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1997 research outputs found
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At a Crossroads: Is English-Only Gaining New Ground in U.S. Education Policy?
This article explores the implications of the recent Executive Order declaring English the official language of the United States, situating it within the historical context of English-only ideology and its impact on multilingual learners. While framed as a unifying policy, the order revokes Executive Order 13166, reducing federal protections for language access and echoing past efforts to marginalize non-English languages in schools. Drawing on precedents from 19th-century monolingual policies to Proposition 227, the article argues the order signals a renewed shift toward restrictive, subtractive approaches, offering an educated guess about their potential return and consequences. The analysis considers broader impacts on multilingual learners, immigrant communities, and educators, warning that such policies risk perpetuating linguicism, the systemic devaluation of languages other than English (Obondo, 2007), and eroding linguistic diversity. In contrast, shifting policy toward additive models provides a pathway that values bilingualism as both an educational right and a societal resource
We Built This: Redesigning Higher Education from the Ground Up While They Try to Burn It Down
Our text, We Built This: Redesigning Higher Education from the Ground Up While They Try to Burn It Down, examines how recent federal policy shifts, particularly the 2025 Dear Colleague letter and the Project 2025 educational platform, function as deliberate acts of deconstruction. These measures threaten to dismantle equity infrastructures in higher education while intensifying the erasure of Black women’s labor, leadership and legacy in the academy. Through Critical Policy Analysis and Black feminist thought, we argue that these policies operate simultaneously as blueprint and wrecking ball, systematically unraveling decades of progress and constraining the very communities that have sustained higher education’s growth.
Our conceptual framework, Awaken–Disrupt–Ascend, emerges from collective storytelling and communal analysis among Black women in higher education. Rooted in Du Bois’s theory of double consciousness and Patricia Hill Collins’s concept of the outsider within, the framework demonstrates how narrative functions as both diagnostic and design. Awaken calls for critical recognition of systemic devaluation and internalized oppression. Disrupt demands a rejection of institutional complicity and a confrontation with white supremacy disguised as neutrality. Ascend insists on building new blueprints centered in joy, rest and collective power, offering visions of higher education that cannot be easily dismantled.
Grounding this analysis in the historical lineage of Black women’s contributions, from Reconstruction-era classrooms and citizenship schools to contemporary scholarship and pedagogy, we reveal how their intellectual and institutional labor has long been foundational yet continually marginalized. We critique the ways contemporary DEI initiatives often obscure the specificity of Black women’s struggle and brilliance, rendering them hyper-visible in performance but invisible in policy and power.
At a moment of widespread institutional retrenchment, we call for a radical redesign of higher education that positions Black women not as symbols of inclusion but as central architects and protectors of its future
NKEC Children\u27s Frolic, ca. 1928
Children attending the National Kindergarten and Elementary College (NKEC) annual children\u27s frolic.https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/ckc-photos/1015/thumbnail.jp
Unveiling Gender Bias: An Examination of Healthcare Provider Diagnosis of Mild Traumatic Brain Injuries. Insights from Case Vignettes
Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) has gained public attention due to increased awareness of its neurological and physical effects, especially among male athletes. This study investigated how healthcare providers diagnose mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) in male versus female patients by presenting 208 physicians with randomly assigned gender-based patient vignettes. Physicians rated the likelihood of mTBI based on symptoms in the vignette, showing no significant difference in diagnosis between the genders of the presented vignettes (female: M = 2.19, SD = 0.47; male: M = 2.17, SD = 0.51). Furthermore, likelihood ratings for other potential diagnoses revealed no gender-based differences, indicating that physicians assessed the likelihood of diagnoses similarly for male and female patients with comparable symptoms. The exploratory hypothesis examined whether the demographics of the healthcare raters interacted with patient gender in diagnostic ratings. The findings suggest that neither gender nor experience level had a measurable impact on diagnostic likelihood decision-making. The study discusses implications and recommendations for future research
The Battle is Not Ours!: The Impact of Racial Battle Fatigue on the Career Trajectory of Black Women Administrators at Predominantly White Institutions
This qualitative narrative inquiry examines the impact of Racial Battle Fatigue (RBF) on the career progression of Black women administrators at Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs). While RBF has been studied extensively among students and faculty, there has been little research exploring its influence on Black women leaders who navigate both racial and gendered power structures in organizations where they are often underrepresented and unsupported. Grounded in the theoretical framework of Intersectionality, this study explores one primary research question: What is the relationship between RBF and the career paths of Black women administrators at PWIs, including the stages in their careers at which RBF is most intense, and how does it impact career decisions and trajectories? Through the lens of eight Black women in senior-level roles across diverse PWIs, five major themes emerged from the unique stories that included: Carrying the Weight of RBF, Being Seen but Not Heard or Valued, Choosing Survival Over Advancement, Taking Off the Cape, and Leading While Exhausted. The findings of this study introduced the FIRE Method, a new conceptual model derived from participants’ narratives, which illustrates four progressive stages black women experience in PWI: Frustration, Isolation, Resentment, and Exhaustion, leading to Exit. The model provides a framework for understanding how RBF builds over time and shapes critical career decisions for Black women in higher education administration. Furthermore, this work underscores the need for institutional accountability and culturally responsive leadership practices to address the systemic burden of navigating RBF as a Black woman and offers actionable insights for institutional leaders, policymakers, and practitioners to prioritize the well-being and success of Black women in administrative roles
