This dissertation project researched sudent mobility-- school changes not due to customary promotion-- and its educational correlates, for students and schools in Vermont. Student mobility research in other states has found that the majority of these students are disadvantaged youth from low-income families, and they lag behind their peers academically. Academic consequences of student mobility affect not only students, but also their schools since NCLBA implementation sanctions influence school enrollments by increasing student transfers. The need for information about rural student mobility during early NCLBA implementation is significant in predominantly rural Vermont. This was the first statewide study of outcomes of mobility for students and schools in a rural state. Three basic research questions were: (a) What is the incidence of mobility among Vermont students and schools? (b) What is the impact of mobility, i.e., how does the incidence of mobility vary according to educational correlates for students and schools? (c) What do multilevel analytical models reveal about variation in mobility from student and school perspectives that may be useful for educational policy and practice? To address these questions, the study analyzed data for Vermont public school students, grades 1 through 12, during school years 1999-2004. Data sources included: (a) the Vermont Department of Education Student Census and Demographic Update; (b) student New Standards Reference Examination English Language Arts and Mathematics tests, grades 4, 8, and 10; (c) Vermont School Report indicators, and (d) NCES-US Census public school location information. In-depth cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses of mobility, performance, sociodemographic, and educational correlates revealed significant and disturbing relationships that merit policy and prevention follow-up programming. School-level mobility incidence indicated that while in-migration was 20% on average, over 30% of the schools experienced much higher rates, mirroring urban-based mobility incidence. Academically, mobile students performed 3-10 percentile ranks lower than their stable counterparts did across grade levels and content areas on standardized tests, for longitudinal cohorts as well as cross-sectional grade groups. Risk factor analyses revealed that mobile students, relative to their stable peers, were (a) more likely to participate in free or reduced lunch programs at school, (b) less likely to have a 504 plan in place, (c) more likely to have kept a writing portfolio for 0-1 years (versus 2-5 years), (d) more likely to have kept a mathematics portfolio 0-1 years (versus 2-5 years), and (e) more likely to not meet the standard on mathematics performance tests. Hierarchical generalized nonlinear modeling analyses indicated that between 8% and 32% of the variation in student mobility was attributable to school-level composition and resources. This project aimed to benefit the Vermont educational community in several ways. Analytical methodology will provide the framework for developing a longitudinal monitoring system with mobility incidence, impact, and relevant educational information. Information from analytical results will inform a case study during spring 2005 to address student mobility by raising public awareness of associated issues that affect not only the students and their families, but also classrooms, schools and communities.

Le contexte libanais actuel de l’enseignement est caractérisé par une pluralité de types d’établissements et par une liberté d’enseignement. Ces établissements (publics, privés, subventionnés) connaissent, chacun à son niveau, de grandes difficultés qui les menacent, et de véritables problèmes accentués par divers phénomènes sociaux, économiques et politiques. Cette réalité a des incidences notables sur l’état actuel de l’enseignement scolaire en général, sur le statut de chaque type d’école, sur le niveau professionnel des enseignants et sur les réussites scolaires. Notre étude cible les écoles subventionnées, comme constituant une originalité libanaise. C’est un secteur « compromis », situé au croisement du privé et du public, offrant une qualité d'enseignement avec une scolarité accessible à une population défavorisée. L’étude vise à voir de près les enjeux en termes d’équité éducative, et à repérer, au sein d’une situation contraignante, l’aspect militant de certains enseignants de ces écoles, visant à atténuer les sentiments d’équité (sur-équité et sous-équité) et à réduire les écarts par l’efficacité éducative. Les conditions de travail sont à l’origine d’un épuisement professionnel chez certains enseignants. Elles sont par ailleurs un moteur-défi pour d’autres enseignants qui réussissent à se développer professionnellement malgré tous les facteurs de risque. Ce phénomène s’apparente au concept de résilience éducationnelle introduit récemment dans le monde de la psychopédagogie. La résilience du personnel scolaire se présente alors comme un facteur primordial valorisant l’évolution professionnelle et l’efficacité éducative en milieux scolaires modestes et ayant à réguler, en conséquent, certaines in-équités entre apprenants et entre milieux scolaires. / The current Lebanese context of the education is characterized by a plurality of types of establishments and by a freedom of education. These establishments (public, private, subsidized) know, each at the level, of great difficulties which threaten them, and with real problems stressed by diverse social, economic and political phenomena. This reality has notable incidences on the current state of the school education generally, on the status of every type of school, on the professional level of the teachers and on the successes at school. Our study targets the subsidized schools, as constituting a Lebanese originality. It is a sector, situated in the crossing of the private and the public, offering a quality of education with an accessible schooling to a disadvantaged population. The study aims at seeing closely the stakes in terms of educational equity, and at spotting(locating), within a binding situation, the militant aspect of certain teachers of these schools, to limit(ease) the feelings of equity (on equity and sub-equity) and to reduce discard by the educational efficiency. The working conditions are at the origin of a professional exhaustion at certain teachers. They are besides an engine-challenge for other teachers who manage to develop professionally in spite of all the risk factors. This phenomenon is similar to the concept of “resiliency in education” introduced recently into the world of the education. The resiliency of the school staff appears then as an essential factor(mailman) valuing the professional evolution and the educational efficiency in modest school circles and having to regulate, in consequent, some in equities between learners and between school environment.

