Little research has been conducted to document the process utilized in state-mandated multicultural teacher inservice education programs and the effect of these programs on teachers and their ability to teach their limited English proficient (LEP) students. The current study focused on the component of culture in the 60-hour inservice education required of content-area teachers in Florida. The purpose was to assess the impact of inservice educational programs on public school teachers' cross-cultural adaptability using control and experimental groups. / The study established the relationship between multicultural inservice education and the four dimensions of cultural adaptability: emotional resilience, flexibility/openness, perceptual acuity, and personal autonomy. The study also investigated the relationship of these four dimensions to teacher characteristics of gender, age, race, years of teaching experience, languages spoken fluently other than English, and extent of overseas travel. / One hundred and three male and female content-area teachers ranging in age from 24 to 60 years old were divided into four groups: (a) two control groups of 24 and 29 teachers respectively, and (b) two experimental groups of 24 and 26 teachers, respectively. The two experimental groups consisted of teachers participating in a multicultural inservice education program. The two control groups were composed of teachers who had not yet had the inservice program. / All subjects were administered the Cross-Cultural Adaptability Inventory (CCAI) developed in California by Meyers and Kelley (1987) as well as the Multicultural Opinion Survey (developed at The Ohio State University) and a Demographic Profile Checklist. Semi-structured interviews with selected teachers were conducted to further substantiate the outcomes of the inservice education. The instructor was also interviewed regarding her educational background and teaching experience. / Contrary to what the researcher expected, the findings of the study revealed that there was no statistically significant difference in the teachers' cross-cultural adaptability scores before and after taking the cultural component of the inservice educational program. The results of the study indicate that inservice educational programs in multicultural education need to be reevaluated. Further research is needed in other parts of the country to validate the findings of the current study. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 54-12, Section: A, page: 4378. / Major Professor: Byron G. Massialas. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1993.

The issue of differential item functioning (DIF) in standardized tests has increasingly generated interest in the measurement and testing communities. An item is said to contain DIF if examinees of equal proficiency from different gender, ethnic or other groups have an unequal probability of responding correctly to the item. / Although the majority of DIF research has focused on its identification through statistical procedures, recent published studies have addressed the arguably more important issue of causes of DIF. To date, however, most studies of causes of DIF have been concerned with post-secondary situations. / The present study identified sources of DIF within a widely used secondary school achievement battery. Responses on the Vocabulary and Reading Comprehension sections of the Stanford Achievement Test were obtained from 1580 White and 3223 Hispanic eighth graders in Dade County, Florida. A quantitative technique was used to detect items exhibiting DIF. Once these items were identified, a review panel of expert bilingual judges examined them in terms of linguistic and cultural factors associated to DIF between Hispanics and Whites. / Results suggest that, when comparing Hispanic and White students of the same ability, the use in test items of true cognate words frequently used in Spanish will favor the performance of Hispanics. In contrast, several conditions may favor Whites, including the use of non true cognate words infrequently used in English, linguistic complexity, idiomatic expressions derived from technical language, and poetry. Moreover, words and phrases with a special cultural meaning for one of the groups will favor members of that group (White or Hispanic) and, the use of settings for which Hispanic students are likely to be less familiar with will favor the performance of Whites. / Findings from the study confirm the need to stress certain areas in the instruction of Hispanic students. Even though DIF is not necessarily indicative of item bias, its appearance in test items might be a sign of instructional deficiencies. Findings also should alert test developers to distinguish between construct-relevant DIF and DIF associated with test invalidity. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 54-09, Section: A, page: 3411. / Major Professor: Albert C. Oosterhof. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1993.

Six instructional competencies (communication skills, positive regard, non-authoritarianism, pedagogic flexibility, socio-cultural knowledge, and self confidence) were investigated to determine the effectiveness of elementary bilingual education teachers. Supervisor/peer ratings of teachers' effectiveness were selected as the criterion of effectiveness for this study; the relationships between competency scores, supervisor/peer ratings, and background data were then examined and compared. / There was a significant correlation between teachers' pedagogic flexibility (the ability to provide a variety of methods and materials) scores and their ratings, although the remaining correlations between competencies and ratings were near zero. Correlations between background variables and competency scores were not significant, nor were correlations between background variables and competency scores, with the exception of the significant relationship between the subjects' years of experience teaching limited English proficient students with their scores for the competency of positive regard. / There were minimal differences in the background data of teachers who had received the highest and lowest supervisor/peer ratings. However, the highest rated teachers scored higher on all competencies; their mean total competency score was almost double that of the lowest rated teachers and their mean pedagogic flexibility score was almost triple that of the lowest rated teachers. / The factor that determined a teacher's effectiveness rating seemed to be skill in pedagogic flexibility. If further experimental studies that deliberately train one set of teachers in pedagogic flexibility and deny such training to another set of teachers verify the findings of the present study, the need for specialized training in ESL/BE will be substantiated and pre- and in-service training will need to be modified to emphasize the development of a repertoire of skills in pedagogic flexibility. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 42-10, Section: A, page: 4408. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1981.

