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ACCUPLACER Placement Cutoff Scores as Predictors of Freshman Performance: A Correlational Analysis
No full textThere is uncertainty on how to maximize freshman performance in an English course when students have competing placement scores. Students who have scored above the cutoff score on one of the English placement tests (either reading or writing) and scored below the cutoff score on the other are not systematically placed. The purpose of this study was to determine whether ACCUPLACER placement cutoff scores in reading and writing predicted performance in first-semester English courses and first-semester cumulative GPA among incoming students at a community college in the Pacific Northwest during the 2015−2016 and 2016−2017 school years. Two research questions guided this study: How do administrators maximize freshman performance in an English course when students have competing placement scores? What are the differences between remedial and entry-level course grades for students who have competing placement scores? The sample consisting of 2,722 deidentified archival data of reading and writing placement scores, first English course grades, and first-quarter overall grade point averages. The multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) model was used to analyze the data. The key findings of this study showed that there were no significant differences in either remedial or entry-level English course grades that had competing placement scores. However, there was a statistically significant difference in academic performance based on a student’s cutoff scores who scored above the cut-off for both reading and writing with higher cumulative GPAs than students who scored below the cutoff on both the reading and writing
Using the Master’s Tool to Dismantle His House: Derrick Bell, Herbert Wechsler, and Critical Legal Process
No full textThis Article retells the life stories of Derrick Bell, a founder of Critical Race Theory, and Herbert Wechsler, a founder of the Legal Process School, to suggest a synthesis of their often conflicting paradigms—Critical Legal Process. Critical Legal Process’s fundamental question is whether the Master’s tool, the so-called rule of law, can be considered—in the words of Wechsler’s most famous article—a genuine “neutral principle.” Can the Master’s favorite tool be repurposed to dismantle the very house it built? Can the same rule of law that was abused to build the racist Jim Crow system not only dismantle that explicitly racist system but also lessen further racism moving forward? Bell would answer “No.” Wechsler would answer with a resounding “Yes.”
Bell and Wechsler offer merging and mirror images of Critical Legal Process’s critique of the rule of law. Both famously criticized Brown v. Board of Education, the U.S. Supreme Court opinion popularly celebrated for catalyzing the dismantling of the American apartheid system. Both began their respective legal careers as insider liberal civil rights reformers. Both served as federal civil government lawyers in the U.S. Department of Justice. When asked to renounce his two-dollar membership in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Bell refused and left Justice. Rejecting Bell’s uncompromising approach, Wechsler unapologetically and successfully argued Korematsu, the infamous U.S. Supreme Court case that upheld the World War II internment of Japanese-Americans.
Although Bell later renounced his insider status to become an outsider protester who rejected the rule of law, Wechsler maintained his steadfast belief in incremental, insider liberal legal reform to improve the rule of law. Bell’s own fictitious story about a lawyer named Erika Wechsler, the daughter of a liberal civil rights law professor, and her White Citizens for Black Survival organization, proposes how Critical Legal Process could synthesize Bell’s critical deconstructive and Wechsler’s transformative reconstructive legacies of the rule of law
Bounded by the Constitution: Resolving the Private Search Doctrine Circuit Split
No full textThis Article analyzes the private search doctrine exception to the Fourth Amendment and the exception\u27s application to smart phones and computers. The private search doctrine allows governmental authorities to replicate a private individual\u27s search without obtaining a warrant. This Article proposes a standard for court\u27s to use to resolve the circuit split on how to apply the exception to today\u27s technology. Presently, there are two standards used by courts. The Article names one standard as the boundless search approach that is used by the Fifth and Seventh Circuits. The Article names the other standard as bounded search approach that is used by Sixth and Eleventh Circuits. The Article proposes courts to use the bounded search approach when reviewing matters regarding the private search doctrine, and an alternative approach that this Article names the severity of the crime approach
Educate to Liberate: Exploring Educator Narratives to Examine the Mis-Education of Black Students
No full textIt is not known why the chronic mis-education of Black students has neither been adequately investigated nor treated as the most significant, widespread phenomenon of twenty-first century pedagogy. To attempt to understand this quandary, it was urgent to ask: How do Black educators understand the education of Black students? Are they able to incorporate the tensions and varied experiences they have had as students into their professional repertoire? This study described how Black educators’ unique cultural perspectives might enable increased insight into the problem of mis-education. Critical race theory framed this study with an emphasis on narrative inquiry and transformative learning. I interweaved narrative/counter-narrative and critical event research methods as both theoretical and methodological frameworks. I engaged in multi-part interviews and observations of 5 educators to explore their unique biographical narratives and analyze how their lives and teaching practices might better inform the success of Black students. Findings indicated (a) educators uniquely experienced the vestiges of mis-education as they faced insidious forms of racism during the course of their academic journey, (b) educators sought to interrupt the racism that their White teachers’ and peers exhibited, (c) educators encouraged students to use their voices and various platforms to effectively counteract their oppression, and (d) educators engaged transformative pedagogies in overt and covert ways depending on both the social and the teaching context(s). Based on the findings of this study, a liberation-based pedagogy is recommended to ensure the empowerment, increased performance, and well-rounded education of Black students
