Archives: high school

Researcher bio

Trey Adcock is a Ph.D. candidate in the Culture, Curriculum, and Change program at the UNC Chapel Hill School of Education. Prior to attending UNC Chapel Hill, Mr. Adcock taught high school social studies in Savannah, GA. Since beginning his graduate work, he has focused on the integration of technology in social studies education and has been under the advisement of Dr. Cheryl Mason Bolick. Mr. Adcock’s dissertation committee is comprised of Dr. Cheryl Mason Bolick, Associate Professor and Director of Research and Professional Development for Outreach at the UNC Chapel Hill School of Education; Dr. George Noblit, the Joseph R. Neikirk Distinguished Professor of Sociology of Education at the UNC Chapel Hill School of Education; Dr. Jim Trier, Associate Professor at the UNC Chapel Hill School of Education; Dr. John K. Lee, Associate Professor of Social Studies and Middle Grades Education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at North Carolina State University; and Dr. Bill McDiarmid, Dean and Alumni Distinguished Professor of Education at the UNC Chapel Hill School of Education. Mr. Adcock is currently scheduled to defend his dissertation in April 2012.

Transcript

Trey Adcock (0:12)
I am Trey Adcock. I am hopefully in my final year of the Ph.D. in the Triple Cs.  Basically, my dissertation is focusing on the technology integration at an American Indian boarding school. The title, as it stands now, is  No Feathers Necessary: Technology integration in an American Indian boarding school. And there is a multitude of things going on in that.

(0:37)
I am using a methodology of portraiture to document the everyday struggle to integrate technology into the classroom. I think that what makes it unique is that it is an American Indian boarding school. And that legacy, in terms of American Indian education and the fact that it’s a boarding school, is very problematic.

(1:00)
I think you would find a lot of people in American Indian education that would say that schools were a tool of the state to assimilate. You had The Plain Wars going on during the 19th century. I am a Cherokee citizen; my family was forced to migrate out of Georgia and north Alabama to Indian territory, which is now Oklahoma. So that is where my Indian connection comes comes.

(1:25)
This is all going on in the 19th century: the removal of the Cherokee and the other southeastern tribes, The Plains Wars, and then you have these nations like the Cherokee moving to Oklahoma and rebuilding. So education is a tool of assimilation for the dominant group, and then it is also a nation building exercise for the Cherokee Nation. That spirit is what it continues today.

(1:50)
I think what is interesting about my project, and obviously I’m geeking out over it because it’s my project, is that in a lot of ways they infuse technology at every level of teaching and learning. They have a one-to-one initiative. Every 7th and 8th grader now has an iPad 2. They have MacBooks and SmartBoards; they are fully integrated. But the struggle is to do it effectively.

(2:15)
What’s really cool is that they have turned the notion of American Indian boarding school on its head. From one of assimilation and representing a really problematic history to one of innovation, of hope, and of success. The school that I am working at has had 44 Gate’s Scholars in the last 7 years. They are producing kids into the Ivy League schools throughout the country. Technology is playing a key role in that. That is really what my dissertation is about on one hand.

(2:48)
The other part of it that I really find interesting is combating a lot of stereotypes of Indians that have been constructed through school curriculum and media. By detailing the everyday lives of these teachers, in some ways, I am combating notion that Indians are a-historical and are without technology. I hope the reader, after they read my dissertation, really take away the experience that they really see Indians different. That they see us as participants in the 21st century, as struggling like everyone else to do what’s best for their students. That’s just a little bit of a foundation of where my work’s gone.

(3:40)
Just really quickly to end, I just recently did a presentation at the North Carolina Social Studies Conference on the American Indian curriculum guide that has been produced by the American Indian Center on campus in conjunction with LEARN NC. It was really great. We had educators, Indian and non-Indian, come and explore the curriculum guide with us. It’s really cool because it is really the first time that tribes have written their own history. I’m sure you know this, most often, curricular materials in schools are written by the dominant group about the other. This is a really cool project because the tribes have taken ownership and written their histories, they have chosen what materials to include, and they are challenging those stereotypes. It’s a really meaningful project.

