Developing cultural competency in higher education: an agenda for practice

As a result of changing national values and unrest, demographic and population shifts, and ever-changing admissions practices and policies, implementing a diversity and cultural-competency agenda within university settings has become a priority across the UK, Europe, and US. Furthermore, public institutions across the UK, EU, and US are now more racially and ethnically diverse than ever [Snyder, T. D., C. Debray, and S. A. Dillow. 2016. ‘Digest of Education Statistics 2016.’ NCES 2016-006. National Centre for Education Statistics; Sursock, Andree. 2015. Trends 2015: Learning and Teaching in European Universities. European University Association. Accessed October 28 2017. www.eua.be/Libraries/publicationshomepage-list/EUA_Trends_2015_web.]. Yet, cultural competency efforts on campuses remain largely under theorized [Bezrukova, K., K. A. Jehn, and C. S. Spell. 2012. “Reviewing Diversity Training: Where We Have Been and Where We Should Go.” Academy of Management Learning and Education 11 (2): 207–227] and diffuse [Sue, S., D. C. Fujino, L. T. Hu, D. T. Takeuchi, and N. W. Zane. 1991. ‘Community Mental Health Services for Ethnic Minority Groups: A Test of the Cultural Responsiveness Hypothesis.’ Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 59 (4): 533–540]. This article seeks to outline an agenda for this work, highlighting outcomes of cultural competency learning and underscoring the role of campus leadership in the development of supportive characteristics. These characteristics include attention to shared knowledge, professional learning at all levels of the organization, inclusive instructional methods, integration with other campus initiatives, and inclusivity of diversity foci. Posited are six supportive conditions for successful implementation.     

Pedagogy and Curricular Choice in Community College Accelerated Writing Courses

To improve students’ outcomes and retention rates, community colleges have implemented acceleration strategies which hasten the completion of educational requirements (Edgecombe, 2011). The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of an accelerated freshmen writing course on teachers’ curricular decisions and pedagogical practices at a large urban community college. We conducted semi-structured interviews with the 11 faculty members teaching different sections of this accelerated writing course. All interviews were audiotaped, transcribed, coded, and analyzed. Our findings reveal that while instructors embrace the structural changes that come with accelerated courses and demonstrate a new appreciation for struggling students in their traditional English 101 class, they report on significant challenges in teaching due to the students’ lack of academic and personal maturity, as well as a need to lower their expectations and simplify the curriculum. This research raises questions about the unintended positive and negative effects of accelerated courses on teaching. More qualitative research is needed that focuses on the teachers’ experiences and their capacity to help students benefit from an accelerated course.     

Multiple regression data using the WISC-R and the Woodcock-Johnson tests of cognitive ability

Using a sample of 100 behavior disordered male adolescents, correlations between the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) and the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Cognitive Abilities (WJTCA) were computed. All WISC-R subtests correlated with the W-J Broad Cognitive Ability score at the .0001 level. Analysis of the forward selection multiple regression procedure resulted in the inclusion of only WISC-R Verbal subtests for the first six steps. Implications of such results were discussed and a predictive equation reported.     

To preserve or enhance precious memories: a segmented market analysis of the history museum in Singapore

This study examines the value placed on museums by patrons and non-patrons and investigates the factors that affect this valuation with a view to boost visitorship. The total economic value of Singapore’s History Museum is at least US$57 million, and this is high relative to other countries, a fact which can be used to justify increased government funding towards museums as cultural capital. Females and high income people are the target groups for increased visitation, while among the non-patrons, the ethnic majority is another potential clientele. Somewhat surprising is the finding that neither patrons nor non-patrons see the museum as having significant tourist value, and contrary to prospect theory, there is a preference for enhancing the museum’s services over keeping the museum. These findings provide some direction for the management of the museum to improve its visitor appeal.     

A comparison of regular program and vocational program junior high school students on affective dimensions

The hypothesis that young adolescents in vocational education programs would differ from young adolescents in a regular program along several affective dimensions was examined. The Today Form of the Multiple Affect Adjective Check List (MAACL) was administered twice during the school year to 111 students in a vocational program and to 50 students in regular classrooms. Dimensions of Anxiety, Depression, and Hostility were examined. Significant main effects for all three dimensions were noted for school program (regular vs. CVAE) and for grade (seventh vs. eighth). Students in the vocational program and those in seventh grade scored higher on Anxiety, Depression, and Hostility. These differences persisted across time, with the exception of Depression, for which there was a significant interaction between time (pretest vs. posttest) and school program (regular vs. CVAE), with regular students reporting increased depression at the second testing.     

Factors associated with school psychologists' perceptions of campus violence

Recent concern about school violence has increased demands on school psychologists to respond to safety concerns on their school campuses. In this study, 123 school psychologists responded to a survey about their perceptions, experiences, and readiness to meaningfully address school violence. School psychologists reported that they do not worry about their personal safety at school (78%), but most felt unprepared to deal with school violence (73%) and had received no specialized training in this area (85%). A principal components analysis of the types of violence school psychologists perceived to occur on their campuses identified a range of incidents from bullying to antisocial behavior. School psychologists working in inner-city schools were more likely to believe that their schools had high levels of violence (45.6%) compared with those working in urban-not inner-city (14.3%), suburban (4.9%), or rural (0%) schools. Recommendations to prepare school psychologists to help prevent, reduce, and respond to campus violence are discussed. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Experiences of teacher evaluation systems on high school physical education programs

Primary objective: Teacher evaluation is being revamped by policy-makers. The marginalized status of physical education has protected this subject area from reform for many decades, but in our current era of system-wide, data-based decision-making, physical education is no longer immune. Standardized and local testing, together with structured observation measures, are swiftly being mandated in the USA as required elements of teacher evaluation systems in an effort to improve school programs and student achievement. The purpose of this investigation was to document how this reform was initiated and the experiences of teachers, students and administrators, from three high school physical education programs, during initiation of this reform. Documenting how physical education programs respond to such reforms develops our understanding of top-down reform efforts and helps to identify conditions under which such reforms have the intended effect on physical education teachers and student learning in physical education.

Theoretical framework: Fullan’s three phases of school change has been used to analyze and guide school change efforts in several subject areas including physical education. The phases are initiation, implementation and institutionalization. This study is situated primarily within the first phase of school change, the initiation phase.

Methods and procedures: This study took place over a 21-month period in 3 suburban school districts in a northeast metropolitan area of the USA. Interviews with district physical education administrators, high school physical education teachers and students were conducted. Field notes of physical education classes, informal interviews and related artifacts including pre- and post-physical education assessments were collected. To ensure trustworthiness, several steps were taken including member checks, triangulation and peer review. The data were analyzed to find common themes and patterns using the constant comparative method.

Results: Several themes emerged: (1) changes in curriculum and assessment; (2) effect on administrators; (3) stakeholder apathy and (4) department collaboration.

Conclusion: Changes, although minor, did take place in the wake of this top-down teacher reform; however, additional research needs to be completed to determine whether or not these changes are meaningful or long lasting.     

Toward an Expanded Understanding of Two-Way Bilingual Immersion Education: Constructing Identity through a Critical,Additive Bilingual/Bicultural Pedagogy

This literature review will take a focused look at the three currently accepted theoretical foundations upon which two-way bilingual immersion programs are based. Through an examination of research on identity construction in childhood and adolescence, particularly as seen through a critical pedagogical lens, it proposes that there exists a fourth and relatively unexamined component: identity construction. Further, it postulates that identity construction is of particular relevance to linguistic minority students.