(2010). Women's Literacy and Numeracy Practices Oriented toward Small-Scale Social Action in Northern Mexico, Adult Basic Education and Literacy Journal. This article looks at literacy from social and critical perspectives in order to understand the literacy and numeracy practices of women in small savings groups in northern Mexico. In this case, women's literacy and numeracy practices were not only situated in a rural desert context but also oriented toward concrete action to address their particular social and economic circumstances. The study was based on nine months of ethnographic fieldwork with a Freire-inspired, popular education organization in Mexico. [More] Descriptors: Popular Education, Females, Social Action, Numeracy
(2010). A World Class Education: Strategic Plan, 2010-2015. New Mexico's unique demographics and rich intellectual assets, including two of the three largest national engineering and science research laboratories in the country (Sandia and Los Alamos), provide an excellent national setting for educational transformation. With approximately 320,000 K-12 students, New Mexico's demographics are distinctive: 57% of the State's K-12 students is Hispanic; 29% is White; 11% is Native American; 3% is Black; and 1% is Asian or of other backgrounds. New Mexico is ranked 36th in overall population size, has the fifth largest land mass in the U.S. (121,665 square miles), and ranks 45th in the nation in population density. With only 6.3 people per square mile, New Mexico faces unique challenges in educating students in rural areas. Seeking to build on its unique demographics and geography, New Mexico launched an education reform agenda in 2003 through passage of HB 212 Public School Reforms. This landmark legislation, introduced by a teacher-legislator from Albuquerque, marked a critical milestone when New Mexicans came together around fundamental concerns. That is, attracting and retaining quality teachers and principals; holding students, teachers, schools, LEAs (local education agencies), charters, and the State accountable for student performance; providing a culturally diverse curriculum with high expectations for all students; and providing better support for students, educators, families, and schools. Despite this legislation, educational performance in New Mexico has only seen nominal gains, as verified by major legislative reviews; large achievement gaps separate low-income students and students of color from others. In April 2010, New Mexico's Secretary of Education convened a group of nearly 75 legislative and education leaders, business and community members, and other key stakeholders regarding the Phase II Race to the Top grant application. The decision of the group, supported by Governor Bill Richardson, was that New Mexico is well-positioned to undertake ongoing education reform; the State should move forward, and do so enthusiastically and thoughtfully. Through the College and Career Readiness Policy Institute (CCRPI) Action Plan, New Mexico has articulated a comprehensive, college and career ready, high school graduation initiative for the state's unique population. National CCRPI partners–including Achieve, National Governors Association, Education Council, Jobs for the Future, and Data Quality Campaign–helped a diverse group of New Mexico policy, business, community, and education leaders to develop and build upon cutting edge strategies grounded in current research. This plan weaves the essential elements of the HB 212 Public School Reforms, the ongoing education reform defined within the 2010 Race to the Top grant application, and the articulated initiatives outlined in the College and Career Readiness Policy Institute Action Plan to create bold educational transformational challenge for New Mexico. [More] Descriptors: Strategic Planning, Public Schools, Elementary Secondary Education, American Indians
(2017). An Analysis of the Charter School Facility Landscape in Albuquerque, National Charter School Resource Center. In 2016, the National Charter School Resource Center (NCSRC), the Colorado League of Charter Schools (the League), the New Mexico Coalition for Charter Schools (NMCCS), and the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (the Alliance) collaborated to collect data and information about charter school facilities and facilities expenditures in the city of Albuquerque, New Mexico. The data collection in Albuquerque was supported by the Charter School Facilities Initiative (CSFI), which is a national project developed by the League to research charter school facilities and facilities expenditures across the country. The Charter School Facilities Initiative team identified 50 brick and mortar Albuquerque charter school facilities that were eligible to participate in this project. Seventy-eight percent (78%) of eligible charter school facilities (39 out of 50) completed the Charter School Facilities Survey. The survey methodology used for this report was designed to address Albuquerque-specific charter school facility and policy related issues, including shared use information, facility amenities, ownership, financing, grade levels and waiting lists. One appendix is included. [More] Descriptors: Charter Schools, Educational Facilities, Expenditures, School Surveys
