Education Commons^™

An Evaluation Of Programs And Leadership Practices For Effective Dropout Prevention, Nicole C. West

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

This mixed-methods study explored a problem within dropout research which often fails to link characteristics of student subgroups with effective dropout interventions. Considering the characteristics identified in the literature of at-risk learners, the conceptual framework for this study combined the theory of self-efficacy and leadership with emphasis on servant leadership. The purpose of the study was to evaluate dropout intervention and prevention programs in two high schools by examining intervention and leadership practices for students at risk of dropping out of high school. Through causal-comparative and phenomenological approaches, this investigation focused on identifying dropout factors targeted in the intervention …

Word-Problem-Solving Interventions For Elementary Students With Learning Disabilities: A Selective Meta-Analysis Of The Literature, Jennifer E. Kong, Christy Yan, Allison Serceki, H. Lee Swanson

Education Faculty Articles and Research

This meta-analysis assessed the effect of word-problem-solving interventions on the word-problem-solving accuracy of students identified as having a learning disability (LD) or at risk for an LD in kindergarten to the sixth grade. Eighteen randomized control group designed studies met the inclusion criteria. Overall, word-problem-solving interventions yielded a significant positive effect on the word-problem-solving accuracy of students in elementary grades with LD (effect size [ES] = 1.08). Instructional components that underlie effective studies were also identified. Results suggest that peer interaction and transfer instructions yielded large effects on treatment outcomes. Results also suggested that intensive interventions (50-min sessions, 34 total …

The Most Effective Teaching Strategies For At Risk Students With Mathematical Learning Disabilities, Katelyn Mowery

Education: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

What are the most effective teaching strategies and assistive technology to support at risk students who have mathematical learning disabilities? This was the question my thesis revolved around. The problems relating to this question are the lack in definitions for at risk as well as mathematical learning disabilities and that there is no research of the overlap of these two populations. To find this overlap, I researched the best strategies for at risk students and the best for students with mathematical disabilities, and I compiled the strategies that overlapped. I thought that since they are effective for both populations, these …

Simulation As A Remediation Tool For Clinically At-Risk Associate Degree Nursing Students, Janna G. Lock

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Evidence-based remediation options are limited for nursing students who fail their clinical competency evaluations. Scholarly literature provides a paucity of studies related to the use of simulation-based technology to remediate nursing students. The research question focused on the difference in the initial competency demonstration evaluation scores of associate degree nursing students compared to the reevaluation scores after remediation with simulation-based technology. Benner's novice to expert and Kolb's experiential learning theories were used to explain how nurses acquire and develop skills. The researcher used a quantitative one-group pretest posttest design to examine archival data from 149 nursing students from a South-Central …

Teacher Effectiveness With At-Risk Students In Alternative Education Settings, Natasha Conover

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

At-risk youth come to school with a variety of challenges that sometimes lead to voluntary or involuntary disengagement from traditional high schools. Alternative education programs are an alternate placement for students who have disengaged from traditional high schools. Although researchers have shown that teacher and staff approaches to the overall educational experience of a student contribute to student success in alternative education programs, they have also highlighted that the lack of teacher-student relationships contributes to student disengagement. These findings may indicate that not all teachers are willing or able to connect with at-risk students. The purpose of this qualitative case …

Tools For Effective Implementation Of Response To Intervention In The Elementary Classroom, Tonia Y. Manning

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

Abstract

Response to Intervention is a regular education initiative composed multiple tiers of service designed to deliver scientifically based instruction and intervention. The Response to Intervention Model monitors student growth over time and enables schools to provide support to students identified as at risk through curriculum-based measurements. The reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act (2004) allowed states to use Response to Intervention to identify and provide intervention to students at risk of developing a reading disability. The purpose of this qualitative collective case study was to examine the tools used by teachers experienced in providing instruction and intervention …

Assessing The Writing Achievement Of Young Struggling Writers: Application Of Generalizability Theory, Steve Graham, Michael Hebert, Michael Paige Sandbank, Karen R. Harris

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

This study examined the number of writing samples needed to obtain a reliable estimate of young struggling writers’ capabilities. It further assessed if performance in one genre was reflective of performance in other genres for these children. Second- and third-grade students (81 boys, 56 girls), who were identified as struggling writers in need of special assistance by their teacher and scored at the 25th percentile or lower on a norm-referenced story-writing test, wrote four compositions: a story, personal narrative, opinion essay, and informative text. Applying generalizability theory (G-theory), students’ scores on three writing measures (total number of words [TNW], vocabulary …

