Reflections on Diversity—a Personal Journey

This is a reflection on my life experience as a woman of color. I teach Spanish courses as well as teacher preparation courses. I know what it was like to grow up in a nearly all Black community, then move to one which was almost exclusively White. As an adult looking back on my childhood, I believe that it is especially important that culturally and linguistically diverse teachers are present in schools. As a professor, I see few teachers of color in foreign language courses at the university level as well as the P–12 levels. P–16 institutions boast of being more receptive to culturally and linguistically diverse students. Role models are important for all children. However, there are few positive role models for culturally and linguistically diverse children. If the goal is to get culturally and linguistically diverse children to succeed academically, then positive and diverse role models are needed in U.S. classrooms.     

乔什·哈切森访谈

问:你扮演的角色肖恩是个什么样的人?乔什·哈切森:我觉得肖恩是个非常典型的少年。他很有反叛精神,爱挖苦人——说话老带嘲弄口气。因而,当时我尽力把我自己对这种讽刺意味的体味表现出来。     

Timing of Homework Completion vs. Performance in General Chemistry

The goal of this study was to investigate the timing of online homework completion and its effects on student performance. Data was collected from two large, first-semester general chemistry sections at a southwestern university. Specifically, this study aims to explore the link between when students complete their homework relative to the date the material was covered in lecture and student performance in that class. Topics covered in the study included VSEPR, Lewis structures, and molecular geometry. Performance was measured by different variables, namely in-class clicker scores (short-term) and exam grade (long-term). Students were divided into three groups: students who completed the relevant homework within 2 days after the lecture (before the next lecture), those who completed the homework 2 to 4 days after the lecture, and students who completed the homework more than 4 days after the material was covered in lecture. The study also took into consideration student reasoning abilities, as measured by the Test of Logical Thinking (TOLT), with a focus on at-risk students (low TOLT students). Results showed promising findings for low TOLT students. Instructors can employ results from this study to help their students better utilize the online homework resources.

     

A cross-age study of the understanding of five chemistry concepts

A sample of 100 students from junior high school physical science, high school chemistry, and introductory college chemistry were examined for understanding of five chemistry concepts. The concepts addressed were chemical change, dissolution of a solid in water, conservation of atoms, periodicity, and phase change. The amount of experience with the concepts (grade level) and reasoning ability (developmental level) were examined as possible sources of variation in student understanding. Differences in understanding with respect to grade level were found to be significant for the concepts of chemical change, dissolution of a solid, conservation of atoms, and periodicity. However, few of the students in the college chemistry sample exhibited sound understanding of chemical change, periodicity, or phase change. The use of particulate terms (atoms, ions, molecules) increased across the grade levels. Reasoning ability proved to be a significant factor for student understanding of conservation of atoms and periodicity. An examination of the number and types of misconceptions across the grade levels revealed several interesting patterns and suggested sources for the students' alternative conceptions.     

改进认证保障高等教育质量的建议

一、概述认证在美国高等教育中起着极其重要的作用,因为高等教育界和政府都使用这项制度来促进和保证教育质量,保护公众利益。在认证中,可以反映出高等教育界对教育质量的期望,以及政府和社会对公众首要利益的认定和沟通结果。认证建立在自我管理和同行评估的基础上,兼顾公立教育和私立教育两大领域,涉及到联邦政府、州政府和私人管理者,异常庞大和复杂。大多数的被认证机构都是认证组织的会员,这些私人认证组织与他们的会员通力合作,共同开发质量标准。同时,他们使用志愿者开展一种同行评议的程序,以此决定某个教育机构或项目是否符合标准,…     

Impact of Institutional and Student Characteristics on Texas Community Colleges under the State’s Performance Funding Model

The study examined how institutional and student characteristics may influence the earning of student success points by state-supported community colleges under the Texas performance funding system that was fully implemented in the 2016–2017 biennium. Texas has historically funded community colleges based on an enrollment formula; however, the funding system was revised in 2013 by setting aside 10% of the enrollment-based formula funding appropriations to be earned back through a performance funding system based on student success points earned. The quantitative study used a correlation design with three hierarchical multiple regression analyses to examine the relationships between the student outcomes measures for public community colleges and institutional and student characteristics. The data examined were collected by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and made available to the public through an interactive website tool. Findings showed that although several student and institutional characteristics were significant predictors of the total success points earned, when the analysis focused on the change in success points between two sets of three-year averages, none of the student or institutional characteristics were significant predictors. These findings support the design of the Texas performance funding system and suggest that community colleges serving higher proportions of at-risk students, including students who are a minority, low socioeconomic status, part-time, and are age 25 and older, will not be disadvantaged using the system’s methodology of comparing an institution to its own historic performance. The contributions of this study are intended to assist state policymakers who are designing performance funding systems.     

Preparing special educators to teach reading and use curriculum-based assessments

Preparing special educators who are knowledgeable about evidence-based interventions for teaching reading to students with reading difficulties and who are capable of using curriculum-based assessments to monitor student progress and differentiate interventions is vital to the success of current school reform efforts. The primary purpose of this exploratory study was to examine the effect of tutoring and using assessment to monitor the progress of struggling readers on preservice teachers’ (PSTs’) knowledge and preparedness to teach reading. Also of interest was whether reading scores of tutored students improved. PSTs (n = 18) in an undergraduate reading methods course tutored at-risk second graders using an evidence-based intervention and monitored students’ progress weekly. PSTs made significant growth on a measure of teacher knowledge about the structure of language and on a survey of their preparedness to teach reading. A qualitative analysis of PSTs’ weekly reflections and final reports revealed that the majority used curriculum-based assessment data to describe students’ response to tutoring and were beginning to use that data to make instructional decisions. On average, tutored students improved reading fluency, but did not demonstrate significant growth in reading relative to national norms. Implications and limitations of the study are described and directions for future research are discussed.     

Centering the Educational and Social Significance of HBCUs: A Focus on the Educational Journeys and Thoughts of African American Scholars

In this article we provide a brief history of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) as a part of the sociopolitical context framing this special issue. The aim of this issue is to situate HBCUs as centers of leadership, change, and influence as well as repositories of Black education and the Black American experience through their legacy of intellectual, cultural, and communal engagement. We argue that the lived experiences of HBCU graduates provide a deeper understanding of their positionalities in the landscape of U.S. American higher education outcomes.     

Organizational Surveys: A System for Employee Voice

Although surveys are often used to assess and track employee attitudes and opinions over time and are used quite frequently by applied communication researchers, the use of surveys as a channel to voice employee attitudes and opinions has not been fully explored in the employee voice or basic organizational communication literature. With the increased call for accountability, effective applied communication researchers can play an important role in ensuring that organizations engage in the survey process in a manner that is “safe” for employees, and ethical and practical for the organization. Because the question of how to accomplish this task is complex and cannot be fully addressed within the constraints of a commentary, I offer three general principles to guide future researchers in helping overcome organizational communication problems:

1. Build trust in the organizational survey process, the researcher(s), and the organization.

2. Eliminate the adversarial relationship that often exists between management and employees who speak up.

3. Provide evidence that the organization does more than purport to value the things that it says it values.