Journals.uncc.edu (North Carolina's Urban Research University)
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The United States of America vs. The United States of America: Dissecting Systems of Oppression and White Supremacy
No full textDuring the Spring 2016 academic term at University of Pittsburgh, Bradford, incarcerated educators at Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) FCI McKean with subject-matter expertise in organizing counter-culture sociopolitical movements, co-designed and taught an advanced upper-level undergraduate course, Special Topics in Courts: The United States of America v. The United States of America, which focused on dissecting systems of oppression and white supremacy within the criminal justice system in America, to traditional nonincarcerated college students. Using a critical autoethnographic lens, this essay will briefly examine the pedagogical nuances of this first-of-a-kind course, through the unique voices of the instructors and student participants
Persistence of African American Females in Engineering: The Mathematics Identity Factor
No full textTo continue as global science and technological leaders, the United States is motivated to create a diverse, engineering workforce. One way of diversifying the engineering workforce is to address the disparity of women engineers. Although concerted efforts to improve retention rates of women in engineering are ongoing, women have earned only 5.6% of all undergraduate engineering degrees, with only 1% attributed to African American women (NSF, 2015b). African American women are commonly included in racial or gender-focused studies on persistence; however, few studies assess the effect of multiple identities to persistence. This exploratory study examined the relationship of persistence, measured by intent to persist, to multiple identities (social, professional, and racial) of African American female engineering students. Forward regression analyses were conducted and results indicated that the participant’s mathematical identities were more salient to them than their racial or gender identities. Also, the values these women placed on being an engineer and belonging to the group were principal aspects of their professional identity. Additionally, negative affect and stereotype threat were found significant predictors of intent to persist.
Keywords: women engineers, persistence, identity, African American engineer
Improvisation, Music Listening, and Debilitating Disorders: A Narrative Review of the Promise of Music Therapy in Addressing Issues of Communication, Emotion, and Neurology
No full textAlthough music therapy has been used in numerous ways to address a wide variety of pathologies, the scientific consensus on its efficacy is far from certain. In the hopes of focusing further on music therapy research, this article makes a distinction between active and passive music therapy and how the two types of music therapy have been used to treat disorders of communication, mood and anxiety, and neurological impairment. After a preliminary understanding of music therapy was established with several overview books, a variety of articles were chosen by the researcher that show claims for and against the efficacy of music therapy. All sources were found and acquired through Schaffer Library databases at Union College between September 5th, 2018 and November 14th, 2018. The author reviewed examples of each type of music therapy, including scientific case studies, observational studies, quasi-experiments, and systematic reviews. The studies’ findings and shortcomings were discussed leading to the conclusion that future music therapy research must attempt to maximize sample size and experimental controls. In addition, music therapy would benefit if the effect of music was tested on healthy populations. Music therapy represents another possible tool in relieving significant distress
Teacher Beliefs and Misconceptions Regarding Dual Language Learners in Head Start: An Opportunity for Enhancing Professional Development
No full textKnowing Head Start teachers’ existing beliefs can help to tailor the professional development they receive on topics surrounding DLL development and best practices. Teachers who have access to accurate information that strengthens best practices and dispels their misconceptions related to DLLs may be better equipped to provide a quality preschool experience to DLLs in their classrooms. Twenty-three female teachers working in Head Start preschool centers were interviewed on their beliefs regarding DLLs, their development, and DLLs’ instructional practices. Modified consensual qualitative analysis was completed as an inductive, multi-step analysis process to summarize the beliefs of the participating teachers. Six major themes emerged. These themes included: (1) definition of DLL; (2) value of DLLs’ home culture and language; (3) ease of learning English (4) primary classroom language; (5) home language use in the classroom; (6) language difference versus language delay or disorder. Implications and recommendations for professional development will be discussed
The Transition from Pre-K to Kindergarten: Parent, Teacher, and Administrator Perspectives
No full textThe present study aimed to identify commonalities and points of divergence in the ways that parents, teachers, and administrators characterize children’s transition from public pre-K into kindergarten within a large, diverse school district. A wide range of transition practices were in use across the district, including practices designed to educate parents, connect pre-K and kindergarten stakeholders, train teachers, and provide transition experiences to children. Transition experiences were not uniform across programs, though. Using a consensual qualitative coding approach, we identified three crosscutting themes related to pre-K transitions: (1) pre-k programs and staff invest significant time and effort in supporting successful transitions; (2) preschool programs’ school readiness efforts often center on the “mechanics†of the transition, like completing paperwork and teaching children basic school behaviors; and (3) there are concerns about a lack of alignment between pre-K and kindergarten in terms of readiness, behavioral expectations, and learning goals
An Investigation into the Curricula (and Quality) Used by Early Childhood Educators
No full textMost preschool-aged children spend time in Head Start and other center-based care. Thus, early educators’ use of a quality curriculum is essential to maximizing children’s learning; yet, little is known about the curricula used in these settings. We examined the curricula utilized by educators working in diverse settings with children ages 3 to 5, focusing on key features of quality curriculum identified from the literature. Most educators (75%) reported using formal curricula. Creative Curriculum and HighScope were the most common; 6% of educators reported no curriculum use. There was a lack of consensus regarding what constitutes curriculum with 16% of participants reporting the use of materials generally not considered curriculum (e.g., learning standards). Although most educators were using a curriculum that included some key features, less than 15% were using curricula with evidence of effectiveness for supporting children’s learning. Findings have important implications for supporting practice and future research.  
