Ed. D.

Intercultural development is not an intentional goal or expected outcome for College Success courses. However, since such courses are designed to help students adapt to academic and campus cultures, an overlap and alignment between the development of intercultural skills and competence and the development of college competence might exist. This thesis investigated the degree to which intercultural learning was integrated into College Success courses at the curricular level, in instruction practices, and in the individual learning experiences of students, and it also identified current instructional activities most amenable to further targeting of intercultural learning. The research was guided by the following three questions. 1) What are the ways, if any, in which intercultural skills align with those skills seen as necessary for students' successful adaptation in academic and professional settings? 2) Do College Success instructors intentionally or unintentionally incorporate intercultural competence development into the curriculum and instruction? 3) What, if any, are the ways in which instructional practices in College Success courses contribute to intercultural skill development and help students leverage their current experiences with cultural differences? The research was focused on the study of one College Success class at a community college. Data was collected through multiple methods. Class sessions were observed. Interviews were conducted with students in the course, the instructor and the administrator responsible for the course. Documents, including the course syllabus, student learning outcomes, a selection of assignments and the course textbook were reviewed and analyzed. Research findings suggest that there is significant alignment between the development of college competence, as fostered in the College Success course studied, and the development intercultural competence, though such was unintentional and unrecognized by the instructor. The data also illuminated areas where course learning outcomes, curriculum, and instruction could be modified to further support the development of intercultural competency.

Though America's public schools have become increasingly diverse, the teaching staff remains relatively homogeneous. This gap is more apparent in California schools that serve large numbers of students of color, being taught by teachers who are predominately White and female. Because the population of kindergarten-through-12th grade teachers is predominately white and middle class, theorists recommend the self-discovery process of striving for cultural proficiency as a solution. Teacher cultural proficiency is a series of characteristics that are learned, honed, and constantly evolving to create a classroom that is culturally aware and culturally sensitive for all students. Although there is ample literature regarding multicultural education, there is limited research discussing teachers' perceptions and experiences with cultural proficiency, especially white women, who represent the largest population of teachers in California. The purpose of this study was to further investigate teacher stories along their journey on the cultural proficiency continuum. This study includes interviews with three teachers who have reputations for being culturally proficient and who work in elementary schools in a California Central Valley district serving large populations of students of color. The purpose of the interviews was to further explore the teachers' experiences striving for cultural proficiency and implementing culturally aware practices in their classrooms. The results of this study suggest that the continued journey to cultural proficiency mirrors cultural proficiency theory but lacks one key component: self-reflection in regard to whiteness. The interviewed teachers struggled with the theoretical foundations of critical whiteness theory and cultural proficiency, but they believed that the goal of cultural proficiency was one in which they would constantly be striving. The findings of this study address some of the culturally proficient themes of self-discovery, curiosity, experience, and travel that contribute to these teachers' culturally proficient reputations, and they add to scholarship by suggesting an additional tenet to cultural proficiency, that of being intimately aware of one's own whiteness and privilege.

Institutions of higher education in the United States are becoming more and more diverse and nationwide efforts to provide educational access and equity to underrepresented groups of people will only help to increase that diversity. Increased diversity combined with the need for institutions to produce graduates who are capable of living and working in a global society, has created the need for students to possess a set of cognitive and behavioral skills to aide in successful intercultural interactions. Using the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity and the theory of Cultural Intelligence as frameworks, this research attempts to assess the effect of domestic experiences on intercultural competency and cultural intelligence of first year students at the University of the Pacific. Interview participants were chosen from a sample of eighty-seven students who took the Intercultural Development Inventory and were selected for displaying a great deal or lacked of intercultural sensitivity and cultural intelligence. From these interviews, key lines of thought and experiences were determined to have had positive or negative influences on competency. These results are presented in the form of biographical sketches and supplemented with a discussion of the skills essential to developing greater competency in intercultural sensitivity and cultural intelligence through the curriculum and co-curricular involvements.

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The study examined the following questions in relation to federal policy and social practice in education which contributed to the disadvantagement of African-Americans: 1. Did federal policy and social practice in education contribute to the conditions and struggles of the disadvantaged African-Americans? 2. Why did vocational education become a part of public education? 3. Did federal policy and practice play a role in maintaining the conditions of the disadvantaged in vocational education? 4. How was the focus of vocational special needs education achieved leading to the 1963 Vocational Education Act? Societal conditions and federal policies of the late 1800s and early twentieth century, produced adverse conditions which prevented Negroes from obtaining adequate education. During this period, the education system of the early 1900s could not adequately lend itself to the structure and practice of the economic system. This was realized by the leaders and policymakers and they called for the federal government to enter into partnership with the states in making vocational education a part of the public school system. Its manifest objective was to relieve those conditions conducive to poverty, economic stagnation and disadvantagement by training the youth. Because of the interpretation of the federal mandate, the Smith-Hughes Act (P. L. 64-347), by the policymakers, certain segments of the population did not prosper, the majority of whom were these African-Americans. By late 1958, conditions brought about a change in philosophy relative to the concerns of the poor and the disadvantaged and a different emphasis in education began to emerge. The leaders and policymakers realized that it was necessary to focus their attention on the disadvantaged through vocational special needs education. This focus brought about the legislative process which produced the Vocational Education Act of 1963 (P. L. 88-210). / Ed. D.

