There is little research on the experiences of international teachers recruited to work in urban schools in America. The purpose of this qualitative exploratory case study was to explore Caribbean international teachers' experiences during and after recruitment to teach in New York City public schools. Homans's social exchange theory provided the…

The creation of "universidades interculturales" (intercultural universities, UIs) in Mexico at the start of the 21st century was not only a policy response to the need for more accessible higher education for historically underrepresented students, but also to the call for more culturally and linguistically relevant education and…

This dissertation disaggregates the "Hispanic" category to examine the various factors shaping the educational trajectories of students who encompass this large ethnic group. This project consists of three studies, each presenting the perspectives of principal stakeholders: families, schools, and a community-based educational initiative.…

Latinx students are being over-identified as students with disabilities in our current K-12 educational system by as much as eight times that of their White peers. Students served in a more restrictive environment, such as special education, see poorer outcomes than those in a general education setting; therefore, expanding equitable access and…

Academic vocabulary knowledge is central to reading achievement, particularly for students who have limited experiences with academic discourse outside of school. Yet many teachers devote little time to focused instruction in this area, because they may lack critical meta-linguistic and pedagogical knowledge. The purpose of this longitudinal…

Vocabulary and comprehension are so inextricably linked that it ensures the necessity of researchers and teachers to determine the most effective method of vocabulary instruction. Our nation's children are still victims of what has been termed the vocabulary gap (Biemiller & Boote, 2006). This "vocabulary gap," according to a large…

Current initiatives to recruit international teachers are on the rise. Although international teachers have always played a part in educating American students, their presence in U.S. schools have increased over the past few years as a result of overseas recruitment programs (Francis, 2005; Hutchinson, 2007). This increase in the recruitment of…

In this dissertation, through semi-structured interviews with 36 female social movement participants and 3 male participants in El Salvador, Nicaragua, Bolivia, and Argentina, I ask, "How do women in Latin American social movements perceive the influence of theology on these movements' pedagogies?" I argue that through this work, the…