A balancing act: An exploration of how a public flagship institution responds to pressures for racial equity and institutional excellence

Lewis, Cassandra Carol University of Maryland, College Park 2007 해외박사(DDOD)

The purpose of this study was to explore how a public flagship institution responds to pressures for racial equity and institutional excellence in higher education. In particular, the study relied on an exploratory case study methodology to investigate the University of Maryland, College Park's responses to pressures for racial equity and institutional excellence from 1988, when the University was designated the flagship institution of the State of Maryland, to 2006. This study was informed by two streams of literature. The first stream examines how broad notions of equity and excellence are defined and measured and discusses whether these ideals are in tension within the broader context of American higher education. The second body of literature explores how institutions respond to external pressures, how contextual forces and human agents interact to shape institutional responses and how these responses affect the manner in which equity and excellence ideals are realized. The streams of literature are tied together through a conceptual model which suggests how demands for racial equity and institutional excellence are mediated by the strategic choices of key actors within the institution. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with nineteen informants and document analysis. Data suggest that specific strategies to mediate the demands for racial equity were conditioned and arguably constrained by the University's responses to pressures for institutional excellence. The data also suggest that the University's longstanding efforts to link racial equity with institutional excellence through broader notions of diversity which celebrate a broad range of individual differences are perceived to have diluted the social justice focus of racial equity. The University's resistance to addressing issues of racial equity in favor of promoting diversity and its tendency to embrace traditional, status-based indicators of excellence may have contributed to divergent perspectives concerning the University's commitment to racial equity and may have undermined the ability of the University to advance this value. Taken together, these and other case findings indicate that the orienting framework was a valid and useful theoretical orientation.

In search of educational leadership: A case study of the founding and transitional presidents' leadership of the educational program at Hagerstown Junior-Community College (Maryland)

May, Melinda Belle University of Maryland College Park 2001 해외박사(DDOD)

This study was designed to describe by means of a detailed case study the nature of leadership exerted by the founding president and his successor whose combined service spanned the entire fifty-four year existence of the oldest community college in western Maryland. An examination of critical leadership incidents in the college's life-span and in-depth interviews illuminate the role these presidents played as institutional leaders, and, more important, document the extent of their leadership of the educational program in the context of their multiple institutional responsibilities. Their leadership behaviors are subsequently examined for conformity to the five orientations of transformational leadership defined by Roueche, Baker, and Rose (1989) as critical to community college leadership: vision, influence, people, motivation, and values. The literature review focuses on leadership theory and its applicability to institutions of higher education, leadership in community colleges and the role of the president, and, more specifically, the community college president as educational leader. The researcher employs a detailed case study as described by Creswell (1998) to investigate the multidimensional social phenomena of educational leadership and to describe their holistic nature within the context of a single institution. As the instrument of data collection and analysis, the researcher triangulates methodological techniques. The study revealed that the founding president and the succeeding president exhibited actions and behaviors which would identify them as educational leaders within the context of their presidencies. However, neither president consistently demonstrated the five orientations of transformational leadership identified by Roueche et al. (1989). Most clearly and consistently demonstrated were orientations to vision, influence, people, and values, while motivation appeared to vary with situations and followers. Data revealed that the accomplishments of both presidents emanated from their clearly articulated vision. Both were presidents for their times. Research findings provide a better understanding of the multiple institutional responsibilities of the community college president and expand the base of knowledge available to current and aspiring leaders. Recommendations for further research are made, and implications for educational leadership are suggested.

A case study of the transfer process of a selected group of students from a community college to a four-year teacher education program

McDonough, Maureen Lucy University of Maryland College Park 2000 해외박사(DDOD)