The number of children from single-parent families has risen significantly since the 1970s. The stress associated with single-parent status not only places the parent in a precarious state, but also has the tendency to adversely affect the child's academic performance. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship among stress, coping resources, and academic success in a group of children from single-parent families. The study also was designed to access what family factors including race, gender, income level, education level, employment status, and family composition contribute to the academic success of the child. Sixty-seven single-parent families and their oldest elementary school-age child participated in this study. The families' stress level was measured by using the Family Inventory of Life Changes and Events (FILE), while the Family Crisis Orientation Personal Evaluation Scales (F-COPES) were used to measure the families internal and external coping resources. A child's Resource Questionnaire was used to measure the child's coping resources. Academic success was measured using Grade Point Average (GPA) and Criterion Referenced Tests (CRTs) scores. The results indicated no significant relationship between stress and academic success as measured by GPAs when controlling for gender, race, and resources. However, the education level of the parent, child's gender, and the number of children in the family were family factors found to contribute to academic success when measured by GPAs. When measured by the CRTs, several factors contributed to academic success. In language arts, higher numbers of children in the family were associated with lower language arts scores. tended to score higher than boys. In addition, girls In math, only the child's gender was found to contribute to academic success, with girls tending to score higher than boys. In science, higher numbers of children in the family were linked with lower science CRT scores, while higher family coping resources were associated with higher science CRT scores. In social studies, single mothers were linked with higher CRT scores than single fathers. In addition, higher family stress was associated with lower social studies CRT scores, and white children tended to score higher than minorities. / Ed. D.

A philosophical and historical review of the evolving and growing definition of democratic education through the writings of John Dewey, Nel Noddings, and Joyce Rothschild was accomplished in a literature review that included commentaries from the works of Jesse Goodman, John Goodlad, Amy Gutmann, Hugh Sockett, Kenneth Strike, and Maxine Greene, and others. The review of literature leads up the to the ethnographic case study of an alternative school that has been in existence for twenty-two years and is a member of the National Coalition of Alternative Community Schools. As an ethnographic work, I "write the culture" as I find it at Connectionist School with a special interest in the systemic, organic differences between their democratic organization and traditional bureaucratic public and private schools. The study is a contribution to school reform efforts that are directed toward transformation of schools (Goodlad, 1990; Strike, 1993; Sockett, 1993) and emphasizes the need for a pervasive ethic of care (Noddings, 1984, 1992). / Ed. D.

Seventeen students' professional year performance variables were employed to predict their scores on the MT-ASCP certification examination. The purpose of the study was designed to address three principal questions: 1. What is relationship, if any, between students' theory section and combined grades in key subjects (blood bank, hematology, microbiology, and clinical chemistry) and analogous sub-scores on the MT-ASCP examination? 2. What is the relationship, if any, between the seventeen predictor variables and MT-ASCP total scores? and 3. Which of the seventeen predictor variables, individually or in combination, best predict MT-ASCP total scores at the different academic decision points? The sample consisted of 1985-1987 (N=103) and 1988-1991 (N=147) graduates from the six hospital-based medical technology programs in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Data required for analysis were taken from the graduates' academic records at the six institutions. Descriptive statistics, correlation coefficients, and stepwise regression analyses were used to test eight hypotheses, with results generally as follows: With the exception of numerical grades in hematology in 1985-1987, there were statistically significant relationships (p<.05) between the four major MT courses and MT-ASCP subsection scores. All seventeen independent variables were statistically (p<.05) correlated with 1985- 1991 MT-ASCP total scores, regardless of the method of reporting the scores. Four significant (p<.05) multiple linear regression equations were computed between the MT-ASCP total scores and the seventeen predictors included in the study at different critical points during professional year education for 1985-1987 and 1988-1991 graduates. About 50% of the total variance in the 1988-1991 MT-ASCP scaled scores was accounted for by three of the 17 potential professional year predictor variables. The addition of three preprofessional and personal predictors extended the variance explained to 61%. The research warranted the conclusion that the MT-ASCP examination validly reflects the content and laboratory methods offered in the hospital-based professional training Programs in the sample of Virginia institutions. / Ph. D.