The purpose of my research is to contribute to the de/reconstruction of knowledge about the Black educational experience in Canada. Using post-positivist paradigms, critical Black feminist standpoint theory and auto-ethnographic qualitative methods of inquiry, I provide an insider perspective on being Black and female in the Canadian educational system, from primary and secondary experiences through the journey of claiming a higher education. My self-study explores the social and cultural forces that have impacted my life, highlights systemic racism throughout the journey, identifies themes in the educational experiences of Black students and Black women, uncovers contradictions between the dominant discourse and my reality, and incites reflection and action on the implications for teaching, research and educational policy. / Thesis (Master, Education) -- Queen's University, 2010-04-26 11:11:29.496

This research responds to the problem of minority teacher under-representation within North America’s increasingly diverse urban school systems. It weaves together what is known about educational equity, teacher education admission policy, and policy implementation to explore the research question, “How did equity-based admission policy shape candidate diversification in an urban Canadian teacher education program?” The conceptual framework grounds this study within organizational culture and describes how culture both shapes and is shaped by interactions between structure and agency. The conceptual question asks, “How did institutional norms and individual will work to support or constrain equitable candidate diversification?” Data collection occurred during private interviews with members of three organizational groups: Policymakers, policy implementers, and policy beneficiaries. Policymakers were senior administrators with several years’ experience in their respective positions. Policy implementers were admission personnel, ad hoc faculty, and field-based educators. The policy beneficiaries were candidates who self-identified as future French and Physics teachers, and as members of Aboriginal, Disabled, Gendered/Invisible, and Racialized/Visible minorities. Data analysis was an iterative process of applying demographic, thematic, and editorial coding to the interview transcripts. Discussion highlighted several themes that shaped the admission process: External admission policy context, Faculty of Education Equity Policy, admission policy instrumentation, qualification precedence and weighting, academic qualifications, non-academic identity-based and experience-based qualifications, admission policy gaps, and last-minute Policy disclosure. It also addressed admission personnel recruitment, training, and performance during candidate personal information form assessment. Significant findings emerged in the areas of preservice program partnerships, candidate support services, qualification transparency, labeling of identity-based candidate characteristics, and admission personnel training. Research applicability extends to consecutive and concurrent teacher education programs, other tertiary professional licensing programs, and multi-site qualitative research projects. Recommendations for policy and practice target teacher education admission, policy implementation, and equity policy development.

This thesis describes a study conducted for the San Antonio River Authority to understand the needs of educators in environmental education programming. This study explores the experiences of educators in teaching environmental education, the tools and methodologies they use, what they think and feel about environmental education, and what their needs are when selecting environmental education curricula and programming to engage their students. This thesis contains an extensive literature review relevant to the local environment in San Antonio, Texas, equity in access to education in borderland regions, educator training, and environmental education goals and methodologies. The study utilizes both qualitative and quantitative research tools: a survey and a collection of semi-structured interviews. The findings of this study indicate that educators are looking for environmental education curricula and programming that is convenient to use and access, training that gives them confidence to teach environmental concepts, curricula and training that helps them facilitate a sense of wonder and engagement in their students, and more content that is locally relevant.

