Education Commons^™

The Impact Of A Mentorship Program On The Academic And Personal Development Of College Athletes, Larry Curry

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study explored the impact of having a mentor through the academic and social life of student athletes who were recruited to become mentees in a program called the University of Colorado Athletic Mentorship Program (UCAMP). The sample consisted of 10 randomly selected mentors from the community and 10 mentees who had been matched to these mentors. The mentors and mentees, respectively, expressed their experiences of the mentoring relationship as well as their satisfaction with UCAMP, offering suggestions for its improvement. An interview protocol framed the interview and details of what took place during that time for both the …

An Exploratory Comparative Study Of Students' Thinking In Arts Classrooms, Delane Ingalls Vanada

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

To be successfully intelligent in the 21st century, students must be able to think well in at least three ways: creatively, critically, and practically, with complexity and wisdom. The purpose of this research was to explore the differences in middle school students' quality of thinking in arts classrooms that are designed to be learner centered to a greater or lesser degree. Classroom environments which foster balanced intelligence in analytical, creative, and practical ways toward depth of understanding were the focus of this study. A better understanding of the impact of learner-centered environments on students' perceptions of their learning and understanding …

A Phenomenological Study Of How Anti-Racist Leadership Training Principles Impact The Actions Of Middle School Principals, John Gregory Kennedy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The national crisis of the academic achievement gap is one of the most impactful phenomena for the nations' public schools. This study used a phenomenological qualitative research design to capture the essence and perceptions of building principals' experiences related to principles of anti-racist leadership training. The researcher interviewed ten principals who had provided numerous questions in an interview format, to gain insight into the attitudes, beliefs, and leadership practices as they relate to the eradication of the achievement gap at their respective sites. The researcher conducted ten, in-depth, interviews with specific questions related to the achievement gap. All of the …

Closer To The Heart: An Exploration Of Caring And Creative Visual Arts Classrooms, Juli B. Kramer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study demonstrates how caring and creative secondary level visual arts classes facilitate the development of learning environments that enliven and expect the best of students; help them develop as autonomous and creative learners; provide them opportunities to care for others and the world around them; and keep them connected to their schools and education. It highlights how the intentions and operations of teachers impact student learning, creative risk taking, and interpersonal relations within and beyond the classroom. It also uncovers novel ways of thinking about arts education as a means to enhance positive individual and social development and vividly …

Response To Intervention: Raising The Achievement Of Struggling Readers, Sarah Ellen Littmann

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Two purposes guided this concurrent nested mixed methods research. It examined and described the processes followed and experiences had by the administrators, teachers, and specialists involved in designing and implementing a new Response to Intervention (RtI) model at an elementary and examined the effectiveness of the RtI model on raising achievement scores in reading after its first year of implementation.

Qualitative findings revealed two challenges encountered by district level personnel. First, administrators felt pressured to put RtI into effect quickly due to the needs of students in the district and new educational policies mandating immediate changes to long-standing practices. Second, …

Spirituality And School Leadership: A Grounded Theory Study, Karen Musick

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The job of public school principal can feel overwhelming and frustrating. Principals are faced with ensuring their school is meeting the academic achievement needs of students along with the social, emotional, and physical needs of students, particularly if they are serving in high poverty, high needs schools. Most principals question, at least once in their career, whether to stay in the position. While some stay, many more leave the position especially if they are at a high needs school. This study was interested in principals serving, and staying, in difficult or diverse elementary schools. Knowing the emotional toll that the …

Comprehensive Validation Of A Measure Of Student School Engagement: A Pilot Study Of Middle School Students, Emma Vazirabadi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Although it may sound reasonable that American education continues to be more effective at sending high school students to college, in a study conducted in 2009, The Council of the Great City Schools states that "slightly more than half of entering ninth grade students arrive performing below grade level in reading and math, while one in five entering ninth grade students is more than two years behind grade level...[and] 25% received support in the form of remedial literacy instruction or interventions" (Council of the Great City Schools, 2009). Students are distracted with technology (Lei & Zhao, 2005), family (Xu & …

A Correlational Study Of The Avid Program With M.S. Math Achievement, David J. Peak

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Improving student achievement in mathematics in secondary schools remains a priority for public education in our country. With continued federal and state mandates to improve overall student achievement in mathematics, as well as to close the achievement gap, many school districts have sought programs, such as Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID), to assist in improving student performance. The mission of AVID is to improve the academic achievement of students who are often in the "middle" or "average" and who are typically minorities and are economically disadvantaged. AVID seeks to support these students by providing them with the strategies that successful …

Women Leaders Resolving Conflict In Higher Education: A Feminist Epistemological Perspective, Maureen C. Silva

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In an American postsecondary context, conflict is inherent (Gianneschi & Yanagiura, 2006; Valian, 1999). Successful navigation of conflict in the academy is vital for those who aspire to leadership positions (Nadler & Nadler, 1987; Walters, Stuhlmacher, & Meyer, 1998). Presently, however, women face significant barriers to achieving success in higher education administration, including gender expectations for conflict resolution behavior (Bartunek, 1992; Bowles, Babcock, & McGinn, 2005; Gayle, Preiss, & Allen, 2002).

While a considerable body of literature exists for understanding gender negotiation, it remains rooted in a masculine paradigm (Kolb & Putnam, 2006; Shuter & Turner, 1997), and, as such, …

Conversion Charter School Leaders' Perceptions Of School Change: A Narrative Inquiry, Bridget Dwyer Ramsey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Three decades of change efforts in American urban public school districts to improve educational opportunities for students have had a lackluster impact on student achievement. For students living in areas of concentrated poverty, achievement gaps and drop out rates remain unacceptably high. These gaps were brought into stark relief in the city of New Orleans following the devastating flooding in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in August, 2005.

This qualitative study is about school change from the perspective of school leaders who were hired to run the converted Orleans Parish schools. These experienced, former Orleans Parish school administrators took on …

Narrowing Of Curriculum: Teaching In An Age Of Accountability, Donna Kay Newberg-Long

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Since No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation made clear the need for increased accountability of U.S. public schools in 2002, there has been a trend toward narrowing curriculum in social studies and other core subjects to focus predominantly on what is tested through state exams. Concerns exist regarding the unintended consequences of curriculum narrowing on low, middle and high socioeconomic status (SES) students in public schools.

The Center on Education Policy (CEP) and National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) have been tracking the effects of NCLB since it took effect in 2002 and found that 71 percent of districts nationwide …