Children of Immigrants and Educational Expectations: The Roles of School Composition

2010 ◽  
Vol 112 (6) ◽  
pp. 1679-1704 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan Wells

Background/Context Many children of immigrants are not enrolled in high schools that sufficiently meet their needs, and subsequently, many are not making a successful transition to, and/or successfully completing, higher education. As immigration grows in the United States, educators and policy makers must understand how the educational processes for children of immigrants differ from nonimmigrants. Because expectations for higher education are a necessary, though insufficient, step toward college attendance and degree attainment, and because students have these attitudes influenced by the schools they attend, I examine high school composition for its effects on educational expectations and how compositional effects differ between children of immigrants and nonimmigrants. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study This study intends to be another step on the path toward understanding the educational processes of children of immigrants specifically, and of all students more broadly, as the immigrant population grows in U.S. schools. Toward those ends, this study is based on two overarching research questions: (1) How do the immigrant compositions of U.S. secondary schools affect the educational expectations of all students? (2) How do the compositions of U.S. secondary schools affect the educational expectations of children of immigrants differently than nonimmigrant students? Research Design The research questions are addressed via secondary data analysis using data from the Educational Longitudinal Study (ELS:2002/2004), which were collected by the National Center for Education Statistics. I explore school composition effects on a binary dependent variable indicating whether a 12th-grade student expects to complete a graduate or professional degree. This study emphasizes a critical-quantitative approach by demonstrating that common theories and assumptions about educational expectations may be inaccurate for children of immigrants in today's schools. Conclusions/Recommendations Results show that children of immigrants are affected differently by school composition than are nonimmigrants, and in ways that contradict commonly accepted theoretical views. Specifically, this analysis demonstrates that comparative and normative theories of school effects are not accurate for children of immigrants, at least not to the same degree as they are for nonimmigrants. This is a reminder to researchers and practitioners alike that subgroups of students, in this case the children of immigrants, may not be affected by schools in similar ways.

2021 ◽  
pp. 205789112110405
Author(s):  
Ikhsan Darmawan

Although the number of countries that have adopted e-voting has decreased lately, the number of academic publications on e-voting adoption has increased in the last two years. To date, there is no coherent narrative in the existing literature that explains the progress of the research on e-voting adoption. This article aims to answer the following research question: “How has research on the topic of e-voting adoption progressed over the last 15 years?” The article provides a semi-systematic review of 78 studies that were conducted from 2005 to 2020. In this article, I argue that although the studies on e-voting adoption are dominated by a single case study, by research in the United States, and by the positivist paradigm, scholars have employed the term “e-voting adoption” diversely and the research on e-voting adoption has evolved to address more specific research questions. Recommendations for the future agenda of research on e-voting adoption are also discussed.


Author(s):  
Floyd M. Hammack

The rise of schooling, from a peripheral activity of religious groups and some elites to a virtually universal and global experience of nearly all children, has been the object of study for over a century. Socialization, usually accomplished within the family, is how young people were traditionally brought into the skills and knowledge required by adult status. A few were chosen for more specialized and formalized education, among them priests, but “going to school” was a very uncommon human experience until the 19th century in the United States, when the “common school movement” established schools in rural areas and cities. By the second half of the 19th century, mass elementary schooling was in place and the expansion of “comprehensive” secondary education had begun. After World War II, a similar pattern of growth in higher education began to take shape. Increasingly called “postsecondary schooling,” the kinds of organizations offering this level of education were diverse, with a large expansion of public institutions, two- and four-year degree programs, and a robust private sector. As this expansion has taken place, the content of schooling, as well as the forms it has assumed, has grown. The questions scholars have asked about this phenomenon include “why has it taken place?” and “what are its consequences?” This article will focus on the literature documenting the expansion of schooling in the United States, the explanations that have been developed for this expansion, and assessments of its consequences. “Functional” (including human capital) explanations have stressed the technical demands of the labor market as the economy has moved from one based on extraction of resources (like farming) to manufacturing, and on to service activities. This view asserts that formal schooling needed to be expanded to transfer the cognitive skills required to attain independent adult status in the new economy. Alternatively, “conflict” theories see education as a tool used by competing groups to exclude nonmembers from eligibility for positions that provide high rewards. Dominant groups shape educational expectations and content in ways that privilege their own members, thus sustaining their dominance. Finally, “neo-institutional” explanations emphasize how education has become the chief legitimate mechanism for selection of people to adult statuses in society. These perspectives include a vast literature into which this essay will provide entrée. After assaying the theoretical literature, this report will examine the consequences of educational expansion for some specific educational topics, including early childhood education, the “college for all” movement, women in higher education, and the rise of community colleges and for-profit colleges.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maya Kurniawati ◽  
Choirul Saleh ◽  
M.R. Khairul Muluk

