Standardized Testing in College Admissions: Observations and Reflections

Reflecting upon the experience serving on the University of California's Standardized Testing Task Force, and drawing lessons learned, I argue that the COVID-19 pandemic has merely served to accelerate the trend of US higher education institutions moving away from current standardized tests. New educational assessments will continue to be produced. There will be strong calls for the making of completely different assessments than currently available. Educational measurement as field has much to offer and to learn.     

Formal and parental sex education differences among Hispanic young women by nativity status

This study sought to investigate the association between nativity status and Hispanic young women’s formal sex education and parental sex education in the USA. We used data from a cross-sectional sample of 310 Hispanic young women aged 18–24 years old from the 2013–2015 US National Survey of Family Growth. We assessed 11 outcomes: four formal sex education topics; receiving any formal sex education; a formal sex education scale; four parental sex education topics; and receiving any parental sex education. The majority of our sample was US-born Hispanic versus foreign born (72.6% and 27.4% respectively). Foreign-born Hispanics were less likely to have received any type of formal sex education than US-born Hispanics (adjusted odds ratio = 0.81; 95% confidence interval: 0.24, 0.68, p < 0.01). Foreign-born Hispanics were less likely to have received parental HIV sex education than U.S.-born Hispanics (aOR = 0.36; 95% CI: 0.14, 0.97, p < 0.05). Nativity status did not have a significant effect on each unit increase on the scale (aB = –0.07, SE = 0.16; aβ = –0.42, p > 0.05). Our results indicate that having appropriate sex education knowledge is better than not being cognisant. Future studies should however examine the quality and content of sex education programmes so policymakers can better understand these young women’s sexual behaviours and decisions.     

Language,high school leadership and the postsecondary outcomes of Hispanic students

This paper asks whether high school leadership activities play an important role in explaining the Hispanic college-completion gap. The analysis in this paper considers the role that English language fluency plays in a Hispanic student's leadership probability and in the student's future educational success. The main results in this paper are: first, after controlling for demographic and school characteristics, there are no major differences in high school leadership activities between Hispanics and non-Hispanics; second, high school leadership activities predict higher college attendance rates for all demographic groups; and third, high school leadership activities predict a higher probability of attaining a college degree among Hispanic students whose first language is not English. Importantly, this relationship is stronger among students whose first post-secondary institution is a 2-year college.     

哈佛大学通识教育改革新动向及其教育理念探讨

作为进入新世纪后新一轮课程改革的最终结果,哈佛大学于2007年2月公布了《通识教育工作组报告》.本次改革的最大亮点就是以新的通识教育计划取代原有实行了近30年的核心课程.本文对这次改革的动因、目标、方案和理念进行了详细分析,以期为国内高教领域的研究和改革提供借鉴.     

Review Essay: Five Books About Religion,Young Adults,And Secondary Education

The authors believe that schools are an under-utilized resource for one of the most important dimensions of religious education: meaningful mentoring relationships between teenagers and adults. This article reviews five recent books that are helpful for surveying the rocky, yet fertile, land that is the ground upon which religious education and schools meet. This intersection can be a valuable ecological resource for the respective missions of religious education, youth ministry, and democratic society. The Schools Task Force believes that the educational and institutional nature of schools can be a leading voice in the contemporary challenge to create environments conducive to spiritual growth in souls.     

Secondary Education Systemic Issues: Addressing Possible Contributors to a Leak in the Science Education Pipeline and Potential Solutions

To maintain the legacy of cutting edge scientific innovation in the United States our country must address the many pressing issues facing science education today. One of the most important issues relating to science education is the under-representation of African Americans and Hispanics in the science, technology, and engineering workforce. Foreshadowing such under-representation in the workforce are the disproportionately low rates of African American and Hispanic students attaining college degrees in science and related fields. Evidence suggests disparate systemic factors in secondary science education are contributing to disproportionately low numbers of African American and Hispanic students in the science education pipeline. The present paper embarks on a critical analysis of the issue by elucidating some of the systemic factors within secondary education that contribute to the leak in the science education pipeline. In addition, this review offers a synthesis and explication of some of the policies and programs being implemented to address disparate systemic factors in secondary schools. Finally, recommendations are offered regarding potential mechanisms by which disparities may be alleviated.     

An examination of Hispanic college enrollment and graduation: Has the Texas Closing the Gaps plan been successful?

The purpose of this study is to assess the effectiveness of the Texas “Closing the Gaps by 2015” plan to increase Hispanic enrollment into and graduation from institutions of higher education. This study uses Interrupted Time Series with Comparison Group to analyze 26 years of student cohorts in Texas universities. Controlling for historical enrollment and graduation growth as well as population growth, the results show that Hispanic college enrollment significantly increased as a result of the plan, but graduation did not. Several recommendations are offered for those states that wish to emulate Texas policies of increasing college enrollment and graduation of Hispanics.     

