<p> At a critical time in educational transformation, NCLB incorporated the notion that parents would assume power and engage with schools around this monumental shift for accountability concerning the success of all students. Now the Every Student Succeeds Act, which reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, upholds this task and calls for parent and family engagement in district and school improvement processes and the development of parent and family engagement policies. Traditional notions of parental engagement have rarely addressed partnerships for educational reform and policy change (Cooper, 2009). Furthermore, narratives regarding parents of color are dominated by a deficit discourse of what families &ldquo;lack,&rdquo; described as, &ldquo;empty vessels&rdquo; that need to be &ldquo;filled&rdquo; with knowledge to be able to engage in schools like their White middle-class counterparts (Lightfoot, 2004).</p><p> This qualitative study examines a counternarrative definition of parental engagement according to Latino parents in a particular community in which White privilege contributes to and perpetuates the marginalization and continued exclusion of particular groups. I employed a critical race methodology to focus on the lived experience of Latino families through counterstory that challenges the dominant narrative created and sustained by White privilege and traditional White educational discourse.</p><p> Findings in this study centered on Latino families&rsquo; limited access to the school, school programs, and institutional knowledge and power; systemic barriers maintained by White privilege; the cultural funds of knowledge and expertise of Latino parents as educators and advocates; a critique of the system from participants&rsquo; perspectives; and recommendations participants had for change in current practice. Through the findings, major implications for practice surfaced, including an examination and elimination of systemic barriers, the use of counterstory to disrupt deficit narratives of families of color, and educators&rsquo; and educational leaders&rsquo; utilization of practices to structure venues for authentic dialogue for reform.</p>

<p>Higher education can present many challenges for students including managing and scheduling classes, assignments, projects, and professional and social obligations. This experience can be even more difficult for students living with chronic illness, many of whom face the additional challenges of debilitating pain, fatigue, social misconceptions, and frequent medical care. To succeed some students with chronic illnesses will need support and accommodation in order to achieve their goals and complete their degrees. In this thesis I explore the barriers I faced as a student with chronic illness in higher education and what accommodations may help remove those barriers for future students. With this thesis I hope to participate in social, political and academic conversations as a means to increase understanding among fellow students, faculty, staff, and administrators. It is my hope that these conversations will contribute to a movement that will help support and encourage students with chronic illnesses. </p>

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1965. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Bibliography: l. 50-52.

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of New Brunswick, Faculty of Education, 2006. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on May 24, 2010) Available through UMI ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 334-379). Also issued in print.

Thesis (PH.D.) -- Syracuse University, 2006 / "Publication number AAT 3240442. "

<p> Incivility has infiltrated our institutions of higher learning as well as the world of nursing. All too familiar in nursing is the phrase &ldquo;eating their young,&rdquo; which aptly describes how nurses treat other nurses, even though they should be nurturing and caring professionals. The investigator explored nursing and health science students&rsquo; perceptions of student and faculty uncivil behaviors within the academic environment, seeking the levels and frequency of the problem. Bandura&rsquo;s social learning theory presents a sound theoretical framework for this dissertation. The research methodology consisted of a quantitative descriptive approach. The Incivility in Higher Education-Revised (IHE-R) Survey was used to compare nursing and health science student perceptions of the level and frequency of student and faculty incivility. Descriptive statistics and independent t tests were used to compare the different student perceptions. The study results indicated that perceptions of student behavioral levels were between <i>somewhat </i> and <i>moderately</i> uncivil. Student perceptions of faculty behavioral levels were found to be more <i>moderate</i>. Review of the frequency levels reflected students&rsquo; frequencies to be <i> never</i> as compared with faculty, which indicated a frequency of <i> sometimes</i>. These results indicated that students perceived incivility to not be problematic within their individual programs, although it found faculty behavior levels were more uncivil even when similar behaviors were demonstrated by students. In general, these results were atypical than other results as incivility is found to be a rising problem. Further study is needed to confirm these results. </p><p>

<p> Largely because it puts higher education within reach for all people, the community college is thought to play a vital role in the democratic functioning of American society. Partly driven by an ethos of American egalitarianism, low-cost and open access community colleges enroll, train, and educate nearly anyone who aspires to higher education. For low-income and first-generation college students, the community college serves as a primary vehicle for social mobility. Problems associated with low retention and graduation rates have lowered the public perception of community colleges and threaten to exacerbate growing concerns over income and wealth inequality in America. Therefore, it becomes important for policy analysts to explore and better understand the nature of community colleges in an effort to create improvement strategies. </p><p> This qualitative study seeks to understand the community college experience from the perspective of low-income, first generation students. It asked first year students about their background experiences and analyzed how those experiences shaped their transition to the first year of college. It also asked how low-income, first generation students perceived the community college in order to understand how students evaluate it and define its purpose. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was used to make sense of student experiences and to give voice to community college students who, as a studied population, receive far less attention than students at four-year colleges. </p><p> This study finds that low-income, first generation community college students lived experience includes managing class-based disadvantages; this made navigating their first year of community college challenging. Students had come to the community college expecting to learn skills that would help them to form new professional identities so that they could begin transforming their lives, making it possible to ascend the socio-economic ladder. In order to succeed in this new environment, students had to learn and adapt to a new set of social norms and expectations that the institution uses to socialize its students. Based upon the analysis of student experiences and perceptions, this study makes six recommendations to help improve student success which may lead to improved public perception and funding for community colleges. </p><p>

