A Case Study Policy Analysis of One Bilingual Higher Education Institution: How Are Bilingual English-Spanish Universities Planning to Remain Viable?

Martinez, Carmen Alicia University of Pittsburgh ProQuest Dissertations & 2022 해외박사(DDOD)

Hispanic college enrollment in the U.S. will surpass 4.4 million students by 2025, far exceeding the growth rate of any other racial or ethnic group. Hence, the number of Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) identified by the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) increased to nearly 570 in 2020 and is likely to accelerate (Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, n.d.).This qualitative case study took place at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV). one of the largest U.S. HSIs. Located at the South Texas borderland, it claims to be a "highly engaged bilingual university." This qualitative case study describes and interprets UTRGV's bilingual model of higher education through institutional document analysis, supported by semi-structured interviews.Data were conceptualized using an adaptation of Dafouz and Smit's (2016) ROAD MAPPING of English-Medium Education in Multilingual University Settings (EMEMUS), originally used to study the introduction of English to European universities. Informed by sociolinguistics, critical language and race theory, LangCrit (Cumins, 2014), and bilingual education policy, this study addresses the primary question—how the first public bilingual English-Spanish university plans to remain viable.Findings suggest UTRGV's bilingual initiative is in its infancy. It is nested in how the community positions itself through language within a broader framework, e.g., language policy, bilingual education, HSIs' research, and meanings associated with personal value, legitimization, and social justice. Indeed, UTRGV has supported the creation of a bilingual, bicultural, and biliterate institute to promote higher education in English and Spanish; however, this strategic plan remains disconnected from institutional language policy.The success of the UTRGV bilingual initiative symbolizes the beginning of recognizing the linguistic capital of the U.S. Hispanic population and an opportunity for HSIs to capitalize on the wellspring of emerging bilinguals whose cultural heritage and linguistic wealth deserve strengthening, consideration, and relevance. Findings revealed that UTRGV's Hispanic and first-generation college student community is committed to becoming a highly engaged bilingual university and the blueprint for other HSIs to follow.

Representation in Teacher Education: Attracting Black Applicants to Pitt's Undergraduate Teacher Education Programs

Williams, Danae Necitas University of Pittsburgh ProQuest Dissertations & 2023 해외박사(DDOD)

This study explored Black student representation in the undergraduate teacher education program at the University of Pittsburgh. Nationally, Black teachers are underrepresented in public schools (Cross, 2017; Hussar et al., 2020), which impacts Black student outcomes (Carver-Thomas, 2018; Haddix, 2017). Teacher Education programs provide a large pipeline to the profession. Therefore, teacher education programs must attract Black students to help improve the representation of Black teachers. During the 2022-2023 academic year, Pitt School of Education implemented several changes, including recruiting for the new B.S. in Teacher Education program, new Black faculty started, and adding two new critical and culturally relevant prerequisite courses. This study aimed to find the applicant demographic trends of the undergraduate teacher education program and what attracts Black students to these programs.The study utilizes application data and semi-structured individual interviews of eight participants to gain insight. The participants were Black students either interested, applied, or enrolled in undergraduate teacher education programs. Then, descriptive statistics of racial demographic data and thematic analysis of interviews were used to analyze the findings.Major findings indicate that although the School of Education attracted more Black applicants to the teacher education programs, it did not increase Black student representation in the application pool. Additionally, the study found that Black students are primarily attracted to the same things as other demographics when pursuing a teacher education program. For example, institutional characteristics, motivational factors, support system influence, and campus resources. However, what stood out amongst the participants was the emphasis on representation and the lack thereof as an attraction to the undergraduate teaching programs. The implications of the changes encourage the School of Education to implement more targeted recruitment efforts to increase Black student representation.

Beyond Bare Life: Onto-Epistemic Archives, Precarity, and the Praxis of Being Human

Johnson, Dominique Deirdre University of Pittsburgh ProQuest Dissertations & 2017 해외박사(DDOD)

