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In Kuwait, the English language is increasingly gaining importance signifying globalisation and internationalisation of the local culture and linguistic environment. Alongside the positive effects of the wide-spread usage of English there are negative tendencies which emerge onto the scene. This thesis is concerned with the educational aspects of such influences where it explored trainee teachers’ conceptualisations of English as an international / global language, and examined the implications of current views of English for teacher preparation in light of the most recent methodological trends such as global English delivery, expansion of teacher knowledge base, the introduction of linguistic rights and instructional policies to educational stakeholders, and the merging of language and culture in English language teaching. Through questionnaires and in-depth interviews the study found that the relationship between the local and global in Kuwait is a complex issue with social, educational and political implications. Multiple functions for English and its status within the local context were voiced and consequently alternative futures for Standard Arabic as the main source and medium of local literacy and language of academia against the background of rapid Anglicisation emerged. The results may attract the attention of Kuwait’s educational theorists and practitioners, and the hopeful outcome would be to inspire teachers to engage in critical thinking and challenge their realities; and encourage Kuwait’s educational policy makers to find a balance between the source and target languages/cultures, as well as bring to the foreground local expertise and knowledge.

<p> Racial disparities have been, and continue to be, a major obstacle facing post-secondary educational institutions throughout the United States. In response to the call for institutional and external accountability by stakeholders interested in higher education, the aim of this dissertation is to provide an historical analysis of race and diversity at the University of Colorado Boulder (UCB). UCB was chosen as the focus for the current study because it is the flagship public university in the state of Colorado and is recognized as such by the Colorado Commission on Higher Education (CCHE). In order to relay the history of UCB accurately, a wide variety of sources are utilized, some published and others unpublished, including information obtained from the university's archives. Data collected in this study provide evidence of the lower college admission, retention, and graduation rates of minority (African American and Hispanic) students when compared to White and Asian students at the University of Colorado Boulder. Factors that contribute to the success of minority students on college campuses in general provide a starting point from which efforts being made to rectify the racial disparities present today at UCB can be assessed and analyzed in hopes of creating a campus environment to which minority students are attracted, admitted, retained, and graduated. As the higher education community of scholars continues to embrace the crucial role of diversity on college campuses and as the use of race-conscious educational policy continues to be threatened, this study highlights the role universities play in the larger debate. As UCB has historically struggled to attract, retain, and graduate students of color, I expect that a thorough examination of the data included here will inspire educational stakeholders to find new ways to provide new opportunities for educational advancement for minorities and seek to erase all evidence of a racial achievement gap into the future.</p>

<p> The cry continues with A Nation at Risk, No Child Left Behind, and now the Common Core State Standards. There are groups of students who are finding success within public education and groups who are not. The groups who are not finding this success continue to be minority students who continue to run into the public education system rather than running with it. African American males seem to experience running into the system at greater number than other racial and gender groups. However, there are African American males that are finding success in public education. This study looks at the schooling and educational perspectives of twenty-four African American male K-12 public education students. Using grades and standardized assessments as a criterion, fifteen of the students were considered academically successful and nine were not. Twenty-two of the males were 18 years of age and two were 12 years old. Nineteen participants were high school seniors, one was a sophomore, and two were in middle school. Looking through the lenses of Critical Race Theory and Resiliency Theory using qualitative inquiry and data derived from interviews, data was collected to determine what contributed to the success of some participants. First both successful and non-successful groups were able to speak about having goals for the future and the importance of working hard in school. Secondly, relationships were also seen as essential to academic success, whether these relationships were with parents, teachers, or mentors for academic success to occur. Racial stereotypes were seen as something to overcome by the academically success. Race was viewed as a road block difficult to overcome by less successful participants. Having a father and mother or frequent access to more than one caring adult increased an African American male&rsquo;s ability to be academically successful. Even having two parents that may not have been supportive of the African American male appeared to be more beneficial than having supportive friends.</p><p> Recommendations to help African American males to be academically successful include starting early with relationship support and mentoring, life skills courses, and increased interaction with successful African American males. </p>

<p> Leave as is.</p>

<p> English Language Learners (ELLs) are one of the fastest growing student populations throughout the country. With ELLs come unique challenges schools must navigate to best serve these students. One challenge is the identification of these students and proper placement and service within ELL programs offered by schools. Another challenge is determining if an ELL also has a disability, particularly a learning disability, since language proficiency problems can mimic learning disability symptoms. This study sought to discover how states identify ELLs, and especially ELLs with disabilities (ELLWDs). The researcher examined the policy documents of all 50 states, analyzing and coding those documents for key elements relating to ELLs and ELLWDs found within previous research. Additionally, to better triangulate data, the researcher examined student populations for a sample of 15 states through state reported USDOE sources and US Census sources to determine how well the subgroups of ELLs and ELLWDs might be identified based on population comparisons. The study found that states tend to use the federal definition of limited English proficient as a basis for their definition of ELLs and that a little more than half of the states addressed the issue of ELLWDs at all. They do not have a formal identifying definition for these students. While federal DOE and OCR oversights have increased awareness and service for ELLS, more work remains, in particular with creating a common identification matrix for ELLWDs and raising awareness of their presence in the student population.</p>