Applied Examples Of Screening Students At Risk Of Emotional And Behavioral Disabilities, Corey D. Pierce, Philip D. Nordness, Michael Epstein, Douglas Cullinan

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Early identification of student behavioral needs allows educators the opportunity to apply appropriate interventions before negative behaviors become more intensive and persistent. A variety of screening tools are available to identify which students are at risk for persistent behavior problems in school. This article provides two examples in which the Emotional and Behavioral Screener (EBS) was used to identify students at risk of emotional or behavioral problems. Example 1 demonstrates how the EBS can be used within a school-wide positive behavioral interventions and supports framework to inform decision making. Example 2 demonstrates how the EBS can be used to inform …

Teachers' Perceptions Of Differentiated Learning For At-Risk Second-Grade Students In Reading, Morelisa Lakisha Sabb-Cordes

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Students were performing below grade level in reading, fluency, and comprehension in a suburban school in South Carolina. The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of teachers about their preferred differentiated instruction approach (face-to-face vs. computer-based) to meet the needs of at-risk students in 2nd grade. The underlying theoretical framework was drawn from constructivist theory, observation theory, and social development theory. The study questions were on teachers' perceptions of the best form of differentiation, improved reading based on peer socialization in face-to-face instruction, and benefits and limitations of a computer-based approach. The study was a single case …

"A Boy Told Me I Was Ugly." Voices Of At Risk Adolescent Girls On Gender Identity And Dating Roles, Mellinee Lesley Ph.D., Heather M. Kelley Ph.D.

MLET: The Journal of Middle Level Education in Texas

Through an exploration of urban middle school girls’ Discourse, this study sought to investigate how at risk females defined their gendered identity. Based on an analysis of spoken and written Discourse in a Third Space writing group, we discovered that at risk girls’ notions of patriarchal dating roles, which were predicated upon ideas of physical attractiveness and “datability,” drove much of their perspectives about gender. This study reveals girls’ strong desire to conform and adhere to dating roles with boys despite their depiction of relationships as tumultuous, necessary, exciting, and inevitably painful. Implications for educators pertain to the importance of …

When All Hope Is Gone, Trust Then Believe: “At Risk” Or “At Potential"?, Erica C. Pooler, Barbara Kirby-Bentley Dr.

National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference

The Cards of Life, when all hope is gone; trust then believe forces educators to view students differently. The notion that we can’t teach students until we truly begin to know them and they begin to trust us is challenged. The fact that our actions have to align with our words and meaningful conversations and relationships must be established in the classroom. At Risk or At Potential? Every school across the nation have students that struggle, academically, socially or behaviorally. There are a variety of reasons as to why? We can no longer ignore these students and pad the numbers …

Breaking The “At Risk” Code: Deconstructing The Myth And The Label, Kara Christine Allen

LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations

The term “at risk” is a label that is used to describe students who encompass a host of prominent socially and politically constructed titles that are intended to simplify student understanding and awareness and allow for clear reporting. The purpose of this study was to demythologize the concept of “at risk” by creating the conditions for student voice and critical dialogue to emerge, through the use of narrative inquiry. This research hoped to provide an outlet for young people to find and use their own voices, while finding their own place within their lived histories. The research also aimed to …

Screening For Emotional And Behavioral Problems In High Schools, Nichole Marie Soelberg

Theses and Dissertations

Screening for emotional and behavioral problems in youth is a well-validated process for elementary-aged children as notable and respected research has provided evidence that children at risk for behavioral and emotional problems can be identified and provided with targeted interventions, which prevent additional problems (Lane, Wehby, & Barton-Arwood, 2005). However, there is a lack of research offering evidence for a behavioral and emotional screening process for high school students. Identifying at-risk youth is a vital component in providing early-intervention services that can remediate problems before they become severe and require resource intensive interventions. This research contributes to the development of …

The Relationship Of Participation In A Summer Transition Program For At-Risk Ninth Grade Students And Their Performance In Algebra I, Jose Sanchez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the Summer Transition Program in a large suburban school district. One of the common concerns of education leaders is the number of students who choose to dropout of high school. The eighth to ninth grade Summer Transition Program has been implemented to address the high school dropout issue and was the focus of this study. The researcher examined if participation in the Summer Transition Program could be predicted by student subgroup, to what extent, if any, participation in the Summer Transition Program had on the academic success in Algebra I, and if there is a relationship with …

The Relationship Of Participation In A Summer Transition Program For At-Risk Ninth Grade Students And Their Progress Towards On-Time Graduation, Joseph Harper

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the characteristics and relationships of participants and non-participants of the summer academic program in a local school district. The summer program also includes a component providing support to students as they progress through four years of high school. The study used 5,369 student records to conduct the study of the first cohort of students who entered their ninth grade in the 2009-2010 academic year.