Counseling in the Space Between: Counselor Perceptions of Empathy and Therapeutic Alliance during Videoconferencing-Based Teleplay Therapy Sessions
Children and adolescents experienced a significant increase in mental health challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic (Czeisler et al., 2020; Hertz et al., 2022; Mpofu, 2023; Oberg et al., 2022; Wilkins et al., 2023). With health facilities closed for non-emergent patients, telemental health therapy offered the possibility of support for those experiencing mental health challenges (Chiauzzi et al., 2020; Cooke et al., 2020; Karimi et al., 2022; E. C. Lee et al., 2023; Racine et al., 2020). While numerous past studies conducted over several years confirmed the efficacy of telemental health counseling (e.g., Feijt et al., 2020; Gloff et al., 2015; Jones et al., 2014; Reese et al., 2016; Simms et al., 2011), others demonstrated that some clinicians and clients struggled to connect emotionally using this relatively new modality (Budd et al., 2022; Knowles et al., 2015; Kotera et al., 2021). The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand how clinicians experience and perceive cognitive, affective, and behavioral empathy when working with children ten years old and younger in teleplay therapy sessions. Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (J. A. Smith et al., 2022), interviews from 13 participants were coded. Themes related to the Structure and Process of Empathy, the Counselor\u27s Experience of Empathy in Teleplay Therapy Sessions, and the Counselor\u27s Perception of the Therapeutic Alliance were explored and described in detail. From these themes, a Proposed Model of Empathic Understanding was proposed. Implications for future research and a review of the strengths and limitations of this study were also described
Here Be Dragons: The Barriers of Korean American Female Leaders in Secondary Schools
In K-12 public schools, there is a shortage of Korean American women in school leadership roles at the secondary level. This phenomenological study explores the contributing factors to this lack of representation, how institutions can recruit and retain Korean American female leaders, and how school systems can better support them. This study examines the leadership experiences of eight Korean American women. It utilizes the socio-political contexts of Korean patriarchy, the Model Minority Myth, and mentorship to help frame the problem of existing barriers. This study explores the following questions: What factors hinder Korean American women in school leadership? What structural on-ramps are needed to encourage Korean American women to pursue leadership? What structural supports can schools implement for Korean American women to remain in leadership positions? Using a counter-story narrative, the participants identified issues surrounding family pressures, cultural expectations, and lack of representation, and they suggested valuable suggestions for aspiring Korean American female leaders, as well as strategies to sustain those already in the field. The findings of this study reveal that once Korean American women embark on their leadership journey, schools need to provide mentoring and networking opportunities to care for Korean American female administrators uniquely. The ultimate goal of this study is to shed light on the reason for the disparity in representation of Korean American women in school leadership, particularly at the high school level, and to challenge educational institutions to do better to nurture and care for Korean American female leaders
A Qualitative Research on the Technology School Administration Interaction
Technology-school administration interaction is increasing day by day. In the light of new developments, technology-school administration interaction needs to be understood. The aim of this research is to understand the interaction between technology and school administration. 21 school administrators participated in the research conducted with qualitative research method. The general benefits of technology on school administration are stated in the relevant literature. However, I think that technology has different effects on school administration. Therefore, it offers a different perspective to the literature. According to the research, two themes emerged. These are: Technology-school administration interaction and areas where school administrators benefit from technology. It is understood that technology is interacting with school administration more and more each day. Technology contributes to school administration by making things easier, faster, saving time and paper, and preserving data. However, the use of technology also brings some negativities such as health problems. The double-sided effects of technology inevitably bring about school administrators being technology literate. Technology affects school administration in terms of individual, temporal, organizational memory and current structure depending on the use. In the research, it is recommended that ways of using technology more effectively in school administration be sought
Building Bridges: Union Efforts to Address Stress Among Educational Staff
This mixed-methods study examines the relationship between administrative support and educator stress and burnout in a post-COVID unionized school district. Grounded in Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory, the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model, and the Transactional Model of Stress and Coping, the study surveyed 102 educational professionals and conducted semi-structured interviews with union delegates. Quantitative findings revealed that 75% of staff worked beyond contracted hours, and 63% assumed additional unpaid responsibilities. Lower levels of perceived administrative support were significantly correlated with higher burnout and greater intent to leave the profession. Qualitative thematic analysis identified key stressors, including inconsistent administrative communication, escalating student behavioral challenges, excessive workload, and policy inconsistency. Participants also emphasized the negative impacts of top-down decision-making and lack of role-specific supports. Recommendations for systemic reform include implementing administrative communication protocols, protecting educator preparation time, increasing administrative visibility, and establishing participatory governance structures. The findings highlight the need for ecological and organizational interventions to reduce burnout and improve educator retention. This study contributes to the emerging literature on post-pandemic educational stressors and expands understanding of role-specific vulnerabilities among school-based staff