Curriculum and Social Inquiry Commons^™

Charter School Leaders And Their Students’ Resilience, Katy Bridget Angelone

Educational Studies Dissertations

The purpose of this multiple composite case study was to develop descriptive accounts of the thoughts, beliefs, actions, and assessments of charter school leaders regarding their efforts towards students’ resilience-building. Survey results from 46 participants identified eight Massachusetts charter school leaders who prioritized resilience-building within their schools. Semi-structured interviews with eight participants inquired about their reasons and methods for resilience-building in their schools and the factors and conditions that inhibit and foster their efforts. The qualitative data analysis yielded five findings. Participants operated from two orientations: resilience empowers learners and cultivates self-directed learning; and resilience is needed to manage traumatic …

Taking Charge: Second Graders Negotiate Ownership Of Their Expressive Writing, Susan Douglas Fleming

Educational Studies Dissertations

This ethnographic study of a single, second grade, public school classroom explores students' ownership of their writing as they negotiate their dual roles of active writer and compliant student.

Writing process advocates such as Calkins (1987), Graves (1983), and Murray (1968, 1985) stress the need for student writers to assume ownership of their work by writing from personal experience and by making the decisions governing direction of the text. This involvement encourages awareness of self as learner and as person, and stimulates cognitive and identity development. Robert Brooke (1991), in a study of college students, points out that the power …