This report explores the concept of sheltered instruction in response to the shifting demographics of English language learners (ELLs) in educational institutions across the United States. Following a discussion of the goals of and threats to sheltered instruction, I recommend the integration of social studies pedagogy and English language development in the sheltered classroom. The blending of social studies instructional practices and language acquisition pedagogy promotes a safe, culturally-sensitive environment in which ELLs can develop linguistic, socio-cultural, and academic skills in secondary school. I also acknowledge that teachers’ attitude toward ELLs can potentially influence their academic achievement. Therefore, I recommend that all teachers participate in three areas of professional development: socio-cultural sensitivity, pedagogical practices, and policy awareness. Enhancing sheltered social studies instruction and participating in professional development have the potential to provide ELLs with quality grade-level education and the means to become successful secondary students. / text

This study explored high school social studies teachers' perceptions of the degree of standardization of practice within their department. The three participants were members of a social studies department in a large, urban high school. One teacher was the department chair. The school administration had introduced professional learning communities (PLCs) during the year of the study, and the number of department meetings had been reduced to accommodate these PLCs.This was a qualitative study, using interviews to create case studies for each participant. The researcher used a three-part interview design developed by Seidman (2006). Five research questions served as a framework for data analysis.Participants believed teaching practice was not standardized within their department. They identified the following means to increase standardization of practice: develop a departmental philosophy, align the curricula of subject matter groups, share teaching techniques in department meetings, implement common assessments, increase the number of department meetings, make department meetings more professional, establish peer observations, and improve or replace the PLC model.The participants also identified a number of barriers to standardization of practice: the size and complexity of the school, weak leadership by school administrators, poor professional development, time constraints, ineffectiveness of the PLC model, interpersonal conflict within the department, uncertainty regarding the department's future composition, needs and limitations of students, lack of consensus on social studies content and assessment, teacher isolation and autonomy, ambiguity of teaching outcomes, and teacher fatigue.The type of standardization of practice envisioned by the participants reflected their desire for collegial, professional relationships. The methods of standardization they described would preserve teachers' freedom to conduct their practice according to their personal preferences.Barriers to standardization of practice identified by the participants were attributable to structural and cultural elements of the school site and to characteristics of social studies as a school subject. As such, they may prove difficult to overcome.The researcher concluded that modifications to department structures may promote the development of effective micro-PLCs. However, structural modifications should be framed so as to complement department work and teachers' professional standards.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Boston University

Swedish schools have a democratic mission to instill democratic values and knowledge in students. When they graduate, students are meant to be democratically competent citizens. In upper secondary school, this mission is executed in the social studies classroom. This is the only context in which Swedish schools actively try to influence students’ democratic competence. At the same time, not all students take the same amount of social studies courses. The purpose of this thesis is to study the association between social studies and students democratic competence, and the possible limits of such a relationship. Does social science courses really predict democratic competence, even when taking other factors into account? And if the goal is democratic competence, how much social studies is enough? Since democratic competence is connected to voting-behaviour and trust in government it might be a problem if students are given unequal access to the courses where it is created. I hypothesized that social studies predicts democratic competence, and that there is a point during courses at which that relationship weakens. To test the hypothesis, a cross-sectional, quantitative survey study was conducted, using established instruments of measurement. The data was analyzed using regression models and analysis of variance, and results indicate that social studies predict democratic competence, and that students need to take three courses of social studies before the association with democratic competence weakens. Since most students take only one course of social studies during their time at upper secondary school, implications for the future of the democratic mission is discussed.