FACTORS INFLUENCING HISPANIC STUDENT RETENTION WITHIN THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

This study is a correlative predictive study focusing on the identification of factors impacting on the ability of Hispanic students to achieve their educational objectives within the community college environment. The study sample of 698 students was selected from a community college in Southwest Texas with a student enrollment that was 61% Hispanic. Through regression analysis, factors that were significantly related to the completion of the students’ educational objectives were identified. These relationships were identified for the total sample and for each of four subgroups, Hispanics, white nonHispanics, males, and females. The results indicated that positive or negative reasons for withdrawal and the students’ positive perceptions of their educational experiences were significantly related to the ability of all students to complete their objectives. However, there were sufficient differences between the groupings of factors retained for the total sample and the four subgroups to warrant the conclusion that the community college needs to consider each subgroup as a unique population and to develop policies and programs specifically oriented to each subgroup's needs. This specificity of approach was seen as being particularly important for the improved retention of high‐risk subgroups, such as the Hispanic students.     

Variations Between Latino Groups in us Post-Secondary Educational Attainment*

Hispanics/Latinos are the fastest growing minority group in the US, and represent a diverse variety of ethnic groups with unique heritages. Yet educational and social research often analyzes this group in aggregate. This research, employing 1980 high school senior longitudinal data from the High School and Beyond project, demonstrates substantial differences in post-secondary educational attainment between some Hispanic/Latino groups. Net of a number of individual, socio-economic, family and high school background variables, logit analysis shows that Mexican Americans are significantly below others in post-secondary educational attainment after high school. The results are discussed in regard to future research adopting analysis of individual Hispanic/Latino groups rather than employing the aggregate measure which can substantially misrepresent the relationship between component Latino/a groups and educational attainment.We are indebted to Robert Kaufman for consultation on methodological and statistical approaches; and to Michael Hughes, James Michaels, and Ellen Plummer for helpful suggestions for revision on earlier versions of this paper. This paper is based in part on a Master’s thesis by the first-named author.     

Communicating education information to anglo and hispanic populations

The authors wanted to know whether — and how — the Hispanic and Anglo populations in southwestern Texas were receiving information about a new public school program for handicapped youth. Gathering information through personal interviews and bilingual questionnaires, they learned that 54% of Anglos, and 43% of Hispanics, were aware of the program. Of those, about half of both ethnic groups had first learned of it through television spots. But the proportion of Hispanics learning first through social relations was greater (28% compared with 18% for Anglos). Although the per person cost of creating initial awareness through social relations was considerably greater ($43.38 compared with $11.96 for TV spots), it is of interest that a fairly large number of Hispanics receive educational information through social contact with those who hear it from mass media.     

The interdependence of language and translational math skills among bilingual hispanic engineering students

The performance of 43 Hispanic engineering and science majors on a task that consists of reading a sentence describing a mathematical relationship between two variables, and then writing an equation describing the relationship, is investigated in both English and Spanish. Results are compared with grade point average and with language proficiency. Comparison of the bilingual group to a monolingual group consisting of 52 engineering and science students shows that performance, as measured by either the mathematical translation task or grade point average, is more strongly correlated with language proficiency for the bilingual group. Clinical interviews conducted with samples from each group reveal large differences in the interpretation of the mathematical task between Hispanics and monolinguals. Suggestions are made for the improvement of the technical education of Hispanics.     

Universities and New Information and Communication Technologies: Issues and Strategies

In 1995, the International Association of Universities( IAU) created, within its Board, a Task Force on Universities and Information Technologies. This Task Force is composed of eminent personalities from the academic world. At two recent meetings held in 1997, it examined some of the challenges facing universities in the new information society. This paper summarizes the main questions concerning the impact of information and communication technologies on universities, mainly the benefits of, and limitations to, the use of information technologies in teaching, learning and research. It ends with concluding remarks from the IA U Task Force and a number of recommendations as to what strategies to adopt.     

American,Hispanic, Spanish-Speaking? Hispanic Immigrants and the Question of Identity

This article explores Hispanics’ concepts of cultural and linguistic identity. It is based on the findings of a recent study conducted by the author in Iglesia hispana de Cristo,¹ a Hispanic church community in Western New York. Data come from ethnographic interviews conducted with 48 participants aged 13 to 80 years and with church leaders and from participant observation. Findings indicate that conceptions of identity vary according to age and generation of immigration. Older, first-generation immigrants view language and culture as inextricably linked, and believe that passing on the Spanish language to their children is an essential parenting responsibility. Younger, U.S.-born Hispanics and those who immigrated at a young age, on the other hand, tend to prioritize Hispanic culture over the Spanish language.     

