Out of the Depths Have I Cried: Aesthetic Opposition at the Gateway to Auschwitz

Terezin, the gateway to Auschwitz, a town commandeered by the Nazis to serve as a “model” relocation camp to demonstrate the Third Reich's generosity and kindness toward the Jews, was an elaborate hoax. In an environment where truth was twisted beyond recognition, artists, writers, actors, and musicians used their work to revive the spirits of the condemned and to leave a legacy of truth in the face of an insidious lie. The arts became the foundation for a “curriculum” that shaped the lives of the inmates surviving in hell.     

Processes and skills underlying continuing intrinsic motivation to learn: Toward a definition of motivational skills training interventions

Continuing intrinsic motivation to learn is the result of actively generating and implementing a variety of metacognitive, cognitive, and affective processes and skills. An understanding of these processes, skills, and their interrelationships forms a basis for the design of an effective motivational skills training program. This article advances a generative process model of continuing motivation in which the central role of perceived self‐efficacy and personal control are explicated. Support for this model from current theories of learning and motivation is presented, along with implications for specific skills training interventions. It is argued that the functional purpose of motivational skills training is to promote perceptions of self‐efficacy and personal control that underlie the ability to take positive self‐control and change negative attitudes and orientations toward learning. For students with motivational deficiencies, this training is a necessary precursor to their active engagement in the learning process and execution of appropriate learning strategies and skills.     

Multicultural apprenticeships in teacher education

The purpose of this paper is to explore the theoretical structure of what we call multicultural apprenticeships in teacher education. This structure is drawn from decades of scholarship and research in teacher education, in general, and in preparing teachers for diversity, in particular. It is further situated within our own work in an Early Childhood Education Masters in Education program and our commitments to preparing teachers to support diverse populations of children. Three different multicultural apprenticeships are used to provide concrete examples of the characteristics of this approach to preparing teachers for diverse classrooms.     

Mapping Changes in Science Teachers’ Content Knowledge: Concept Maps and Authentic Professional Development

Two studies were conducted to examine content knowledge changes following 2 weeks of professional development that included scientific research with university scientists. Engaging teachers in scientific research is considered to be an effective way of encouraging knowledge of both inquiry pedagogy and content knowledge. We used concept maps with two cohorts of teachers to assess changes in science teacher knowledge. In study 1, 34 teachers developed pre- and post-concept maps in one of the nine different content areas. A repeated measures analysis of six quantitative scores showed statistically significant increases in knowledge representation. Quantitative and qualitative scoring methods indicate that concept maps are effective for assessing teacher knowledge gains from professional development. Study 2 replicated the results with 24 teachers and provided further information about how knowledge changes.     

“We Have to Educate Every Single Student,Not Just the Ones That Look Like Us”: Support Service Providers’ Beliefs About the Root Causes of the School-to-Prison Pipeline for Youth of Color

Abstract

This study adds to the extant research on the school-to-prison pipeline by investigating how school-based service providers and administrators conceptualize the causal mechanisms constraining and enabling the school-to-prison pipeline in a large urban district. Thirty-three schools were selected for the study based on their suspension rates. Support staff and district partners (n?=?36) participated in focus groups guided by semi-structured protocols. Most participants emphasized structural and systemic causes of the school-to-prison pipeline, such as institutional racism and poverty. To minimize the school-to-prison pipeline, participants highlighted the importance of relationship building and non-punitive practices in response to misbehavior, although solutions offered limited evidence of promising interventions. Given strong research indicating that racial disparities cannot be explained by differential behavior, scholarship in this area emphasizes the need to increase school-level practices that promote positive school climate. The persistence of exclusionary and punitive attitudes among a subset of the sample suggests a need for differentiated professional development to address competing frameworks for understanding the root causes of, and solutions to, the school-to-prison pipeline.     

OUTCOMES ASSESSMENT AND MINORITY STUDENTS IN COMMUNITY COLLEGES

The assessment of outcomes by community colleges was reviewed with special attention paid to the concerns of minority student populations. The definition of outcomes, the “what” of assessment, is discussed along with the process, or “how” of assessment. We provide theoretical perspectives along with examples of practice drawn from the review. The concerns of minority students with regard to assessment are highlighted, and recommendations for programming and further research are made.     

Community College Organizational Climate for Minorities and Women

This paper explores the issues of what would constitute a positive organizational climate for women and minorities within the community college setting and ways in which such a climate might be achieved. It first describes some traditional or standard measures of a positive organizational climate for women and minorities and then evaluates how well the community college is doing when examined against these measures. Next, it describes some structural manifestations of a negative climate, including negative discourse about minorities and women. In doing so, it traces the development of some discourse patterns about these groups and provides some illustrative cultural assumptions that reflect these discourse patterns. The paper concludes with implications for the community college, including some steps to be taken to improve the organizational climate for minorities and women.     

AN EARLY CHILDHOOD TEACHER MOVES FROM DIP TO DAP: SELF STUDY AS A USEFUL RESEARCH METHOD FOR TEACHER RESEARCHER AND UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR COLLABORATION

An evaluation of the impact of training on caregiver responsiveness was conducted to examine changes in caregiver behavior. Six infant and toddler child care caregivers were observed prior to and following a 6-hour statewide training, based on the Right from Birth series (Ramey &; Ramey, 1999 Ramey, C. T. and Ramey, S. L. 1999. Right from birth: Building your child’s foundation for life, New York, NY: Goddard.  [Google Scholar]). This training focused on caregiver responsiveness to infants and toddlers that was measured using a multiple baseline design. Observers examined both positive and negative caregiver behaviors that were categorized as either active or passive. Following the training, an increase in positive caregiver behaviors and a decrease in negative caregiver behaviors were observed. These results support the importance of training programs and the requirements of regulations for training of child care providers.