A Program-wide Look at Early Identification of Socioemotional and Behavioral Needs in Head Start Programs to Better Serve Children
No full textEarly childhood programs, such as Head Start, that serve children at risk can implement programmatic screening procedures to ensure equitable identification of children displaying a range of socioemotional and behavioral needs. We examined administrative records linked to a program-wide mental health screening tool to examine patterns of special needs referral and identification for children within the Head Start program (N=7,301 children). Findings showed that male, Hispanic, and Spanish-speaking Dual Language Learner (DLL) children were identified with a disability at a higher rate compared to female, non-Hispanic, and non-DLL children. Children displaying challenging behaviors such as aggressive, oppositional, or disruptive behavior were identified at higher rates than children displaying shy or socially withdrawn behaviors
A Public-Private Partnership Designed to Improve Student Soft Skills: The Johnson & Johnson Bridge-to-Employment Program
No full textIn this paper we describe a corporate-education partnership between Johnson & Johnson and disadvantaged public schools called Bridge-to-Employment (BTE) and examine the program’s impact on student acquisition of soft or non-cognitive, school-to-career transition skills. We model the differences in the attainment levels of eight soft skills in a sample of 236 BTE and 308 Comparison students from 10 BTE program sites in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. Using cross-site trajectory analysis, we find that BTE participation had a positive impact on BTE students’ communication skills, perceived readiness for an immediate job, readiness for career, teamwork, and persistence in pursuing a task/goal (grit). BTE did not have an impact on students’ problem solving skills, readiness for college or ability to set long-term goals. We discuss the possible reasons for these mixed results and the need for encouraging more direct business-public school partnerships to address the growing knowledge and skills gaps facing our nation
Basic Teachers’ Perception and Practices of Formative Assessment in the Cape Coast Metropolis of Ghana: Basic Teachers’ Perception and Practices of Formative Assessment in the Cape Coast Metropolis of Ghana
No full textStudents learning outcomes are bound to improve if the practice of formative assessment is seen as a vital component of the School Based Assessment in the classroom. In the classroom, formative assessment plays a critical role as it provides information to be used as feedback to adjust the teaching and learning activities in which students and teachers are engaged. The study investigated public basic school teachers’ perception and formative assessment practices in the Cape Coast Metropolis of Ghana. The study employed the descriptive survey as well as the multistage sampling procedure to select 300 teachers from the six (6) circuits in the Cape Coast Metropolis. Data were analysed using frequencies, percentages, means, standard deviations, and Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient. The results showed that basic school teachers have a positive perception of the usefulness of formative assessment in the classroom. It was also revealed that dominant practices that basic school teachers usually engaged in included ensuring effective class participation, discussing feedback with students, use of question and answer during instruction, making formative use of summative assessments, giving students home assignments, and engaging students in activities like role play. Results further indicated a positive relationship between basic teachers’ perception and their formative assessment practices. It is recommends that, short-term courses, workshops, seminars and, other necessary in-service training activities should be organized by the Ghana Education Service (GES) and the Cape Coast Metropolitan Directorate of Education for basic school teachers. At such courses, teachers could be exposed to other forms of formative assessment practices, which they can adopt to enhance students learning such as exit/admit slips, four corners, individual whiteboards and kinesthetic assessments