Education Commons^™

Teacher Instructional Strategies Impacting Rural, High-Poverty Student Academic Outcomes, Erin Kinney Burt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There is an abundant amount of interest among educators surrounding what actions can be taken by the government, local representatives, school boards, administrators, and teachers to assist rural, high-poverty students flourish academically. An uninspiring truth related to this subject is many times, a student receives the education the state and local communities are able to provide based on the quality of teachers they are able to retain and the resources available. Instructional strategies teachers implement could influence the quality of education students receive and could leave a community in a constant cycle of dependency and hardship. The purpose of this …

Student Success Programming, College Academic Achievement Scores, And Retention Rates, Leslie D. Merritt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Student success programming was created to help students transition to the college environment and coursework. While many university-created programs are geared to all students, federally-funded programs and some university-created programs aim to specifically help students from marginalized populations. With Spady’s (1970) and Tinto’s (1975) theories guiding the conceptual framework, this study examined the relationship between participation in student success programs as it related to grade point averages and retention rates. Additional focus was placed on Black and Pell-eligible participants of student success programming. The study was conducted using archival data from two mid-size, public, four-year institutions of higher education. One …

Advancement Via Individual Determination And Its Impact On The Academic Achievement Of African American Male Students, Christerpher L. Turner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program and its impact on the academic achievement of African American and White male students. A causal-comparative quantitative design was used as the methodology for this study. For this study, the academic achievement of AVID and non-AVID African American and White male students was measured by comparing their Algebra 1 scores. The sample included data from approximately 550 African American and White male high school students in a suburban school district in Texas. Student achievement data were collected and analyzed using a statistical …

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 …

Exploring The Impact Of The Achievement Gap On Shame And Resilience In African American College Students, Brittany R. Thomas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The achievement gap refers to the stark difference that occurs between racial or gender groups, as one group performs significantly higher than the other. An achievement gap has the propensity to produce psychological distress, as well as buffering techniques that are necessary for survival and success. Growing research shows that African American college students experience unique levels of trauma, shame, hardship, macro, and micro-aggressions, suggesting that these students learn to self-preserve as early as 10 years old. This study used a Pearson correlation, Independent T-Test, and a Moderated Multiple Regression to explore the impact of the achievement gap on shame …

Black And White Student Achievement Gaps In Tennessee, Haley Dirmeyer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Achievement gaps between Black students and White students have existed since public education was desegregated, and they still persist despite efforts to close the gap. This research describes the achievement gaps between Black and White 3^rd through 8^th grade students in the state of Tennessee from 2017-2019. This is a non-experimental, quantitative, comparative-analysis describing the ELA and math test scores of Black students and White students in each of the three geographic regions of Tennessee. Data were arranged in 2x2 contingency matrixes to compare the expected frequencies of students in each race scoring on-track and mastered versus below …

Looping And Academic Achievement In Elementary Schools, Kate Hall

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the quantitative study was to determine if there was a significant difference in the academic performance of students at the elementary level who loop compared to those who do not. This study also assessed if there was a significant difference in academic achievement among subgroups in students who loop compared to those who do not. A quantitative, ex post-facto, comparative design was used to analyze data to determine if there is a signficiant relationship between looping and academic achievement for elementary students. The scores of students enrolled in two looping classrooms at two schools were compared to …

Reducing Disparites In Act Results According To Racial Identity: An Applied Research Study Into The Weact Program In Tinlake High School, Marcus Stewart

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT The ACT provides opportunities for students of various socioeconomic backgrounds, racial identities, and family structures. Throughout the nation, there is a disparity that involves Black students scoring less than White students on the test by a margin of five points. The applied mixed methods research aimed to identify elements to help decrease the gap in student scores. The combined efforts of all the elements, tutorials, boot camps, ACT prep classes, and providing ACT resources in daily instruction formed the WeACT program. The students of Tinlake High School were exposed to this pilot program to assist in their ACT growth. …

The Effects Of 1:1 Technology On African American Students' Achievement In Algebra And English, Chad Bryan Wolf