This dissertation argues that mapping undercommon appositionality---as an epistemological and ontological formation---provides a complementary corrective to identitarian "subject positions." It does this by accounting for structural and institutional displacements that are simultaneously constitutive of and oppositional to black (queer) femme [B(Q)F] subjectivities. In this project, I study B(Q)F subjects' everyday negotiations with structural order that present as forms of cultural expression responsive to three systemic structural patterns: antiblackness, misogyny/misogynoir, and queer antagonism. I analyze the ways that intersectional activism and scholarship inform lived experience and, in so doing, can catalyze ontological and epistemological affirmation. For black queer women and femmes, surviving the ongoing violence of dispossession requires the creation and discursive circulation of pro-black, pro-queer, and pro-feminine knowledges without which social death is ontologically substantiated as the dominant organizing logic reducing social life to bare life.. The dissertation's case studies are organized into conceptual onto-epistemic archives: Liberation, Refusal, Exception, and Intimacy. In the first case study, I follow the work of activist-scholar Barbara Smith as it overlaps with the efforts of London's Black Lesbian and Gay Centre. I begin with a discussion of black LGBT activism and scholarship highlighting the contemporary beginning of an explicitly black queer femme topos of political action in the 1980s US and UK. The next chapter explores black queer femme advocacy by illuminating the ways that one queer dandy style movement further complicates how gender functions to delimit social relationships. The third study takes up social relationships, thinking through B(Q)F socialities by exploring the ways that legal policy, media representation, and cultural ideologies reproduce structural violence impacting the everyday lives of trans and gender non-binary persons. Finally, I turn toward the interiority of B(Q)F affective discourse to think through what dispossession entails in the realm of interpersonal, erotic intimacy as themes emerge in autoethnography, oral history, and two black women's creative works: Solange Knowles's A Seat at the Table and Gayl Jones's Eva's Man. This progression of OEAs moves from the formation of community to the autonomous recognition of subjectivity, generating a narrative of black (queer) femme sociality along the way.

An Evaluation of the Family Self-Sufficiency Program in Pittsburgh Using Event History Analysis

Bert, Jennifer M University of Pittsburgh ProQuest Dissertations & 2019 해외박사(DDOD)

The Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh’s (HACP) Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) program was designed to enable public housing and housing choice voucher households (HCV) to increase their household’s incomes and savings and to move toward self-sufficiency. Despite program graduates having higher incomes and escrow savings than non-graduates, HACP reported low-enrollment and high attrition rates from its FSS program. In response, HACP developed an increased minimum rent policy which raises the minimum rent for public housing households from $25 to $150 and for HCV households from $50 to $150, for work-able households, unless the household enrolls in the FSS program. This study addresses the following research questions 1.) What are the outcomes of FSS participation? 2.) When are FSS participants most likely to leave the FSS program? 3.) What explains exit from the FSS program? This study uses administrative data from 2010 to 2017 and an event history framework to determine whether or when FSS participants leave the program and uses logistic regression to explore factors that may explain an FSS participant’s likelihood of leaving the program prior to completion. This study found that there are significant differences in FSS program enrollment and attrition between the public housing and the HCV households. HCV households were far less likely to enroll than public housing households and once enrolled, they were far less likely to remain in the program than public housing households. This study also finds that the increased minimum rent policy was not a strong incentive for residents to enroll or remain in the FSS program. This study did not find any seasonal effects or point in the program when participants were more likely to leave the FSS program.

Three Essays on the Pittsburgh Promise

Lowry, Danielle J. University of Pittsburgh ProQuest Dissertations & 2021 해외박사(DDOD)

Promise programs are place-based programs that discount the price of postsecondary education with the goal of increasing degree attainment. I contribute to the growing literature on the effectiveness of promise programs in this dissertation. In my first paper, I evaluate the impact of the Pittsburgh Promise Extension Scholarship on college-going outcomes. The Extension Scholarship is a component of the Pittsburgh Promise’s Core Scholarship that is available to students that do not meet the Core GPA minimum of 2.5. The Extension Scholarship is a generous award that is available at the local community college. I use regression discontinuity and difference-in-differences designs to assess the program’s impact. I find that the scholarship has no impact on student enrollment outcomes at the margin of eligibility, but does produce modest increases in associate’s degree attainment. Higher along the GPA range, students are more likely to substitute out of four-year institutions and into two-year institutions. This leads to a reduction in degree attainment.Next, I examine the possibility of award displacement within the context of the Pitts-burgh Promise. Award displacement occurs when one type of financial aid award directly con-tributes to the change in quantity of another award. I explore whether postsecondary institutions displaced awards in response to the Pittsburgh Promise scholarship by capitalizing on the doubling of the maximum Promise amount in 2012. I assess differences in costs and awards be-tween Promise students and their peers, on average, and examine whether and in what ways these differences changed after the increase in Promise funding. I do not find evidence that in-situations are responding to the Promise increase through aid reductions.The final study is part of an ongoing research-practice partnership with the Pittsburgh Promise. In response to decreasing Promise usage trends, the Pittsburgh Promise launched a college coaching pilot program in three high schools. The program was implemented during the 2020-2021 academic year when the COVID-19 pandemic prompted schools to move to online instruction. Using interviews with program staff, I analyze the relationship-building between Promise coaches and guidance counselors. I offer recommendations to consider from the literature on school-community partnerships that may strengthen collaboration.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Training in Higher Education: How Enrichment Imbued with Reciprocity Could Sustain the Complex Work

