Browsing by Subject "Post-secondary education"
Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item Degrees of relevance : does education socialize or signal?(2011-12) Hamrock, Caitlin Ryan; Sakamoto, Arthur; Ekland-Olson, SheldonA classic but unresolved debate regarding the American stratification system is the precise nature of the underlying causal processes by which education is associated with socioeconomic attainment. One traditional view of education is the technical-functional or human capital approach which posits that education augments productive capacities by imparting valuable analytic and cognitive abilities, technical competences, and significant social or communication skills. A contrasting view is the signaling approach, which downplays the intrinsic significance of schooling, and instead emphasizes the role of educational credentials in certifying, legitimating, and rationing employment in higher-paying jobs. As the labor market becomes increasingly polarized with the decline of unions and the downsizing of the traditional manufacturing sector, educational attainment is becoming increasingly significant for socioeconomic attainment, and this classic debate is thus becoming even more relevant to understanding inequality in contemporary America. To shed new light on this issue, this analysis investigates the 2003 National Survey of College Graduates, which includes data on workers’ assessments of the extent to which their educational background is utilized in their jobs and work activities. The results of this analysis indicate that individuals whose degrees are highly relevant to their current occupation have significantly higher salaries than individuals whose degrees are less relevant, controlling for the level of degree. These findings provide evidence for human capital arguments by showing that education which augments productive capacities has greater rates of return than education that simply provides one with higher levels of credentials.Item Developmental education in Belize : toward a national strategy(2009-05) Bateman, Douglas Richard; Roueche, John E.; Bumphus, Walter G.The issues and challenges for post-secondary education in Belize are many and have been exacerbated by the democratization of higher education in this young, small, developing, Caribbean nation. Improving access to tertiary education is understood as essential to the development of nations throughout the world and increasing access to higher education is an important element in regional development and integration. Despite significant growth in the tertiary education population, the Caribbean region continues to lag behind the developed world in post-secondary enrollment and Belize's enrollment of the 18-24 year old cohort is among the lowest in the region. As the tertiary system in the Caribbean has been democratized and the enrollment numbers have increased, developmental education programs have been introduced to protect the quality of college credit courses and to ensure that students are academically prepared for success at the tertiary level. This research was designed to assess the effectiveness of developmental education offered in the junior colleges of Belize and to examine student and faculty perceptions of developmental education programs in Belize. St. John's College Junior College (SJCJC), located in Belize City, and its Summer Development Program (SDP) provided the case study for this research. Since SJCJC's summer bridge program has been replicated at other junior colleges in Belize, this research contributed to understanding a national approach to developmental education. The investigator used a mixed methods approach relying on quantitative and qualitative methodologies. The research questions were: What percentage of students who enrolled in SJCJC's SDP passed the next level gateway course in the subject for which they required remediation? How does this compare with the success rate of students not enrolled in SDP courses? What percentage of students who took one or more courses in the SDP graduated within two years? How does this compare with the graduation rate of students that had not enrolled in SDP courses? What are SDP students' perceptions of the program? What are SDP faculty members' perceptions of the program? How do these perceptions relate to the effectiveness of the program as determined by research questions #1 and #2?Item Exploring the relationships between self-determination, willingness to disclose, and attitudes towards requesting accommodations in self-disclosure decisions of university students with learning disabilities(2012-08) Cole, Emma Victoria; Cawthon, Stephanie W.; Emmer, Edmund T.; Falbo, Toni L.; Tharinger, Deborah J.; Way, Pamela j.The number of students with learning disabilities (SLD) at post-secondary institutions continues to grow. Research has found that SLD who use accommodations at their post-secondary institution are more successful in university than those who do not. Yet, research suggests that SLD do not request accommodations at expected levels. Disability self-disclosure is important to SLD because they need to self-disclose their disability to university personnel to obtain accommodations. The reasons for lower levels of self-disclosure by SLDs to university personnel remain unclear. Self-determination, attitudes towards requesting accommodations, and level of self-disclosure (i.e., psychological factors) has individually been identified as possible factors that affect disability disclosure. To date, no study has investigated the effects of these factors on SLD disability disclosure in higher education. This study’s purpose was to investigate differences in psychological factors between two SLD disclosure groups (i.e., no disclosure and university and classroom disclosure). In addition, the study examined what factors SLDs consider when deciding if they will self-disclose their disability to university personnel. To achieve these goals, 31 undergraduate students with learning disabilities completed a mixed methods study comprised of