Local community participation in overseas development projects as a critical ingredient for long-term program sustainability has become a central policy issue for both government and non-government organizations. It has been recognized that non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are viable channels for funding participatory programs. Yet, while NGO strengths for implementing and managing participatory development projects have been extolled, there is little research to demonstrate their effectiveness at the field level. It has also been recognized that NGOs' overseas programs are influenced by the process and circumstances of identifying and obtaining program resources. What is lacking in the analysis of NGOs as channels for participatory development programs is the specific relationship between fundraising and the facilitation of community participation at the project level. / This research has sought to determine the relationship between the facilitation of local community participation and fundraising in overseas development projects. This has been accomplished through an in-depth case analysis of both the fundraising and project field experience of an NGO based in the United States. The study examines how the NGO's development policy compared with its actual field program implementation practice. A comparison was also made between the NGO's traditional small-scale community development work with a more recent large-scale project experience. / Overall, this research has demonstrated that, in the case of the NGO studied, there is a relationship between fundraising and the facilitation of community participation in the agency's overseas projects. Five primary areas of fundraising adversely influencing the facilitation of community participation were identified. / Evidence collected in the field case of the Louga large scale project in Senegal demonstrated that significant local community participation was occurring. / In comparing findings from the large-scale project experience in Louga with findings from the small-scale project research, seven similarities and six differences were identified. Identified are five areas where the small-scale sponsorship approach to fundraising adversely influences the field staffs' ability to facilitate community participation. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-12, Section: A, page: 4042. / Major Professor: Sydney R. Grant. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1990.

Thanks in large part to the influence of major donor agencies, economic analysis has become the dominant metaphor for evaluating the performance of education systems in developing countries. This dissertation examines the role of economic analysis in educational policy making in developing nations through case study of an education and human resources sector assessment conducted in the Republic of Haiti under financing from the United States Agency for International Development (AID). / In the first major portion of the study, a wide range of theoretical literature is reviewed in order to generate a series of interpretive frameworks for analyzing the contributions of economics to education. The nature of the contextual situation in Haiti and of that country's position in international relations is likewise examined. In the second major portion of the study, three aspects of the Haiti sector assessment are presented: the genesis of sector assessment methodology; the actual conduct of the assessment in Haiti; and the longer-term consequences of that work. / From comparison of the various interpretive frameworks developed with the data derived from the Haiti sector assessment experience, the study concludes that the basic tools and approaches of economic analysis can be very helpful in revealing the nature of linkages between education and the economy and contributing to better management and planning of the education system. However, heavy concentration on techniques and concepts drawn from neoclassical economics to the exclusion of other approaches detracts from the contribution of economics to assessment practice and from the contribution of sector assessment to the concerns of educational planning in developing countries. This distortion may be explained in part by the role that neoclassical economics and its particular operationalization of efficiency concepts currently play in legitimating foreign technical expertise, limiting debate about policy options and justifying retrenchment in donor assistance. Recommendations are made concerning improvements in sector assessment methodology and modified roles for economics in educational policy making. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-03, Section: A, page: 0660. / Major Professor: George John Papagiannis. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1988.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2006. / Printout. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 275-281) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Language Education, 2006. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-04, Section: A, page: 1192. Advisers: Larry Mikulecky; Jerome Harste. "Title from dissertation home page (viewed March 22, 2007)."

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, School of Education, 2007. / Title from dissertation home page (viewed Sept. 25, 2008). Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-02, Section: A, page: 0533. Adviser: Nancy Chism.

This ethnographic case study examines the experiences of five Aboriginal/Native American women faculty working in universities in Canada and the United States. By using interview, observation and document analysis the author has sought to understand the cultural negotiations of the participants. The hiring of Aboriginal faculty raises new questions about faculty roles and experiences, in much the same manner that the hiring of women and other visible minority faculty raised questions about the structures and culture of the university. These women have successfully attained status positions as tenured and tenure-track faculty. While some of their experience may be explained by their gender, their experiences as Aboriginal women are unique. These women actively work to decolonize the very structures of the university. They reconceptualize the tradition bound roles of researcher, committee member, and teacher. By doing so they make themselves hyper-visible to the lateral oppression of other Aboriginal faculty, and they are vulnerable to the structural oppression that binds a colonial organization. By telling their stories here, these women leave trail-markers for other Aboriginal people who may seek an academic path.

The focus of this study was the perceptions of preservice teachers regarding the major contributing factors in their construction of identity as readers. I wanted to explore their lives as readers and what factors, such as parental and family interactions, the telling of reading of stories, and the role of a children's literature course, influenced their reading. Qualitative methods of research and case study were used in the study. The research questions that guided the study were: (1) What are the preservice teachers' perceptions of themselves as readers? (2) How have their identities as readers evolved and what factors do preservice teachers identify as influencing them as readers? (3) What is the influence of the LRC 480 children's literature course on their identities as readers? (4) What are preservice teachers' understandings of the role of children's literature in literacy development at home and in school? The findings of the study demonstrated the positive influence of several factors in the lives of the preservice teachers, such as, the importance of family involvement in reading, early reading activities, the reading and telling of oral histories, traditions and family stories, and exposure to children's literature including multicultural literature, and the LRC 480 children's literature course. The preservice teachers grew as readers during the children's literature course. They discovered new insights into the reading process and have constructed positive attitudes toward reading. In addition, they have constructed beliefs about reading and the teaching of literature to children as a result of their literacy experiences during their lifetime and the children's literature course.