Urban Education Commons^™

Public-School Systems Are Criminalizing Our Young People: Giving Voice To The Marganilized, Carrie Stoltzfus

Graduate Theses & Dissertations

A phenomenological qualitative study using Critical Race Theory and counter-storytelling was completed to investigate what K-12 public schools should be doing to keep young people out of the school-to-prison pipeline (STPP). This study took place in a large city in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Interviews were completed with former students of the researcher who were previously incarcerated, educational professionals, and justice system professionals. Additionally, observations of the court systems and document reviews were completed in order to triangulate findings. Themes emerged around factors that lead to incarceration and the preferred practices to support young people to avoid …

Cooperative Learning Strategies In Technical Higher Education Programs, James Sulton Ed.D.

National Training Aircraft Symposium (NTAS)

Cooperative learning strategies are effective in raising student achievement in higher education settings. Positive evidence of the importance of small group structures are found in an in-depth literature review and summary of multiple key studies. The research found six features and benefits to be present in effective cooperative learning methodology for learners: positive interdependence, individual accountability, various leadership skills, information retention, identification of group facilitation techniques, and development of social skills.

Navigating School Choice With Racial/Economic Privilege, Lisa A. Gooden

Presentations and Speeches

A presentation created for parents/caregivers navigating school choice in Kansas City. Includes a discussion on critical consciousness, disparities in Kansas City schools, school choice, school assessment, White cultural supremacy norms, the benefits of integrated schools to students and communities, and strategies for families choosing integrated schools.

The Impact Of Professional Development Of Effective Teachers In Low Performing Schools, Brian Gibson

Dissertations

Abstract

Professional development is a substantial contributing factor to the success or lack of success in low-performing schools. Specific student-focused professional development can be used to increase academic achievement, school culture, and the level of effective teaching. A lack of attention to school-specific professional development can contribute to low student achievement, diminished school culture, and reduced teacher efficiency. In Florida, public schools have implemented the “4 Professional Development Standards” (Planning, Learning, Implementation, and Evaluation) to act as a tool to identify best practices in schools and classrooms as well as to determine what professional development is needed to improve instructional …

A Case Study On The Implementation Of Common Core State Standards In An Urban Charter School Of New Jersey And Its Influence On College Readiness Of High School Students, Mursel Gunes

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

For this research, four college readiness metrics were examined with the aim of analyzing the effects that implementing the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in an urban charter school in New Jersey will have on the college readiness of the school’s high school students. These metrics used were (a) participation rates in PSAT/PLAN, SAT, and AP/IB tests; (b) percentage of students who took SAT and scored 1,550 or above; (c) percentage of students who took AP/IB tests and scored three or more; and (d) schoolwide post-secondary program enrollment rates. Using a sequential mixed methods design, the researcher first analyzed these …

High School Counselors As Social Capital In A Career Academy High School Model For Low-Income Students: A Case Study, Onyejindu Oleka

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Capstones

This qualitative study explored the idea that high school counselors, acting as a form of social capital, could influence the postsecondary opportunities of low socioeconomic students. This study used case study design to analyze freshman academy counselors and their influence in the career pathway selection process to answer two research questions: 1) Using the knowledge available regarding college and career opportunities, how do freshman academy counselors influence low socioeconomic students’ career pathway selections? and 2) How do freshman academy counselors’ perceptions of college and career opportunities for low socioeconomic students influence low socioeconomic students’ career pathway selections? This study uses …

The Influence Of A Phonics-Based Program, Wilson Fundations®, On Primary Children's Reading Skills, Teresa Debrito

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

This case study focused on the experiences of teachers who utilized a reading program, Wilson Fundations®, to teach phonics-based instruction to primary age children at an urban elementary school. Face-to-face interviews and a review of preliminary data verified for this community of educators that the phonics-based program was leading to significant improvements in reading for their students.

Based on brain imaging and significant intervention research, children with reading difficulties do benefit greatly from multisensory phonics-based instruction. Although the research is clear, children in the United States continue to struggle with reading. The National Association of Educational Progress (NAEP) results …

Goals, Power, And Culture: The Effects Of School Organizational Features On Parental Involvement, Vandeen A. Campbell

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Drawing on organizational theory and the school effectiveness literature, this project incorporates new methodological approaches to the analysis of a national longitudinal data set (ECLS-K: 2011) in order to investigate ways in which school goals around parental involvement, distribution of power, and culture affect parental involvement in children’s education, especially in schools serving large proportions of lower socioeconomic status families.

