal dynamics, it is curious that there are few references and no research studies in the literature that explore the phenomenon of triggering events for facilitators and trainers of diversity awareness and social justice educational experiences. The results of this study will help to fill this gap in the social justice education literature by describing the types of situations in which educators feel triggered, the ways they respond to triggering events, and the core competencies and strategies that help educators use triggering events as “teachable moments” that further participant learning. I collected questionnaires from forty respondents and conducted in-depth interviews with fifteen educators from a range of social identities (race and gender), years of experience (6–35), and both formal academic and informal training settings. These educators reported experiencing a wide range of triggering events. They often felt overwhelmed, surprised, and “de-skilled” by the intensity of their emotional reactions and felt that they had responded to the situations in ways that were less effective. A core finding from this study identified the intervention strategies with which educators were satisfied, including using self-management strategies to re-establish a sense of emotional equilibrium, using the self as instrument to diagnose the situation and further participant learning, and engaging the resistance of participants to facilitate honest dialogue. Another critical finding identified ways in which intrapersonal issues and unresolved past traumas of educators appeared to influence how they appraised events as triggers and responded in the moment. Those educators who developed greater self-awareness and participated in personal healing work reported experiencing fewer triggering events and greater satisfaction with how they managed the ones they encountered. Data from this study will help coordinators of professional development programs for social justice educators provide opportunities to gain the competencies to manage emotional reactions and choose more effective interventions during triggering events. This study has implications for professional development programs in other helping professions including counseling, social work, health care, teaching, human resources, and organization development.

This study used a case study methodology to describe the implementation of authentic assessment procedures by a bilingual speech-language pathologist in an urban school system over the course of one school year. The goal was to examine the evolution in assessment practices as a consequence of the researcher's involvement in the process of educational change. The specific purposes of the study were to: (1) identify how authentic assessment procedures could be used to determine the language of instruction in bilingual students with communicative disorders, (2) identify how authentic assessment techniques could be utilized to document progress in the attainment of speech-language therapy goals as outlined in students' Individual Educational Program (IEP), and (3) identify how authentic assessments could be used to supplement standardized assessment procedures for the differentiation of language differences from language disorders. The initial research strategy involved the collection of authentic assessment data from 65 students in preschool through grade six who received speech-language services or had been referred for an initial evaluation. With the exception of students who had been referred for initial evaluations, authentic assessment procedures were integrated into the delivery of speech and language services. Although the assessment protocol varied depending on the needs of the student, the authentic assessment procedures included: communicative/literacy portfolios, miscue analyses, running records, narrative samples, interviews, checklists, rating scales, rubrics, therapy logs, and acculturation scales. Field notes and reflections on the process of the data collection were completed several times weekly. Interviews were conducted with 10 parents, 15 teachers, and 13 students about their perspectives on the use of authentic assessment procedures. The purpose of these interviews was to adapt and/or modify the ways in which authentic assessment techniques were used with students with communicative disorders. The three research questions were answered through the inductive analysis of the data drawn from the field notes, reflections, and interviews. The data were analyzed using the constant comparison method. This study found that a multifaceted approach to communicative assessment that combined standardized measures and authentic assessment techniques facilitated in the differentiation of language disorders from language differences. This comprehensive approach to assessment complied with the mandates of the Individuals with Disabilities Act of 1997 (IDEA-97), decreased the likelihood of assessment bias, and identified specific learning strategies and classroom accommodations that enhanced students' ability to access the regular education curriculum. The implementation of a dual language, multidimensional and curriculum-based assessment model helped to determine the language of instruction in bilingual students with communication disorders. Authentic assessment techniques were found to be an ideal means for documenting students progress in attaining specific curriculum-based communication goals as required by IDEA-97. The inclusion of authentic curriculum-based assessments and interventions is no longer an option for speech-language pathologists, but i s a requirement of IDEA-97. These mandates have exerted a major impact on school-based speech-language pathologists who are seeking a balanced approach to their changing role as evaluators and interventionists. Speech-language pathologists will need to explore both collectively and individually, how they as clinicians can contribute to the success of communicatively challenged students in the general education curriculum.