More than forty percent of all American schools are in rural areas, and thirty percent of all students attend rural schools. The National Research Center on Rural Education Support (NRCRES) is actively investigating solutions to improve the quality of rural education. Dr. Judith Meece, professor of educational psychology at UNC Chapel Hill School of Education, leads one of the four major studies being conducted by the NRCRES. Dr. Meece’s study, The Rural High School Aspirations Study (RHSA), is generating new information about: 1) rural high school students’ educational, vocational, and residential plans and aspirations for the future; 2) students’ preparatory activities and planning for postsecondary education, work, and adult life; and 3) the impact of school experiences, geographic location, economic status, cultural or ethnic origins, family background, peer relations, and community characteristics on rural students’ aspirations and preparatory activities.

The Research

Beginning in 2006, the RHSA study randomly selected 73 small town and rural schools from more than 100,000 schools across the country. Particular attention was given to schools that qualified for federal funding directed at small and low-income schools under the U.S. Department of Education’s Rural Education Achievement Program. The schools in the sample ranged from having an enrollment of 12 students to approximately 1,700 students. The study used a survey to gather information from a total of 8,754 students. In addition, surveys and interviews were used to gather information from 792 parents, 667 teachers, and 69 administrators.

Key findings

The RHSA study generated a great wealth of new findings. What follows is an overview of the key findings of the study. These findings will be explored and discussed further in future posts.

College and career aspirations

A majority of the participating students indicated that they intend to obtain a postsecondary degree. Approximately thirteen percent of the students intend to complete a two-year degree, thirty-six percent of the students plan to complete college, and thirty-five percent plan to obtain an advanced degree.
Students participating in the study were asked if they plan to have a career by age 30, and, if so, what job or occupation would they most like to have. A total of ninety percent of the participating students indicated that they do plan on having a career by age 30. Twenty-four percent indicated that they would like to have a career in the field of healthcare, twelve percent in art/entertainment/sports/media, eight percent in science and engineering, seven percent in education, seven percent in skilled labor, six percent in services, six percent in technical, and four percent in protective services. Only thirty-nine percent of the students aspired to the appropriate level of education needed to meet their vocational aspirations: forty-six percent aspired to more education than was necessary for their preferred vocation.

Preparatory activities

The results of this study indicate that rural students consult many sources in preparing for postsecondary education and/or occupations. The students reported that their parents and school counselors were the most helpful sources of information; however, most of the career counseling was done by teachers in the classroom. Many students reported that they had not participated in school-to-work transition programs such as job shadowing, mentoring, and/or internships. The availability of college preparatory programs is related directly to the size of the school: the larger the school, the more programs they are able to offer. Additionally, smaller and more remote schools are less likely to offer advanced placement (AP) courses.

Impact factors

From the data collected, the following impact factors were determined to play a role in rural students’ education aspirations and involvement in preparatory activities.

Education aspirations

• Girls were more likely than boys to aspire to postsecondary education.
• Students who had a positive perception of the local economy and planned to remain in their home community were less likely to aspire to postsecondary education.
• Students who had experienced greater family hardship and had greater levels of respect and identification with their parents were less likely to aspire to postsecondary education.
• Students who reported greater parental expectations for college were more likely to aspire to postsecondary education.
• Students who lived in more remote rural areas were less likely to aspire to postsecondary education.
• Students who were enrolled in college preparatory programs, took part in postsecondary preparation activities, and had higher levels of achievement, academic self-concept, and school valuing were more likely to aspire to postsecondary education.

Preparation activities

• Girls reported greater involvement in consulting with school and family sources about their futures.
• White students reported greater involvement in consulting with school and family sources about their futures.
• Upper grade students were more likely to take part in college and career counseling activities at school.
• Students who had more positive schooling experiences were more likely to take part in college and career counseling activities at school.
• Boys were more likely to be involved in school-to-work transition programs.
• Upper grade students were more likely to be involved in school-to-work transition programs.
• African American students were more likely to be involved in school-to-work transition programs.
• Hispanic/Latino students were more likely to be involved in school-to-work transition programs.

So what?