quantitative scales and a qualitative interview. The Self-Disclosure Scale, the Attitudes Towards Requesting Accommodations Scale, and the Revised Self-Disclosure Scale were utilized to measure psychological factors. A 30 minute semi-structured interview was administered to 15 participants to further explore what factors SLD take into consideration when making self-disclosure decisions. Results indicate that the total scores on the Attitude Towards Requesting Accommodations scale, Self-Determination Scale, and the Self-Disclosure Scale were significantly different between self-disclosure groups. Data from student interviews uncovered nine factors that seemed to influence SLDs’: (a) decision to disclose and (b) how deeply they disclosed. Four key qualitative findings that arose from this study were: (a) all SLD report having extensive academic difficulty; (b) students who do not disclose seem to rely solely on informal compensating mechanisms rather than formal accommodations; (c) even in favorable circumstances SLDs may not wish to disclose their disability; and (d) SLD experiences with faculty seem to influence why some students disclose more deeply while other students disclose at a surface level.Item Finding the third space : a case study of developing multiple literacies in a foreign language conversation class(2010-05) Demont, Brandi Leanne; Swaffar, Janet K.; Schallert, Diane L.; Frizzi, Adria; Moore, Zena; Horwitz, Elaine K.The present inquiry is a qualitative case study of conversations and attitudes of students participating in a non-required, second-year conversation section offered as a voluntary adjunct to required second year courses in Italian. The findings in this dissertation support calls by policy makers in foreign language education who advocate for a more integrated and holistic approach to foreign language education. Through this empirical qualitative case study, I have used the construct of Third Space (Gutiérrez, 2008) to examine students’ development of multiple literacies (Swaffar & Arens, 2005) in a foreign language conversation-based classroom. The theory of Third Space is seen as a kind of authentic intersubjective space, where students’ ways of knowing and learning are accepted and expanded in the learning environment. The study describes the results from the implementation of a language pedagogy based on the model of multiple literacies in an Italian conversation class. Students in the class read and viewed a wide variety of authentic materials, around which they anchored their class discussions. Through activities involving multiple readings of the given text, the students co-constructed their interpretations based on personal experiences and on the socio-cultural background of the text. Students also engaged in self-reflective exercises documenting their own learning processes. Through interpretive analysis of student work produced in the class, the ecology of learner developments and the corresponding classroom talk are assessed. I have identified three major themes that are evident as essential elements to the students’ developing trans-linguistic proficiency in conjunction with their evolving cultural literacy. In particular, self-reflection and identity, expanded practices of knowing and learning, and the influence of semiotic mediation on classroom interactions are the three elements that define how these students articulated their Third Space in conjunction with this particular language learning context.Item The relationship between the theory of transformational leadership and data use in schools : an exploratory study(2011-05) Goodnow, Elisabeth; Wayman, Jeffrey C.; O'Doherty, Ann; Young, Michelle; Gooden, Mark; Rhodes, LodisNationwide reform efforts strive to improve schooling through a range of approaches including improving the quality of campus leadership, restructuring organizational design, and revamping instruction. National and state education policies reflect the reforms addressed in educational research literature and drive state, district, and campus based improvement initiatives. For example, the more recent influence of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) accountability system has led to a significant increase in the use of data to drive instructional decision-making. Campus leadership is key to both the successful implementation of data initiatives (Wayman and Stringfield, 2006) as well as comprehensive reform efforts (Leithwood & Jantzi, 2005). The literature provides a wide array of leadership theories that offer promise in understanding more effective approaches to leading school improvement efforts; however, much of this literature remains conceptual and vague (Leithwood, Harris, & Hopkins 2008). Data use has gained increasing attention in the literature as well, but the research lacks a strong conceptual framework for leadership. The purpose of this paper is to view data use through the lens of Leithwood’s model of Transformational Leadership in order to explore the linkages between the leadership theory and data use practices and to offer a framework that situates data use as a tool to increase all students’ academic performance and build a democratic and socially just learning organization. The linkages between Transformational Leadership and data use are presented as both bodies of literature are reviewed. The study was guided by the following questions: 1) What are the levels of Transformational Leadership Behaviors exhibited at each campus? 2) What are the data use practices being implemented on each campus? 3) What is the relationship between Transformational Leadership and data use? Two schools served as the sites for the research which drew on both quantitative and qualitative data sources to address the research questions. Results and findings show evidence of Transformational Leadership Behaviors that linked closely with the data use practices. The final discussion offers a preliminary conceptual framework delineating the intersection between the theory of Transformational Leadership and data use in schools.