Education Commons^™

Identifying Attributions And Predictors Of High School Dropout In Rural Youth: A Mixed Methods Approach, Karla Swayngim Reed

Theses and Dissertations

Graduating high school is an important educational milestone that is related to better life outcomes; however, high school dropout remains an issue in the United States (US). This mixed methods study began with a qualitative stage using attribution theory to identify the factors rural youth perceive as responsible for their decision to drop out of high school. Focus groups were conducted with youth from a rural area in South Carolina (SC). Seven themes were identified across the two categories of Internal and External Focus. Internal Focus themes included: (a) ability/self-efficacy, (b) effort, (c) plans for the future, and (d) other …

Beyond Care And Order In School Climate: A Qualitative Study Of Defender And Outsider Cognitions In Bullying Situations, William S. Richards Iv

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

This study examined the cognitions of students who intervene or do not intervene when they witness bullying incidents along with the ways that these cognitions may relate to these students’ perceptions of school climate at a small, rural high school in Northern California. Because increasing the frequency of bystander intervention has been found in prior studies to decrease bullying, this study illuminates the cognitive processes that support agency to intervene in bullying and distinguish them from cognitive processes that reduce agency to intervene. This study also identifies possible links between the ways students perceive school climate and their agency to …

Drop In Or Drop Out: A Case Study On The Effects Of Academic Track Placement, And Levels Of Student Skill And Will, On Successful Ninth-Grade Completion, Channell M. Wilson-Segura

Teacher Education, Educational Leadership & Policy ETDs

The ninth grade is a transition year from middle school to high school where many students struggle to successfully navigate a new environment, new teachers and peers, new academic and behavioral expectations, and the concept of graduation requirements. This qualitative study examined the effects of academic track placement, and student levels of skill and will, on successful ninth-grade completion in one New Mexico Title I high school. It also provided insight into their perceptions of the success factors and challenges that they felt impacted their ability to successfully promote to the tenth-grade, and thus, remain on-track for graduation.

This study …

Supporting A Growth Mindset In High School Classroom Teachers, Peter Abboud

Dissertations

Purpose. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to identify and describe the strategies that California public high school principals utilized to develop a growth mindset in classroom teachers.

Methodology. This qualitative case study used interviews from 12 high school principals to gain an understanding for how they supported a growth mindset in their classroom teachers. The population for the case study was northern California high school principals, and the sample included high school principals from Napa, Sonoma, Solano, Marin, Alameda, and Contra Costa counties. To participate in the study, principals needed to be serving in at …

A Qualitative Study Of The Positive Transformation Of Public High School Cultures As Perceived By Administrators, Teachers, And Classified Staff Members, Amy L. Besler

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study is to discover the factors which contribute to the positive transformation of a comprehensive public high school’s culture as perceived by the school’s administrators, teachers, and classified staff. An additional purpose of the study is to determine what similarities and differences exist between the perceptions of administrators, teachers, and classified staff.

Methodology: The researcher identified comprehensive public high schools within the state of California where measurable growth in positive perceptions of school culture had been achieved within the preceding two to four years. Of this target population, six schools were identified, through …

The Effects Of Tootling Combined With Public Posting In High School Classrooms, Sarah Joan Wright

Master's Theses

A traditional tootling procedure was implemented along with a public posting component to determine the effects on academically engaged, disruptive, and passive off task behaviors in four general education high school classrooms. The study employed an A/B/B+C multiple baseline design across classrooms. The primary focus of the study was to assess potential increases in academically engaged behavior across intervention conditions. Students in the traditional tootling phase (B) were instructed to report on their peers’ positive, prosocial behaviors. At the end of the class period, the teacher silently read through the tootles and added the total toward the group goal. When …

Stress And Coping In High School Students In Accelerated Academic Curricula: Developmental Trends And Relationships With Student Success, Brittany V. Hearon