In 1995, Ghana’s education policymakers imposed a ban on all extra classes initiated and organized on school premises and public buildings, by individual teachers or groups of teachers, for which students were charged extra fees. The ban is referred to as the “policy on extra classes.” This study examined the genesis and justification of the said policy, including the current phenomenon of extra classes in Ghana. The study analyzed the policy’s impact on secondary education in the country, particularly Northern Ghana, using the lens of education stratification in a qualitative interpretive policy analysis approach. Interviews of leading Ghana education officials conducted in 2010 were the predominant source of data in this research, with corroboration from analysis of policy texts and review of the media. The conclusions and recommendations that emerged from this study included: accountability, the responsible use of school time and instructional time, and education equity and adequacy. Other issues concerned social justice, teacher remuneration and motivation, and the need for equitable national education policies that reckon with the disparities in the country. In particular, this study took issue with the culture of nonimplementation of education policies in Ghana, with particular reference to the policy on extra classes. The study contended that the partial or non-implementation of education policies deepens education stratification in the country.

Bourdieu, the French sociologist, proposed some significant concepts (e.g., habitus, capital and field) to help to explain how social agents play roles in social occurrences. Among his theories, Bourdieu’s trilogy of economic capital, social capital and cultural capital has now been used as a powerful theoretical framework to explain class reproduction and education equity. Over the past decades, his theories have begun to be introduced and recognized in Chinese academic world. And this research attempts to see whether this western theory works in the Chinese educational context. Shanghai, one of the biggest cities in China, has a huge migrant population. Limited by the unique Chinese hukou system, the migrant population in Chinese big cities mostly faces a challenging situation to ensure their children’s local educational opportunities, especially during the compulsory education levels. However, the past research only focused on its disadvantaged subgroup, i. e. the migrant worker population while ignoring the vast diversity in their economic, social and cultural capitals among this general population. Therefore, this research, by means of a comparative multiple case study, aims to see how parents’ economic, social and cultural capitals help to win their children’s educational opportunities at elementary education level. Studying three typical migrant families with distinguishable strong, medium and weak capitals, the research finds the specific paths how the parents respectively use their economic, social and cultural capitals to obtain more educational opportunities for their children, and eventually produce the divide in educational outcomes, school segregation and social stratification. The research extends its discussion with characteristics of parent capitals, redefinitions of educational opportunities, and an unexpected minor theme about full-time mother. At the end of the dissertation, it can be concluded that Bourdieu’s trilogy of economic, social and cultural capital does work in Chinese educational context. And it indeed helps us to see more clearly what is happening in present China at a transitional age and calls for service and help to the disadvantaged migrant families in Chinese cities.

World-wide, countries struggle with providing equitable education to all children, where the socioeconomic (SES) background of the students does not affect their educational attainment and achievement. School segregation has been shown in previous research to exacerbate the influence of family background on educational achievement and attainment. In 2019, the Swedish National Agency for Education (NAE) initiated a network between seven superintendents in charge of compulsory education where focus was on school segregation. Through reflexive thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews conducted with six of the superintendents, this research aims to identify what can be learnt from the network project with regards to (1) how school segregation can be tackled by superintendents and (2) using such networks as a method for collaboration. The results indicate that NAE-organized networking between superintendents can be a fruitful way to facilitate professional learning for superintendents by providing a forum they do not usually have access to, where vulnerability and openness is encouraged, and the superintendents help each other develop professionally. With regards to school segregation, the results indicate that the superintendents chose to focus on tackling the negative effects of school segregation by enacting leadership actions aimed at improving instructional quality in the schools with the lowest educational achievement. The findings indicate that superintendents may be able to reduce SES disparities in educational attainment and achievement through enacting and communicatively encouraging leadership actions oriented towards achieving tight coupling, boundary spanning practices. / Världen över har länder svårigheter i att ge en jämlik utbildning till alla barn, där elevernas socioekonomiska bakgrund inte påverkar deras resultat och möjlighet att tillgodogöra sig utbildningen. Tidigare forskning visar att skolsegregation förhöjer familjebakgrundens effekter på utbildningsresultaten. 2019 initierade Skolverket ett nätverk mellan sju skolchefer med ansvar för grundskolan, som fokuserade på skolsegregation. Genom reflexiv tematisk analys av semistrukturerade intervjuer med sex av skolcheferna syftar uppsatsen till att identifiera vad som kan läras av nätverksprojektet med avseende på (1) hur skolchefer kan arbeta med skolsegregation och (2) användande av den här typen av nätverk som metod för samarbete. Resultaten indikerar att nätverk mellan skolchefer, organiserat av Skolverket, kan vara ett framgångstikt sätt att främja professionellt lärande för skolchefer, genom att ge dem tillgång till ett forum de vanligtvis inte har tillgång till, där sårbarhet och öppenhet uppmuntras, och där skolchefer kan stödja varandra i sin professionella utveckling. Gällande skolsegregationen indikerar resultaten att skolcheferna i den här studien valde att fokusera på att minska de negativa effekterna av skolsegregationen genom att tillämpa ledarskapshandlingar som syftade till att höja den pedagogiska kvaliteten i de skolor med lägst resultat. Slutligen indikerar studien att skolchefer kan ha en roll i att minska minska betydelsen av elevers socioekonomiska bakgrund på skolresultaten genom att tillämpa och främja användandet av ledarskapshandlingar som syftar till att uppnå tight coupling och gränsöverskridande arbete.