Parental involvement is widely accepted among researchers and policymakers to be essential for students’ academic success; however, parents with lower socioeconomic status exhibit less participation in both home-based and school-based activities compared to those of higher socioeconomic backgrounds.

Many recent …

Democracy For Homework: A Review Of Civic Engagement In Urban Public Schools, Amanda B. Rosenblum

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Civic engagement education prepares students to actively engage in social and political processes and influence community change. Many educators believe that civic engagement ought to be a central mission of schools because: 1. Adolescent civic engagement predicts adult civic engagement; 2. Schools may be able to reduce the inequity in political participation between individuals of different ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds, and 3: Civic engagement orientation and competencies can be developed through any and all content courses and extracurricular opportunities. This literature review on civic engagement education in urban public middle and high schools over the past 15 years explores: 1. …

The Impact Of Select Personality Traits And Resilience On Teacher Retention In An Urban School District, Kira Baskerville-Williams

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

This study examined the challenge of teacher attrition in urban school settings. Currently, there is a gap in the literature that addresses the type of teacher most likely to stay in the profession past the 5-year mark, particularly in urban districts. Using personality theory and resilience theory as the theoretical framework, this study explored the influence of select personality traits and resilience on teacher retention in an urban school district. This study sought to identify whether conscientiousness and emotional stability influence teacher retention past the 5-year mark. This study also sought to identify whether resilience influences teacher retention past the …

Brokering Access, Belief And Opportunities: A Phenomenology Of Black Principals’ Leadership Through A Racialized Lens, Natalie Denise Lewis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The educational landscape of the twenty-first century currently faces several significant challenges, including widening academic opportunity gaps. These gaps suggest that there is need to examine the perspectives of leaders in the role of principals more deeply. However, as leadership theories continue to develop, there has been limited research conducted on the impact of principals’ racialized experiences and their approach to leadership. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to center race by exploring the essence of Black principals’ understanding of their racialized experiences and its meaning to their leadership and school communities. Findings indicate that Black principals’ (a) understanding …

Racial Integration, White Appropriation, And School Choice: The Demise Of The Colored Schools Of Late Nineteenth Century Brooklyn, Judith R. Kafka, Cici Matheny

Publications and Research

This study examines school desegregation in late-nineteenth-century Brooklyn from a spatial perspective, analyzing enrollment data and policy debates within the context of the shifting racial and geographic contours of the city. We argue that “choice” on the part of black families only partially explains the demise of designated-black schools during this period. White interests also played a role in the closing of these institutions, as white families and developers sought, and ultimately acquired, control over formerly black spaces. This study contributes to a growing body of research on school desegregation in northern U.S. cities by exploring the perceived benefits of …

Supporting Student Mental Health During And After Covid-19, David Bryant Naff, Shenita Williams, Jenna Furman, Melissa Lee

MERC Publications

This report by the Metropolitan Educational Research Consortium (MERC) in the VCU School of Education offers a rapid review of research about supporting student mental health as they return to school during COVID-19. It pulls from literature on natural disasters like hurricane Katrina, the psychological impacts of quarantine, and emergent research on the mental health impacts of the Coronavirus. The report is structured to answer three overarching questions: 1) Why is it important to address the mental health needs of students in schools? 2) How can we expect COVID-19 to impact the mental health of students? 3) What are some …

Creating Project-Based Math Curricula: A Narrative Inquiry, Marcie Hull

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

This study is a narrative inquiry about the participant’s experiences, in three individual case studies, involving teachers of high school mathematics engaged in the creation of a project-based learning curriculum, in a one-to-one laptop school. The researcher analyzed data from field notes, digital artifacts, and teacher interviews to document how math teachers are creating curriculum in an inquiry-driven, project-based, technology-infused instructional model. Findings from restorying and the analysis of three-dimensional space —regarding teacher lore —reveal themes about math teacher curriculum conflicts in skill-building, application of iterative design thinking, and structures inherent to project-based learning. Rich, thick description of the cases, …

Making Sense Of Georgia School Leader Evaluation: Climate, Engagement And The District Office, Bipul Singh, Matt Townsley

Georgia Educational Researcher

Assessment of principal effectiveness is a complex process due to the multidimensional nature of their job. Historically, a disproportionate significance has been placed on standardized assessment scores when evaluating school leaders, therefore states are beginning to emphasize other factors such as school climate in order to increase employee retention. This study investigated any correlation between leadership effectiveness, the staff perception of school climate, and employee engagement in a suburban Georgia school district’s 139 schools. An improved understanding of these constructs may assist principals and assistant principals modify their leadership practices to better meet the needs of their teachers. Results suggest …

