URCAD Sneak Peek: Ashely Pereira

Sun, 24 Apr 2022 09:25:05 -0400

Last day to check out URCAD, online!

URCAD.umbc.edu

Building An Evidence Informed Board Game

Presenter: Ashely Pereira

Mentors: Kerri Evans (Social Work), Jiyoon Lee (M.A. TESOL Program, Department of Education)

Abstract:

Immigrant students in grades K-12 face a host of barriers that can hinder academic success which school staff members can help to reduce. For this reason we have begun the development of an evidence-based educational game to be used as a training tool for K-12 train educators, administrators, and school counselors. To develop the game content, the student RA’s helped Dr. Kerri Evans and Dr. Jiyoon Lee to conduct both a systematic review and a qualitative content analysis of newspaper articles to identify factors that support or hinder the academic success of immigrant students. Both of these articles are in preparation for publication. Some emerging themes include the following: language acquisition, student acculturation, access to resources (on the micro, mezzo, and macro levels), dominant culture attitudes, and social support. Though this project is still in development, there are some important advancements that will contribute to producing this training tool. Identifying these factors will contribute to the growing body of resources that educators, administrators, and counselors can utilize to better support immigrant students and contribute to their success.