Globalization and international standard universities trend drive the higher education system to become more dynamic and innovative. The lecturer is a profession that drives and encourages university competitiveness. Therefore, better career advancement and development are vital in encouraging higher education competitiveness. The United States of America (USA) is currently a world-class university orientation, followed by Australia. Hence, other countries, especially developing countries, should know the USA and Australia higher education system, especially in the lecturers’ career advancement and development. This study is necessary to answer research questions about comparing academic career advancement systems in the USA and Australia. This study will give other countries new insight into academic career advancement. The researchers apply the findings from a systematic review. This study focuses on six aspects discussed: regulations, educational qualifications, lecturer obligation status in the higher education, career ladder, career advancement stages, and the lecturers' duties also responsibilities in lecturer career advancement in the USA and Australia. This study examines the gap between lecturers' career advancement systems in the USA and Australia comprehensively. The researchers observe by analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of the lecturer career advancement system in the USA and Australia. Also, the researchers compare the results using comparative public administration theory.


2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 159-166
Author(s):  
Patrick Obere Abiam ◽  
John Kizinghe Odok

The study was designed to ascertain if mathematics teachers in secondary schools know and practise wait-time during classroom instructions. It also sought to determine wait-time periods in current practice by mathematics teachers in Nigeria. Four research questions were used to guide the study. The study adopted survey research design. The sample used for the study comprised 210 qualified mathematics teachers. Two instruments, namely; Wait-time Practice Questionnaire (WPQ) and Checklist for Classroom Wait-time Observations (CCWO) were constructed by the investigators and used for data collection. Research questions 1, 2, and 4 were answered using percentage (%), while research question 3 was answered using mean. The results established that wait-time is being practised in Nigerian secondary schools by mathematics teachers during classroom instructions. The results equally revealed that mathematics teachers currently practise an average of 1.33 seconds wait-time in class. Based on these findings, it was recommended that mathematics teachers should not only practise waittime, but; they should be seen to practise adequate wait-time of at least 3 seconds each lesson, and the practice of wait-time should be emphasised in Nigerian schools for meaningful learning of mathematicsto take place.


2021 ◽  
Vol 123 (8) ◽  
pp. 31-58
Author(s):  
Katherine K. Frankel ◽  
Maneka Deanna Brooks ◽  
Julie E. Learned

Background/Context: In the past two decades there have been at least 10 quantitative reviews, syntheses, or meta-analyses focused on literacy interventions in secondary schools. To date, much of this research has focused on quantifiable outcomes such as reading test scores, and few efforts have been made to synthesize studies of adolescent literacy interventions that attend to how students themselves experience those interventions and what mediates their experiences, which previous adolescent literacy research suggests should be considered alongside other outcomes. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study: This meta-synthesis of qualitative research highlights additional factors that are overlooked when evidence of effectiveness is defined predominantly through assessment outcomes. It contributes insights from two decades of research on reading intervention classes (RICs), which are a long-standing approach to adolescent literacy intervention. We define RICs as compulsory, yearlong courses that supplement content-area classes with the goal of improving adolescents’ reading. Grounded in sociocultural theories of literacy and learning, our research question was: How do students experience and perceive RICs? Research Design: We conducted a qualitative meta-synthesis of 21 studies published between 2000 and 2020 that (1) focused on secondary (grades 6–12) RICs in the United States and (2) included data related to students’ experiences and perspectives. Data Collection and Analysis: We followed best practices in qualitative meta-synthesis, including assembling an author team composed of researchers with expertise in RICs, identifying a research meta-question, conducting a comprehensive search, selecting and appraising relevant studies, and coding and presenting findings using qualitative techniques. Findings/Results: We found that youth’s own diverse understandings of themselves as readers and writers, combined with the extent to which they viewed their RICs as relevant, agentive, and facilitative of relationships, mediated students’ experiences and perceptions of their RICs. In addition, students across studies described placement policies and practices as confusing, frustrating, and embarrassing. Conclusions/Recommendations: By providing a perspective that extends beyond test scores, the findings highlight some of the consequences of intervention placement policies and practices for adolescents. They also address the need for educational stakeholders to expand definitions of what counts as evidence of effectiveness to inform the future development of re-mediated literacy learning opportunities for adolescents that (1) rethink curriculum and instruction to affirm students’ literacy identities, histories, and capacities, and (2) reposition youth as literacy knowers and doers.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (Winter) ◽  
pp. 96-99
Author(s):  
Lauren Chow