Utilizing the tension inherent in conceptualizations of identity as both a fixed and a transient phenomenon, this dissertation explores perceptions of cultural identity as held by the various members of one Armenian day school in the United States, and by the school itself. In the process, it also considers the emerging question that arises out of its participants' perceptions of the school's own identities. While cultural identity is defined as a sense of belonging to national and ethnic cultures in the context of the nation state, the question of the school and considerations of its identities, on the other hand, raises issues within the context of pedagogy, specifically germane to the complexities of ethnic schooling in the United States. The dissertation's methodology is qualitative. It uses a descriptive cultural studies strategy and an instrumental/intrinsic case study genre to discover aspects of the phenomenon it sets out to study, cultural identity, as well as the context that bounds this phenomenon, the school. The findings reveal as well as imply (a) a range of "identity positions"---participants negotiating the boundaries that separate and unite the domains of their Armenianness and Americanness; (b) several shifting roles of enculturation and acculturation enacted by the school, which is perceived to mediate between the family and the mainstream of American society; (c) an array of multifarious perceptions of the school's identities; (d) a preponderance of hyphenated expressions of cultural identity, reflected in the identity positions as well as in samples of the school's literature, characterized by asymmetries of form and content; (e) an intricate mix of conceptualizations of the school's curriculum, particularly of its Armenian Studies component; and (f) a challenge to the traditionally perceived roles of the ethnic family and the ethnic school as providers, respectively, of "natural" and formal knowledge of ethnicity. This dissertation cautions against apriori interpretations of Armenian-Americanness as a symmetrical construct. It recommends careful consideration of the irregularities inherent in the relationship between this construct's form and content, as signified by the members of the school's community, in order to design a curriculum that is appropriate both pedagogically and culturally.

This qualitative ethnographic study explores how a group of Kindergarten students from different social, cultural, ethnic, and language backgrounds construct social relations, social identities and social meanings through discourse during their playing time at a dramatic play center. This study also analyzes, if and how issues of power at the situational level are related to broader societal discourses. The theoretical framework for this study views language as a social practice (Fairclough, 1998 and Lemke, 1995). Data collection included 130 days of observation that lasted 30 minutes per day, 4 hours of videotape and formal and informal interviews with the children and with eight of the parents of ESL children. Fifteen parents had also filled out questionnaires. This study combines a microanalysis of children's discourse (Bloom and Egan-Robertson, 1993 and Forbes, 1999) with a macro analysis (Fairclough, 1998). Findings indicate that: (1) Children organized their play according to the central themes of the play scenario, yet children used common rules and strategies across different scenarios. (2) Children constructed distinct social relations and identities by bringing different discourses into their play. The roles these players built were largely determined by their social status in society. (3) These Kindergarten players constructed meanings that were valid in this community. (4) A macro analysis indicated that the social context of the lives of these children influence the way they constructed social relations, identities and meanings.

Hispanics continue to be the fastest growing minority population in the United States. The most recent U.S. Census Bureau (2000) indicates that Hispanics comprise 35 million, or 12.5%, of the total population, up from 9.0% in 1990. Despite the significant increase in the Hispanic population, the number of Hispanic nurses does not reflect this increase. As the number of Hispanics continues to grow, there will be an increasing demand for culturally competent health care providers and healthcare services. The primary purpose of this qualitative, in-depth phenomenological study was to understand the experiences of Latina nursing students in the United States in order to identify conditions that affect their educational experiences. Using an in-depth phenomenology approach, seventeen Latina nursing students and recently graduated nurses in Massachusetts and Connecticut were interviewed between 1999–2000. Participation in the study required that the participants self identify as Latina/Hispanic and be enrolled in an undergraduate nursing program. Data were obtained through three separate interviews, each with a different focus and each lasting ninety minutes. The interviews were conducted approximately a week apart. The first interview focused on collecting historical and biographical data. The second interview focused on what was currently happening in the interviewee's life as a nursing student or recent graduate. The third interview explored on the meaning of the two previous interviews. Data was analyzed by crafting participant profiles and identifying thematic connections. A journey metaphor is being used to describe each participant's experiences. Along this journey, the themes are discussed as roadblocks and bridges, the obstacles and supports, experienced by the student nurse/nurses. The roadblocks or obstacles are marginalization and socioeconomic status. The bridges or supports are family, mentors, and perseverance. The participants' experiences provide important insights that may benefit schools of nursing and other disciplines concerned with nursing education. Recommendations in three major areas are being made as a result of this study. These focus on K–12 education, nursing education, and future research. By presenting the recent educational experiences of Latina nursing students, this study has implications for future curriculum development and multicultural education within the nursing profession.

This dissertation is an ethnographic study concerning language maintenance efforts at a Chinese heritage language school in a North American community. This research employs the construct of language ideology—members' common sense notions about language and language learning—to explore important aspects of what it means to speak, act, think, and feel like a member of the community. It is argued that the heritage language school is the center of a moral project helping to mediate cross-cultural experience so that children maintain positive social identities. Methodology involves discourse analysis and ethnographic observation. Interviews and texts are transcribed and analyzed to suggest structure and pattern. The analysis finds evidence to support the conclusion that notions of language and language learning reflect traditional patterns of Chinese thought and culture but that these are reconfigured to suit American circumstances. It is suggested that the subject position of Overseas Chinese helps members maintain stable notions of self as Chinese.