(2017). Reducing the Cultural Divide among U.S. and Mexican Students through Application of the Contact Hypothesis, Intercultural Education. Mexico and the U.S. are closely associated by commerce, culture and family ties. Despite the geographical proximity and the long-standing socio-political history between the two countries, there is limited understanding of cultural differences and similarities. A unique study abroad programme for U.S. and Mexican students was developed based on the contact hypothesis for reducing prejudice and creating stronger intergroup relationships. Students were recruited from a Mexican and a U.S. university for this project. Based on key principles inherent in intercultural education, students were provided with lectures, group projects and opportunities for shared living. They were merged for cultural experiences both in the U.S. and Mexico, including a three-week service learning project in two impoverished Mexican communities. Participants gained practical language skills and a more comprehensive understanding of Mexican migration. The programme also helped reduce cultural stereotypes and demonstrated the benefits of working toward collective goals. Shared experiences for students from diverse cultures hold promise for creating meaningful social integration and fostering international partnerships opportunities for higher education institutions. [More] Descriptors: Cultural Influences, Social Integration, Study Abroad, Service Learning
(2017). Beyond Immigrant Status: Book-Sharing in Low-Income Mexican-American Families, Journal of Early Childhood Research. Data from a sample (n = 145) of low-income Mexican-American mothers and their toddlers (9-26 months) were used to explore the prevalence of high-frequency book-sharing (?3 days/week) and its association with maternal immigrant status (Mexico-born vs US-born), as well as other demographic and psychosocial factors. Mexico-born mothers were more likely to report frequent book-sharing than were their US-born counterparts. This was contrary to expectations, and may be representative of the "immigrant paradox." Other variables associated with high-frequency book-sharing included not receiving welfare, low levels of parenting stress, and having 10 or more books in the home; these factors remained statistically significant in multivariate logistic regression models. The findings of this study have the potential to inform not only intervention efforts targeting emergent literacy in family contexts and children's school readiness in Latino families, but also practitioners and policy makers in the health and social services. Pediatricians and other health and social service practitioners are encouraged to be aware of the demographic and psychosocial factors that can affect mothers' pursuit of child-focused early literacy activities. [More] Descriptors: Mexican Americans, Low Income Groups, Mothers, Toddlers
(2014). Criteria and Instruments for Doctoral Program Admissions, Electronic Journal of Research in Educational Psychology. Graduate studies, and in particular doctoral ones, pursue the development of scientific researchers able to make original contributions in a specific area of knowledge. However, attrition rates indicate that achieving this goal is not easy. The available evidence indicates that there are behavioral factors, positive and negative, that influence obtaining a doctoral degree. Unlike in other western nations, such as the USA, these factors have not been studied in Mexico. In particular, this article analyzes the relationship between academic success and the instruments commonly used to decide admission to undergraduate (EXANI-II) and postgraduate studies (EXANI-III) in Mexico. Additionally, a number of measurable psychological constructs are introduced. These constructs are different from those comprising the EXANI and can be used for admission to doctoral studies, to reduce attrition rates and increase the certainty about the timely completion of Doctoral dissertations. [More] Descriptors: Graduate Study, Doctoral Programs, Admission Criteria, Correlation
(2014). How to Study a Tone Language, with Exemplification from Oku (Grassfields Bantu, Cameroon), Language Documentation & Conservation. In response to requests I have often got as to how one approaches a tone language, I present a personal view of the three stages involved, starting from scratch and arriving at an analysis: Stage I: Determining the tonal contrasts and their approximate phonetic allotones. Stage II: Discovering any tonal alternations ("morphotonemics"). Stage III: establishing the tonal analysis itself. While most emphasis in the literature concerns this last stage, I show how the analysis crucially depends on the first two. A detailed illustration is presented from Oku, a Grassfields Bantu language spoken in Cameroon on which I personally worked in the field. The paper concludes with discussion of issues arising in other tone languages, illustrated by Corejuage (Tukanoan, Colombia), Peñoles Mixtec (Otomanguean, Mexico), Villa Alta Yatzachi Zapotec (Otomanguean, Mexico), Luganda (Bantu, Uganda), Hakha Lai (Tibeto-Burman, Myanmar and Northeast India), and Haya (Bantu, Tanzania). [More] Descriptors: Language Research, Tone Languages, Foreign Countries, African Languages