Teacher Experiences Regarding a Trauma-Informed Care Model in a Residential Facility School
No full textThis action research study examined the experiences of 12 teachers in a residential facility school in southern Colorado regarding the implementation of a trauma-informed care model. The analysis of the data provided evidence that the teachers’ experiences during the study transformed their perceptions concerning trauma-informed care. The study was guided by Herr and Anderson’s (2015) Action Research Cycle involving four phases: Develop, Act, Observe, Reflect. Participants were actively engaged in a focus group during the study. The focus group was guided by Schmuck’s (2006) Steps of Responsive Action Research. Using this cyclical action research approach, participants learned about trauma-informed care and contributed to the actions that took place in the study. They determined strategies through which to implement the trauma-informed care model. Participants experienced shifts in their perceptions and realized the viability of the trauma-informed care model in the residential facility school environment. Through the action research process, teachers participated in the development of shared interventions and improved their awareness of improvements and changes resulting from the process. They also identified challenges and concerns of using trauma-informed care in a residential facility school. This study demonstrated that the action research process is a viable option for increasing knowledge and understanding and that trauma-informed care is an essential component of assisting staff in working with traumatized youth
Teachers’ Perceptions on the Role of Creativity in Middle and Secondary Education
No full textWhile the goal of American education has been to produce workers who are ready to take their place in society, emphasis on standardization has not lead to the skills needed to effectively be a part of the technologically-based, globalized world in which society now functions. In this study, the researcher investigated how middle and secondary teacher perceive a creative environment or how the use of creative teaching strategies was perceived to increase academic performance of middle and secondary students. From the lens of Constructivism, a qualitative case study of middle and secondary teachers allowed for the discussion of creativity and perceived academic impact. Drawing from qualitative data collected using a questionnaire, classroom observations, and one-on-one interviews, this study found a perception among middle and secondary teachers of creativity increasing student academic achievement. The data revealed that a creative environment was central to student success. The study concluded a creative environment is established through the building of trust, which is done by the setting clear classroom expectations, allowing for questions and risk-taking, as well as making it safe for students to make mistakes or fail. Additionally, the study concluded that creativity aligns with the recognition of individual student needs, abilities, and learning preferences and offers clear learning goals which in turn affected student academic performance.
Keywords: creativity, creative environment, creative teaching strategies, middle-level student, secondary student, increased achievemen
A Phenomenological Study of Elementary Students in Dance Classes
No full textDance is a language with a variety of structures communicating unique messages using the elements of dance and the products are lived experiences. Using the phenomenological theories of Husserl, the connections to dance of Sheets-Johnstone, and the cognitive studies of Piaget, the purpose of this study was to examine the reflective process as a participant, performer, and audience member within the elementary school dance class. The opinions and ideas of elementary students are not represented within current research and administrators do not consider the students’ voices when developing dance education programming. This phenomenological study describes the assimilation of the elements of dance after experiencing class as well as the cognitive, kinesthetic, and creative reflections of the dance classes in the words and artwork of the participants. All 20 participants are students at a public elementary school in the Mid-Atlantic Region of the United States. The participants experienced dance classes, some completed video recorded interviews, and all created artwork. Through selective coding, the results indicated that elementary students have fun learning and imagining in the dance class environment; further results described happiness and relaxation with the dance class experience. These results will hopefully inspire administrators and policy makers to consider more dance education programming throughout the United States to meet the cognitive, kinesthetic, and creative needs of the elementary school students
The Effects Embedding Science Standards Within the Mathematics Curriculum Has On Students\u27 Perceptions of Mathematics and Mathematics Achievement
No full textThis study was based on a quasi-experimental design and consisted of a comparative group (students taught using traditional math instruction) and an experiential group (students taught using math instruction embedded with science standards). The study focused on whether embedding science standards into the instruction of mathematics would improve standardized test scores in mathematics of students in the sixth grade. The embedded lessons were designed by the researcher. Data collection was conducted using an online platform called ALEKS (a screener), a survey that measured student perceptions of efficacy toward math, and students’ math pre and post-tests using test scores as measured by the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR). The results revealed that there was no difference in achievement gains regarding STAAR standardized test scores in mathematics between students who were taught using traditional math instruction and students taught using math instruction embedded with science standards. However, students’ perceptions of self-efficacy, as it relates to math, increased in those receiving instruction embedded with science standards, in comparison to the students in the traditional math class