Is There A Relationship Between Ninth Grade Transitional Programs And At-Risk Student Achievement?, Susan Marie Stoddard

Dissertations

Transition into the ninth grade has long been a critical juncture for students as they make the move to a larger environment with less personal support and a more rigorous academic challenge. In an effort to help make the move from middle-to-high-school transition as smooth as possible, school districts are using Ninth Grade Academies, or innovative transitional strategies designed to address the key factors contributing to students dropping out: poor academic achievement, disengagement, and poor attendance. The purpose of the study was to determine if a statistically significant relationship existed between the type of ninth grade transitional program and at-risk …

The Effects Of Fluency Instruction On The Oral Reading Fluency And Comprehension Of First-Grade African American Males With Reading Risk, Lenwood Gibson Jr., Gwendolyn Cartledge

The Journal of Special Education Apprenticeship

This study evaluated the effects of a fluency building activity on the oral reading fluency (ORF) and comprehension of four first grade students identified as at risk for reading failure. The participants in this study were selected because they were members of a group at the highest risk for reading problems, specifically African American boys attending an urban school district. The results of this study demonstrated that the intervention was successful in increasing the ORF of all four participants but results were much more robust for two of the four students. Although ORF increased for all of the participants, gains …

Achievement, Engagement, And Behavior Outcomes Of Youth At Risk Following A Pre- Eighth-Grade Summer Academic Enrichment Program And Participation In A School- Wide, School Year Long, Ownership, Mastery, And Grading Initiative, David K. Alati

Student Work

A significant difference was found for youth at risk who refused the pre-eighth-grade summer academic enrichment program pretest-posttest comparisons for total reading (t (19) = 2.05, p = .05 (one-tailed), d = 0.473 but not for reading vocabulary t (19) = 1.58, p = .07 (one-tailed), d = 0.351, and reading comprehension t (19) = 1.65, p = .06 (one-tailed), d = 0.392, also where all test scores were in the direction of improvement. No posttest-posttest Analysis of Variance difference was observed for between groups reading achievement test score comparisons. A pattern of significant language test score improvement was …

Environmental And Developmental Indicators In Early Childhood: Relations To Second-Grade Reading Comprehension, Gina A. Cook

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Reading success has been linked to high school completion, future job success, and future generations of children who can read. Unfortunately, children who are unable to read on grade level by the end of first grade are at a great disadvantage and unlikely to catch up later. Without the ability to read and comprehend text, all aspects of schooling become progressively more difficult and the challenge of poor reading ability can be so difficult to overcome that many poor readers will not complete high school. For these reasons, it is important to identify early experiences in a child's family environment …

The Effect Of A Seventh Grade After School Leadership Program On The Developmental Assets, Academic Achievement, And Behavior Of Non-Thriving Students, Beth L. Fink

Student Work

The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of the Time Travelers Leadership Program, an after school intervention program, on non-thriving seventh graders' Developmental Assets, academic achievement, and behavior. Schools are facing the unprecedented challenge to educate a multicultural and multilingual student body with varied abilities and motivations for learning, and research on promotion and prevention programs that address positive youth development constructs are promising in improving students' school success.

Case 1: The Outdoor Classroom, Australian Council For Educational Research (Acer)

Tender Bridge

This storied account of practice looks at the development of a program for boys who, for various reasons – learning difficulties, behaviour, family and emotional concerns – were struggling. ‘The Outdoor Classroom’ project idea grew out of the national ‘Green Corps’ program for 17-24 year old unemployed youth. Waiting until boys were 17, however, did not seem like a good idea; boys were ‘at risk’ of leaving school before then. This is the story of how Anglican Community Care and Tenison Woods College came together to grow and resource ‘The Outdoor Classroom’ to identify and redirect boys who might have …

Assessing The Relationship Between Adult Attention Deficit Disorder Symptoms And Freshman Survey Academic Probation Scores For Use In Developing Counseling Programs For Academically At Risk College Students, Douglas Joe Muller

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

This study identified a significant relationship between Adult Attention Deficit Disorder (Adult ADD) characteristics and the Old Dominion University Freshman Survey Probation Score. The Probation Score is used to identify potential academically at risk freshmen students. Academically at risk is defined as those students with less than a 2.0 GPA. The research found that as the number and severity of Adult ADD characteristics increased, as measured utilizing the Brown Adult ADD Scales, the higher the Probation Score. The study also identified a significant negative relationship between Adult ADD characteristics, as measured utilizing the Brown Adult ADD Scales, and GPA of …