(2014). Borderlands Epistemologies and the Transnational Experience, GIST Education and Learning Research Journal. This reflective article is based on an ethnographic case study of five transnational teachers of English in Mexico. These teachers had acquired English as children of Mexican immigrants to the U.S. At the time of the study, they were living and teaching in their parents' place of origin in rural Mexico. The intent of the article is to examine how borderlands ways of knowing were reflected in their personal and professional lives. The transnational experiences of living in and between nation states appeared at the forefront of their cultural and linguistic practices. They spoke the languages of transnationalism in that they engaged in "translanguaging" and considered English to be part of their heritage, too. They strongly identified with other transnationals who had similar backgrounds, and as teachers of English, they transformed their classroom into authentic lessons on language and culture. Their borderlands ways of knowing informed their linguistic identity and teaching practices. [More] Descriptors: Epistemology, Immigrants, Mexican Americans, Case Studies
(2014). NAFTA: The World's Largest Trading Zone Turns 20, Social Education. Everyone under the age of 20 who has grown up in North America has lived in the common market created by NAFTA–the North American Free Trade Agreement. In a zone linking the United States, Canada, and Mexico, most goods and investments flow freely across borders to users, consumers, and investors. In 1994, NAFTA created the largest relatively free trade zone in the world by phasing out tariffs and other trade restrictions on goods and investments. Today, the NAFTA area is home to approximately 450 million people, with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of almost $20 trillion. NAFTA countries create 23 percent of the world's total wealth. Twenty years after its enactment, how is the free trade zone working out? Did NAFTA make Canada and Mexico better off at the expense of the United States? Or did it help boost production, employment, investment, and consumption across all three countries? [More] Descriptors: Debate, International Trade, Regional Cooperation, Macroeconomics
(2014). Acceptance of Online Degrees by Undergraduate Mexican Students, International Journal on E-Learning. The quality and acceptance of online degree programs are still controversial issues. In Mexico, where access to technology is limited, there are few studies on the matter. Undergraduate students (n = 104) answered a survey that aimed to evaluate their knowledge of virtual education, their likelihood of enrollment in an online degree program, and their acceptance of online degrees as adequate professional credentials. Results show that participants have a basic idea about e-learning, consider that face-to-face courses have a higher quality than distance classes, are open to the idea of enrolling in an online degree program, but regard traditional degrees as more adequate professional credentials than web-based equivalents. Further research is needed to increase our understanding of the comparative standing and acceptability of online degrees in a developing country like Mexico. [More] Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Electronic Learning, Academic Degrees, Undergraduate Students
(2014). How Important Is Teaching Phonemic Awareness to Children Learning to Read in Spanish?, American Educational Research Journal. This comparative study examines relationships between phonemic awareness and Spanish reading skill acquisition among three groups of Spanish-speaking first and second graders: children in Mexico receiving reading instruction in Spanish and children in the United States receiving reading instruction in either Spanish or English. Children were tested on Spanish oral language and reading skills in fall and spring of Grades 1 and 2. Children in Mexico were the lowest in phonemic awareness among the three groups and very low in their entering first-grade reading skills. However, they ended second grade matching or surpassing the reading skills of the U.S. students while remaining lower in phonemic awareness. Findings cast doubt on whether phonemic awareness instruction is helpful for children learning to read in Spanish. [More] Descriptors: Phonemic Awareness, Teaching Methods, Spanish, Reading Skills
(2014). Everybody's Problem: Novice Teachers in Disadvantaged Mexican Schools, International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education (QSE). This paper explores the difficulties that novice teachers confront at two economically, socially, and academically disadvantaged schools in the state of Nuevo Leon, Mexico. The researchers employed the action research tradition. Problems were identified using participant observation during reflexive workshops conducted with novice teachers and also in school settings. Teacher-generated written documents during the workshops were also analyzed. The difficulties these teachers face include issues related to parent involvement, resources, students' basic learning background, teaching strategies for students with particular needs, discipline, work overload, and career preparation and curricular reform. The identified challenges are similar to those that beginning teachers typically experience. However, results of this study highlight the ways in which the immediate working context and characteristics of Mexico's educational system uniquely impact and structure the experience of novice teachers in disadvantaged schools. [More] Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Disadvantaged Schools, Novices, Educationally Disadvantaged