With more rural students than ever before aspiring to postsecondary education, it is imperative that we better understand the aspirations of these students, the preparation activities available to these students, and the potential barriers these students face. Dr. Meece’s study is a great advance to the field of education in that it clearly maps out these important factors. From this data, we can begin to map out ways to improve rural education for students across the country.

Tips from Dr. Meece

Know that teachers play a very significant role in shaping youth aspirations.

Today’s school counselor must devote a great deal of time to testing administration and working with at risk youth. This leaves little time to work with students who are forming their educational and career goals. This study showed that teachers play a very significant role in shaping their students’ aspirations. It is important to consider what you are doing on a daily basis in your classroom that may be shaping your students’ aspirations.

Help your students make informed, realistic goals.

Many students reported that they plan to attend a community college and then transfer to a four-year institution. It is important that we talk with our students about the advantages and disadvantages off the many different paths of postsecondary education. It is important that we equip our students with information they need to make informed decisions and be successful in their postsecondary and/or vocational ventures.

Counter the idea that students need to leave the community.

Most rural youth plan to remain in a rural community through their adult life. The nature of employment in rural communities is changing. It is important to connect students with emerging business owners and individuals in the healthcare field in the local community. Instead of encouraging students to leave rural communities, we should be thinking about how to support these students in coming back to the community with what they have learned in their postsecondary education.

Schools need to know what is happening with their students after they graduate.

Schools need to look closely at the pathways their students take after graduation and how successful their students are. Keeping track of our students will help us to better understand how to prepare our students, as well as realize how successful we have been in preparing our students to succeed.

Researcher bio

Dr. Judith Meece is a nationally recognized scholar in the field of achievement motivation and has provided professional development for teachers to enhance student academic engagement and motivation in schools across the country. Her research focuses on the role of classroom and school environments in the development of adolescent’s academic motivation and future aspirations, and she is especially interested in the influence of school transitions on achievement motivation, learning, and school adjustment.

A full biography can be found on the School of Education website.

More information about the RHSA study can be found on the The National Research Center on Rural Education Support website.

Immigration has long been a heated topic in the United States, and schools are often at the center of debates. We are seeing a drastic rise in the number of immigrant students in our classrooms today. This new population of students brings with it a new set of challenges. To help address the needs of today’s immigrant students, Dr. Xue Lan Rong, professor of social studies education and sociology of education at the UNC Chapel Hill School of Education, and Dr. Judith Preissle, professor at the University of Georgia, draw on census data and current educational research to make recommendations for educators in their book, Educating Immigrant Students in the 21st Century: What Educators Need to Know.

A Brief history of immigration in the United States

Immigration patterns in the United States is widely seen as happening in four distinct waves. The first wave was between 1790 and 1820 and was primarily comprised of British and northern Europeans. The second wave ran until 1860 as the U.S. was undergoing rapid industrialization and expansion. This wave was primarily comprised of Irish and German immigrants. The third wave was comprised of mostly southern and eastern Europeans and ended in 1914. Immigration to the U.S. was then slowed by World War I and the introduction of an immigration policy that set quotas for the number of immigrants allowed into the U.S. based on their country of origin. This was in efforts to maintain the dominance of northern and western Europeans in the U.S.’s ethnic balance. Immigration was further slowed by the Great Depression and World War II. The fourth wave of immigration didn’t start until the quota system for immigration was done away with in 1965. This wave is still running and is widely dominated by Hispanic and Asian immigrants.

Facts about immigrant children

In 2005 there were approximately 11 million children who were considered to be children of immigrants. That is roughly 20 percent of all school-aged children in the United States. A majority of immigrant children experience more social and economic difficulties than native-born children. For example, immigrant children tend to have challenges in English proficiency and are more likely to be poor and to live in inner-city areas. As a result, immigrant families often live in racially, ethnically, and linguistically segregated neighborhoods. Compared with the general school-age population, immigrant children in general and within each racial-ethic group were more likely to have physical disabilities and less likely to have health insurance.