Schindler, Bee University of Pittsburgh ProQuest Dissertations & 2022 해외박사(DDOD)

This project evaluates enrichment offered by a Health Sciences Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (HSDEI) department tasked with embedding and retaining diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in six health sciences schools in an urban higher education institution. The evaluation centers on the realities of a primarily white institution’s schools of health sciences’ attention to processes and action items related to diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, including antiracism and social justice advancement and by reciprocally attending to the unique positionality of the training participants and facilitators. Evaluation results offer pathways to build capacity in examining the self, the self in community, and the self in the system as a means to disrupt health inequities.Health sciences has a long history of oppressive and unethical processes affecting health and wellness, which is directly linked to disparate outcomes for minoritized and oppressed individuals and communities in health and life expectancy, affecting the spectrum of experience, including both joy and death. This is especially true for racial, ethnic, educational status, low- economic status, sexual, and gender-minoritized individuals and communities connected both to the university (staff, faculty, and students) and to communities outside of the university.Through document analysis, semi-structured interviews, and a version of a Community Engagement Studio (Joosten et al., 2015) framework, this study examines reciprocity as a driver for sustained DEI-related growth within the schools of health sciences to determine if the HSDEI training options align with stakeholder needs and assets. Four key findings re-frame enrichment options to interrogate: the colonization of DEI in higher education; the lack of attention to place- based learning for DEI to root histories and cultural significance; the dearth of attention to whiteness; and the criticality of the self for DEI facilitators and participants. The recommendations point to a spectrum of solutions to disrupt the components lacking in DEI training, including critical frameworks and questions to ask as an institution, as a unit, and as individuals. The evaluation analysis and recommendations lend support to future research with case studies, a flipped classroom model in DEI enrichment facilitation, and inquiry and best practice to sustain the work.

Flow Theory and Engagement: Observing Engagement Through the Lens of Flow in a Middle School Integrated Maker Space

Zollars, Jeffrey University of Pittsburgh ProQuest Dissertations & 2017 해외박사(DDOD)

The purpose of this study was to explore engagement as it occurred in the sample of middle school aged students situated in a learning environment of a Western Pennsylvania public school with an integrated Maker Space. This study was embedded within a larger two-year NSF study Making Success: Researching a School District's Integration of the Maker Movement into its Middle and High School conducted by the University of Pittsburgh's Collaborative for Evaluation and Assessment Capacity (CEAC). Flow theory, also called optimal experience theory first introduced in 1975 by Mikhail Csikszentmihalyi, played a critical role in this study. The importance of this study can be framed in the context of increasing the understanding of how students are engaged in learning within a Maker Space that is situated within a traditionally structured educational setting. This research explored student engagement from the student perspective as observed through the lens of flow theory. Flow Theory also informed the development of the research questions Evidence included data gathered to observe for presence of the nine components of flow (balance of challenges and skills, merging of action and awareness, clear goals, clear feedback, intense focus, paradox of control, loss of self-consciousness, autotelic experience, and loss of time).

The Association of Trait Mindfulness with Psychosocial and Bio-Behavioral Variables Among Adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes

Abujaradeh, Hiba University of Pittsburgh ProQuest Dissertations & 2021 해외박사(DDOD)