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

High school students in accelerated academic curricula including Advanced Placement (AP) courses and International Baccalaureate (IB) programs are faced with unique challenges associated with their rigorous academic demands, in addition to normative adolescent stressors. Because of the increasing popularity of AP and IB among high-achieving youth and benefits realized by students who successfully manage such curricula, there remains a need to better understand the experiences of stress and coping among this population. The current study used longitudinal and cross-sectional comparisons to (a) investigate the degree to which students in accelerated curricula experience environmental stressors and employ coping strategies to manage …

Understanding The Role Of Post-Secondary Coaches In High Schools: A Social Capital Analysis, Lynne Haeffele

Theses and Dissertations

The research problem for this study was to understand the role of a new category of institutional agents, post-secondary coaches in high schools, who facilitate students' college readiness. This comparative case study focused on two post-secondary coaches in two high schools participating with a university in a state-funded grant project to improve college readiness. Data collection included structured interviews with coaches, students, and other school and external personnel; written descriptions by coaches of how they do their jobs; observations with field notes taken while shadowing coaches; and relevant documents, websites and artifacts. Data analysis involved both open coding and the …

Black Students' Perspectives On Academic Success, Melanie-Anne P. Atkins

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis investigates the academic achievement of Black high school students. It employs a theoretical framework of social constructivism grounded in anti-racism to conduct five case studies of achieving black Canadian high school students to examine how these students managed to achieve in the midst of a system that predicts their failure. I asked three questions: (1) What factors do achieving black Canadian high school students identify as being helpful to their academic achievement? (2) How do these students perceive their racial identities? (3) What is the significance of these students’ racial identity at school? I found that these students …

Listening To Undocumented Mothers: The Experiences Of Undocumented Mexican Mothers Of High School Students Living In The U.S. And Receiving Social Services, Maria Alejandra Lopez

Doctoral Dissertations

The present dissertation is based on a phenomenological study on undocumented Mexican immigrant mothers of high school students who have lived in the U.S. for at least five years and received social services. Most of these mothers have emigrated from rural areas of the central and southern Mexican States of Guanajuato, Michoacan, Queretaro, among others. According to the participants, socio-economic conditions forced them to leave their homelands hoping to find a better life in the U.S.

Ten undocumented mothers of high school students living in the U.S. were interviewed from a phenomenological perspective. They were monolingual Spanish speakers (only one …

Inservice Workships: Freshman Focus Curriculum Implementation, Rachel Elizabeth Rief

All Graduate Projects

The purpose of this project was to create workshops to help teachers implement an existing Freshman Focus Curriculum. It was specifically intended for use at Eisenhower High School in Yakima, Washington. The workshops include ways to help teachers organize, prepare for and teach the curriculum which was written to help freshmen transition into high school. The workshops include lesson plans as well as supplemental materials needed to effectively teach the curriculum.

An Analysis Of Protective Factors And The Development Of Resiliency In Ninth And Twelfth Grade Male And Female Students Of A Heterogenous Suburban High School, Frances E. Clemente

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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School Organization Placement For The Ninth Grade Student, Karen D. Garrison

All Graduate Projects

The purpose of this study was to obtain information regarding the best placement of the ninth grade student in the school organizational pattern. Thirty-six superintendents, seventy-seven high school principals and sixty-four high school teachers, in the state of Washington, responded to a questionnaire-opinionnaire regarding the physical, intellectual, emotional and social maturity level of the ninth grade student. The results showed support for the ninth grade student to be in a four-year high school grade configuration.

General Functions And Specific Activities Of The Elementary School Couselor As Perceived By Principals, Teachers, And Counselors In The Highline Public Schools, Seattle, Washington, Gary Winfield Sherman

All Master's Theses

It was the purpose of this study to (1) compare elementary counselor's, principal's, and teacher's perceptions of the specific activities of the elementary school counselor; and (2) to compare the importance of eight general elementary counselor functions as ranked by the same three groups. Data for these comparisons were compiled through a questionnaire.