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

Many educational leaders have questioned whether the increased availability of technology in classrooms helps to increase student achievement and narrow the persistent achievement gap between African American and White students in the United States. School leaders have made large investments to provide every student with an Internet-capable mobile device. These 1:1 initiatives have grown in popularity in the U.S., and specifically in Texas. The research on 1:1 technology programs, however, has been mixed and sometimes contradictory. The purpose of this study was to determine if a 1:1 technology program increased student achievement for African American students and if it …

Academic Engagement, Motivation, Self-Regulation, And Achievement Of Georgia Southern University Sophomore Students, John O. Lemay Iv

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Research has shown that engagement, motivation, self-regulation, and their individual effects on student achievement are established factors that influence college students’ success. However, what is less clear are these variables’ relationships and their collective influence on achievement. Since students face unique trials as they persist through college, consideration of these relationships and their effect on the achievement of all students is necessary. There is a widening achievement gap between sexes; females have now passed males in enrollment, persistence, and graduation rates. Previous research in this area has been largely centered on undergraduate female students in their freshman year, but the …

Measuring The Achievement Gap: A New Lens For Economic Disadvantage, Suzanne C. Bryant

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a difference between a student’s reading/language arts TCAP scale score and his or her lunch status for students in grades three, four, & five within two school systems in Tennessee. The population consisted of 2,442 students who were in grades three, four, and five during the 2014-2015 school year in a city school system in east Tennessee and a county school system in middle Tennessee. The Kruskal-Wallis H, a non-parametric test, was used to identify statistically significant differences in the medians of the reading/language arts TCAP scores across the …

Cultural Sensitivity: Early Career Teacher Beliefs, Espoused Theories, Theories In Use, Michelle Steinberger

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine early career teacher practice and beliefs about students of color in their classrooms and the relationship between those beliefs and their classroom practices. In this study, seven teachers in the initial five years of their teaching career were interviewed and observed inside of their classrooms using the Quality Responsive Classroom Observation Protocol. The interview questions were developed to look at the beliefs, teacher preparation, and culturally responsive pedagogy of early career teachers. Data was then analyzed using the five tenets of the Critical Race Theory: (1) Centrality of Race and Racism; (2) …

A Systematic Review Of Research On Successful African American Students In Mathematics: Implications For Seminole High School, Trung Vong

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to synthesize the counter-narratives of mathematically successful African American students. The gap in educational achievement between African American and White students is well documented in the United States, especially in mathematics education. Although Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test scores have increased for both groups at Seminole High School, the gap has remained over 30% for nearly a decade. Most research on this topic has focused on the reasons why African American students fail to achieve. Various individual, social, and organizational factors have been suggested. However, a growing body of research has highlighted the stories of …

Closing The Reading Achievement Gap Between African American Students And Their Peers At A Suburban Middle School: The Impact Of School Improvement Plans., Jason Hutchins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this Dissertation in Practice was to design a School Improvement Plan focused on improving reading performance of African American students at Suburban Middle School (SMS). The problem of practice was that African American students at Suburban Middle School have performed significantly lower than their White peers over the course of the 2009-2013 school years in reading performance. The reading deficiencies of African American students needed to be directly addressed in a new School Improvement Plan (SIP). The literature review of this study found that there are many different components that influence the reading performance of African American …

The Caring Beliefs And Practices Of Effective Teachers, Barbara D. Mccollum

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Current educational reform tends to emphasize an impersonal test-driven approach to teaching while the present research maintains this reform is inequitable because it neglects the personal component of teacher caring, which is necessary to reach all students, especially disaffected underachievers. The purpose of the present multi-case study was to determine the caring beliefs and practices of six effective teachers in two Title I Elementary schools in a central Georgia school system, how these beliefs and practices manifested in the classroom, and in what ways the teachers’ beliefs and practices may have been influenced by their own cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds …

A Case Study Exploring The Relationship Between Culturally Responsive Teaching And A Mathematical Practice Of The Common Core State Standards, Tashana Howse

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This collective case study explores the nature of the relationship between teachers’ use of culturally responsive teaching (CRT) practices and students’ engagement in constructing viable arguments and critiquing the reasoning of others (SMP3). This study was informed by the Common Core State Standards Initiative related to developing mathematically proficient students through the use of student engagement practices consistent with the standards for mathematical practice. As a means to support teachers’ facilitating specific student engagement practices, professional development was provided. This study is situated in the growing body of research associated with student engagement and cultural identity. The case of two …

Hope's Voice: Listening To Urban Youth, Michael Stephen Roth

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

For several decades, there has been a large gap between the achievement scores of urban youth of color and their white counterparts. This achievement gap persists despite the efforts of educators and policymakers to close it. This descriptive study examined the perceptions of urban youth of color regarding their role in school and the support and barriers they encountered related to academic achievement in school.