This dissertation examined the transfer experience of a purposefully-selected group of students who exited the Community College of Baltimore County, Catonsville, and transferred to Towson University during 1999. The research questions addressed the issues of the role of the community college in teacher preparation and how the institutions help or hinder the transfer of prospective teacher education majors who begin their pre-service training at the community college. The researcher used the particularistic descriptive case study method, interviewing fourteen transfer students and six higher education professionals from both the two- and four-year institutions. The study traced the history of the community college movement nationwide and in the state of Maryland, and cited a sample of efforts to improve transfer conditions for community college students who express an interest in majoring in teacher education at the baccalaureate level. The narratives of the student interviews were analyzed and interpreted through the lenses of three sociologically-based theoretical perspectives: the conflict theory; the structural-functional theory; and the institutional barriers theory. The findings revealed five dominant themes that emerged from the data. These were: transfer tension, the ambiguous role of the community college in teacher preparation, the role of the student in the management of his/her transfer, the erection and maintenance of institutional barriers, and feelings of alienation, especially for non-traditional students. Analysis of the dialogs with the higher education professional respondents validated the transfer accounts of the students. The transfer process for this population varied depending upon the students' proaction and planning; nevertheless, transfer tension to some degree was reported by all of the student participants, and all had encountered some institutional barriers precluding a truly seamless transfer. Recommendations from the study were both for policy and practice and for further research, Significant recommendations included encouraging the university and community college teacher education professionals to conduct substantive dialog about their respective philosophies of preparing teachers, clarification of the role of the community college in teacher education, and providing transfer students with more timely and concise information to guide their transition. It was also recommended that the student participants be followed throughout their university years in a longitudinal study and that the research be expanded to include other higher education institutions and transfer students in other disciplines. The study is significant for teacher education students, education policy makers, and practitioners, especially in light of the shortage of qualified teachers.

Combatting White Supremacy on Campus: Racialized Counter-Memory and Student Protests in the 21st Century

Farzad-Phillips, Alyson Beata University of Maryland, College Park ProQuest Diss 2022 해외박사(DDOD)

Over the past two decades, we have witnessed an abundance of student protests at colleges and universities in the United States. Many of these protests cluster around the issues of white supremacy and anti-Black racism as they function in higher education settings—issues that have historically and contemporarily plagued United States colleges and universities. In this project, I analyze the arguments produced by college student protestors during race-based controversies at the University of Missouri, the University of Maryland, and the University of Georgia between 2015 and 2020. In each of these cases, college student activists have addressed racist cultures, actions, and policies upheld by their white peers, faculty, and university leadership. The student protest discourses developed during these controversies illuminate a theory of racialized counter-memory, which I define and elaborate throughout each chapter. Racialized counter-memory, as a rhetorical concept, brings together scholarship concerned with race, memory, and place/space, and it is best understood as public memory that centers race and racialized experiences in a way that counters dominant or institutional memory and promotes an anti-racist perspective. This study shows how racialized counter-memories—and the students that create, negotiate and circulate them—can combat the challenges of hegemonic white supremacy on college campuses by making white supremacy known, by marking racism’s existence on campus, and by envisioning anti-racist solutions. I also illustrate the ways in which students’ use of racialized counter-memory re-constituted the places and spaces of campus towards anti-racist ends, such as redistributing campus resources, constructing memory sites, and altering town-and-gown relations. Overall, this dissertation analyzes specifically how and in what way college students demonstrated the power of racialized counter-memory, in theory and in practice. I posit that rhetorical scholars should further develop and study racialized counter-memory, enacted in anti-racist protests and social change, as a rhetorical lens that can address and combat the assumed white standpoint and white supremacist systems imbedded in U.S. institutions and landscapes, including higher education institutions and their campuses.

Exploring the relationship between moral reasoning and students' understanding of the honor code at the University of Maryland

Goodwin, Andrea J. Corradini University of Maryland, College Park 2007 해외박사(DDOD)

This mixed methods study explored the relationship between moral reasoning and students' understanding of the honor code at the University of Maryland. The Defining Issues Test, version 2 (DIT2) was administered to 400 students residing in University housing in order to assess students' level of moral reasoning. Based on their scores on the DIT2, students were divided into three groups; those who scored high, medium, and low. Fifteen students were purposefully selected to participate in qualitative interviews to explore their understanding of the honor code. Data from the individual interviews illustrated that students understood the honor code in various ways including how they made meaning of the honor code, how they interpreted the honor code, and their attitudes towards the honor code. Specifically students at the highest level of moral reasoning believed that the honor code was common sense and therefore did not differentiate between the honor code and the honor pledge because the principle of academic dishonesty is evident in both. Students who scored in the middle of the other two groups believed that students' behavior was influenced by their values and judged the morality of actions by comparing their actions to actions that were socially acceptable. They focused on the importance of following the honor code because of its importance to the community. Finally, students who scored lowest on the DIT2 believed that the honor code was necessary so that students would not cheat. The meaning they made of the honor code was based on the honor code as a set of rules. They defined right behavior, in this case following the honor code, by what was in their own best interest. Students' attitudes toward cheating also emerged as a result of the analysis of the interview with students. Despite the differences found between students in this study, there were several findings that were consistent across all three groups of students. Students in the study had a favorable attitude toward the honor code and reported that they did not engage in academic dishonesty while in college. However, students in all three groups reported that they did not believe that the honor code directly impacted their behavior or the behavior of their peers at the University. They believed that faculty and peer behavior were more influential in their decisions regarding academic integrity than the honor code. Students in the study were reluctant to report their peers for academic dishonesty and many of the students focused on the importance of grades.

