There were at least five purposes in pursuing research on international education in the public community colleges of Oregon and Washington states. The first purpose was to fully demonstrate a new and original taxonomy of ten elements, or dimensions, found in defining and describing international education. A second purpose was to add to the body of knowledge and research on international education practices at the nation's community colleges through an extensive literature search and original research. A third purpose of the study was to identify and describe the current status of international educational programs and activities of the forty-three public community colleges of the two state region through the use of quantitative data obtained in a survey questionnaire. Another purpose was to identify and describe three case studies of the most highly developed community colleges, at least one from each of the two states, in the arena of international education. A fifth purpose of this study was to provide several conclusions and recommendations to those community college leaders interested in improving upon international education programs and practices. Two research questions led the investigator to utilize two different research methods: The survey questionnaire and the case study. The research questions were: 1. What is the current status of international education programs among the public community colleges of Oregon and Washington? And 2. How and why did the international education programs and activities evolve and develop at the three most highly developed public community colleges of Oregon and Washington? The first method was used to survey the field of international education and to select three of the most highly developed community colleges in the two state region. The case study method, or the second method, was used to probe deeply into the international education programs and activities of the three most highly developed community colleges in Oregon and Washington. The results of the research methodology were reported in two different chapters and provide the findings and recommendations about the field of international education. The research was also defined by nine propositions suggested at the outset of the study. It was thought that international education programs and activities of Oregon and Washington community colleges evolved and developed through: The efforts of strong presidential leadership; large community colleges found in urban areas; the presence of international students; the presence of full-time international education administrators; the presence of international education grants from external funding sources; the presence of a strong global curriculum; the presence of strong foreign language programs; the presence of full-time faculty born in other countries; and, the presence of full-time faculty who have lived and travelled abroad. The results of the nine study propositions were mixed. The research led to twelve specific recommendations for those wanting to either evaluate their existing efforts and for those wanting to enter the very dynamic and exciting field of international education

The study addresses the fiscal, governance, and educational impact of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act on elementary and secondary education in Oregon from its inception in 1983 through the 1985 fiscal year. A review of the national literature and research provided rationale for hypothesizing within state redistribution of federal aid to elementary and secondary school districts, increased federal aid to local education agencies, a continuation of decreased federal funding for state educational agency positions, and an expansion of federal aid to private schools. Interviews were conducted with Oregon Department of Education officials, members of the State Block Grant Advisory Committee, and local educators. State documents and plans were studied and analyzed. Oregon's 309 elementary and secondary school districts and seven state institution schools were classified into five recipient groups: (1) Population Center; (2) Suburban; (3) Metropolitan-Urban; (4) Rural; and (5) State Institutions. School districts gains and losses within groups and among groups were computed and reported. The study showed that the metropolitan school district of Portland and the state institution schools were the only two groups to lose federal aid in the transition from the antecedent categorical programs in 1982 to the first year block grant program in 1983 while the proportion of federal aid per-pupil allocated to suburban and population center school districts increased. The trend from 1982 to 1985 showed per-pupil distribution shaped federal aid into more of a mathematical equity distribution where the percent of federal aid has become more proportionate to the percent of pupils in school district groups. The study also found that the block grant set aside at the state level is a significant source of funds to support educational change and reform. The Oregon Department of Education has used block grant funds as a major revenue source to support the Oregon Action Plan for Excellence. The study concluded that the program had moved federal aid away from previously targeted needs and that federal aid, in the absence of strongly worded purposes and national interests, may evolve into an educational revenue sharing program. In times of economic difficulty and revenue shortfalls, the justification for continued educational block grants may be questioned.

Middle school students work with many types of maps in school, however most maps they use are qualitative thematic maps that only show differences in kind as compared to quantitative thematic maps that show differences in amounts. This thesis investigates sixth-grade students' abilities to analyze three types of thematic maps: dot maps, choropleth maps, and graduated circle maps. Two hundred and two Oregon sixth-graders were tested on their abilities to interpret map symbology, make inferences from the data, categorize values into regions, and ask geographic questions concerning data distributions. The results indicate that students can understand these three quantitative thematic maps for these purposes. These results also raise the question, "Why aren't there more quantitative thematic maps presented to students in middle school curriculum?"