(2014). Young EFL Students' Engagements with English outside the Classroom, ELT Journal. Following the global trend in primary English language instruction, the Ministry of Education in Mexico has recently included English as an additional language as part of the national curriculum for primary grades. Some have questioned whether early EFL programmes can work, given the few instructional hours per week and limited exposure to the target language in non-English speaking environments. However, this article reveals that children in EFL settings often use English more than is commonly thought, and in surprising ways. It examines the types of engagements that primary school students in Mexico have with English when the teacher is not around. These engagements, especially through music, movies, and video games, illustrate the creative ways children draw on their emerging linguistic resources and employ a variety of tools to accomplish a range of communicative functions in English. The results of the study outlined in this article suggest that they can be sources from which teachers can draw pedagogical inspiration. [More] Descriptors: English (Second Language), Second Language Learning, Learner Engagement, Mexicans
(2017). On the Recognition of Quality Online Course Design in Promotion and Tenure: A Survey of Higher Ed Institutions in the Western United States, Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration. What constitutes excellence in teaching for university faculty when they are expected or required to create quality online courses? This is a question that will increasingly be asked of members of promotion and tenure committees as market pressures demand entire degrees be delivered online. Developing a quality online course is a significant commitment in time and effort and frequently requires learning new skills and pedagogical methods. Increasingly, faculty are expected to make this commitment, yet it may not be valued in their promotion and tenure process. This study sought to determine to what extent developing a "quality" online course (one that has been reviewed to a set of standards) receives credit in the promotion and tenure (P&T) process for all ranks. A survey across multiple disciplines at 19 western universities found that only 16 percent of the departments that completed the survey specifically include the development of a quality online course in their promotion and tenure documentation. Two hundred and forty-eight departments offering online degree programs from 19 four-year research institutions of higher education (IHEs) in the western United States were invited to participate in this study. Of the 19 institutions (including New Mexico State University), 15 were peers of New Mexico State University (NMSU), with three additional non-peer Western region IHEs being invited to take an online survey. Survey takers were given the option to volunteer for a more in-depth follow-up phone interview. [More] Descriptors: College Faculty, Teacher Promotion, Tenure, Online Courses
(2015). New Mexico Educator Equity Plan. Both the U.S. Department of Education and the New Mexico Public Education Department (PED) believe that equal opportunity is a core American value. Equal access to excellent education provides meaningful opportunities for students to achieve their goals. Recognizing that family income and race often predicts a student's ability to access excellent education in our country, the U.S. Department of Education asked state education agencies, including PED, to submit a State Educator Equity Plan in accordance of Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. These reports must express how the state will take steps to ensure that poor and minority children are not taught at higher rates than other children by inexperienced, unqualified, or out-of-field teachers. The public K-12 education system in New Mexico serves over 330,000 students through 89 school districts and 96 charter schools. New Mexico's student population is 60% Hispanic and 75% minority. Over two-thirds of the state's students qualify for free or reduced price lunch. The state's demographics add urgency to this plan, as any unequal access minority or economically disadvantaged students impacts a majority of the state. This report is PED's response to this call to ensure equal access to all students to an excellent education. The report features the following 7 sections: (1) Stakeholder Engagement–delivers a summary of our engagement process, including those invited; (2) Effectiveness: The Foundation for Equity–provides a rationale for why our Educator Equity Plan focuses on teacher effectiveness; (3) Glossary of Terms–interprets selected terms used in New Mexico's Educator Equity Plan; (4) Equity Gap Analysis–examines student gaps in equal access to effective teachers; (5) Root Cause Analysis–investigates the root causes for our identified equity gaps; (6) Current Strategies for Eliminating Equity Gaps–explains current efforts for eliminating equity gaps; and (7) Ongoing Monitoring and Support and Future Analysis–provides a plan of how PED will share progress in eliminating equity gaps and next steps the Department plans on taking. Educator Equity Profile is appended. [More] Descriptors: Public Education, Equal Education, Teacher Effectiveness, Preservice Teacher Education