Using Preschool To Close The Socioeconomic Math Achievement Gap, Sydney King

Senior Honors Theses

Socioeconomic status (SES) heavily influences students’ academic performance, creating an achievement gap in core subjects like reading and mathematics. This thesis will describe the socioeconomic achievement gap as it relates to mathematics specifically, discuss the problem’s causes, and propose how preschool programs should be implemented more prevalently as a solution to close the gap. Children with low socioeconomic statuses enter school with lower math proficiency due to their limited math exposure in their early years and the quality of their home learning environments. This thesis will propose an expansion of preschool programs as a solution to this problem to help …

Exploring Appreciative Advising As An Equity Approach For African American Students: A Grounded Theory Study Of Academic Advisors At Predominantly White Institutions (Pwis), Valerie Harper

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

EXPLORING APPRECIATIVE ADVISING AS AN EQUITY APPROACH FOR AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDENTS: A GROUNDED THEORY STUDY OF ACADEMIC ADVISORS AT PREDOMINANTLY WHITE INSTITUTIONS (PWIs)

By

Valerie J. Harper

October 28, 2019

Dissertation supervised by Professor Gretchen Givens Generett

African American matriculation into postsecondary education continues to rise, but degree conferral remains low (Hoston, Graves, & Fleming-Randle, 2010). Arguably, Harper and Hurtado’s (2007) research, as far back as 1992, stated black students and other students of color have dealt with alienation, isolation, and stereotyping at PWIs; this continues to persist today (Lee, 2018), which may interrupt the academic success of African …

Despite Overcrowding, School Siting Process Stalls New Buildings, Megan Conn

Capstones

More than half of New York City’s 1.1 million students attend an over-utilized school, where the number of students enrolled exceeds the official capacity. But for years, the School Construction Authority has been slow to identify and acquire sites to build new schools. When City Council ordered a task force to review nearly 30,000 potential sites, the SCA excluded parent representatives from the analysis process, then reported that only two sites could potentially be used for schools. Though the SCA contracts with commercial real estate brokers to identify sites, the agency has declined to specify how many sites the brokers …

Pursuing The Anchor Mission In A Fragmented Suburban Setting, Karl Guenther, Todd Swanstrom, Thomas George

Political Science Faculty Works

Increasingly, suburban universities find themselves in communities facing challenges that inner cities have had to deal with for decades, including concentrated poverty, housing vacancy, and underperforming school districts. While the problems are similar, the institutional context is different. Compared to central cities, suburban municipal governments generally lack the resources necessary to sustain robust community economic development initiatives. Further, suburbs often lack the rich landscape of nonprofit organizations that were built up over many decades in central cities. This article reflects on the experience of the University of Missouri‐St. Louis as a case study of a suburban anchor institution. This experience …

Closing The Opportunity Gap For Low-Income Urban Minority Students In Turnaround Schools, Cleophas Rodgers

Dissertations

As we prepare to address and stem many of the systemic racist policies that plague our low-income minority students, we have to remain diligent and innovative in our attempt to provide our low-income minority students, as early as pre-kindergarten, access to opportunities that will ultimately prepare them for post-secondary success. This study focuses on how accountability policies and expectations for turnaround schools have had a long-term impact on the type of opportunities students who attend these schools will ultimately have. This study also proposes two policies that work to not only increase opportunities for low-income urban minority students who attend …

Personalizing Professional Learning For Teachers: Pursuing Equity Through Systematic Personalization, Megan M. Mccarter

Dissertations

Our school system has not changed much in the last 100 years, yet our society and the job market are drastically different. In general, we are not preparing young people for life after high school in a meaningful way; the reality for minority and low-income students is even more depressing. We need to change how education works for students, we need to personalize for their individual needs, push them to collaborate, to innovate, and to own their own learning. This can only happen if we change how we develop, support, and retain teachers. This study examines models of and reflections …

An Analysis Of Interventions For Chronically Absent Students In Grade 6-8 Within Middle Schools In Somerset, New Jersey, Nicholas Solomon

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

The aim of this research was to find effective, efficient, and practical interventions that can help educators in Somerset, New Jersey support chronically absent students by facilitating their coming to school and being productive students.

This study explored the definition of chronic absenteeism, along with the impact chronic absenteeism has on education, economically disadvantaged students’ impact on chronic absenteeism, strategies to improve chronic absenteeism, and chronic absenteeism case studies that have been utilized in schools across the nation.

