Secondary Education Commons^™

Does A Taste Of Computing Increase Computer Science Enrollment?, Steven Mcgee, Randi Mcgee-Tekula, Jennifer Duck, Taylor White, Ronald I. Greenberg, Lucia Dettori, Dale F. Reed, Brenda Wilkerson, Don Yanek, Andrew Rasmussen, Gail Chapman

Computer Science: Faculty Publications and Other Works

This study investigated the impact of the Exploring Computer Science (ECS) program on the likelihood that students of all races and gender would pursue further computer science coursework in high school. ECS is designed to foster deep engagement through equitable inquiry around computer science concepts. If the course provides a meaningful and relevant experience, it will increase students' expectancies of success as well as increase their perceived value for the field of computer science. Using survey research, we sought to measure whether the relevance of students' course experiences influenced their expectancies and value and whether those attitudes predicted whether students …

African American Parental Engagement In A Public Middle School: Contributing Factors, Laura J. Mcgowan-Robinson

LMU Theses and Dissertations

Parental engagement with schools is often considered one of the major contributing factors to a child’s success in school. There is not, however, a definition of parental engagement that takes into account the social, historical, and cultural factors that shape a parent’s view of their own engagement. This qualitative case study examines how African American parents in a high poverty, urban, charter middle school, come to understand practices and beliefs at their child’s school, while building relationships with other parents and school staff. Through the lenses of critical race theory and cultural-historical activity theory, the researcher analyzes how the convergence …

Performativity And Creativity In Senior Secondary Drama Classrooms, Kirsten Lambert, Peter R. Wright, Jan Currie, Robin Pascoe

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

This article examines the intersection between the senior secondary drama classroom, creativity and neoliberalism. Informed by a research project involving fifteen West Australian drama teachers and thirteen students, it considers the drama classroom as one site where tensions between the performative needs of neoliberal education and the more humanistic desires that drama teachers embody are enacted. This paper suggests that drama education can be a powerfully transformative vehicle for creative and innovative thinking because of its spatially unique classroom environment and embodied nature. However, collisions between rhetoric and reality, social good and economic return, can mean that young people are …

Student Success Skills: An Evidenced-Based Program To Impact Student Outcomes, Nick R. Abel

Scholarship and Professional Work – Education

No abstract provided.

Navigating The Waters Of Accreditation: Best Practices, Challenges, And Lessons Learned From One Institution, Tracey Covington Hasbun, Amanda M. Rudolph

Faculty Publications

In higher education, as many as 50% of educator preparation programs (EPPs) look to a national accreditation agency as one way to provide evidence of the rigor and quality of their programs. Although a large number of EPPs find value in the self-study and external review that come with the national accreditation process, the process itself can be daunting and time-consuming. Many look to the literature or to the accreditation experiences provided by other institutions as a means to assist their own accreditation journey. The purpose of this article is to discuss one regional, comprehensive EPP’s experiences with national accreditation, …

Primary Sources & Historical Understanding In High School American History, Kristina Nelson

Education Masters Papers

Learning history in high school is often disconnected from the process used by professional historians to understand the past. This research studies the implementation of primary source analysis in the high school American History classroom as a means to increase historical understanding. Previous research focuses on increasing achievement while this study also includes impact on engagement and attitude. Primary source analysis was the main instructional strategy used in one unit of study in a required ninth grade American History course at a suburban high school in April 2016. Student historical understanding was assessed using student self-reports on a daily basis, …

Educational Donations And Inequality In The San Diego Unified School District, Jesse O'Sullivan

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Local educational foundations (LEFs) are nonprofit organizations affiliated with a school or a district that raise money on their behalf. Broadly speaking, these nonprofits are seen as philanthropic organizations that benefit the public. My research seeks to complicate this perception by contextualizing donations to schools in an unequal school system, and examine how donations from these foundations interact with this inequality. This research seeks to investigate whether LEFs benefit the schools in least need of assistance, that is, those with high test scores and white, middle or upper class students, thereby perpetuating the already existing inequalities. LEFs may also mask …

A Mixed-Methods Study Of The Influence Of Accelerated Reader On High School Students' Motivation To Read For Pleasure, Cindy D. Hogston

Education Dissertations and Projects

The Accelerated Reader (AR) program is a computerized reading management system developed in the early 1990s by Judi and Terry Paul. The AR program was developed as an extrinsic motivational tool to encourage children to read. Judi developed comprehension quizzes to accompany popular children’s books, while her husband created a computer program that would assign point values to each comprehension quiz. Students read a book, took the computerized comprehension quiz, and were awarded a certain number of points depending on the number of correct answers. During a national teacher conference, Judi Paul introduced her program to teachers. The demand for …

Effects Of Traditional High School Versus Career Academy High School On Literacy And Mathematics Achievement, Dana Brown

College of Education Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation was to determine the effects by gender and by socioeconomic status between students in career academy high schools versus students in traditional high schools on literacy and mathematics achievement for 8th-11th grade students in 6A and 7A high schools in the state of Arkansas. In the context of this study, relevance has to do with the connection or link established between something learned and an opportunity to apply that learning. Critics of the traditional learning structure argue that because information is learned in isolation, a difficulty arises in how that learning is readily applicable to …

Teachers' Perceptions Of Mandated Curriculum: Common Core State Standards, Ruth Hirsch

Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative multiple-case study was to describe and analyze the perceptions of intermediate, middle, and high school teachers regarding the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). A triangulation method was used to collect data and analyze from interviews, observations, and artifacts from the three districts in the study. Teachers’ perspectives, personal views, and receptiveness as they related to the implementation of the CCSS within their districts were investigated. The interviews, observations, and artifacts were coded and analyzed for common themes and patterns. The findings revealed that although the teachers were hopeful that future students would be more comfortable …