Immigration and schools

Schools are regarded to be the most important social institution for absorbing new immigrants; there are few other institutions as directly affected by immigration as our nation’ s schools. These children bring different life experiences and beliefs, cultural communication patterns, languages, and educational traditions with them when they go to school. However, U.S. public education has, historically, widely rejected maintaining the heritage language and cultural values of immigrant children. Instead, there has been an emphasis on a rapid Americanization in curricula and instruction aimed at assimilating immigrants to the norms of the dominant culture. This subtractive model approach positions the immigrant students as having multiple deficits and facing many unnecessary obstacles in finding academic success.

The current emphasis on testing in our schools is particularly difficult for immigrant students because it requires rapid English acquisition and quick cultural adjustment regardless the age of arrival, age-appropriate education attainment before the entrance of U.S. school, etc. Immigrant students bring a wide diversity of individual strengths, knowledge, and cultural identity to the classroom that these tests place a diminished value on. It’s important that teachers find ways to celebrate and develop these differences. To do this, it is important to keep in mind the needs of immigrant students at different ages. From birth to age 8, children start to develop a strong self-consciousness and sense of identity. It is important to involve parents during this time to find the best path and program for their children. During middle childhood, it is critical to help children understand how experiences with racism can influence the paths of their academic futures and career aspirations. This will help them negotiate barriers they may encounter. Through adolescence, it is important that immigrant students have access to programs focused on helping students finish school, acquire work skills, postpone parenthood, and keep physically and mentally healthy. This can help empower students to overcome barriers of unsafe neighborhoods, family poverty, and lack of health insurance or inadequate access to health care. To work with immigrant students of any age, community outreach is an important strategy.

So what?

In recent years, North Carolina has become a leading New Gateway state for immigration and has seen drastic increases in immigrant populations. Compared to the traditional gateway states, schools and educators in the New Gateway states are facing more and different challenges, such as a higher percentage of recent immigrants, newer immigrant ethnic communities with less resource, more demanding on language and other services, etc. It is imperative that we seek to better understand and serve the growing number of immigrant students we are seeing in our classrooms. Educating Immigrant Students in the 21st Century: What Educators Need to Know offers insightful and informed recommendations or how to best serve our growing immigrant population for educators at all levels. More of Dr. Rong and Dr. Preissle’s recommendations will be explored in future postings here on The Well.

Tips from Dr. Rong

Understand how the demographics are changing.

Before any of us are able to plan effective strategies for working with our immigrant students, we must first understand their social and economic profiles. Only then will we be able to make sound social and educational decisions that have our students’ best interests in mind.

Be empathetic.

Immigrant children are often in a very difficult situations. Their home culture may not be aligned or be conflicted with the dominant culture in schools. Adding to this situation, they are in a country where issues of immigration are highly political and emotionally charged. It is important that we, as teachers, are able to put aside our personal opinions about the politics of immigration and do whatever we can to help every single student in our classrooms grow and learn. It is also important that educators take an additive approach, i.e. recognizing the strengths in immigrant cultures and help these students learn based on the knowledge they have. It is important that we recognize the situation our immigrant students are in and identify what we can do to help them find success in our classrooms.

Act now.

The United States has entered a new era of immigration. Recent immigrants and their children now comprise more than 20 percent of the population in the U.S. The time to act is now. The immigrant population has been overlooked in our schools for too long.

Researcher bio

Dr. Rong’s 25-year career includes teaching, research, consultative and administrative experience in the United States and China, including six years as a K-12 literature, history and geography teacher in rural and urban areas of the People’s Republic of China. Inspired to make a real difference in children’s lives and the society in which they live, she uses interdisciplinary research to explore three aspects of educational equality: the education of immigrant children of various ethnic groups; the education of Asian-American children and education in China – especially the education of migrant children in China’s urbanization movement. Dr. Rong’s major contributions to her field include elaborations on theories that conceptualize the relationship between variable educational achievement patterns and the multiple stages of children’s socialization into American society. Her more recent studies attempt to link the updated theories and research findings to educational policies and practices. This research seeks to provide recommendations for schools, immigrant families and their communities so they can help immigrant children adjust to school and society.

A full biography can be found on the School of Education website