The academic progress of Hispanic immigrants

Past research has shown that Hispanic students make test score gains relative to whites as they age through school; however, this finding stands in contrast to the experience of blacks, who show little change in their relative position over the same time frame. Distinguishing Hispanic students by immigrant generation, I find that the children of immigrants (first- and second-generation Hispanics) drive the improvement in Hispanic test scores. Later-generation Hispanics consistently perform slightly below whites, perhaps due to negative selection into ethnic identification. Thus, previous estimates vastly understate the progress of first- and second-generation Hispanic immigrants. From a negative gap in 3rd grade, these students surpass socioeconomically similar whites in math and reading by middle school and end 8th grade as much as a quarter of a standard deviation ahead. Assimilation alone cannot explain this progress; a potential explanation is that immigrant parents create a home environment that fosters achievement.     

Women and literacy: A quest for justice

She has been involved in adult literacy and non-formal education projects since 1978 and is a member of various national committees on education and of the International Task Force on Literacy. Author of several reports and articles in her field of competence.     

Review

This essay offers a historical commentary on Turning Points: Preparing Youth for the 21st Century, the 1989 report on middle school education by the Carnegie Council's Task Force on Education of Young Adolescents, The report's opposition to tracking and its advocacy of teacher empowerment, initiatives that have been popular with school reformers of the 1980s, does distinguish Turning Points from earlier proposals for educational change. Most of the report, however, seems to recommend policies that bear a striking similarity to the kind of changes promoted by the advocates of efficiency oriented school reform earlier in the century. The essay examines the historical antecedents for two of these policy recommendations, curriculum integration and school‐based health services. In considering these earlier attempts at reform, this essay identifies flaws that may mitigate the effectiveness of the policies recommended in Turning Points but which the authors of the report fail to mention .     

哈佛大学通识教育课程改革研究

哈佛大学2007年颁布了《通识教育工作组报告》,在课程设置与管理上,继承了自1978年以来核心课程设置及管理中的合理部分,建立了一种统一与分散相结合的通识教育新模式。将自由教育与学生未来生活相联系的通识教育理念,具有更鲜明的实用色彩。     

Equity,quality and commitment in education: Interview with Luis C. Moll

Abstract

Luis C. Moll, Puerto Rican by birth, is one of the most prominent researchers in Latino education in the United States. His avant-garde works on Hispanic children's linguistic development and bilingual literacy are well known and renowned for their implications in the research on the impact of culture and education on human development. He is also one of the most notable advocates of Vygotskian theory in the Hispanic world, and his labor in this field has played an important role as a meeting point between United States' and Hispanic scholars. This interview examines his formation as a researcher: the intention is to provide an account of his educational and human trajectory, as well as to relate those projects he is involved in at the moment and that can be considered the result of such trajectory.     

Factors affecting hispanic student transfer behavior

Few studies examine transfer of nontraditional-age Hispanic community college students to four-year institutions. The present study examined attitudes, cognitive and noncognitive experiences, and transfer-related behaviors of students (N=277) who graduated from one two-year institution, in order to determine factors associated with successful transfer and make appropriate policy recommendations. An undergraduate survey based on Tinto's (1975, 1987) conceptual framework and Cabrera, Nora, and Castaneda's (1993) integrated model of student retention provided measures of family concerns, encouragement, social and academic integration, English communication skills, and educational and institutional commitments. Structural equation modeling via LISREL gave parameter estimates of causal links among variables in the hypothesized model. Variables significant for Hispanic transfer students were mathematics ability, academic achievement, and an intent to transfer.An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Association for Institutional Research Forum, Chicago, Illinois, May 1993.     

Loosening chronology’s collar: reframing teacher career narratives as stories of life and work without end

This research paper examines the narrative accounts of the academic Spanish‐language development of four preservice bilingual education teachers of different backgrounds, including Mexican‐American, white (non‐Hispanic), Mexican immigrant, and the U.S.–Mexico border Hispanic. The purpose of the study is to discover the kinds of educational forces which may impede bilingual education teachers' development of academic Spanish, look at their own perceptions of their Spanish‐language proficiency, and consider how student learning might be influenced. The stories illustrate how few meaningful educational opportunities prospective teachers have to develop academic Spanish‐language proficiency. They also demonstrate how sociocultural context may impede Spanish‐language development. In short, the paper addresses the need for dramatic social and educational changes if bilingual education teachers in the U.S. are to fulfill one of the basic tenets of bilingual education: the provision of native‐language instruction.