Education Commons^™

Narrowing The Gap: Exploring The Characteristics And Practices Of Urban School Principals Closing The Achievement Gap, Gordon D. Amerson Jr

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to critically analyze the experiences and practices of Inland Empire urban school principals as they work to close the African American achievement gap. The achievement gap begins in elementary school and continues to persist throughout elementary and secondary schools producing differences in high school graduation rates, college and career attainment, and ultimately socio-economic differences in income between various racial and ethnic groups.

We know the impact of school principals on student achievement is significant. The literature demonstrates that school principals play a key role in developing the structures and systems necessary to improve …

Equality Of Opportunity: The Relationship Between Tracking And Educational Outcomes, Chris Colgren

Theses and Dissertations

To explore tracking policies and practices in relation to achievement equity, this quantitative study examined the relationship and differences between students who have completed Advanced Placement (AP)/Honors courses and those who have not in traditional Illinois public high schools. Using a cross-sectional survey design, the study used secondary data from the Illinois State Board of Education indicating high school students' socioeconomic status, race, placement in AP/Honors courses, and ACT scores to answer five research questions that reflected a general understanding of tracking policies and practices as currently employed in American public schools. Specifically, the study addressed the following questions:

1. …

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 …

The Imsa© Promise: Igniting And Nurturing Diverse Stem Talent, Adrienne Coleman, Barb J. Miller

Publications & Research

“Your PROMISE Program has been the life-line to extend and enhance the knowledge base for these students…by providing them with the time to develop seemingly outlandish ideas or tease their brains with the “what if” possibilities…you are making such a huge difference in the lives of these inner city youth who, otherwise, would not be privy to this level of academic exposure until much later on in their academic pursuits” (McNeal, 2013).

What educator writes such impassioned comments about an enrichment program designed to ignite and nurture talented underrepresented and underserved students?

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 …

Implementation Of The Ready! For Kindergarten Program, Sharon Bonnett

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Research has shown that nearly 50 percent of Minnesota children entering kindergarten are not well prepared with the skills necessary to be successful in the kindergarten curriculum (MinneMinds, 2014 ). This gap in kindergarten readiness creates an achievement gap causing students to face significant hurdles to academic achievement (MinneMinds, 2014) which are hard to improve over time. Investment in parent-focused early childhood education programs has been shown to create the heftiest gains for children across a wide range of outcome measures and is a critical step in ensuring that children are prepared for success in school (Neville et al., 2013).

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 …