“‘I Was Gonna Go Off,but My Best Friend is White.”: Hispanic Students’ Co-Cultural Reasoning in a Hispanic Serving Institution

The researchers engaged in a qualitative analysis (using journaling and focus group methodology) of the communicative behaviors of Hispanic students with White institutional members at a medium-sized, Southwest HSI. Utilizing Co-Cultural Theory and Elaborative Coding analysis, the authors mapped how Hispanic students narrated their co-cultural communication and reasoning (i.e., why they engage in one strategy rather than another). The findings show that, although Hispanic students used almost all co-cultural strategies, their responses were clustered primarily around assimilationist strategies – indicating that they engage in a high degree of self-monitoring and self-censorship when interacting with White institutional members in an HSI. These results suggest that even when Hispanic students constitute a large or majority part of the institution’s population, they still feel the need to engage in behaviors that navigate White norms. The study concludes by examining the findings for co-cultural theorizing as well as providing insights for instructors who wish to engage in inclusive teaching practices.     

The Effects of State Higher Education Policies and Institutions on Access by Economically Disadvantaged Students

Research in Higher Education - Do state government policies and institutions promote access to postsecondary education by economically disadvantaged students? I analyze the number of state...     

When Diversity Training Goes Wrong: A Case Study Analysis of the University of Delaware Residential Education Program

In an increasingly global and interconnected world, it is necessary for corporations and educational systems to develop mechanisms for community members to enhance multicultural competencies related to diversity including race, ethnicity, gender and gender identity, sexual orientation, age, religion, and the like. Some people internalize anger, fear, contempt, and guilt about these issues. As a result, people express their feelings in unhealthy and unproductive ways in school and in the workplace. The solution often is to provide diversity training or sensitivity training. This case study analysis utilizes Kaufman's systemic thinking model to examine what went wrong when one university attempted to implement a yearlong intensive diversity training program that brought national media attention and a potential lawsuit against the university, ultimately resulting in a dramatic shift in the university's out‐of‐classroom experiential learning policies.     

Program reevaluation: The gifted controversy

Gifted reevaluations consume an enormous amount of professional time and energy. The purpose of the present study was to survey gifted education teachers' and supervisors' perceptions of current gifted reevaluation practices. Results showed most gifted educators were not in agreement with the practice of using gifted reevaluations to reestablish program eligibility. Instead, they would prefer to get information relevant to program evaluation, program planning, and the need for additional services. Included among the alternatives suggested to replace the present gifted reevaluation practices were consideration of student work products, motivation, and interest; reports by parents and by regular and gifted education teachers; and monitoring the student progress made in achieving the goals of the individual educational program.