Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Education Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 18 of 18

Full-Text Articles in Education

The Academic Achievement Gap And The Cultural Experiences Of Black College Students: A Phenomenological Study, Sonia Barnett Apr 2024

The Academic Achievement Gap And The Cultural Experiences Of Black College Students: A Phenomenological Study, Sonia Barnett

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The United States education system has faced an academic achievement gap that outlines a disparity in students’ academic performance. This phenomenological study will discover the relationships between the educational achievement gap and the culturally related experiences of Black adult college students in Northern Virginia. A theoretical framework that the researcher observed is transcendental phenomenology (TPh). which was developed mainly by Husserl as a philosophical approach to qualitative research methodology that seeks to understand human experience by looking at how Black college students perceive their culturally related experiences. The researcher collected data using the purposive sampling strategy through focus groups, interviews, …


A Case Study Of The Perspectives Of Black Children's Parents Regarding Their Role In Addressing The Achievement Gap, Jennifer Lona Harris Apr 2021

A Case Study Of The Perspectives Of Black Children's Parents Regarding Their Role In Addressing The Achievement Gap, Jennifer Lona Harris

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative, collective case study was to understand the perspectives of Black children's parents regarding their roles in addressing the Black student achievement gap in their Virginia school district. For this study, the achievement gap referred to the disparity of academic performance between Black and White students. The theories guiding this study were social constructivism and social equity as they both support understanding the world based on participants’ experiences. The research questions are as follows: (1) What do parents of Black children identify as their roles in their children’s education? (2) How do parents of Black children …


Examining The Relationship Between Academic Achievement And English Language Proficiency, Cynthia Grant Hyacinth Dec 2020

Examining The Relationship Between Academic Achievement And English Language Proficiency, Cynthia Grant Hyacinth

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

English language learners continue to be a growing demographic in American schools. Despite this, linguistically diverse students’ academic achievement continues to lag behind their native English-speaking counterparts. Historically, language proficiency measures have measured language proficiency in terms of social English, neglecting the importance of academic language development. Using Cummins’ threshold hypothesis as a framework for distinguishing social English development from academic language development, language proficiency assessments and standardized assessments focused on reading achievement were examined. The purpose of this quantitative, correlational study was to determine if a relationship exists between 5th grade English language learners scores on a state-mandated standardized …


The Impact Of College Readiness Programs On Black Students' Completion Of College Programs: A Case Study, Tony R. Ryals Jun 2019

The Impact Of College Readiness Programs On Black Students' Completion Of College Programs: A Case Study, Tony R. Ryals

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this intrinsic multiple case study is to investigate the impact of college readiness programs on the persistence of Black college graduates. The theory guiding this study is Keller’s ARCS Model of Motivational Design. This theory was used to determine the motivation of former college readiness program participants and their persistence to college completion. Keller’s ARCS model of motivational design will act as the framework of this research to answer the research questions: How does participation in a college readiness program impact participant persistence through college and how do participants describe their motivation as it relates to persisting …


A Phenomenological Examination Of Teaching "Bubble Students" From The Perspective Of Rural General Education Teachers In South-Central Virginia, Wanda Price Carter May 2019

A Phenomenological Examination Of Teaching "Bubble Students" From The Perspective Of Rural General Education Teachers In South-Central Virginia, Wanda Price Carter

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe 10 rural third- through fifth-grade general education teachers’ experiences with teaching “bubble students” in south-central Virginia. Bubble students were defined as those students who were projected to come close to achieving test cut scores. The theories guiding this study were Bandura’s theory of self-efficacy and the self-determination theory as they provided an understanding of how attitudes, perceptions, and beliefs could impact the self-efficacy and experiences of teachers. The following research questions framed the study: How do rural third- through fifth-grade general education teachers in Virginia describe their experiences with teaching bubble …


The Impact Of The Success For All Classroom Model On School Climate And Teacher Satisfaction, Amy Lynn Chesnut Apr 2019

The Impact Of The Success For All Classroom Model On School Climate And Teacher Satisfaction, Amy Lynn Chesnut

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Providing quality education for students in disadvantaged communities has been at the forefront of educational research for decades. These schools struggle each year with budgets that fail to meet the needs of the school, low teacher and student morale, and low teacher retention. Success for All has been identified as an effective program to increase literacy skills and standardized test scores for disadvantaged children. The purpose of this quasi-experimental static-group comparison study was to investigate the impact of Success for All on teacher satisfaction and school climate in low performing schools. Teacher satisfaction and school climate have an instrumental, positive …


A Collective Case Study Of Economically Disadvantaged High Achieving Minority Schools, Stefanie Barnes Feb 2018

