Educational Sociology Commons^™

Early Childhood Teacher Turnover In Nebraska, Amy M. Roberts, Kathleen C. Gallagher, Susan Sarver, Alexandra Daro

Buffet Early Childhood Institute Reports and Publications

Teacher turnover is a serious challenge across early childhood settings. Turnover can be expensive for early childhood programs, burdensome to staff, and harmful to children throughout the nation. Nebraska is no exception. This research brief describes teacher turnover in the state’s early care and education settings, including licensed child care, state-funded PreK, and Kindergarten through Grade 3.

Research Questions The following research questions were asked across early childhood programs (licensed child care, state-funded PreK, and K-3): 1. What was the average rate of annual teacher turnover? 2. According to administrators, what was the most common reason teachers left their employment? …

Non-Traditional Students At Public Regional Universities: A Case Study, Lizabeth Zack

Teacher-Scholar: The Journal of the State Comprehensive University

This paper investigates the topic of non-traditional students enrolled at four-year public regional universities and addresses questions about who they are, what makes them non-traditional and how they experience college life. The analysis is based on survey data collected from 187 undergraduates at one regional public college in the southeastern United States. The study found a higher portion of non-traditional students than expected and that the non-traditional students tended to break down into two types, a younger worker-student and an older adult student, rather than conforming to a single profile. While the findings highlight other similarities with the broader population …

Early Childhood Leadership: A Photovoice Exploration, Kristi Cheyney-Collante, Melissa Cheyney

The Qualitative Report

The first five years of a child’s life represent critical windows in physiological, social-emotional, and cognitive development. Administrators of early childhood (EC) programs play a pivotal role in determining the quality of experiences that unfold for young children in center-based care. Using photovoice, semi-structured administrator interviews, and participant-observation, we aimed to identify the factors contributing to one center’s atypically excellent outcomes with diverse children and families. Our textual and photographic analyses revealed three findings. First, administrators saw themselves as embedded within a larger system of barriers characterized by low positionality within an educational caste system that is marked by pervasive …

Educating Boys In Jamaica: In Search Of A New Lens, Marcia Sharon-May Chin

Dissertations

The need for innovative solutions to enhance educational outcomes for Jamaican high school male students is evident. For over two decades, national exam results demonstrate that these students have consistently underachieved. Using aqualitative research design, this study explores the possibility of scaling up a student leadership educational model, developed by one U.S. school that has proven successful in educating an inner city minority male student population, to a similarly placed Jamaican high school. Focus groups and interviews were conducted with stakeholders at an all male Jamaican school and with administrators at the Ministry of Education, to understand their perceptions regarding …

Bullies And Allies Near The Playground: Mothers' Experiences Of Aggression In Their Children's Schools, Mara Vicente Robinson

Dissertations

Despite an increasing understanding of the importance of both parent-involvement and aggression among women, there appears to be little understanding of how these two areas influence each other; specifically, the lack of literature examining the extent to which female guardians experienced aggression from other female guardians and the effect it had on their involvement in their children’s schools. In an effort to investigate the extent to which aggression was prevalent among female guardians, the factors that influenced the aggression, and the effects of that aggression on women’s involvement in their children’s education, a convergent parallel mixed methods design was used …

The Predictors Of Juvenile Recidivism: Testimonies Of Adult Students 18 Years And Older Exiting From Alternative Education, La Toshia Palmer

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this descriptive, qualitative study was to identify and describe the importance of the predictors of juvenile recidivism and the effectiveness of efforts to prevent/avoid juvenile recidivism as perceived by previously detained, arrested, convicted, and/or incarcerated adult students 18 years of age and older exiting from alternative education in Northern California. A second purpose was to explore the types of support provided by alternative schools and the perceived importance of the support to avoid recidivism according to adult students 18 years of age and older exiting from alternative education.

Methodology: This qualitative, descriptive research design identified …

Trailer Park Kids: An Ethnographic Study Of Identity Formation In An Affluent Suburban Middle School, Jeanne Marie Vanlaan

Wayne State University Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation was determining influences behind identity formation, social reproduction, and resistance of students residing in a local manufactured home community and attending a suburban majority White, middle-and upper-middle class middle school. Narratives from participants were included to assist in disseminating intersecting lives of students (the trailer park kids) with their parents and teachers. The lives of the trailer park kids at home and at school were portrayed. Research before this study focused on similar themes, but unique was examination of effects on students attending school as a minority by social class standing and their place of …

A Study Of State College Faculty Trust In Immediate Supervisors, Anna Byrd

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This quantitative study investigated faculty trust in their immediate supervisors (academic deans and faculty chairs) in a state college setting. A survey instrument created for this study was based on existing research on trust in schools by Bryk and Schneider (2002) and Tschannen-Moran and Hoy (1998), as well as research on trust in corporate setting. The study’s purpose was to determine the types and frequencies of interactions between community college faculty and deans/faculty chairs – i.e., faculty immediate supervisors – that are related to higher levels of faculty trust. Also investigated were the relationships between faculty trust and demographic characteristics …