Impact Of Creative Arts On At-Risk Youth, Kasey Jacques, John Seipel, Nyairah Abdullah, Trelijah Miller

Education Presentations at National and International Conferences

The purpose of our study was to reflect on how community-based cultural arts programs have impacted academic achievement, academic performance and self-esteem among youth, aged 13 to 24 years old. Community-based cultural arts offer a creative medium through which youths direct their energy toward achieving positive social, emotional, and academic outcomes (Wright, John, Alaggia, & Sheel, 2006). Our study took an approach known as “Positive Youth Development (PYD).” According to Ersing (2009, page 27), “(PYD) is a promising approach that rejects labeling young people as “at risk” for a host of social, emotional, and behavioral problems and instead embraces a …

Infographic: Time Spent On Homework, Danielle Meloney

Teacher infographics

How much time do 15-year-olds spend per week on homework and other tasks set by teachers after school? An OECD report explored.

The Intersection Of Adolescent Mental Health And Academic Performance: A Case Study Of Ten Urban High School Students, Kristy Forrest

Community Engagement Student Work

This research paper summarizes the results of a study entitled, The Intersection of Adolescent Mental Health & Academic Performance. The purpose for this research was to evaluate the socioemotional well-being vulnerable students and the mental health services available to them within public high school institutions. The idea is to enhance mental health and social-emotional well-being support services for vulnerable students, decreasing interruptive impact on academic performance. Research increasingly points to the link between students’ academic success and adolescent social, emotional, and behavioral health. Given that public school systems access large numbers of adolescents, they are most commonly identified as the …

Art Aids America: Expressions From An Epidemic, Rebecca Holbrook, Lu Freitas, April Lammers, Rebecca Acree, Jamie Hollis, Holly Martin

P-12 Lesson Plans

This series of lessons for K-12 Art classrooms emerged from the spring 2016 ZMA exhibition, Art AIDS America. This groundbreaking exhibition underscored the deep and unforgettable presence of HIV in American art. It introduced and explored a wide spectrum of artistic responses to AIDS, from the politically outspoken to the quietly mournful, surveying works from the early 1980s to the present. Art AIDS America was organized by Tacoma Art Museum in partnership with The Bronx Museum of the Arts, and co-curated by Dr. Jonathan D. Katz, Director, Visual Studies Doctoral Program at the University at Buffalo (The State University of …

Building Bridges: Opportunities Abound For P-20 Collaborations, Jennifer S. Jones, Wesley D. Hickey

Educational Leadership and Policy Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

PK-12 leaders value opportunities to collaborate with outside entities to improve student achievement and career-readiness. With increasing federal and state student-performance expectations for more than 1.4 million students enrolled in Texas public schools, collaborating with a public or private university, a community college, or a technical or health institute can provide important mutual benefits.

A Comparative Analysis Of Read 180 And Cultural Literacy On The Reading Achievement And Motivation Of African American Males In An Alternative High School, Clifton F. Nicholson

Theses and Dissertations

Nationwide, increased accountability measures require educational leaders to develop and implement instructional practices that expedite the narrowing of the achievement gap. Legislation in several states allows states to annex low-performing schools. With such pressure, school districts are looking to educational consultants to facilitate the transformation of reading instruction, thereby raising levels of academic achievement. A thorough vetting of these interventions, however, is necessary to determine if the potential benefits can be generalized to other populations.

The purpose of this quantitative, causal-comparative study was to compare the reading achievement and reading motivation of two groups of African American males in an …

Insiders' Perspectives On Project Based Learning: A Comparison Of Us And Israeli Approaches, Sharon Tamir, Barbara Withers

International Journal for Business Education

High school students and teachers in two countries (US and Israel) were interviewed to ascertain their perspectives about their Project Based Learning (PBL) experiences. Perspectives were evaluated to determine to what degree PBL approaches were based on the eight essential elements of PBL and whether PBL courses contributed effectively to workplace preparedness. Differences between teachers and students and between countries were identified. Results revealed that PBL programs incorporating the eight essential elements are more effective in preparing students to enter today’s work environment. Students perceive stronger benefits from their PBL experiences than teachers perceive. Additionally, the perspectives of Israeli teachers …

2016 Ijbe Front Matter, Tamra Connor

International Journal for Business Education

1. Editorial Board
2. President's Letter
3. SIEC-ISBE International

An Overview Of The Every Student Succeeds Act, Charles J. Russo

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Controversial since becoming law in 2002 as the re-authorization of the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) has been portrayed by critics as federal overreach in education, even as supporters viewed the bill as a necessary reform to improve the academic performance of students in K–12 schools. Regardless, NCLB proved so unwieldy that 43 states and the District of Columbia received waivers from many of its accountability provisions in return for adopting policies favored by the U.S. Department of Education (Layton 2015).

The recent seven-year-overdue re-authorization of the law received widespread bipartisan support …

The Impact Of The Exploring Computer Science Instructional Model In Chicago Public Schools, Lucia Dettori, Ronald I. Greenberg, Steven Mcgee, Dale Reed

Computer Science: Faculty Publications and Other Works

As part of the Taste of Computing project, the Exploring Computer Science (ECS) instructional model has been expanded to many high schools in the Chicago Public Schools system. We report on initial outcomes showing that students value the ECS course experience, resulting in increased awareness of and interest in the field of computer science. We compare these results by race and gender. The data provide a good basis for exploring the impact of meaningful computer science instruction on students from groups underrepresented in computing; of several hundred students surveyed, nearly half were female, and over half were Hispanic or African-American.