Background: Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is one of the most common chronic diseases in childhood. Adolescents with T1D are especially vulnerable to stress, diabetes distress, depression, and anxiety, which can lead to deteriorated diabetes self-management (DSM) and glycemic regulation. Protective factors have been identified to improve the well-being of adolescents with T1D by decreasing the risk of stress, depression, and anxiety which could improve DSM and glycemic regulation (A1c). Mindfulness, either as an individual trait or as a result of training, has been identified as a protective factor against stress and is associated with positive well-being in adults with diabetes. However, there has been limited investigation of mindfulness among adolescents with chronic disorders in general and among adolescents with T1D in particular.Objectives: 1) Describe trait mindfulness and mindfulness practices among adolescents with T1D; 2) Compare levels of trait mindfulness and mindfulness practices on adolescents’ demographics, clinical, and bio-behavioral variables; 3) Examine the association of trait mindfulness with psychosocial and bio-behavioral variables; 4) Examine which mindfulness facets (Observe, Describe, Act with Awareness, Nonjudgement; and Nonreactivity) are associated with psychosocial and bio-behavioral variables; 5) Explore the association between trait mindfulness and stigma toward chronic disorder; and 6) Explore the potential moderating and/or mediating role of shared responsibility on the relationship between trait mindfulness and bio-behavioral variables.Methods: This cross-sectional study recruited adolescents (age=12-18 years) with T1D at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. Participants completed questions on a tablet computer including demographic data, measures on mindfulness, and psychosocial variables (stress, diabetes-specific stress, diabetes distress, depression, anxiety). For bio-behavioral variables (diabetes self-management and glycemic regulation) participants completed diabetes self-management measures on the tablet and A1c was obtained from medical records.Summary: Adolescents with higher levels of trait mindfulness and with more types of mindfulness practices had lower diabetes-specific stress, higher DSM, and lower A1c. Higher mindfulness as a unidimensional concept was significantly associated with better psychosocial variables and DSM. Mindfulness facets Act with Awareness, Nonjudgment, and Nonreactivity were associated with most psychosocial variables. Nonjudgement was associated with DSM and Nonreactivity was associated with A1c. It appears that mindfulness-based interventions could be tailored to target different mindfulness facets which may improve varied aspects of mental and physical health in adolescents with T1D. These findings provided better understanding of trait mindfulness among adolescents with T1D, which could be applied to establish a theory-based and developmentally-appropriate mindfulness-based intervention to improve psychological health, adherence to diabetes self-management, and glycemic regulation.

Coherent Ultrafast Spectroscopy of Noble Metal Surfaces

Li, Andi University of Pittsburgh ProQuest Dissertations & 2022 해외박사(DDOD)

I investigate the coherent ultrafast nonlinear photoexcitation spectra and dynamics of noble metal surfaces by angle- and interferometric time-resolved multi-photon photoemission (mPP) spectroscopy. By tuning excitation photon energies, exploring wider Brillouin zone areas, and measuring coherent polarization signals excited in the sample, I find a plethora of interesting features, which are compiled in this dissertation.The anisotropic Ag(110) surface is studied with mPP spectroscopy, which enables the surface band structure of its unoccupied states to be recorded over a wider energy-momentum range than has been available to linear photoemission spectroscopy. I observe rich spectroscopic features which I assign to excitations involving two Shockley-type surface states at the Y point, one strongly anisotropic surface state at the Γ point, image potential state series, and the bulk bands.The tunability of excitation photon energies enables studies on the bulk plasmon response of all three low-index silver surfaces. By tuning the photon energies through the epsilon near zero region, I observe signals that represent the excitation of the bulk plasmon of silver. Under intense laser field, I record that the decay of this plasmon mode excites electrons nonlinearly from the Fermi level. Such mode of plasmon decay into nonthermal electrons is important for many plasmonic applications.I investigate the principles of mPP excitation dynamics by studying the non-resonantly excited Shockley surface (SS) state on Ag(111) surfaces with two to up to five photons. By Fourier transformation of the interferometric mPP spectra, I discover the correlation between the polarization field excited in the sample and the final photoelectron distribution. I also identify the coherent excitation nature of the above-threshold photoemission process.Lastly, I analyze the mPP excitation dynamics of a three-photon resonant transition from the SS to first image potential (IP1) state on Cu(111) surfaces. By Fourier filtering the excitation interferogram according to different order polarization fields, I discover signatures of optical dressing, where the optical field induces shifts and splitting of the surface eigenstates. By realizing dressing of solid-state matter, I can manipulate material band dispersions by laser fields, and change corresponding material properties on ultrafast timescales.

Shining a Light in the Labyrinth: The Impact of Professional Development on Faculty Advisors and Their Work with Rural, First Generation College Students

Aubele, Emily University of Pittsburgh ProQuest Dissertations & 2017 해외박사(DDOD)

The purpose of this Action Research study was to investigate the impact of the first iteration of a training and development program for faculty academic advisors. The program intends to assist faculty advisors to enhance and refine the academic advising strategies they employ when working with first generation, rural college students at Clarion University's Venango Campus. This study first explored, through focus groups, the experiences and perceptions of faculty advisors and first generation rural college students related to academic advising. Findings from that exploration served as a basis for the development and implementation of a campus specific academic advising training and development program for faculty, with an emphasis on the advising and self-efficacy needs of the first generation, rural college student. The study found that advisors who have access to training and development opportunities, and institutional support for their advising work with students are better able to employ developmental advising approaches that help to successfully guide the first-generation, rural college student through the transition to the academic environment. Faculty advisors who do not receive regular training and development, or are unclear as to the institutional advising philosophy, struggle to provide advising services that extend beyond the prescriptive and may feel underprepared to help students transition successfully.