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 diploma thesis focuses on verifying the proposed inquiry-based activity and comparing its effectiveness with a traditionally concieved theme for experimental activity of pupils with the same topic. The theoretical part of the thesis focuses on the role of experimental activities in Czech schools, their options, helpful equipment and generally inquiry-based teaching. The practical part of the thesis is focused on the verification of the proposed research activity in comparison with traditionally concieved experimental activity. The traditionally concieved activity was taken from the website of the company Vernier, the research activity was created by modifying these tasks. The proposed research activity consists of two logically connected tasks. The aim of this thesis was to design and verify research activity based on experimental activities and to compare the internal motivation of pupils in performing research-oriented and clasically concieved activities. The pupils worked in groups that were created based on the pupils' preferred themes. For comparison purposes, the groups were divided into two research halves and each half used a different approach. The Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI) and group conversation were used to evaluate the affective area. The benefit in the cognitive area...

Throughout history, the media's rendering of slavery depicts vulnerable groups caught in a network of trafficking looking for a better life. Scholars of trafficking cite challenges in understanding the health care needs of domestic forced labor trafficking survivors in the United States. Seminal trafficking findings have shown that variations of trafficking affect the survivors' health after surviving trafficking. Therefore, in this qualitative, narrative inquiry I sought to understand how 8 survivors of forced labor trafficking, ages 25 years and older, described their health following trafficking beyond 5 years. The theory of social constructionism constituted the theoretical foundation, and the salutogenic model of health is the conceptual framework. The research questions for the study focused on understanding how adult survivors described experiences of entering and exiting trafficking, and their physical health, post-trafficking involvement. Criterion sampling facilitated identifying survivors of forced labor trafficking. Semi-structured interviewing guided the survivors' narrative storytelling. For analyzing the narratives, I used Braun and Clarke's Thematic Analysis strategy. The results of the pilot and main study showed that survivors suffer from an array of ongoing cognitive and general health concerns beyond surviving trafficking. The findings suggest that these ongoing health conditions influenced survivors' well-being beyond surviving trafficking. The results of the study may lead those in the medical field (e.g. health administrators) to identify other conditions influencing survivors' health after surviving trafficking.

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.

There is little evidence concerning the impact of professional learning communities (PLCs) at juvenile correctional facilities. This qualitative case study explored the implementation of a PLC at a juvenile correctional facility school that housed students 10 to 19 years of age in southeastern United States. The purpose of this study was to understand the perceptions of teachers and paraprofessionals about how the PLC supported their work as they designed, constructed, and delivered instruction at the correctional facility. The social interactions among engaged educators through collaboration, collective inquiry, reflections, and communication derived from constructivist learning theory. Qualitative methodology included document review and structured face-to-face interviews with 4 teachers and 3 paraprofessionals. Following an inductive model, educators' perceptions were analyzed using an open coding process to derive categories, themes, and meaning. Five themes emerged: professional learning growth and benefits, teacher learning in PLCs, attitude adjustment of the culture, collaboration and sharing, and active engagement of paraprofessionals in PLCs. This study provided 5 recommendations: use allotted time, prioritize concerns, keep an open communication, discuss student-centered questions, and ensure supportive relationships. The findings indicated that the PLC supported teachers and paraprofessionals with strategies and accommodations to promote student achievement. This study has the potential to strengthen teacher collaboration and instruction to empower incarcerated students to succeed academically and become productive citizens.

Focus County School District in the Mideast United States experienced a 12% teacher turnover rate over the last 2 years. The purpose of this study was to explore those factors that led to teachers leaving the district. Bandura's social cognitive theory was the guiding theory to examine and explain those factors that contributed to the district's teachers' attrition. Using narrative inquiry, the teachers' thick descriptions of their experiences were collected through the interview process. The data consisted of 9 personal interviews of teachers who left the district. .The data were analyzed and coded through the 6-part LaBovian model of abstract, orientation, complicating action, evaluation, result, and coda. The semistructured interviews were analyzed with thematic analysis of the interviews. The 4 themes, developed inductively, were (a) lack of administrative support, (b) mentoring, (c) teacher preparation, and (d) salary. The results of the study prompted questions about how teacher careers might be sustained by considering each person's narrative stories. A policy paper project was created based on the findings of the study. The policy paper addresses teacher turnover in Focus County schools and ways to mitigate the turnover crisis. Positive social change will result from the school district being better positioned to improve teacher stability. Through increased teacher stability, the students will be situated for improved instruction.

