K. Patricia Cross

Kathryn Patricia Cross (born 1926) is an American scholar of educational research. Throughout her career, she has explored adult education and higher learning, discussing methodology and pedagogy in terms of remediation and advancement in the university system.

Early life and education

Born in 1926, Cross was raised in Normal, Illinois. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics from Illinois State University in 1948. She then earned an M.A. in psychology and a PhD in social psychology, both from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 1951 and 1958 respectively.

Career

Cross was awarded with several honorary doctorate degrees throughout her academic career. Before pursuing her education in psychology, she taught math at Harvard Community High School in Harvard, Illinois. Upon completing her PhD, Cross began a career in both administrative and academic duties. From 1959 to 1964, she was a dean of students at Cornell University; in 1964 she became the director of College and University Programs at the Educational Testing Service in Princeton, New Jersey. In 1966, she began working for the University of California, Berkeley, both as a research educator for the Center for Research and Development of Higher Education and as a research scientist and psychologist for Educational Testing Service. In 1980, she started teaching at the Harvard Graduate School of Education as a professor of education. By 1988, she had returned to Berkeley to teach as a professor of higher education, until her retirement in 1995. She maintains emeritus status at the University of California, Berkeley.

Research

Approaching educational research from the vantage of a mathematician and social scientist, Cross has come to conclusions about student ability and experience perhaps different from those of some of her contemporaries. Though as caring for the remedial and new college student as colleagues such as Mina Shuaghnessy, Cross finds different reasons for these students’ underachievement. She notes that much of the discrepancies in the students' incoming test scores lies in lack of effort and motivation. Pointing out that some of these “remedial” students come from privileged backgrounds, she argues that the problem cannot be a mere matter of the school system failing to reach the underprivileged. While Cross upholds the belief that everyone should have access to higher education, she counters that remedial programs used as an effort to “catch up” the students falling behind is not the answer. Instead, she argues that institutions should point students toward excellence in areas perhaps alternative to the traditional academic curriculum of the university setting, such as vocational or semiprofessional training.

K. Patricia Cross Award

Since 1996, Cross has sponsored the K. Patricia Cross Future Leaders Award, recognizing graduate students demonstrating promise as future leaders in higher education. The award is currently administered by the Association of American Colleges and Universities.

Bibliography

* ''Collaborative Learning Techniques: A Handbook for College Faculty.'' (with Elizabeth F. Barkley and Claire Howell Major) San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2005.
* ''Classroom Research: Implementing the Scholarship of Teaching.'' (with Mimi Harris Steadman) San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1996.
* ''Classroom Assessment Techniques: A handbook for College Teachers, 2nd Ed.'' San Francisco, Jossey-Bass, 1993.
* ''Classroom Assessment Techniques: A Handbook for Faculty.'' (with Thomas A. Angelo) Ann Arbor: National University of Michigan, 1988.
* ''Adults as Learners.'' San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1981.
* ''Accent on Learning: Improving Instruction and Reshaping the Curriculum.'' San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1976.
* ''Planning Non-Traditional Programs: An Analysis of the Issues for Postsecondary Education.'' (with J.R. Valley and Associates) San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1974.
* ''Explorations in Non-Traditional Study.'' (With S.B. Gould, Eds.) San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1972.
* ''Beyond the Open Door: New Students to Higher Education.'' San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1971.

References

External links

Patricia Cross CV Association of American Colleges and Universities biography; Future Leaders Award

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cross, K. Patricia
Possibly living people
1926 births
American education writers
American educational theorists
Cornell University faculty
Harvard Graduate School of Education faculty
University of California, Berkeley Graduate School of Education faculty
Illinois State University alumni
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni