This study utilizes Lave and Wenger’s (1991) communities of practice (COP) model to explore how ELLs navigate their positions within and between their many language learning communities. Drawing on Norton’s (1995, 2013) work on ELLs’ identity negotiation and Wenger’s 1998 work on the reinforcing impacts of identities between multiple COPs, this study explores what adults consider to be their COPs, how they perceive themselves within and between them, and how past, current, and imagined or possible COPs impact each other. A constructivist, multiple case study design was used to focus on participants’ perceptions of their identity negotiation processes through their own narratives across three interviews and weekly audio-recorded self-reports. Eight adult ELLs participated in the study, and their narratives revealed the temporal and situational nature of their connections to past, present, and future identities as English learners, as professionals, and as members of their communities. They experienced persistent explicit and subtle barriers to participation in their COPs with native English speakers, including a range of linguistic gatekeeping strategies. The study revealed several themes of COP membership, in particular an identification with a larger, less concrete, immigrant group that lead the participants to focus their narratives and English-learning efforts on their ability to advocate for themselves and for other immigrants in the United States. Recommendations from the ELLs and the researcher are presented for a more holistic approach to adult ELL instruction that incorporates more of the multiple facets of ELLs’ learning trajectories in the target-language context.

This document has been written to serve two distinct but related purposes. First, it is an attempt to describe a set of educational experiences which will be developed by a consortium of county-wide agencies to meet the existing as well as the emerging needs of learners in Rockland County, New York. To this end, a theoretical operational construct is explicated and the implementation strategies and tactics which are felt to insure a high degree of success for the program relative to realities extant in Rockland County are outlined. Second, an extended rationale reflecting the status of the American society, the value systems operating within that society, the history and current condition of the United States educational institution, and a preview of what the future needs of the United States may be, have been addressed and documented so that the system of alternative education suggested by the design of the consortium can be seen in its widest context. Without detailing the particular design outlined within the dissertation it should be noted that educational policy of the future must place the role of education within the broad context of societal goals. This demands a structure which encourages a unified approach that utilizes the expertise and the commitment of all people living in the society. To this end, a process has been established to aid a community design and implement a system of education which will be responsive to their ideals and their desires. The first step is to have the neighborhood, the city, the county, or whatever group is being involved in the project, to fully analyze their problems. They must then develop a set of approaches, priorities and goals that constitute their responses to local conditions. Finally, the concerned citizens must create an administrative structure that will pull together the various elements in the society to attack problems in their full breadth. Naturally, cooperation among all the society's institutions is needed to solve basic problems. The schools must learn to work not only with other elements of local government, but also with the larger community in order to enhance their key role.

The purpose of this research project was to study the socio-economics of a controlled group of educable retardates who had completed their formal education. In 1965 the researcher investigated the mentally retarded students enrolled in the davenport, Iowa, Taylor and Marquette Schools and compared them to their parents and siblings. The pupil’s studies comprised three groups: (1_ a trainable group represented by pupils from 25 families; (2) a group of educable mentally handicapped students with known organic involvement represented by pupils from 165 families; and (3) a group of educable mentally handicapped pupils with no known organic involvement sufficient to account for retarded condition – commonly referred to as “familial retardation”. The results of the study supported the views that the background of the trainable and the educable children showing organic involvement was typical of that found in the general population of the United States and that the background of the familial, educable mentally retarded tended to correspond to that of lower class, underprivileged families. The data pertaining to socio-economic stats and the educational histories of the siblings supported these conclusions. For purposes of classification, the group studied in this project falls into the range Christine Ingram describes as “educationally mentally retarded” or “educationally mentally handicapped”. This researcher prefers the current term, “educationally mentally handicapped”, and refers to them as “EMH”. Their IQ range measured approximately 50-75, the lower 2 percent of the national school population in learning ability. The IQ score alone is insufficient for classification, however, suggesting that improvement can take place, accounted for by other factors. Many moderately retarded have few handicaps in addition to their mental deficiency. However, they are capable of expressing themselves adequately through language. Many, in fact, are capable of self-care and some of them are even capable of third grade level reading and mathematics skills. Hence, they find productive employment after completing their formal education. The EMH group selected for this project, Group 3 described on page 1 of this abstract, is within the range as defined above. The present study (1971-1972) investigated by longitudinal method the group numbered 3, the familial EMH. As the title indicates, the present study concentrated on the outcomes in the social and vocational areas for this group. The method used was questionnaire with door-to-door follow up to reach as many of the group as possible. The questionnaire was sent to 327 EMH within the age range of 16 to 24. A 30.5 percent feedback was received from 94 respondents.