<p> The current study tested the hypothesis that student spirituality would relate positively to the construct of calling and that these constructs together would lead toward career decidedness. To test this model, a sample consisting of 1139 students from a large Midwest university was surveyed. Results supported these hypotheses only in part. The results suggest the spirituality construct to consist of spiritual identity, spiritual quest, and equanimity consistent with the Astin, Astin, and Lindholm spirituality study. Both search for calling and presence of calling consisted of three parts consistent with Dik and Duffy's concept of calling: transcendent summons, purposeful work, and prosocial orientation. The career decidedness construct also consisted of three domains in accordance with Savickas' formulation: career path, academic major, and occupation. </p><p> Spirituality, in general, highly correlated with search for calling. Correlations were also high between search for calling and presence of calling. Because of this, search for calling was found to mediate an indirect influence of spirituality on presence of calling. However, the manner in which career decidedness related to the model was not expected. According to the data, career decidedness weakly but directly correlated with presence of calling and was determined to be a predicting influence, contrary to the hypothesis. Although no meaningful correlations were discovered between spirituality and career decidedness, equanimity was discovered to meaningfully associate with both spirituality and career decidedness. Theoretical and practical implications are explored.</p>

<p> The purpose of this qualitative exploratory research study was to examine the perceptions of K-12 educational leaders who have experience related to Response to Intervention (RtI) and Common Core State Standards (CCSS). This study was guided by the following three research questions: 1. What do K-12 educational leaders who have systems knowledge and experience, related to Response to Intervention and CCSS, perceive as the potential modifications needed to align the assessment components (universal screening and progress monitoring) of Response to Intervention with the CCSS for Language Arts? 2. What do K-12 educational leaders who have systems knowledge and experience, related to RtI and the CCSS, perceive as challenges that may result from any modifications to the assessment components needed to aligning the assessment components of RtI with the CCSS for Language Arts at? 3. What strategies do K-12 educational leaders who have systems knowledge and experience, related to RtI and CCSS, perceive might be utilized to address any challenges regarding aligning the assessment components (universal screening and progress monitoring) of RtI with the CCSS for Language Arts? </p><p> This research study utilized a qualitative exploratory design and involved eight educational leaders from Southern California. The findings from this study supported five practice recommendations. The first recommendation was for LEAs to develop a shared vision in regards to the role of RtI in supporting the CCSS for ELA. The second recommendation was for LEAs to develop teams of stakeholders to participate in the development of a comprehensive plan, throughout all phases of implementation, to align their RtI assessment tools to the CCSS for ELA. The third recommendation was for LEAs to develop RtI assessment tools that aligned to the CCSS for ELA. The fourth recommendation was for LEAs to select a College and Career Readiness (CCR) or 21st century framework, in order to help teachers to support the CCR skills embedded in the CCSS. The fifth recommendation was for LEAs to create strategic professional development plans to ensure that teachers receive adequate training to teach the College and Career Readiness skills embedded in the CCSS for ELA.</p>

<p> The current qualitative study focuses on how teachers perceive the Response to Intervention (RtI) framework for English learners, specifically assessments and the instructional decision-making process. RtI serves as a framework to help &ldquo;close the gap&rdquo; and create a more equitable environment for struggling English learners (Florida Department of Education, 2008). The current study explored elementary school general education teachers&rsquo; perceptions and understanding of the RtI process for English learners. Eight elementary general education teachers participated in two interview sessions each to address what general education teachers know about the RtI process for English learners, how teachers report their interpretation of policies and procedures with respect to instruction and assessment of English learners, how teachers feel about their understanding of RtI, and how teachers feel about their understanding of instruction and assessment for English learners.</p><p> Teacher participants shared their knowledge of the importance of progress monitoring and data collection during the RtI process. Participants reported that progress monitoring and data collection were used to inform instructional decisions for English learners. Participants also provided insight into a shift in teacher accountability related to data collection and progress monitoring. </p><p> Teacher participants addressed elements of the RtI process: three tiers of RtI, evidence-based interventions, data and data collection, and progress monitoring. Based on teacher responses, teachers monitor student progress, but find some elements of progress monitoring unclear. Participants expressed concern about measuring student progress and the means used to demonstrate growth and to compare struggling students to the performance of peers in the same grade level.</p><p> The RtI framework includes targeted interventions for struggling students, and participants perceive that RtI helps to identify students with disabilities earlier. Participants reported benefits and drawbacks related to RtI. The participants specifically focused on the collaborative problem solving team as a beneficial support system for teachers navigating the RtI process.</p><p> Teachers reported perceptions on language acquisition and learning disabilities, adjustment time for English learners, assessments for English learners, parental involvement and experiences, instruction for English learners, and professional development and support for the instruction of English learners.</p>

Thesis (M.P.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 190-192).