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Perceptions, Attitudes, And Experiences Of A High-Performing High School Successful In Increasing Graduation Rates, Nikita Michelle Mccaskill

Theses and Dissertations

This applied dissertation study was designed to assess a high-performing high school’s dropout prevention program that increased graduation rates and decreased dropout rates among high school students. The high-performing high school was chosen because the target site achieved a 90% or higher graduation rate over 5 school years. Four of 19 high schools within the target school district achieved less than a 90% graduation rate. The purpose of this case study was to describe the attitudes, perceptions, and experiences of teachers, guidance counselors, and school-based administrators at a high-performing high school within the target school district—inclusive of a time frame …

The Relationship Between The Earning Of Career And Technical Industry Credentials And The Virginia Economy, Anjanette Mcfadden Hendricks

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

Nationally, the labor market is calling out for workers to fill the increasing number of job vacancies, but those qualified, skilled, and able to fill them are limited in supply or retiring in large numbers. As America’s key industries offer high salaries in return for candidates with the necessary skills and credentials to fill their vacancies, the skills learned and third-party industry credentials earned in secondary Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs seem to make a perfect fit for the student, employer, and the economy. However, unlike the favored US educational model of the four-year degree, the continued outdated perception …

Perceptions Of Students Of Color About Their Experience In An Alternative High School: A Phenomenological Inquiry, Massene Mboup

Dissertations and Theses

Public schools in Oregon have been struggling to include students of color and teachers of color for so long. Students of color represent more than one third of the school population, yet remain underserved, underrepresented, and over disciplined. Most of their teachers and support staff are White; the teachers of color represent less than 8% of the teaching staff. The students of color attend comprehensive high schools that generally ignore them--or push them out. Some students of color end up in alternative schools.

My problem of practice was the oppression of students of color in urban schools. Specifically, my research …

Demystifying Distributed Leadership: How Understanding Principles Of Practice And Perceptions Regarding Ambiguity Can Enhance The Leadership Capacity Of Department Chairs, Diana Bonneville

Doctoral Dissertations

Due to increased accountability, demands, and responsibilities, principals struggle to effectively lead schools. Therefore, they look to strengthen the structure and operations of schools by utilizing distributed leadership and the role of department chairs to build leadership capacity and improve school culture (Elmore, 2000; Harris, 2005; Spillane, 2008). A critical aspect of distributed leadership is a school’s organizational culture or “the way we do things around here” (Bryk & Schneider, 2003), which can positively or negatively influence any school initiative. Since organizational culture can foster collaboration and a shared commitment to school goals, which in turn can build leadership capacity, …

Dropping Out In Southeast Kansas: Why Students Leave School Early, Garon Kent Wire

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study takes a deeper look into the lived experiences of students in southeast Kansas who have dropped out of high school. As a result, school and community leaders are better informed to create effective strategy, policy, and practice in dropout prevention.

Framed as a phenomenology, data was collected by conducting in-depth, face-to-face interviews with 12 participants and a focus-group interview with four participants. The researcher administered a survey/questionnaire to an additional 15 participants. Utilizing the Streamlined Codes-To-Theory Model (Saldana, 2009); organizational, structural, and elaborative coding techniques were implemented to reduce the data into categories, which led to the …

A High School Turnaround School Initiative: Effects On Students' Math And Reading Scores, Rene Alma Segler-Zender

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Since the middle of the last century, student education in the U.S. public school systems has been deemed inadequate. Critics developed measures in the form of standardized testing to measure student progress in an attempt to help facilitate reforms. In the last thirty years, the federal government has played an increasing role in school reform efforts in the form of laws and unfunded mandates. School districts have attempted to respond to federal pressure by attempting radical changes from replacing all school administration and staff to a complete curriculum overhaul. While school reform efforts have been widely documented by various groups, …

Facing The Music: Student Power Relations In Student Leadership Within High School Band Programs, Curtis James Melton

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Bullying among children in our nation's schools has gripped the nation's collective interest, leading to grief, anger, and inquisition. Recent headlines suggest that the public is asking why bullying is taking place among our youth, so much so that it is costing children their lives. Recent teen deaths have swept the airwaves and headlines in the last two to three years, and it appears to be a problem that is starting to become a national epidemic.

