<p> The Central Aleutians Upland Archaeological Project used film and social networking to reach educator and public audiences. A series of short education films were created for Alaska public schools through consultation with school districts, Alaska Native corporations, tribes, and archaeologists. The consulted parties wanted Alaskan youth inspired to pursue anthropology, feature a role model Alaska Native college student, and use of Unangam Tunuu in the films. Social networking was approached with educational goals that were tested through an online anonymous survey. The Facebook member survey had a 23.5% response. The questions with the most incorrect answers were answered correctly 72.4% of the time with most questions being answered correctly 100% of the time. Facebook had 61.8% female members and YouTube had 70.5% male members from countries all over the world. The goal of creating relevant public archaeology content that inspired and educated Alaskan youth and the general public was met.</p>

This dissertation addresses the questions: What is the impact of neoliberal education on the development of civic identity in college students? What are the limitations and the potential of service-learning to support students to become agents of change within the context of neoliberal education and corporate education reform? How do the students navigate the complexity of the development of their civic identities within this context and to what extent do they either challenge or reproduce (or both) existing social and political structures and develop the skills they need to enact their vision of change? In a climate of increasing corporatization and standardization of education that continues to more narrowly define what it means to teach and learn across the K-16 spectrum, the future of democracy demands an exploration of what kinds of civic actors such a system is producing. Employing an ethnographic sensibility, I examine the trajectories of students in the Citizen Scholars Program at UMass-Amherst (a five course, service based academic leadership program) as they navigate their learning and development as civic actors over the course of two years. I explore themes that emerge in the areas of community, pedagogy, and civic & social selves, and within these examine where the program appears to succeed in helping students to vision change, where it falls short - and how it might better support students to act and to discover a praxis of possibility. In addition, I offer more general recommendations on best practices for effective civic education in the era of neoliberal education reform.

<p> Over fifty thousand Chinese students are leaving China to study in US high schools. This interview-based, narrative inquiry study focuses on the experience of ten Chinese nationals now studying at a US high school and expands work done in comparative pedagogy by offering thick descriptions of the school experience in two cultures. This study makes the case that China&rsquo;s changing culture is reflected in the stories and school histories of Chinese students who experience pedagogy as significantly different in China and the US. The push that drives students out of China includes high-stakes testing and public ranking systems and the individual success of students within these systems. Students&rsquo; experience school in China as a symbiotic relationship between teachers, students, and schools, which often manifests in culturally located methods for efficient study, including achievement collaboration&mdash;wherein actors work together for mutual success. It is within this context that many students are pulled to study in the US in order to take up a certain degree of cultural rebellion, wherein they perceive that US schools have the resources to provide for broader constructions of school success than in China. This study illuminates how these students then gain new knowledge around how to be successful in school in two cultures and how to better navigate global education mobility. It is in this way that Chinese students become conduits of change. They influence the curricula, programming, and services offered at the schools they attend in both countries, emphasizing how cross-border mobility (re)shapes the identities and values around education for all involved, from individual students and schools to educational policy and reform. This study engages how schools in the US are meeting the needs of these students in both policy and practice, and lends nuance to the literature around intercultural education and the impact of globalization on pedagogy.</p>

<p> This study used Culturally Relevant Reading materials (CRRM) with a proprietary, culturally relevant pedagogy for Reading. It was focused on results in Reading Achievement, both reading fluency and comprehension, involving 7^th and 8^th grade students in a twelve (12)-week program of Reading Language Arts. It was an exploratory sequential mixed methods study using a quasi-experimental design, with two student groups, A and B, experimental and control respectively. The results are situated within cultural expert views of Native perspectives on reading from the community as well as student surveys on motivation. </p><p> Results from the study indicate that student achievement in Reading using the CRRM program, as measured by standardized tests, namely Edformation&rsquo;s AIMSweb&reg; (2002) tests of both R-CBM and MAZE, met with similar results in student Reading achievement using a Western curricular program. Both control and experimental groups in the quasi-experimental, exploratory sequential mixed methods study showed significant growth in Reading achievement in both fluency and comprehension, on standardized tests over a 12-week interval. </p><p> Results from the study showed students in the CRRM program showed no significantly greater growth in reading comprehension or fluency during the study, as measured by AIMSweb&reg; tests of MAZE and R-CBM. Student survey results showed increases in student motivation to read, enjoyment of reading class, and desire to read CRRM. Written questionnaires from community members outlined criteria for student success in reading. </p><p> The results indicate that Alaska Native culturally relevant materials and teaching techniques can be used interchangeably with Western curricular materials in Alaska Native village schools with expectation of similar success in student Reading achievement. Students are eager to have CRRM in Language Arts classes, and the community is encouraged by the promising results.</p><p>

<p> This dissertation assembles a case study of Iranian immigrant families in the United States conducted in the northeast. This work addresses the transnational diasporic global identity of second-generation Iranian-Americans. The literature reflects on the exile experience, concluding that Iranian identity is a disputed problematic issue. I argue hybridity pens the migratory process, building links and relationships at the material and cultural levels from the sending and receiving countries. To reveal these connections, I use the funds of knowledge/identity approach to demonstrate how families reach self-understanding and communicate that understanding to others. By examining Persian culture and traditions, this approach sheds new light on the cultural transformations and cultural preservations valued among the second generation. The study shows that complex webs of factors continue to be at work in the shaping of the sociocultural dynamics of Iranian-Americas.</p><p>