Education Commons^™

Perceptions Of Race, Status, And Instructional Modality As Predictors Of Degree Attainment For African American Male Community College Students, Roderick C. Lewis Sr.

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Given the large number of students who begin their college education yet never graduate, it is essential that, as higher education leaders and policymakers develop student success strategies, they consider the persistence and degree attainment dynamics of all populations. This study focuses on the problem of degree attainment from the perspective of male, second-year, African American, community college students. A qualitative narrative case study approach was used to ascertain their perception of race, status attainment, and instructional learning modalities as predictors of degree attainment. Accordingly, those perceptions were then evaluated to determine their utility as predictors of degree attainment. Six …

Strategies Aimed At Helping African American Male Students Succeed In United States Secondary Schools: A Metasynthesis, Chibuzo N. Azinge-Walton

Theses and Dissertations

The persistent disparity in graduation rates between Black and White male students in U.S. secondary schools (the achievement gap) despite repeated efforts to even it out, is a thorn in the flesh of educators, the country over. The elimination of this continuous disparity through viable solutions, is the focus of this study. A problem is ninety percent solved when it thoroughly understood, with its comprehension necessitating a large investment of thought, time, and resources (Einstein, 1879-1955). To fully grasp the inner pinning of the achievement gap dilemma, this researcher selected, read, and reviewed 50 subject matter-related archived articles/studies obtained from …

A Geographic Account Of Economic, Health, And Educational Disparities In Hartford’S Sheff Region, Casey D. Cobb

Humboldt Journal of Social Relations

In the current study, I use geographic techniques to examine the distribution of key housing, economic, health, and educational indicators in metropolitan Hartford. I focus in particular on factors that bear upon the lives of children in this area, also known as the Sheff region—a reference to the long-standing Sheff v. O’Neill school desegregation lawsuit. The results reveal substantial disparities in the geographic distribution of important resources and outcomes across the racially and economically stratified region. Despite earnest school desegregation efforts, the opportunities, access, and resources available to children in municipalities across the metro Hartford region remain starkly different. Children …

"Hide And Seek": Positioning The Hidden Curriculum To Lead To Service, Equity, Expectations And Knowledge, Keith L. Brown

National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference

In this engaging hands-on presentation, Keith L. Brown, challenges the paradigm as it relates to the widely known and accepted idea of the “Hidden Curriculum,” which in essence refers to the unwritten, unofficial and often unintended lessons, values and perspectives that students of color in particular and many others in general learn in school. Using group collaboration and team building, Keith illustrates how the physical, mental, emotional and cultural make-up of individuals can be altered to close not only the “achievement gap” but the “ambition gap” as well. He also presents real life examples to further highlight why youth advocates …

Jumpstart At Umass Boston, Office Of Student Leadership And Community Engagement, University Of Massachusetts Boston, Department Of Psychology, University Of Massachusetts Boston, Dever Elementary School, Early Learning Center, University Of Massachusetts Boston, John P. Holland Elementary, Yawkey Center, Dorchester Head Start, Gertrude Townsend Head Start, Roger Clap Innovation School

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

Jumpstart is a national early education organization that recruits and trains college students to serve preschool children in low-income neighborhoods. Our proven curriculum helps children develop the language and literacy skills they need to be ready for kindergarten, setting them on a path to close the achievement gap before it is too late.

Nuestra Voz: A Critical Ethnographic Study Of Latina School Leaders, Angelica Ramsey

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The population of Latina/o students in public school across the United States is ever-increasing. This fast-growing population suffers from high dropout rates and academic underachievement. This epidemic of underachievement is alarming, as today's Latina/o student will be tomorrow's workforce. There is no time like the present to increase the number of Latina principals in high schools throughout the United States. The purpose of this critical ethnographic study was to understand the experiences of Latina principals in both established and burgeoning Latina/o communities in raising Latina/o achievement. Key findings included: (a) strong ethnic ties and identity, (b) similar stories of ascending …

The Effects Of The Family On Student Achievement: A Comparative Study Of Traditional Nontraditional Families, Melinda Fonteboa

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this quantitative, causal-comparative study was to test the interactive framework of social cognitive theory, attachment theory, and the theory of moral absolutism by comparing the academic achievement of over 200 high school seniors (as measured by the Georgia High School Graduation Test; GHSGT) based on the structures of their families. The independent variable of family structure was initially classified as either nontraditional or traditional. A nontraditional family was defined, for the purposes of this study, as any family that is not comprised in its entirety by two biological parents (or adoptive parents from birth), one male and …

A Hierarchical Examination Of The Immigrant Achievement Gap: The Additional Explanatory Power Of Nationality And Educational Selectivity Over Traditional Explorations Of Race And Socioeconomic Status, Kathryn A. Simms

Theses and Dissertations in Early Childhood Education

This study compared immigrant and nonimmigrant educational achievement (i.e., the immigrant gap) in math and reading by reexamining the explanatory power of race and socio-economic status (SES)—two variables, perhaps, most commonly considered in educational research and policy formation. Four research questions were explored through growth curve modeling, factor analysis, and regression analysis based on a sample of participants in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort of 1998 (ECLS-K) from kindergarten to eighth grade (N = 6,861). Findings indicated that immigrant students who had been in the United States since at least their preschool years had lower math and reading …

Class And Categories: What Role Does Socioeconomic Status Play In Children's Lexical And Conceptual Development?, Jennifer Bloomquist

Africana Studies Faculty Publications

At one time, academic inquiries into the relationship between socioeconomic class and language acquisition were commonplace, but the past 20 years have seen a decrease in work that focuses on the intersection between class and early language learning. Recently, however, against the backdrop of the No Child Left Behind legislation in the United States (which has been criticized as a culturally biased education policy that, through highstakes testing and broad-based, uniform curricula, discounts the value of non-standard home language varieties largely spoken by working-class children), there has been renewed interest in the relationship between class, language use, and the assessment …

Wealth And Achievement Gaps: An Examination Of Virginia Middle Schools, Paulette Natasha Richmond

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Studies

Achievement gaps, the focus of this research, result from unequal achievement and the variance in achievement existing between different segments of the student population, for example, the difference in achievement between minority students and non-minority students. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) focus on achievement gaps despite contradictory expressions about the efficacy of the act. The No Child Left Behind Act has created discussion and awareness of race, SES (economically advantaged and disadvantaged) and academic achievement.

There are conflicting beliefs about the impact of resources, funding and wealth on student achievement. This study …