Search

The growth of Utah's dual language immersion (DLI) program has led to situations where student and mentor teachers teach in settings far different from their home countries' schools, while supervisors observe lessons in unfamiliar languages. This study examined critical incidents in a cross-cultural student teaching experience consisting of a student teacher teaching in a Chinese DLI classroom and supported by a Chinese mentor and a non-Chinese speaking university supervisor. We collected and analyzed audio from dyad meetings, from a triad meeting, and also audio from one-on-one interviews. Our findings raise questions about differences in how teaching is discussed between triad members, as well as whether such student teaching arrangements inhibit student teacher growth due to language or cultural barriers.

The purpose of this study is to examine the professional development (PD) needs of Chinese dual language immersion program (DLI) educators, particularly the PD supports these teachers receive. This instrumental case study examined the professional learning of four Chinese language DLI teachers through semi-structured interviews and observations of classroom teaching and PD trainings. Findings suggest the Utah DLI model indelibly shapes teachers' work and learning as teachers. Chinese DLI teachers also identify needs that are particular to their teaching role like adapting/translating resources; however, the findings also confirm other scholarship indicating Chinese DLI teachers' particular needs are not well supported. PD received by participants was general in nature, rather than differentiated for Chinese DLI teachers' needs.

The purpose of this study was to create a third space between a teacher educator and an undergraduate student to explore teaching experiences while in high school within non-formal education (NFE) programs in which we participated. We developed a series of five prompts that we responded to individually, meeting via Zoom to discuss our experiences and teacher learning. Our collaborative and iterative analysis revealed four categories related to our non-formal education teaching experiences:(1) how teacher learning was impacted by particular contexts in which it took place; (2) how our experiences revealed different and broader notions of teaching than we observed in our formal education experiences; (3) how certain contradictions shaped, and perhaps inhibited, our learning as teachers; and (4) what we learned from the teaching we did in NFE programs. Our findings depict how young people in recent years may accrue experiences teaching infrequently accounted for in previous scholarship.

The purpose of this instrumental, multisite case study is to examine fidelity, adaptation, and differentiation challenges found at Wood Badge, a nationwide Boy Scouts of America training for adult volunteer leaders. Our iterative analysis of more than 900 pages of fieldnotes and 400 pages of documents revealed facilitators often explicitly taught syllabus content during the trainings. Observers noted 119 minor differentiations across trainings, notably involving facilitator delivery methods and the duration and scheduling of training segments. Facilitators observed 16 adaptations, which appeared to be based on external conditions at trainings or facilitator preferences, and just three instances of differentiation. Our analysis of the trainings surfaced key fidelity/adaptation issues like overadherence, conflicting notions of deviation, and the impact of preparation on fidelity. In addition, we identified factors influencing facilitators' use of adaptation and differentiation. Recommendations for large-scale trainings are made based on the study's findings.

This instrumental case study explored non-formal educators' lay theories of adolescence using the case of the Boy Scouts of America's Scouts BSA program, a co-ed program serving youth between the ages of 11 and 17. We conducted an iterative analysis of 110 structured interviews with Scouts BSA adult volunteer leaders who served as scoutmasters or assistant scoutmasters. Results indicated that participants discussed adolescence in terms of youth characteristics as well as processes youth underwent during their adolescent years. These adults sometimes viewed adolescence as idiosyncratic, identifying differences in learning, behavior, and family situations among youth, particularly those whom they had identified as exhibiting specific challenges like autism. The results also illustrated relationships between the program and lay theories of adolescence. Namely, core Scouts BSA programmatic structures and expectations such as operating the patrol/troop method hierarchies, building leadership skills, camping or outdoor activities, and including all youth in activities influence participants' own views of adolescence, including their views of adolescence as a time to cultivate maturity and independence. The study concludes with a brief discussion of results and limitations of the study, including recommendations for training and additional research.

First-generation college students (FGCS) face unique challenges compared to non-first-generation peers. Lack of personal, emotional, financial, or psychological support may create difficulties adapting to college. The focus on affordability in higher education and lowering the cost of a bachelor's degree has also made the transfer process an essential part of degree completion for many, with only 41% of transfer students pursuing a bachelor's degree will achieve that goal. Research has made the connection that diminished personal support from parental figures may impact the mental health of FGCS transfer students, leading to higher dropout, lower retention, and lower degree completion rates. Students who experienced increased personal support might experience fewer mental health issues, resulting in a higher chance of degree completion. Future research implications include prioritizing support systems and mental health services to aid FGCS and transfer students lacking personal support in degree completion.

Non-formal education (NFE) programs -- those existing separately from hierarchically and chronologically organized schools -- have a long history with distance and online learning, both of which have been essential to NFE programming. NFE programs like Scouts BSA, the Boy Scouts of America's (BSA) co-ed program for 11-17 year olds, rely upon online learning to train adult volunteers. The purpose of this case study was to investigate non-formal educators' online training experiences and the extent to which these educators felt prepared for their roles.

This paper provides an empirical analysis of the impact and effectiveness of developmental relationships provided through academic intervention programs at a medium-size master's level public university in the Northeastern United States. The programs' curriculum follows the Model of Strategic Learning's four pillars of learning and is administered to students with diverse interventional needs. This paper presents a brief review of the literature about effective developmental relationship programs (mentoring and coaching) in higher education. Then, Ordinary Least Squares regressions, as well as paired samples t-tests, are used to test the impact of programs offered through developmental relationships to students with varying academic deficiencies. The immediate, as well as longer-term, impact and sustainability of students' enhanced performance is statistically examined. The paper concludes that students who fully take advantage of developmental relationships benefit the most and sustain their higher level of performance beyond the immediate post one-time intervention period. However, in the absence of additional intervention, the academic performance gains seem to subside and flatten out.

The goals of today's school athletic programs are vastly different from the original intentions of the administrators who established the first interscholastic athletic teams. For athletics to be anything more than a drain on school and taxpayer resources, these programs must undergo serious changes.

Although they were not traditional in their general orientations and they tended to favor equalization with respect to class assignments, political action, and social etiquette, the educators studied did not favor equalization when considering affirmative action or changing language usuage. (Author/IRT)

The authors outline three prevarication systems to explain why professors don't answer survey forms--the red tape rationale, the elegant kafuffle, and the competency-based cookie crumbler. (Author/IRT)

(NOTE: See HE 512 216 for journal name change in information.) The prevalence of the case method in preparing higher education leaders is examined. Responses to a Case Use Inventory indicate many variations are used, but that the case method may not be widely implemented among graduate higher education programs. (SF)