The Impact Of Louisiana's School And District Accountability System On Students' Performance On The State Mandated Criterion Referenced Test, Linda B. Tolbert

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study is aimed at determining the impact of Louisiana’s School and District Accountability System on students’ performance on the state mandated criterion-referenced test (LEAP 21). The study was designed to determine the extent to which teachers in Title I schools in a large urban district in southwest Louisiana have turned to instructionally unsound practices in response to a high-stakes accountability system. The specific objectives addressed in this study were to: 1) Explore if test scores have changed beyond what would be expected given the cohort design of the accountability model. 2) Explore if test scores have changed and determine …

An Examination Of The Effects Of The America Reads Tutoring Program And Tutor Training On The Attitude And Academic Achievement Of Urban At-Risk Minority Students, Tami C. Al-Hazza

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

The American educational system is struggling to identify methods of preventing early reading failure. Many schools are implementing tutoring intervention programs to supplement classroom instruction and to help meet the needs of struggling at-risk readers. Although there is substantial research on tutoring programs that employ professional teachers, there is a dearth of research on the effectiveness of non-professional volunteer tutoring programs.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of the America Reads tutoring program and tutor training on the reading achievement and reading attitude of urban, at-risk, K–3 minority students. The population sample was drawn from four …

School Violence Prevention Among At-Risk Urban High School Students, David M. Browne

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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An Evaluation Of The Self-Esteem Of At-Risk Middle -Level Youth With Intervention Of The Mentorship Program, Lisa Marie Sterba

Student Work

This study concentrated on the self-esteem of at-risk middle school students in a mid-west city involved in an alternative school Mentorship Program. This study examined two aspects of a structured mentorship program for at-risk youth attending an alternative middle school. The first purpose of the study was to evaluate the possible effect of the mentorship program on the self-esteem of the student, while the second purpose was to examine the perceptions of the program's participants. The first method was examined utilizing a quasi-experimental, design and the second employed a qualitative methodology. The Mentorship Program had 16 planned sessions to engage …

The Effects Of Structured One-On-One Tutoring In Sight Word Recognition Of First-Grade Students At-Risk For Reading Failure, Laureen Goers Mayfield

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of an alternative reading program on the performance of at-risk first graders. Sixty first graders from three north Louisiana public elementary schools with high poverty rates, who were determined by their teachers and principals to be functioning in the bottom 20 to 30% of first grade reading students, were purposefully selected. Students were pretested on three subtests of the Woodcock Reading Mastery Test-Revised (WRMT-R), Form G: Letter Identification, Word Identification, and Word Attack. Participants were randomly assigned to either a control or an experimental group. Experimental group students received 15 …

The Use Of Alternative School Placements For Disciplinary Interventions With At-Risk Students, Tammie N. Feathers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate effective ways of providing educational services for at-risk students who are repeatedly placed out of the regular classroom into an alternative school. Characteristics of both settings were investigated in terms of meeting student needs to determine what ingredients might be missing from either or both settings that should be implemented to help these students succeed. The research was qualitative and used a case study design. Primary data were gathered from interviews with five students placed in an alternative school setting and interviews with teachers and administrators in both the regular school and …

The Influence Of An Early Childhood Program On The Academic Achievement, Attendance, And Attitudes Of Urban At-Risk Students, Daisy Mccray Murphy

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of an early childhood preschool program on the achievement, attendance, and attitudes of at-risk students in an urban Southeastern school division in Virginia. The study compared two groups of Title I eligible four-year-olds, those who participated (n = 88) and those who did not non-participate (n = 54), in a preschool program. A review of the literature revealed that early intervention efforts have addressed the school success dilemma for at-risk students with varying degrees of effectiveness. Increased attention toward the implementation of developmentally appropriate learning environments have afforded at-risk students …

A Study Of The "Pride" Program: A Residential, Summer-School Program For At-Risk Middle-School Students In An Urban Community, Maria Teresa Amillategui Grimm

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

This research examined the Pride Program (1991 and 1992)--a residential, summer-school program for at-risk middle-school students. It was conducted with subjects from two large, urban middle schools for the purpose of determining if, after five school years, differences existed among three selected groups (treatment, control and comparison) of at-risk students in the areas of academic achievement, attendance and conduct. Treatment-group self-esteem was examined over a three-year period. Furthermore, this study provided a qualitative program evaluation of the Pride Program for the first two years of its existence.

The results are as follows: The qualitative evaluation indicated that all participants were …