The purpose of this study was to characterize ways in which teaching practice in classroom undergoing first semester implementation of an argument-based inquiry approach changes in whole-class discussion. Being that argument is explicitly called for in the Next Generation Science Standards and is currently a rare practice in teaching, many teachers will have to transform their teaching practice for inclusion of this feature. Most studies on Argument-Based Inquiry (ABI) agree that development of argument does not come easily and is only acquired through practice. Few studies have examined the ways in which teaching practice changes in relation to the big idea or disciplinary core idea (NGSS), the development of dialogue, and/or the development of argument during first semester implementation of an argument-based inquiry approach. To explore these areas, this study posed three primary research questions: (1) How does a teacher in his first semester of Science Writing Heuristic professional development make use of the "big idea"?, (1a) Is the indicated big idea consistent with NGSS core concepts?, (2) How did the dialogue in whole-class discussion change during the first semester of argument-based inquiry professional development?, (3) How did the argument in whole-class discussion change during the first semester of argument-based inquiry professional development? This semester-long study that took place in a middle school in a rural Midwestern city was grounded in interactive constructivism, and utilized a qualitative design to identify the ways in which the teacher utilized big ideas and how dialogue and argumentative dialogue developed over time. The purposefully selected teacher in this study provided a unique situation where he was in his first semester of professional development using the Science Writing Heuristic Approach to argument-based inquiry with 19 students who had two prior years' experience in ABI. Multiple sources of data were collected, including classroom video with transcripts, teacher interview, researcher field notes, student journals, teacher lesson plans from previous years, and a student questionnaire. Data analysis used a basic qualitative approach. The results showed (1) only the first time period had a true big idea, while the other two units contained topics, (2) each semester contained a similar use for the given big idea, though its role in the class was reduced after the opening activity, (3) the types of teacher questions shifted toward students explaining their comprehension of ideas and more students were involved in discussing each idea and for more turns of talk than in earlier time periods, (4) understanding science term definitions became more prominent later in the semester, with more stating science terms occurring earlier in the semester, (5) no significant changes were seen to the use of argument or claims and evidence throughout the study. The findings have informed theory and practice about science argumentation, the practice of whole-class dialogue, and the understanding of practice along four aspects: (1) apparent lack of understanding about big ideas and how to utilize them as the central organizing feature of a unit, (2) independent development of dialogue and argument, (3) apparent lack of understanding about the structure of argument and use of basic terminology with argument and big ideas, (4) challenges of ABI implementation. This study provides insight into the importance of prolonged and persistent professional development with ABI in teaching practice.

Research suggests that scientific models and modeling should be topics covered in K-12 classrooms as part of a comprehensive science curriculum. It is especially important when talking about topics in weather and climate, where computer and forecast models are the center of attention. There are several approaches to model based inquiry, but it can be argued, theoretically, that science models can be effectively implemented into any approach to inquiry if they are utilized appropriately. Yet, it remains to be explored how science models are actually implemented in classrooms. This study qualitatively looks at three middle school science teachers' use of science models with various approaches to inquiry during their weather and climate units. Results indicate that the teacher who used the most elements of inquiry used models in a way that aligned best with the theoretical framework than the teachers who used fewer elements of inquiry. The theoretical framework compares an approach to argument-based inquiry to model-based inquiry, which argues that the approaches are essentially identical, so teachers who use inquiry should be able to apply model-based inquiry using the same approach. However, none of the teachers in this study had a complete understanding of the role models play in authentic science inquiry, therefore students were not explicitly exposed to the ideas that models can be used to make predictions about, and are representations of, a natural phenomenon. Rather, models were explicitly used to explain concepts to students or have students explain concepts to the teacher or to each other. Additionally, models were used as a focal point for conversation between students, usually as they were creating, modifying, or using models. Teachers were not observed asking students to evaluate models. Since science models are an important aspect of understanding science, it is important that teachers not only know how to implement models into an inquiry environment, but also understand the characteristics of science models so that they can explicitly teach the concept of modeling to students. This study suggests that better pre-service and in-service teacher education is needed to prepare students to teach about science models effectively.

This three-manuscript formatted dissertation interrogated the effectiveness of high-impact educational practices for marginalized students through the use of critical quantitative inquiry. The first empirical manuscript used data from the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts education to explore the role of race and class on students’ engagement in and effects from high-impact practices. Findings from this manuscript suggest significant differences in academic motivation change over the first year of college when race and class were examined together, while no differences when just class was examined. The second empirical manuscript used data from the National Study of LGBTQ Student Success to examine the intersections of environment and participation in and effect from high-impact practices for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (LGBQ+) students. Findings from this manuscript suggested that students’ perceptions of overall support and their relations with instructors mediated the influence that participation in high-impact practices had on students’ academic development. Finally, the third main manuscript considered the utility of critical quantitative inquiry and ways researchers can combine critical theory into quantitative research.