Black/African American students' perceptions of mathematical success and mathematical success factors at a community college

Marshall, Alycia A University of Maryland, College Park 2007 해외박사(DDOD)

The purpose of this dissertation was to examine Black/African American students' perception of mathematical success and the various factors that they perceived to attribute to this success within a community college setting. The research questions guiding this study were: (1) How do mathematically successful, Black/African American students define mathematical success? (2) What are the factors (e.g., sociocultural, institutional, personal and disciplinary) that mathematically successful Black/African American students identify as directly impacting their mathematical success within a community college environment? (3) What are Black/African American students' perceptions of the relationship between these factors (e.g., sociocultural, institutional, personal and disciplinary) and their individual mathematical success at the community college level?. The study sought to understand a variety of success factors including sociocultural, institutional, personal, and disciplinary factors, as the students perceived them to impact their mathematical success at the community college level. Through qualitative methods and a case study design, the current study has gained insight into the mathematics education of six, high-achieving African American students at the community college level. Data has been collected through individual and focus group interviews with African American students who have successfully completed several mathematics courses (e.g., Calculus I, Calculus II, etc.) at a predominantly White, community college in the Mid-Atlantic region of Maryland. Interview data from the six participants was collected, transcribed, and analyzed drawing from sociocultural perspectives. Findings indicated that these students perceived various disciplinary, personal, and sociocultural support factors to directly impact their mathematical success at the community college level. Throughout several identified success factors, major findings included an epic of caring conveyed to students through social interactions with others and a perceived relationship between mathematical success and liking mathematics as a discipline. The results of this study should help to inform the current understanding of African American success and achievement in the area of collegiate mathematics. Various implications for practice, policy, and research in this area are also presented.

A survey of knowledge and implementation of best practices for inclusion by personnel prepared to teach students with severe disabilities

Young, Heather Christine University of Maryland, College Park 2004 해외박사(DDOD)

The purpose of the research study was to: (a) determine if recent graduates receiving certification in severe disabilities were adequately prepared to teach students with severe disabilities in inclusive environments; (b) determine if recent graduates were teaching or previously taught in the field in which they were prepared (retention); (c) determine if graduates from May, 1996 to May, 2003 learned about and implemented best practices for inclusion (and believe they are critical to student success); and (d) determine if once teaching, certain variables were predictive (or more specifically account for the variability) of perceived adequacy of preparation and time spent supporting students in inclusive environments. Former graduates of the department of special education (EDSP) from the University of Maryland specializing in severe disabilities were located and electronically surveyed to collect follow-up and partial program evaluation data. A newly developed and validated instrument was developed to evaluate pre-service preparation in the field of inclusion. A nonhierarchical regression analysis was conducted to examine the contribution of certain variables on perceived adequacy of preparation to support students with severe disabilities in inclusive environments. Another nonhierarchical regression analysis was conducted to examine the contribution of certain variables on time spent supporting students with severe disabilities in inclusive settings once teaching. Independent t-tests were performed to compare the mean scores for adequacy of preparation for inclusion. Respondents reported strong knowledge of inclusive best practices (e.g., collaborative practices, individual student supports, instructional strategies) as a result of their pre-service preparation at the University of Maryland. Many inclusive best practices (e.g., individual student supports, assessment practices, instructional strategies) were reported to be present in respondents current or most recent teaching situation and almost all indicators were found to be 'critical to the success of students with severe disabilities'. Completion of the "Inclusive Practices" course and participation in inclusive field placements during pre-service preparation were predictive of increased adequacy of preparation for inclusion. Strong agreement of adequacy of preparation for inclusion at the pre-service level indicated more time spent supporting students with severe disabilities in inclusive settings once teaching.