The purpose of this study is to examine indoctrination in Oregon public schools during the period from 1947 to 1975. More specifically, it seeks to define and analyze the assumed changeable and dynamic aspect of indoctrination. The major hypothesis to be tested is that indoctrination has declined in strength during the test period.

Research on projectably multi-unit tellings (e.g., stories) has largely focused on their contexts of emergence, beginnings, endings, and uptakes (or lack thereof), rather than on their ‘middles.’ The relatively small literature on such ‘middles’ has focused on different types of responsive behaviors when they do occur (e.g., continuers). However, there is virtually no research on relevance rules that might systematically organize these ‘middles,’ including the production of responsive behaviors (or lack thereof) and the management of intersubjectivity. This thesis describes and defends one such relevance rule: Advisors are strongly accountable for responding – either vocally and/or nonvocally – at each and every complex possible-completion place. This relevance rule provides an inferential framework with which to monitor and manage advisors’ understanding of ‘middle’ units. The method used is conversation analysis – including the analysis of deviant cases – complemented by the coding of data and resultant distributional patterns. Data are dual-camera-videotaped, drop-in, advising sessions conducted in English between 20 non-native-English-speaking international students and native-English-speaking advisors working for a university's Office of International Affairs. Specifically, data involve students’ projectably multi-unit problem presentations (e.g., related to Visa status, course scheduling, international travel, housing, etc.).

This study investigated the effects of selfesteem, controllability, and optimism, the constructs inherent in positive illusions, on perceived racism. The perceived racism scale in this study was found to contain two dimensions, Equal Opportunity (EO) racism and Authority (AUT) racism. Thirty-seven AfricanAmerican, 64 Asian-American and 100 White-American students at Portland States University {101 females, 100 males and mean age of 25 years) served as subjects. The findings revealed that both African- and AsianAmerican students perceived a racist atmosphere from peer students {EO racism) significantly higher than did the White-American students. However, only AfricanAmerican students perceived greater racism from faculty members (AUT racism) than the White-American students. None of the illusions had an effect on perceived EO racism. However, all types of illusions (self-esteem, controllability and optimism) had a significant effect on perceived racism from faculty members {AUT racism). Higher perception of AUT racism was correlated with less self-esteem(~= -.089, R = .12), less controllability(~= -.319, R < .001), and less optimism (~ = -.144, R = .03). The results of this study support empirical evidence showing that the illusions, especially controllability, change individuals in how they perceive racism when the racism is practiced by authorities.

This study is participant observational research focused on the culture of one successful alternative education program. The survey of the literature showed that the problem of high school dropouts is one of numbers and persistence over time. Most research in the past attempted to list characteristics of high school dropouts or elements of successful alternative education programs. Researchers such as Wehlage (1986) and Catterall (1987) have begun to look at a different approach. Their work looks at schools as systems and suggests that educators should direct their attention to the interaction of the school environment with the characteristics of the students. This view fits into a body of work that looks at schools and classrooms as microcultures. The work presented here looks at an alternative education program as a microculture and asks "What appears to be the distinguishing microculture created by the participants of Tri City Alternative Program?" The researcher collected data from interviews, observations, student projects and work, staff meetings, and program materials and records. The data were analyzed and organized to find patterns of behavior and interactions and to determine the meaning the participants attached to their interactions. The elements that distinguish the microculture of the alternative education program were divided into the features of the context and the features of the interactions. The elements of the context were described by the physical setting, the daily instructional schedule, and the non-instructional daily schedule. The elements of the interaction were described by clearly stated expectations, staff and student attention to culture, sense of caring and defining competence, and sense of humor. The researcher concludes by proposing three future areas of work. One is to develop a model of synchronization between the context and interactions of educational programs. The second is to complete additional cultural studies of high school dropouts. The last recommendation is to train teachers and students to use participant observational techniques in their classrooms to build their understanding of their own microcultures.