A Collective Case Study Of Economically Disadvantaged High Achieving Minority Schools, Stefanie Barnes

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this collective case study was to discover the characteristics that defined a high achieving minority population within a high, middle, and elementary school setting. The theoretical ideas included those of Dewey, Piaget and Payne. The central research question was: What are the unique characteristics of a high, middle, and elementary school with a high achieving minority student population? The characteristics were identified and examined through contemporary practices, observations, focus group discussions, interviews, surveys, and data analyzed. The participants in this research were the teachers, administrators, and students at various high, middle, and elementary school sites. The data …


Parental Involvement Impact And The Academic Success Of African American Fourth Grade Males, Dana C. Madison Dec 2017

Parental Involvement Impact And The Academic Success Of African American Fourth Grade Males, Dana C. Madison

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this causal comparative study was to examine if there was a statistically significant difference in the academic achievement of African American 4th grade males who had strong parental involvement and those who had little to no parental involvement. The data for this causal comparative study was obtained through the benchmark and developmental assessment reading scores as well as the results of the Parent Success Indicator Survey. This survey was designed to measure how the parents viewed their involvement in their child’s education. The research questions were (1) Is there a statistically significant difference between the academic success …


Achievement Gap In United States History End Of Course Assessment Scores In Ga High Schools, Kris Watkins Dec 2017

Achievement Gap In United States History End Of Course Assessment Scores In Ga High Schools, Kris Watkins

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this dissertation study, which employed a quantitative correlational research design, was to determine if the school-level variables of percentage of African American students, the percentage of economically disadvantaged students, and type of school scheduling significantly influence student performance on the Georgia Milestones U.S. History end-of-course assessments (EOCs) for the school years 2014-15 and 2015-16. The study utilized a sample of 163 high schools located in the Atlanta metropolitan statistical area (MSA). Results from simultaneous linear regression analyses showed that school-level percentage of economically disadvantaged students was significantly associated with school-level Georgia Department of Education (GADOE) U.S. History …


The Impact Of 1:1 Laptop Environments On The English Language Arts Achievement Of Fifth Grade Students From Diverse Socio-Economic Backgrounds, Nicole Miller Sep 2017

The Impact Of 1:1 Laptop Environments On The English Language Arts Achievement Of Fifth Grade Students From Diverse Socio-Economic Backgrounds, Nicole Miller

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This quantitative study extends previous research on the impact of one to one (1:1) laptop environments on student outcomes in English Language Arts (ELA) by focusing on students from various socio-economic backgrounds, while using a new technology-enhanced, state-administered assessment to measure performance. This study is significant because policy makers focus on state test scores when planning educational investments. Therefore, results from this study can assist policy makers in determining best practices related to technology integration to ensure equitable opportunities for all students. A non-experimental ex post facto causal comparative research design was used to explore the impact of 1:1 laptops …


Factors That Influence The Retention Of Urban, Hispanic High School Male Graduates: A Phenomenological Study, Robin Elliott-Ghalleb Mar 2017

Factors That Influence The Retention Of Urban, Hispanic High School Male Graduates: A Phenomenological Study, Robin Elliott-Ghalleb

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to investigate the factors that contribute to the retention of urban, Hispanic high school male graduates in East Harlem, New York. Originated through the works by W. E. B. Du Bois (1968), Gloria Ladson-Billings (1998) and Derrick Bell (1992) pioneered Critical Race Theory (CRT), which reported that the United States Education system has historically failed to adequately provide access to all students. Hispanics continue to have the lowest rates of high school and college degree attainment. This study’s purpose was to address the phenomenon of low retention rates of urban, Hispanic males …


Bridged: An Autoethnography Exploring How An Alternative School For "At Risk" Middle And High School Youth Overcame The Achievement Gap, Michael Koeniger Nov 2016

Bridged: An Autoethnography Exploring How An Alternative School For "At Risk" Middle And High School Youth Overcame The Achievement Gap, Michael Koeniger

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this autoethnographic study was to discover how an alternative school for at-risk students, bridged the achievement gap. It used autoethnographic approaches to examine the factors that have led to the successes of an urban school. In this study, 19 graduates of Eastend School (all participant and institutional names are replaced with pseudonyms), three parents and six current and former staff members participated in unstructured, individual interviews and shared their experiences. Autoethnographic field notes were composed. Documents and artifacts relating to Eastend School were collected and studied. The collected data were generally coded and specifically coded until themes …


An Analysis Of Social And Demographic Variables And Student Graduation Success, Lisa Taylor May 2016