Focusing upon solicitors working in private law firms in England and Wales, the study investigates the interrelationships between domain-specific and work-home interference factors and their predictive value in relation to different categories of strain symptomatology and satisfaction outcomes. The research also examines the moderating influences of gender and family type on the interface between work and home, and their differential impacts on well-being. Data were gathered in two stages. Stage one involved 20 interviews that allowed respondents to identify sources of work and home pressures for themselves. Content analysis of the interview transcripts facilitated the development of separate work and home pressure inventories. In addressing the difficulties associated with construct measurement, stage two developed an unorthodox approach for measuring both forms of work-home interference, which was part of an extensive survey instrument that included established outcome measures. The sample group was devised using a cluster sampling strategy whereby legal firms were grouped according to their size and then by regional cities. Nearly 2,500 surveys were distributed with a return rate of nearly 30%. The data set was split into two sub-sets via a cluster sampling strategy based on gender and family type to allow for a series of exploratory and confirmatory analyses in the development and testing of structural equation models of the work and home domain. A distinguishing feature of this study is its examination of the work-home interface at the microlevel, which involved developing a series of structural equation models relevant to the most salient sources of work-home interference and domain-specific pressures experienced by solicitors. Through a series of exploratory and confirmatory analyses, the study' tested three differing sets of explanatory relations as to the interplay between specific aspects of the two domains, and the implications of this interplay for a range of outcomes. The findings provide strong empirical support to assert that work-to-home interference (e. g., concerns over ability) and home-to-work interference (e. g., unfulfilled domestic responsibilities) represent two distinct dimensions of individuals functioning with different rates of prevalence and different role related antecedents and outcomes that indicate that solicitors are being stretched in both domains. The empirical evidence indicates an increasing convergence in the public and private roles of male and female solicitors, highlighting the importance of both sexes having the opportunity to attain a balance between the domains of work and home. The study also demonstrates that work-home interference is not exclusively a problem for employees located in traditional nuclear families and shows that solicitors within differing familial situations (e. g., single persons) experience high levels of work-home interference that can exacerbate domainspecific pressures resulting in a poor state of health and low levels of work and home satisfaction.

We still have a limited understanding of the factors leading to the large differences in educational attainment in the developing world. This empirical study attempted to gain a better understanding of educational attainment in developing countries by examining social factors in order to determine whether or not family- and community-based social capital affect Vietnamese students' educational attainment during the on-going renewal (doi moi) process in Viet Nam. The research design combined quantitative and qualitative methods in order to understand the complex factors associated with students' educational attainment. I conducted a survey in 360 households of six villages in the Me Linh district, Vinh Phuc province, Viet Nam, from March to September 2001. In addition, I used strategies to capture a range of ethnic, gender and rural variations. Descriptive statistics together with model testing from the surveys of households, teachers and community members, along with interpretive data from informal discussions and focus group interviews, situated the empirical analyses in a socio-cultural context. This study's central hypothesis is that family and community social capital increases students' educational attainment. The study examined the three types of capital within the family: financial capital, human capital and social capital. Using the logistic regression model I found that the mother's and the father's educational levels and the interaction between parents and children positively influenced the school attendance of children. The analyses of variances (ANOVA) also indicated that family social capital is important to the process of educational attainment, i.e. school attendance and educational achievement. Family social capital, combined with financial and human capital, has added a great deal to the educational attainment for children in Me Linh district. This study goes beyond the traditional status attainment model which concentrates heavily on socioeconomic status. Given the context of the current renewal in Viet Nam, social capital formation was found to be context specific in this study. Significantly, interpretive data revealed that poor children in rural areas of Viet Nam encountered a variety of problems related to economic constraints, household responsibilities, culture, and inadequate support on the part of schools and communities at large. Some of the problems identified were: rising cost of education, lack of access to educational resources, and irrelevance of education for ethnic minority children. This research offers several recommendations, such as: (1) Reinforcing the partnership web of family, community and family through educational policies; (2) Narrowing the gap between children from poor and non-poor families in their access to educational resources; (3) Developing strategies to improve the quality of education for all children in Viet Nam, especially for ethnic minority children.

This study examined the impact of a local history project on students' computer use, skills, attitudes toward computer technology and history learning. The variables of gender, grade level, etc. were also investigated. This one-year project integrated computer technology into history curriculum using primary sources. The participants were 64 students from four Western Massachusetts public schools. The Likert scale pre and post surveys were used to gather quantitative data as a main research method. Class observations and informal interviews were conducted for qualitative data as supplementary information for the research. To analyze the pre-post differences at the item level, approximation to binomial distribution was applied. To analyze the data at the aggregate level, One-way ANOVA, a univariate analysis of variance tests was employed. The data results showed significant differences in students' computer use and computer skills between the pre and post surveys. However, the data didn't show significant differences in students' attitudes towards computer technology and history learning. The reason for this may be due to the fact that the students already had positive attitudes prior to the project. The trend for computer skills indicated that as girls got older their skill level went up, but as boys got older, their skill level went down. The same trend was also reflected in students' attitudes toward computer technology. As for students' attitudes toward history learning, the older students had more positive attitudes than the younger students. The qualitative data also indicate the positive impact of the project on student learning. Most of the students “enjoyed working on the project” and believed “computer technology was useful”. Many students commented that they “learned not only the local history, but also computer technology”, and they “learned much more from researching on the Internet than from the textbook”. However, the biggest challenge for the students in doing this project seemed to be teamwork, and some students had difficulty cooperating with other people in the group.