Examining the effects of two sexual assault/date rape interventions in a population of college freshmen

Jordan, Jessica Brewster University of Maryland, College Park 2010 해외박사(DDOD)

Rape is committed more often than any other violent crime on college campuses. Over the years, various interventions have been developed to educate and positively change college students' attitudes, beliefs, and behavioral intentions regarding sexual assault and date rape. Common educational strategies in the sexual assault and date rape programs include the use of films and/or peer educators to help dispel commonly held date rape myths, to improve attitudes and/or knowledge of rape, to decrease rape-related behavioral intentions, to improve communication about sexual decisions, and to increase self-efficacy towards resisting an unwanted sexual experience. However, many intervention studies lack evaluation data to demonstrate the effectiveness of these programs on college campuses. The purpose of this study was to evaluate two experimental conditions in a sample of freshmen students at the University of Maryland, College Park. One intervention group received a sexual assault/date rape educational film followed by participating in a peer-led discussion; the second intervention group received only a peer education presentation; and the control group received no treatment. Pretest and four- to six-week posttest evaluation surveys were administered to participants to determine the effects of the interventions on attitudes towards rape, rape-related behavioral intentions, and sexual communication self-efficacy. The statistical methods used to analyze these data were paired t-tests and nested ANCOVA models. In addition, a Process Evaluation Survey was also administered to the intervention groups immediately upon their completion to capture an overall assessment of the interventions. Lastly, the peer educators delivering these programs completed evaluations after each presentation. Both intervention groups were found to have statistically significant increases in anti-rape attitudes at posttest, with females reporting higher anti-rape attitude scores compared to males in both interventions. Increases in anti-rape behavioral intentions and sexual communication self-efficacy scores were also reported; however, these changes were not statistically significant compared to the control group at posttest. The quantitative and qualitative data collected from the Process Evaluation Surveys and the Peer Educator Evaluations provided further guidance on how to improve the interventions.

Before it's too late: An analysis of the impact of parental involvement and middle school culture on eighth graders' academic preparedness for college by the twelfth grade

Bibo, Erin Ward University of Maryland, College Park 2012 해외박사(DDOD)

This study used a general two-level model to explore data from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988-1992 to determine the extent to which student-level (parental involvement) and school-level (school culture of college preparedness) factors individually and collectively influenced eighth grade students' eventual academic preparedness for college by the time they reached the twelfth grade. The study's models supported my foundational hypothesis that the middle school years play a critical role in preparing students for college. That said, the impacts of both parental involvement and school culture, at the middle school level, appear to have a very trivial influence, on average, on students' eventual levels of academic readiness for college. The study's models' random effects results, however, paint a slightly more complex picture. These resulted indicated that, at some schools within the study, some or all of the four parental involvement variables had a statistically significant impact on students' eventual ACRES scores. While I was unable to determine whether these significant effects were mostly positive or negative, it certainly supports the notion that parental involvement indeed plays an important role in preparing students to be academically prepared for college. Additionally, the study determined that students' middle school grades had the most positive influences on ACRES scores, and student poverty levels and first-generation status were associated with the most negative impacts on students' academic preparedness for college. The study concludes by calling on policymakers, educational leaders, teachers, and parents to focus their time, attention, and resources on the middle school years to improve students' eventual academic readiness for college.

Transmitting advantage: Maternal education differences in parental investment activities

Raley, Sara University of Maryland, College Park 2007 해외박사(DDOD)

Though the stark advantages of children growing up in college-educated families are well documented (e.g. higher levels of school achievement, higher likelihood of completing high school, higher college admission rates), scholars are just beginning to understand how the everyday activities of parents and children are involved in this reproduction of inequality. This study links parental time investments in children to their verbal achievement using data from the 1997 and 2002 waves of the nationally representative Panel Study of Income Dynamics Child Development Supplement. Consistent with existing theoretical frameworks, children of college-educated mothers are read to more often, watch less television, participate more in structured activities, and have mothers who are more involved in their schooling when compared with children of less educated mothers. These investments are also linked to children's verbal aptitude, and the linkages are strongest when children are young. Among preschool-aged children, reading is positively associated, while children's television viewing with parents is negatively associated with children's verbal achievement. By the time children reach school age, however, reading is negatively associated with verbal achievement. At this age, better-educated parents seem more likely than less-educated parents to provide remedial help to their children who may be having difficulty with reading. Also among school-aged children, parental investment in children's schooling and structured activities are positively associated with children's verbal scores. At the same time, there are important ways in which college-educated and less educated mothers do not diverge as much as previous research might suggest. Most notably, once family structure and race are held constant, educational variation in time spent with extended family and visiting others, mothers' daily expressions of warmth and affection, and awareness of children's whereabouts are generally negligible. Finally, individual parental investment measures only marginally explain the positive relationship between maternal education and children's verbal achievement, though they do play a significant role in helping to explain how and why children of college-educated mothers are more likely to have high-achieving children. Other factors, like high levels of income and mothers' verbal ability, seem more advantageous to these children than do the specific parenting activities of college-educated mothers.