An Analysis Of Social And Demographic Variables And Student Graduation Success, Lisa Taylor

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

he dropout population does not reflect an equal representation of all student subgroups (Kena et al., 2015). There are many negative outcomes that often coincide with the decision to drop out, such as lower overall lifetime income as well as emotional and physical fitness (Chapman, Laird, Ifill, & KewalRamani, 2011). This dissertation examines how graduation success varies by the social variables of school engagement, students’ closeness to parents, and self-esteem and the demographic variable of race through the lenses of the social development model (Hawkins & Weis, 1985), the school membership theory (Wehlage, 1989), and the self-determination theory (Deci, Vallerand, …


College-Bound Students: A Study Of The Relationship Between Religiosity/Spirituality, And Achievement, William Wright May 2016

College-Bound Students: A Study Of The Relationship Between Religiosity/Spirituality, And Achievement, William Wright

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The achievement gap between private and public school college-bound students has continued to widen each year since 1972. The researcher studied the relationship of Christian school college-bound students’ religiosity/spirituality using a validated survey instrument and their achievement as measured on the Scholastic Aptitude Test. The literature implies a relationship, but there is a gap in studying homogeneous religious groups. Therefore, the researcher selected a homogeneous grouping, Texas Christian high school college-bound seniors, as the sample for this study. The researcher obtained permission to use the Religiosity and Spirituality Scale for Youth (RASSY) survey instrument and included demographic and score data …


Black Student Self-Efficacy And The Achievement Gap: A Heterogeneous Grouping Case Study, John Anthony Thompson Jun 2015

Black Student Self-Efficacy And The Achievement Gap: A Heterogeneous Grouping Case Study, John Anthony Thompson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This explanatory case study explored the ways in which a heterogeneous grouping modulates academic performance for a group of Black students in an Honors Biology class at Bay City High School (BCHS), a large racially and socioeconomically diverse public high school in suburban Maryland. Data was collected through individual interviews, self-efficacy surveys, multiple observations of student on-task behaviors, student-to-student interactions, student-to-teacher interactions, and other task-related conditions. Seven students and their parents, current teachers, and former teachers provided the data. Thematic-coding of the data as outlined by Creswell (2014) was employed in conjunction with Yin's (2003) methods of analysis. In order …


The Effects Of The Implementation Of Nclb On The Achievement Gap Between African American And White Students In Georgia Middle Schools, Stacey Lee Benson Aug 2010

The Effects Of The Implementation Of Nclb On The Achievement Gap Between African American And White Students In Georgia Middle Schools, Stacey Lee Benson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study examined the relationship between the implementation of No Child Left Behind and the achievement gap between African American and white students' eighth-grade math scores on the yearly-standardized test (Criterion Referenced Competency Test - CRCT) in Georgia. A descriptive research design was utilized to examine data obtained from the Georgia Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) report cards for each school. The research population was 50 randomly selected middle schools in the state of Georgia. The study found the following: 1) there was an achievement gap between eighth-grade African American and white students' math CRCT scores before the implementation of NCLB …


Comparing Academic Achievement Of African-American Males Who Do And Do Not Participate In High School Athletics, Thomas Victor Montgomery, Iii Apr 2010

Comparing Academic Achievement Of African-American Males Who Do And Do Not Participate In High School Athletics, Thomas Victor Montgomery, Iii

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study was conducted to investigate the impact on academic achievement that high school athletics had on African-American male students who participated in high school athletics against African-American male students who did not participate in high school athletics during the 2008-2009 school year. The results were measured by grade point averages (GPAs) and surveys developed by the researcher. The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not African-American males that participated in high school athletics showed higher academic achievement than African-American males that did not participate in high school athletics. The study also assessed attitudes about the relation …


Technologies That Assist In Closing The Achievement Gap: A Comparison African American And Caucasian Students’ Learning And Community In The Online Classroom, Amanda J. Rockinson-Szapkiw, Randall Dunn, Holder David Jan 2010

Technologies That Assist In Closing The Achievement Gap: A Comparison African American And Caucasian Students’ Learning And Community In The Online Classroom, Amanda J. Rockinson-Szapkiw, Randall Dunn, Holder David

Faculty Publications and Presentations

Higher Education administrators and educators seek to understand how to design and to facilitate online courses to ensure quality, culturally responsive online education for minority students, specifically African American students, and to close the academic achievement gap that exists today. This study examines online students’ using both synchronous and asynchronous technologies to determine whether students’ social presence, cognitive presence, teacher presence, and perceived learning differ based upon ethnicity. A one-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted. Results yielded no significant difference in dependent variables based on ethnicity.