<p> In 2004, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) called for academic health centers (AHCs) to adapt and change through collaboration between their many separate groups of healthcare professionals. Research on collaboration in healthcare organizations to date has concentrated on how collaboration impacts patient care and organizational efficiency. Research has not focused on whether collaboration among healthcare professionals, influences learning for individuals or the organization. Socio-cultural learning theory, which takes into account the individual, the organization and the larger system, emphasizes that &ldquo;collaborative learning&rdquo; is an important component of the learning process. It also emphasizes that problem solving facilitates the development of insights and solutions. On this basis, the link between collaboration and learning needs to be explored. This research focused on exploring the association between collaboration and learning as perceived by clinician educators and other healthcare professionals with whom they have collaborated in AHCs. In-depth interviews were conducted with 21 healthcare professionals who had participated in collaborative activities in the past 18 months, and who had familiarity with relational coordination (RC) as a framework for collaboration. Interview questions elicited interviewee descriptions of positive and challenging collaboration experiences. Data were analyzed using an inductive analysis approach and coded to identify implicit and explicit learning outcomes from those experiences. Findings indicated that all participants had extensive experience of informal collaboration with professional colleagues and learning resulting from their collaboration experiences. Four categories of learning outcomes were identified; process and quality improvement, professional relationships with colleagues, emotional awareness, and growth in technical and adaptive knowledge and skills. The majority of learning outcomes in each of the four categories were implicit, indicating that participants did not recognize the learning that was occurring through their participation in collaborative activities. Learning appears as a currently invisible outcome of collaboration as described by the participants in this study. Further research is needed to determine the potential value of the learning for the individual and the institution.</p><p>

<p> Hybrid High School education is a disruptive innovation that has begun to replace traditional brick and mortar schools for many students world-wide. In addition to a traditional school model are the traditional metrics by which schools are compared. These metrics have been achievement data, success rates, and funding analyses. These metrics do not account for the lived experience of the high school students, in the same way that the traditional model of education does not account for the changing methods available for learning. This study is a phenomenological analysis of the lived experience of high school students who have attended hybrid educational programs. These programs utilize the digital advances available for learning by offering at least half of their curriculum online, while maintaining face to face instruction during the rest of curricular time. The premise of this study is that high school provides an <i>ethos</i>, or manifested culture, for each student served. The questions used in nine interviews to understand this ethos were created using research in the area of adolescent life satisfaction. The research resulted in focus areas to be discussed: autonomy, engagement, social capital, and community connectedness. Participants in this study age 18&ndash;20 recently graduated from four years attending a hybrid program. The participants were introspective and detailed in their explanations of life experiences during their time in hybrid programs, and how their ethos was shaped by experiences in each of the areas of life satisfaction listed above. The interview analyses led to four conclusions regarding hybrid high school student life. First, the hybrid program graduates interviewed have a rich sense of community. These communities vary and most are members of multiple communities. All feel a sense of belonging and are connected to groups beyond family. Second, the hybrid program graduates are highly self-reliant. Participants pointed out that they have relationships with people who are supportive, but that they are independently responsible for overcoming life&rsquo;s obstacles. Third, these conclusions are intended to influence design of future innovational programs. Finally, the hybrid high school did serve as a disruptive innovation which had clear benefits for the adolescents participating. This study, in combination with additional studies focusing on specific program elements, could result in quality innovative programs that meet the needs of a changing adolescent population.</p><p>

<p> Between the months of October, 2013 and July, 2014, United States Customs Border protection reported that an estimated 63,000 unaccompanied minors crossed the United States. border, 75% of which came from Central America, specifically Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala (Renwick, 2014). These Central American youth are being pushed out of their home countries due to high levels of violence and poverty that has been caused by gangs and suffering economies. At the same time, they are being pulled into the U.S. to reunite with family, especially parents, many of who migrated to the U.S. during times of war in their home countries. Upon their arrival to this country, these youth are enrolling in U.S. schools, the institution with the highest amount of interaction with these youth as they begin their newcomer journey. </p><p> This qualitative case study focuses on the schooling experiences of immigrant, newcomer youth from Central America in a single high school in a large urban district in Southern California. Conducted through the lenses of Critical Race Theory, Latina/o Critical Theory, and racist nativism, the study asks (1) How does racist nativism mediate the schooling experiences of Central American students at an urban high school in Southern California? (a) How do they negotiate/navigate being students despite the challenges that they may face?; and (2) What does success mean to these youth? (a) How do they become successful on their own terms, and how are they working to get to that? Participants consisted of first-year newcomer youth from El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala.</p><p>