This study examined the effects of Head Start participation on the cognitive and social functioning of children 6 to 14 years of age in the United States.

The purpose of this study was to present and analyze the political implications and the effects of the No Child Left Behind Act and its effects on English language learners.

The purpose of this study is to ascertain whether or not the implementation of Proposition 227 has been effective for advancing the English language acquisition needs of English Learners in the Inland Empire.

In this qualitative investigation, the ways in which four ethnically diverse mothers' perceptions of early childhood education combined with the school experiences of their children were examined. Research tools included audiotaped interviews with Mexican-American, Korean-American, African-American, and Anglo mothers; videotaped school experiences; and a video message with a viewing guide requesting written reaction.

Guided by a motivational framework derived from self-determination theory, a study was conducted to examine the role of academic engagement in helping to explain and ameliorate ethnic differences in school achievement. Building on decades of research that documents both the importance of engagement to learning in European American students as well as its malleability, this study relied on an ethnically diverse sample of 6th and 7th grade students to examine three questions (1) Are achievement differences across ethnic groups due to differences in engagement? (2) Does engagement predict achievement similarly or differently across ethnic groups? and (3) Are the predictors of engagement suggested by the motivational model the same or different for students from different ethnic groups? Participants were 194 African-American, Hispanic/Latino/a, Asian/Pacific Islander, and European American middle school students who provided information about their engagement, self-system processes (SSPs) of relatedness, competence, and autonomy, and their experiences with teachers in school; information about students' cumulative achievement (GPA) was extracted from school records. First, analyses revealed few ethnic differences in achievement (only Asian/Pacific Islander students' levels of achievement were higher than students from other ethnic groups), and no ethnic differences in engagement. In analyses designed to examine if controlling for variations in engagement would cause achievement differences between ethnic groups to disappear, a test of the simple main effects demonstrated that ethnic differences in achievement were found only at the lowest level of engagement (again Asian/Pacific Islander students outperformed all other student groups). However, at medium and high levels of engagement, there were no significant differences in achievement across the four ethnic groups. Second, analyses designed to examine whether engagement predicts achievement differently across ethnic groups, revealed that although engagement was an important predictor of achievement for all students, it was even more important for non-European American (compared to European-American) students. Third, analyses designed to examine whether potential facilitators (SSPs and contextual constructs) predicted students' engagement similarly or differently across ethnic groups revealed no group differences: All predictors were positively and significantly associated with engagement for students from all four ethnic groups. These findings are considered in the context of the study's strengths and limitations and the larger literatures on engagement and achievement in ethnic minority students. A important implication of the current study is that with a more comprehensive understanding of how to support the engagement of students from ethnic minority backgrounds, schools and teachers will be better equipped to address the engagement gap, and in so doing also eliminate the achievement gap.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / With over 40 years of research on the well-documented issue of racial disparities in school discipline, scholars have begun to explore a plethora of plausible causalities for this phenomenon. Recent literature on the causal agents have centered on cultural differences and/or racial prejudices held by educators. Building from this emerging logic, this dissertation specifically focused on the disposition (e.g. enduring traits, character type, mentality, and temperament) of educators and its influence, if any, on discipline-related outcomes. Additionally, this exploratory study sought to build a conceptual map for future research to explore how educators' dispositions may act as conduits between systemic racism and the historic racial disparities in discipline-related outcomes. Through an intensive, multiyear embedded case study of four middle schools with both high and low rates of racial disproportionality in school discipline and with the creation and use of the Four Domains, this dissertation explored whether discipline-related outcomes are the result of systemic racism mediated by educators' dispositions. Findings from the analysis suggested the existence of shared characteristics among the dispositions of those categorized as high and low referring. Specific to those findings, trends within low referring teachers suggested that low referring teachers maintain high and consistent expectations of student behavior, but allowed for flexibility in how their discipline response was mediated out among their students. Despite a deferred approach within discipline response, low referring teachers were consistent and did not show favoritism. On the contrary, high referring teachers were inconsistent with their responses and demonstrated biases in actions and beliefs. Accordingly, it was found that high referring teachers held racially deficit beliefs about Black students and their families. Additionally, high referring teachers were more represented by the Four Domains in comparison to lower referring teachers. As a result, findings from the Four Domains support the existence of a causal link among systemic racism, higher referring teachers, and racial disparities in school discipline. In particular, it was found that classroom teachers engage in and hold racially deficit views of Blacks and these same teachers disproportionately refer Black students for out-of-school suspension.

張慧眞. / 論文(博士)--香港中文大學, 1999. / 參考文獻 (p. 245-260) / 中英文摘要. / Available also through the Internet via Dissertations & theses @ Chinese University of Hong Kong. / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / Zhang Huizhen. / Lun wen (Bo shi)--Xianggang Zhong wen da xue, 1999. / Can kao wen xian (p. 245-260) / Zhong Ying wen zhai yao.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Cotidianamente los profesores se hacen esta pregunta: ¿cómo pueden relacionarse mis estudiantes con la lección? Saben que si los estudiantes pudieran acoplarse con el contenido de la lección, entenderían y aprenderían con gran eficacia. En la mayoría de los distritos escolares urbanos de Indianapolis, Estados Unidos hay muchos estudiantes afroamericanos que están en clases de lengua extranjera que piensan que no existen atributos de conexión --como tradiciones y costumbres-- que tienen aspectos en común con sus propias culturas. Por otro lado, hay estudiantes afrolatinos que son nativos de esas lenguas pero a quienes no se les expone a elementos que pertenecen a su cultura o herencia. Esta investigación se enfocará en cómo los profesores pueden utilizar la poesía para enseñar una lengua extranjera; específicamente, cómo se puede utilizar la poesía afrocubana para vincular la lección a los estudiantes minoritarios y su cultura.

This study reports on the practice of inclusive education in three rural disadvantaged communities within the Eastern Cape. The research focused on the development of inclusive educational practices such as teaching, assessment and support in inclusive education. Recognizing the changing needs in the teaching profession and consequently the changing needs of both in service and pre-service educators, this project was conceived as providing an insight into the response of educators to the challenges of inclusive education and the meanings that these experiences have for educators who have had practical exposure to inclusive education. The need to acknowledge barriers which have implications for planning, expectations and effectiveness of implementing inclusive education in this specific context is acknowledged. In South Africa direct support service delivery is only to a few advantaged schools and communities. Learners who are economically and environmentally disadvantaged are excluded even though they have an equal right to effective support. / Educational Studies / M. A.(Educational Management)

This study reports on the practice of inclusive education in three rural disadvantaged communities within the Eastern Cape. The research focused on the development of inclusive educational practices such as teaching, assessment and support in inclusive education. Recognizing the changing needs in the teaching profession and consequently the changing needs of both in service and pre-service educators, this project was conceived as providing an insight into the response of educators to the challenges of inclusive education and the meanings that these experiences have for educators who have had practical exposure to inclusive education. The need to acknowledge barriers which have implications for planning, expectations and effectiveness of implementing inclusive education in this specific context is acknowledged. In South Africa direct support service delivery is only to a few advantaged schools and communities. Learners who are economically and environmentally disadvantaged are excluded even though they have an equal right to effective support. / Educational Studies / M. A.(Educational Management)