Education Commons^™

Equal Or Not? An Exploration Of Eighth-Grade Students' Experience Of Algebra, Janice L. Reyes

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Over the past two decades, a considerable amount of algebra instruction nationwide has shifted from high school to middle school. In Georgia, all eighth-grade students have been required to take a course that is equivalent to about 80 percent of a traditional Algebra 1 course. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore how a selected group of eighth-grade students in a suburban Georgia middle school experience algebra within the eighth grade mathematics curriculum. A qualitative research design was used to investigate students’ perceptions of algebra, the strategies employed by teachers to teach algebra, students’ difficulties with algebra, and …

Rebuilding Character: The Practices Of Positive Youth Development Teachers In A Youth Correctional Setting, Edward Anthony Cope

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There is a worldwide call for alternatives to current systems focused on restorative justice. The United States currently has a process but no plan in implementing effective programs for rehabilitating youth offenders. For many years, the prevailing idea in youth corrections has been that nothing works as studies continued to have difficulty pinpointing effective programs. Yet, over the last several decades, prison populations have risen dramatically, as have penal housing costs.

Positive Youth Development (PYD) offers a different framework focused on developing youth assets and promoting positive adolescent development. Derived from research in behavioral sciences, PYD programs promote the development …