This undergraduate thesis analyzes the narrative and opinion responses of sixteen tropical interviewees to understand environmental realities and argue for the necessity of developing a deep connection to one's place in order to attain true sustainability. Trending themes that influenced this conclusion were: participant reproduction of stereotypes commonly attributed to tropical regions; the emergence of religious doctrine in descriptions of human's role in nature and spiritual depictions of interactions with the unbuilt environment; and explanations of extra-classroom environmental education. I argue that the best way to live sustainably on this planet is to integrate place-based environmental education that fosters both personal comfort with the natural world and a means to understand the global implications of individual actions.

History education builds the foundation of a common past necessary for the formation of group identity. Evaluating History curricula is important because group identity guides people’s political behavior. This Uganda case study demonstrates how different actors have manipulated History education in order to enhance the saliency of ethnic, national, and regional identities. The expansion of nationalized education and the teaching of Ugandan, East African, and African history have contributed to fostering the rise of national consciousness in Uganda. Greater awareness of national identity has promoted national integration while marginalizing non-school educated people.

The purpose of this mixed-method study, combining a quantitative, quasi-experimental, and qualitative design was to examine a researcher-designed, piloted dropout intervention program that would address the factors that have contributed to African American, ninth-grade “at-risk” students. This phenomenon, also known as the “ninth grade shock” due to the rapid incline within the United States’ traditional public high school setting, has also been a direct connection to the low graduation rates listed for African American students in the state of Georgia. The researcher-designed, dropout intervention program, Cultural Check and Connect Sessions (CC&CS) was evaluated while developing and implementing strategies that will reverse the need for students to drop out while being promoted to the next grade level. The researcher examined the following variables: Student Perception, Attendance, Discipline, The Number of Failed Courses, and Support Staff Perception. Student data were gathered from the selected students (Group A) using student surveys, staff interviews, and the school’s database, Infinite Campus. Forty African-American students were also selected as a control group (Group B). Both groups of students met the following requirements before the start of the researcher-designed program: 2 or more failed courses on the previous progress report, 3 or more semesters behind from being promoted to the 10th grade, 10 or more unexcused absences, and 3 or more discipline referrals. When Group A was compared to Group B after the completion of the researcher-designed program, the results of the study revealed that the group was impacted by the researcher-designed, piloted dropout intervention program through the students’ perception of school, attendance, and discipline. This research investigation provides implications and recommendations for all schools educating African American, ninth- grade “at-risk” students in a traditional school learning environment.

Historically, research has placed considerable emphasis on developing a systematic body of knowledge about education in which little voice has been given to teachers themselves. The critical role that teachers play in this generative process such as reflecting, acting and theorizing upon practices that shape life in the classroom has largely been ignored in favor of technical innovation and organizational procedure. As schools straggle to reform and restructure, an understanding of how teachers interpret their practices in context and how the culture of schools influence, constrain, or encourage these practices become critical aspects of school success or failure. This study examined the perspectives on inclusion of seven middle school teachers as they attempted to include exceptional students in regular classes. The study utilized three forms of data collection: observations were made of participant interactions as they led their everyday school lives; document analysis was used as a means to gain an understanding of programs affecting exceptional students, and interviews were used to give voice to teacher’s perceptions regarding inclusion, allowing description in their own words rather than those imposed by an outside inquirer. Data collection and analysis sought to identify emerging themes, categories and patterns, allowing for the creation of substantive theory grounded in empirical data. The key issues that emerged in the study were considered in terms of three general categories. The first, teaching and learning, revealed stark contrasts in opinions regarding the type of human support thought necessary for successful inclusion. Regular educators clung to the traditional notion of solitary teachers directing all class activity, while exceptional educators preferred a more team-oriented approach. The second, school structure, revealed that highly collaborative structures were only partially successful in creating additional conversation between regular and exceptional educators. Collegiality was affected by lack of staff experience with the process as well as its implementation in a top-down fashion. The third, school culture and climate, revealed that regular educators believed the school was prepared for a limited amount of inclusion. Although exceptional educators acknowledged school readiness, they did not believe that inclusion was an important item on the school’s reform agenda.

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