In the past three years, educational leaders in the United States were called to fight for equity and dismantle the oppressive systemic racism that afflict our schools. Yet, as so many of our school leaders and educators are White, they feel unprepared to confront the historic and evolving problem of racial inequality that has frequently been viewed as a “Black problem” (Singleton, 2015, p. 37). With a renewed commitment to educational equity, school leaders are seeking ways to build less divisive and more inclusive schools. This qualitative study describes the role of trust and collaboration in developing culturally responsive school leadership through the perceptions, beliefs, dispositions, and strategies of five school leaders. This study is a narrative inquiry into the experiences of five current school leaders in Massachusetts collected from interviews from June -October 2022. Their staff were also surveyed electronically. Participants were selected based on the following criteria: (a) Experienced (>5 years) principals and assistant principals (b) Current employment in public schools in Massachusetts (c) Leaders with diverse backgrounds and racial identities, including people who identify as Black, Indigenous, or People of Color (BIPOC) including both male and female leaders and (d) Graduate coursework in culturally responsive school leadership. Their narratives are analyzed through the frameworks of both critical theory and critical race theory. The analysis is organized around four components of equity leadership described by the school leaders: core values, leadership roles, barriers to trust, and influence and identity. The study recommends practices for equity-focused school leadership and suggests ways districts can support, identify, and recruit culturally responsive school leaders. This dissertation aims to deepen our current understanding of the relationship between staff trust and culturally responsive school leadership while also describing an emerging leadership identity that is shaping current educational practices.

Leaders of the social justice research movement in school psychology argue that since the inception the profession, school psychology has had social justice as a key agenda item. A closer look at the representation of diverse backgrounds in researchers and practitioners and observations of the impact the profession has had on the education of marginalized groups, one could argue that school psychology has contributed to the oppression of said groups. In recent efforts, social justice has been made a focus (i.e. social justice task forces within National Association of School Psychologists (NASP), efforts of individual school districts and graduate training programs to recruit more trainees and practitioners of color, etc.). However, there is still more to be done when training future and current school psychologist who practice, those who train graduate students, and those who do research. The goal of this study is to inquire if the multi-cultural competence and social justice intervention, the Temple Social Justice Project, impacts self-perception of professional performance with social justice matters including multicultural competence using quantitative research methods. Evidence from the current study indicates that more frequent experiences working with culturally and linguistically diverse communities is a significant predictor of higher self-report ratings of social justice orientation. While self-reflection and learning social justice principles may have helped TSJP intervention participants to conceptualize their roles in schools as allies, increased time spent in practicum experiences working with culturally and linguistically diverse communities appears to be effective at predicting higher multicultural competence and social justice orientations as measured by self-report ratings. Findings align with intergroup contact theory which states that intergroup contact reduces prejudice (Pettigrew et. al., 2011). While coursework and professional development/training opportunities are essential for the purposes of prioritizing social justice and multicultural competence and providing individuals with safe spaces to process their social experiences and come to terms with inequality, the data suggests that efforts to diversify our spaces is one of our strongest tools in improving multicultural competence and social justice. / School Psychology