Interviews were conducted with educators in order to gain a clear understanding of their perceptions/beliefs regarding the impact educators can have on …

Perceptions: A Comparative Case Study Of The Lived Experiences Of Urban And Suburban African American Administrators, Edward E. Wilson

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Despite the research conducted on this group, African Americans continue to be underrepresented in educational leadership, particularly in districts with growing minority populations. This qualitative, narrative-based study sought to build on previous research conducted on African Americans working in education, specifically within leadership as principals. By examining the perceptions of urban and suburban African American principals, this research contributed to the understanding of an emerging need within education where many districts are becoming increasingly diverse in terms of student populations, yet still lack diversity within their leadership ranks. The purpose of this study was to be intentional in comparing the …

Can Free College Programs Level The Playing Field? An Exploratory Study Of Understanding Non-Economic Persistence Barriers For Low-Income Students, Alan Byrd

Dissertations

The rising cost of higher education has created substantial access and persistence barriers for low-income students. Consequently, gaps in educational attainment between low-income students and their middle- and high-income peers have continued to widen over the last few decades. Colleges and universities have taken notice of these growing disparities, and several institutions have responded by developing need-based financial aid programs to close unmet need gaps for Pell Grant recipients. These last-dollar financial aid programs have opened doors for more low-income students to attend selective institutions, but it is unclear how these programs will influence their persistence and completion rates. The …

The Benefits Of Music Education In Urban Education, Emily E. Mattulke

The International Undergraduate Journal For Service-Learning, Leadership, and Social Change

In an attempt to show the benefits of music education in urban education, a student observer’s own accounts are analyzed alongside empirical data. The studies of Adrian Hille, Jürgen Schupp, and Peter Miksza are paired with her own anecdotes to create a full picture of music’s effect on a child’s education, especially those from lower income environments. Conclusively, it is found that urban education thrives in the presence of music education, and that the slow stripping away of music programs in American education is detrimental to these benefits, especially for those in impoverished areas where the benefits can be extremely …

A Black African Teacher’S Experiences In America: Examining The Lived Experiences Of A Black African Teacher Working In A Midwestern Public School, Valentine Malumbila

Dissertations

Using sociocultural theoretical approach, intersectionality of race, Critical Race Theory, and Bakhtin’s authoritative and persuasive discourse as a theoretical framework, this study explores the various diversities that I encountered as a Black African working and living in America. The diversity that I, like many other Black African immigrants in America, suffer results from culture shock due to lack of culture capital to comprehend and make sense of my surroundings. The lack of culture capital left me exposed to me some degrees of ethnic profiling, isolation and loneliness, and grieving due to loss of family and things that mattered the most …

The Story Of Growth: A Case Study Of New Jersey Underperforming Underprivileged High School, Michelle L. Shelton

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Socioeconomics has been a factor that exposes the disparities in student achievement across communities within the state of New Jersey, and as a result of the disparities, in 1985, the Education Law Center filed the first ruling of Abbot v. Burke; this case ruled that significant funding be provided in an effort to ensure that underprivileged students within these underperforming districts receive public education in accordance with the state constitution. However, despite the funding efforts, since 1985, (87%) of the 31 school districts identified as Abbott not only remain underprivileged, but they also remain underperforming. Therefore, to remedy the underperformance …

Moving The Needle On Diversity: Why It Matters, José M. Torres

Publications & Research

It is imperative that leadership in business, education and other fields reflects the reality of our more diverse world and the need for more multifaceted and creative thinking.

Choice Without Inclusion?: Comparing The Intensity Of Racial Segregation In Charters And Public Schools At The Local, State And National Levels, Julian Vasquez Heilig, T. Jameson Brewer, Yohuru Williams

Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation Faculty Publications

We conduct descriptive and inferential analyses of publicly available Common Core of Data (CCD) to examine segregation at the local, state, and national levels. Nationally, we find that higher percentages of charter students of every race attend intensely segregated schools. The highest levels of racial isolation are at the primary level for public and middle level for charters. We find that double segregation by race and class is higher in charter schools. Charters are more likely to be segregated, even when controlling for local ethnoracial demographics. A majority of states have at least half of Blacks and a third of …

Promoting Inclusion In A "Struggling School": Supporting Co-Teachers Through Critical Appreciative-Inquiry Based Professional Development, Louis Olander

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation explores the extent to which the beliefs and practices of teachers who work in a “struggling” school can be shifted towards inclusiveness through an action research based professional development program. The school was struggling in that it was charged with the education of children who are marginalized by a range of social forces while simultaneously accountable to institutional priorities. Broadly speaking, these institutional priorities preferred behaviorist punishment and technocratic approaches to meeting student needs, devaluing and decontextualizing students’ proficiencies as test scores and special education labels, in turn impeding inclusive change. Over the course of four months, an …