This descriptive study identifies best practice for field trips for middle school social studies students, applies these principles in collaboration with the National Park Service at the Springfield (Massachusetts) Armory National Historic Site to offer a Civil War program to area students based on local documents and artifacts, and creates a model for other practitioners to develop local history programs. Based on the research, it describes elements of a successful field trip, defined as an effective learning experience which is fun and runs smoothly. The Civil War—Soldiers, Civilians and Armory Workers program was considered successful by the 736 middle school participants from urban, suburban, private and homeschool groups over three years. The basic program was modified for each group to address student needs and revised over time. Responses to the open-ended 3-2-1 Reflections measure were remarkably consistent across groups and years; participants considered the program successful. Participants reported learning about each major educational objective; longer activities were most often mentioned. Most respondents offered historical facts with very few errors. Most spontaneously offered positive comments while only 10% made negative remarks. Suggestions for improvement included having more and longer activities and less talking. Based on this research and the literature, models for best practice are presented for classroom teachers, for the Civil War program, and for historic sites. These each describe in detail the phases of effective field trips: (1) collaboration between teacher and site to set educational objectives, connect the setting and its resources to academic goals including state standards, and determine logistics; (2) classroom pre-trip activities to relate the trip to the curriculum and become familiar with activities; (3) during the field trip to engage in hands-on, authentic learning activities; and (4) post-trip activities to process what was learned. Recommendations for sites include offering one basic program tailored to individual needs, attending to volunteers, updating the program, and providing 21st century amenities. For participants, a successful field trip has activities that are hands-on, connected to curriculum, inquiry-based, authentic, set in the past, new, collaborative, multi-sensory, and creative; it also has good timing, passionate presenters, and welcoming facilities.

In Massachusetts and around the country, public secondary schools have designed support groups and other programs to improve gay, lesbian, bisexual, and questioning (GLBQ) students' sense of safety at school. There is a tacit understanding that public middle and high schools are homophobic, unsafe places for students based on a belief that the majority is homophobic or un-accepting of their GLBQ peers. This study investigated the criteria GLBQ high school students use to define their sense of safety at school, surveyed five student bodies about their attitudes toward GLBQ students and explored correlations between students' personal feelings of comfort and their perceptions of others' comfort. Generally speaking, students were, "Sort of comfortable" to "Very comfortable" with sexual minorities and would support a friend who came out as GLB. All students, regardless of self-identified sexual orientation, underestimated peer support for gays, lesbians and bisexuals. The most supportive students tended to be older, female, have higher grade point averages, value education beyond high school and experience support from an adult in their school, community or both.

This qualitative research multi-case study examined the biographical and classroom experiences of three small city New England high school social studies teachers to determine how they construct meaning out of their own beliefs and experiences regarding global education and technology. The study used in-depth phenomenological interviews and classroom observations to achieve its purpose. The school participated in the Global Connections & Exchange Program (GCE), a computer-mediated international project. The following steps were used for data analysis: (a) verbatim transcription of all audio tapes, (b) multiple readings of interview transcripts, observation notes, and artifacts, (c) codification and classification of all data, and (d) connection of categories and determination of the relationship between them using the constant comparative analysis method (Merriam, 1998; Rossman & Rallis, 2003; Corbin & Strauss, 1967). The results of this study support five thematic findings: (a) The teachers’ developed sense of global awareness and multi-perspectives was a result of their “spheres of influence”—social, cultural, historical, and environmental—as well as the opportunities and other circumstances that presented themselves during their formative years; (b) The teachers perceived that a majority of their values and beliefs about education, teaching, and learning were acquired outside their teacher education program; (c) The teachers’ values and beliefs influenced the ways in which they saw their role as a teacher, taking into account all aspects of teaching, from the ways in which teachers build classroom community to the ways in which they facilitate the content; (d) The teachers perceived that their teacher education programs offered no formal training as to how a teacher integrates both technology and global perspective into classroom practice; (e) Participation in the GCE Program provided teachers with the opportunity to experience supported authentic professional development in the areas of technology integration and global education in the classroom.