Duncan-Andrade (2009) compares schooling in underserved communities to growing roses in concrete. He argues that the conditions of life for urban youth of color are in themselves oppositional forces. He writes that hope is required …

It's About Access: How The Curricular System And Unequal Learning Opportunities Predict The Racial Test Score Gap In Mathematics, Floyd Cobb Ii

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This mixed methods study investigates how the design of the curricular system of one Colorado school district contributes the racial test score and racial college preparedness gaps in mathematics. The researcher examined this issue through a mixed methods design using Critical Race Theory (CRT) as the overarching theoretical framework supported by Yosso's (2002) Critical Race Curriculum. For the quantitative portion of the study the researcher utilized the theory of opportunity to learn (OTL) to test the impact of differential access to advanced mathematics content on test score outcomes on the Colorado Student Assessment Program (CSAP) and the Colorado ACT (COACT). …

Process For Selecting An Outside Provider For The Closing The Achievement Gap Project, Dianna Rae Hulbert

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the spring of 2008, Dwight Jones, Commissioner of the Colorado Department of Education, invited six Colorado school districts to partner with the department and an outside provider to close their achievement gaps in reading and math between minority and poverty students and White students and non-poverty students. Districts were invited to partner based on an achievement gap that exceeded the state‟s average gap in reading and math, and its perceived leadership capacity to initiate change.

This study examined the process the six districts used to select a provider to assist in closing its achievement gap. The multi-case study analyzed …

School Engagement And The Achievement Gap, Nicole R. Skalsky

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Evidence of the influence of engagement on learning and achievement is well established. There is also indication of a test-score gap between poor students and middle class students as well as among racial and ethnic groups.

This gap continues to be a top priority in educational reform. Since the achievement gap continues to widen for many school districts and states, investigating the possible connection between the engagement gap and the achievement gap deserves needed attention.

This study sought to determine the differences in school engagement and achievement levels between students from low and high-SES backgrounds, as measured by free and …

Perceptions Of Race And Academic Success In An Affluent Suburban Middle School, Robyn Ashley Duran

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Public school districts across the nation are organizing to eradicate the racial predictability of academic achievement between African American and Hispanic children and their White and Asian peers, (Ferguson, 2001). This phenomenological study was designed to better illuminate the phenomenon of the racial achievement gap in an affluent educational setting. The story of race and academic achievement was told through perceptions held among minority and non-minority parents in an affluent educational setting.

Parents are a large piece of the bedrock which determines the academic success of all students. The role of the parent is particularly important in shaping the academic …

"Courageous Conversations": Rural South Georgia Teachers Reflecting On The Role Of Race And Racism In The Education Of Rural South Georgia Students, Lawanda P. Gillis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Author's abstract: The requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 has forced school systems throughout the United States to consider the achievement gap between White students and non-White students, which had not previously been a factor in determining school success for federal and state funding. However, acknowledging the gap is not enough. Schools must move beyond acknowledging the gap to developing strategies to close the gap. A professional development course entitled Courageous Conversations About Race, written by Curtis Linton and Glenn E. Singleton was taught to thirty-seven teachers in a rural South Georgia school system. Eight of …

The Academic Achievement Of African-American Students In Orange County Public High Schools, Athena Adams

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The study was conducted to determine the disparity between the academic achievement of African American students and the academic achievement of white American students in the state of Florida, and more specifically, in five high schools in Orange County Public Schools. The term "African American" included all students who self-identified as that race upon enrollment into an Orange County public school. The study included male and female African American students from different socio-economic levels. The term "differences in academic achievement" is most commonly referred to as "achievement gap." Additionally, this study sought to determine the relationship, if any, in the …