The early 1920s are generally described as a period of transition for American society. Many forces of change collided to create an unsettled atmosphere that appeared to threaten traditional American ideas and values. After World War I, the United States fostered a climate of anti-Catholicism and nativism out of fear that foreign ideas spelled the demise of traditional American values. These ideas were certainly not new to American culture as anti-Catholic sentiments figured prominently throughout the founding of the nation. During the early 1920s, however, a resurrected Ku Klux Klan promoted itself as the protector of American institutions. It won recruits with an identity as a secret society for white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant citizens. The organization also exploited the political issues of the day to ingratiate itself within communities across the nation.

Over the past 6 years, the course retention rate for Marylhurst University's (MU) online courses was 91%, which is within four percentage points of its on-campus course retention rate (Schreck, 2002). This appears to contradict a recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education that stated, "Although there is significant variation among institutions with some reporting course-completion rates of more than 80% and others finding that fewer than 50% of distance-education students finish their courses, several administrators concur that course-completion rates are often 10-20 percentage points higher in traditional courses than in distance offerings" (Carr, 2000). Recent studies (Beatty-Gunter 2001; Crabtree, 2000; Cutler, 2000; Fox, 2000; Moore, Bartkovich, Fetzner, & Ison, 2002; Morrow, Woodyard, Mora, & Nather, 2001; Valdez, 2001) corroborate Carr's claim and were used to compare with MU results. This grounded theory, web-based, research study aims to explicate the reasons why MU online students complete courses at high rates and develop this understanding into an online student retention model. A grounded theory approach was used to conduct this study, which is described by Creswell (2002) as, "a systematic, qualitative procedure used to generate a theory that explains, at a broad conceptual level, a process, an action, or interaction about a substantive topic". The research process helped discover and shape the Online Course Retention Model (OCRM). The OCRM theorizes four major areas for inquiry into online course retention (Administration, Course, Student, and Teacher). Each major area of inquiry is divided into three variables of varying importance to online course retention. Perhaps the most profound discovery was not the major themes and supporting variables, but rather, the relationships between variables, and how these relationships explain the MU situation. The research concludes with an examination of possible "best practices" in online course retention, ideas for future research, and recommendations for implementation. Successful online course retention at Marylhurst University: Constructing a model for online course retention using grounded theory.

Research on the education of Vietnamese-Americans is very limited, and mainstream media continue to project Vietnamese students either as high achievers or gang affiliated (Castro, 1983; Davis & McDaid, 1992). This kind of projection can mask the real issues that Vietnamese students are facing. Based on Cummins' (1979) Contextual Interaction Theory, this study examined the views of Vietnamese-American high school students in Oregon regarding their schooling under four major areas: Community Background Factors, Educational Input Factors, Instructional Treatment, and Student Input Factors. In particular, this study examined factors, within the above four areas, pertaining to the schooling of Vietnamese-American high school students such as parental concerns, peer relationships, language use in the classroom, ESL learning, subject areas, teacher support, first language usage, discipline issues, home/school communication, teacher knowledge about culture, extracurricular activity, drug/alcohol issues, gang affiliation, dropping out, student effort in learning, homework, career planning, and future concerns. A survey of 145 subjects was conducted in the Portland and surrounding high schools. The study was supplemented by two interviews of two unique students: a high-achiever and a high-risk case to illuminate the real life and school experiences they encountered in their schooling. The interviews added a holistic dimension to this study. The survey data were analyzed descriptively, statistically, and inferentially to provide answers for the research questions. The overall conclusion was Vietnamese-American high school students in this sample came from large families with strong family support and value for education. They brought with them a strong motivation for learning. They were committed to school work and put much effort in learning. They reported doing well in mathematics and science. They reported difficulties in English language comprehension, but only one third of them perceived ESL as a strong treatment. Very few were participating in extracurricular activities. Their relationships with American peers were poor. They perceived a good level of staff welcome and support but were not sure about the staffs understanding of their culture. These students showed a respect for school rules, but reported little school/home communication. Many worried about their future. Briefly, their perceptions regarding educational input factors and instructional programs were not as strong as community background factors and students' contributions.