Within the United States, the areas of international and multicultural higher education have similar goals but different origins, and there have been historical areas of tension between the two even as many scholars and practitioners have sought ways to link them. Much literature on the intersections between the two areas was published in the 1990s and early 2010s, but the landscape of higher education has shifted significantly in recent years; furthermore, most previous research focused on theoretical reasons for why the two areas did not intersect and offered broad suggestions for how they could be merged. This study investigated research questions related to what the language used by international and multicultural offices to describe their work can reveal about how they partner or compete to create inclusive institutional environments, using the lens of Kretzmann and McKnight’s assets-based community development theory. The study used content analysis to analyze data collected from the websites of ten institutions in Massachusetts. Key findings include a slight bias towards international offices in asset-based framing and a significant bias towards multicultural offices in deficit-based framing. These findings largely reflect old tensions between the two areas despite nearly three decades of scholarship on the topic and significant changes in climate for higher education, demonstrating the need for a more intentional dialogue between these areas and a balanced model of framing both areas’ work. This research is currently being expanded upon using semi-structured interviews with administrators who work at the ten institutions used in the content analysis.


2009 ◽  
Vol 111 (6) ◽  
pp. 1444-1475 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Alba ◽  
Roxane Silberman

Background/Context The educational fate of the children of low-wage immigrants is a salient issue in all the economically developed societies that have received major immigration flows since the 1950s. The article considers the way in which educational systems in the two countries structure the educational experiences and shape the opportunities of the children of immigrants. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study This article examines the educational experiences of the children of Mexican immigrants in the United States and of North African immigrants in France. Both groups are low-wage labor migrants with low educational attainment relative to the native born. Research Design The article uses data from the U.S. Census and the 2003 Formation Qualification Professionelle Survey in France, as well as analysis of other research on the two countries, to compare educational processes and attainment for the two groups. Conclusions/Recommendations The comparison of the two systems shows that although the French and U.S. educational systems differ in many ways, the outcomes are in fact quite similar. In both systems, the children of low-wage labor migrants are tracked into the low streams of the educational hierarchy and have lower attainment than their native-born peers. At the same time, in both countries, a small percentage of children of immigrants do manage to succeed. The authors conclude that despite apparent differences between the two systems, residential segregation and educational tracking produce these similar outcomes, which also reflect the determination of native-born middle-class parents to preserve their privileged status and to thwart efforts to make the educational system more open.


10.28945/4005 ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 193-210
Author(s):  
Christina W. Yao ◽  
Louise Michelle Vital

Aim/Purpose: Learning to conduct research, including considerations for concepts such as reflexivity, is a key component of doctoral student preparation in higher education. Yet limited attention is given to doctoral student training for conducting international research, particularly in understanding researcher reflexivity within international contexts. Background: Incorporating reflexive practices in one’s scholarship is of particular importance because international research often includes U.S.-based researchers working with cultural groups and contexts that are very different from them. Thus, we examined the following: how do novice U.S. trained researchers understand the role of their reflexivity in qualitative international research? Methodology: We utilized qualitative inquiry to answer the study’s research question. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 22 participants representing 11 higher education doctoral programs in the United States. Contribution: This study provides insight on how U.S. doctoral students reflect on their researcher reflexivity as emerging international researchers utilizing three types of reflexivity as outlined by the conceptual perspectives that frame this study: introspection, social critique, and discursive deconstruction Findings: Most participants believed that self-reflection is a critical component of reflexivity in international research. Several participants demonstrated an awareness of the privilege and power they bring to their international research based on their identities as Western-trained researchers. Participants utilized different forms of self-reflection when collecting, analyzing, and interpreting their data in order to ensure that the voices of their participants were appropriately represented in their research Recommendations for Practitioners: Our recommendations for graduate preparation programs include helping doctoral students to understand reflexivity as both a research concept and an applied practice in international context. Recommendation for Researchers: We recommend that novice researchers learn how to incorporate reflexive practices when conducting research because as emerging scholars they can have a better sense of how who they are and how they think about research influences their research activities. Impact on Society: Implications from this study affect Western-based education programs that seek to internationalize curriculum and research priorities. Future Research: In terms of next steps, we recommend research that explores how faculty train doctoral students to participate in the global contexts of educational research.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (Fall) ◽  
pp. 152-168
Author(s):  
Kirsten A. Bilas

Global student mobility is growing in importance as students increasingly turn their interest worldwide. International student spouses and their personal experiences is an emerging problem of practice in higher education due to their connection to international student retention rates. In particular, what support systems are provided to this demographic is especially important. Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was used to examine international student spouses’ perception of support services at an urban private institution of higher education in the United States. A qualitative approach addressed the following research question: What role do international student spouses perceive institutions of higher education have in terms of offering support services? This study focused on five international student spouses who came to the United States on F2 dependent visa status.


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