The purpose of this study was to examine bullying within student-sanctioned programs within a school, specifically, whether or not student leaders in those programs …

Examining Master Schedule Practices In Rio Grande Valley Schools: Effects On Student Attendance, Discipline, And Grade Point Averages, Benito T. Carriaga

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This study evaluated the impact of the master schedule design on student attendance, discipline, and grade point averages. Unexcused and excused absences, minor and major infraction, and grade point averages in three high schools during the 2008-09 and 2009-10 school years were included in the study. The purpose was to examine if any difference exists between schools that use traditional, block, or hybrid schedules and student success as measured by daily attendance, discipline referrals, and grade point averages. This study provides educational leaders with research data to make scheduling decisions that not only enhance student academic achievement, but also maintain …

Teacher Leadership Practices In Large Texas High Schools With Different Accountability Ratings: A Mixed Methods Study, Cynthia Molina Saldivar

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

A promising strategy for improving education is to use the energy of teacher leaders as agents of school change. According to Katzenmeyer and Moller (2001), teaching and learning improve where shared leadership exists, and when there is no expectation of “heroic leadership” from one person. Therefore, this mixed methods study was designed to examine teacher leadership and the leadership styles and practices of principals in large Texas high schools with different accountability ratings. Two hundred and fifteen participants consisting of teachers, teacher leaders, and leadership team members from 24 high schools were surveyed; and personal interviews were held with principals …

Indicators Of Teacher Collaboration In Texas Public High Schools, Michael James Mcclure

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The study employs both quantitative and qualitative data to extend the work of Rosenholtz (1991) with public elementary schools and the work of Hickey (1994) with public secondary schools in trying to assess the extent to which four pre-defined socio-organizational factors predict teacher collaboration in public schools. The four socio-organizational factors include: teacher certainty about a technical culture and their instructional capability; shared instructional goals; teacher involvement in decision making about instructional matters; and teacher involvement in team teaching. The study also investigates the hypothesis that the academic departments in public secondary schools provide structures that more nearly approach the …

A Survey Of Family Life And Sex Education Programs In Washington Secondary Schools, James Bernard Darcy

All Master's Theses

The purpose of this project was to measure the incidence of family life and sex education in Washington secondary schools; to discover what departments or academic areas include such education in the curriculum; who the teachers are, and the nature of their preparation; to gain a definitive description of what kind of education is attempted under this heading; and to evaluate needs and opportunities for expanded and improved family life and sex education in the State of Washington.

A Study Of The Homeroom Program In Three Senior High Schools In Utah, Ida D. Draayer

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The function of the secondary school is to help each individual develop and direct all of his potentialities. It should seek to help boys and girls find their rightful places as citizens in a democratic world. The fact that each individual is different presents a distinct challenge, and the secondary school is capable of meeting this challenge of individual development if the homeroom functions as it should.

A Study Of The Need For Supervision Of Instruction In The High Schools Of Utah, Caseel D. Burke

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Supervision of instruction, in the schools of the United States, has developed through a long and arduous process to the position where it is today considered by our leading educators to be a vital part of the educational system. It has been used in varying degrees of intensity as a tool in helping education to achieve its goals, but seldom has it been utilized so energetically and so skillfully as to produce the best possible results. There is considerable evidence, that supervision, with its resultant beneficial effects, has been applied less vigorously in the secondary schools than it has in …

A Study Of The Library Facilities And Personnel Of Five Selected High Schools Of Northern Utah, Clyde H. Morris

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

It is the purpose of the present study to determine, and, as far as possible, to evaluate in terms of the Cooperative Study of secondary School Standards the following items as found in 5 selected high school libraries in Northern Utah: (1) objectives, (2) library materials, including book collection, periodicals, pamphlets, clippings, bulletins, and visual aids, (3) organization and administration, including finances, library personnel, classification and cataloging, accessibility of the library, and the librarian's responsibilities, (4) selecting of library materials, (5) utilization of the library, (6) housing and equipping the library, and (7) special characteristics. Since an administrator must know …