Secondary Education Commons^™

Impact Of Covid-19 Pandemic On Mathematics Achievement And Problem-Solving Ability: Insights From Secondary Schools In India, Laishram Nirtish Singh, Anand Jyoti Sanasam, Jocyline Thokchom, Ningombam Cha Cogent, Laisom Sharmeswar Singh

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted students’ engagement with mathematics. This study aims to contribute to our understanding of the extent of this disrupting by examining differences in mathematics achievement and problem-solving ability between adjacent cohorts who learned Class 8 under different schooling conditions in India: Group A (pandemic-exposed Class 8 cohort) and Group B (post-reopening Class 8 cohort). Using a descriptive design in a natural setting, we selected a stratified sample of 1,200 students from Class 9 and Class 10 across 21 secondary schools in Manipur, India. The sample was stratified by gender, family type, school type, and locality to ensure …

A Practitioner’S Perspective On Teaching Ap Comparative Government And Politics, Edgar Díaz

The Great Lakes Social Studies Journal

In this paper, I share my perspective and experiences as an Advanced Placement (AP) Comparative Government and Politics teacher during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. To engage students with the content and strengthen their literacy skills, I adopted the Teaching and Learning Cycle (TLC), a pedagogical framework for scaffolded instruction, in combination with technological tools. This article includes a sample lesson plan illustrating how the TLC was implemented in an AP Comp Gov course to support students’ content understanding and their ability to express their ideas through structured, purposeful writing. My goal is to highlight practical strategies for effectively …

Don’T Tell Me How To Fact-Check; Show Me, And Let Me Try! A Media Literacy Intervention With Sixth-Graders, Thomas Nygren, Carl-Anton Werner Axelsson

Journal of Media Literacy Education

This study examines how different educational approaches related to "Fria Ordets Dag" (Free Speech Day), a media literacy program by the Swedish public service, affect the ability of 859 sixth-graders to evaluate news and misinformation. Findings indicate that verbal instructions from a professional fact-checker and animations to model online fact-checking were less effective than demonstrative, authentic video tutorials. Feedback and practice were also important. The intervention yielded mixed outcomes on students’ attitudes towards credible news sources, pointing to the necessity for educational designs that bolster fact-checking and source trust. The research emphasizes how large-scale school interventions to promote students’ navigation …

Bringing Worlds Together: How Social Studies Teachers Make Content Meaningful, Harley A. Payne

Honors College Theses

Secondary educators in social studies classes face the challenge of maintaining the attention of dozens of students during instruction, often on content that seems irrelevant or unimportant. Educators must find ways to emphasize that the content their students are disinterested in is useful and crucial for their development into adults. Research suggests that bridging the gap between the classroom and the real world improves classroom engagement (Cooper, 2014; Tagliaferro, 2012). Students who are engaged and exert more effort in class derive academic benefits, such as placement in advanced pathways and increased test scores (Carbonaro, 2005). Civics education and the inclusion …

An Ecological Systems Perspective On Chronic Absenteeism: The Role Of Family Engagement In Virginia Secondary Education, Jenna Conlee, Joel W. Fravel, Bryan M. Hannun, Imani K. Hinson, Erika R. Napolitano

Doctor of Education Capstones

Chronic absenteeism has emerged as a significant challenge for schools across the United States, particularly following disruptions associated with the COVID-19 global pandemic. This capstone project examined how school leaders in Virginia understood and navigated the relationship between family engagement and chronic absenteeism. Guided by Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory, the study addressed two research questions focused on identifying family engagement practices perceived as effective in improving attendance and examining the barriers schools encountered when engaging families to address chronic absenteeism. Data were collected through nine semistructured interviews with school leaders and observations of two high school attendance team meetings. Using …

Educators' Uses Of Social Capital In K-12 Book Challenges, Danielle E. Sachdeva, Sue C. Kimmel

STEMPS Faculty Publications

In this case study, we apply understandings of social capital informed by Pierre Bourdieu and Nan Lin to analyze how seven educators used their capital to navigate book censorship incidents in K-12 public schools. Our findings indicate that participants often used social capital to meet expressive goals, such as seeking support from others, and less often to meet instrumental goals like advocating for policies and legislation in support of students’ intellectual freedom. These findings have implications for practitioners, school administrators, and university faculty, especially now as an unprecedented number of books is being challenged in public institutions throughout the U.S.

Thesis A Reimagined World Language Curriculum For Secondary Education-Does Culture Matter?, Florence Duncan

Teacher Education, Educational Leadership & Policy ETDs

The focus of this study is culture within the New Mexico high school world language

curriculum. Culture, as a topic, over time has evolved from near nonexistence to

becoming a fundamental element helping students derive multilingual and multicultural

understanding.

This study is an effort to reveal practices high school teachers use to teach, discuss and

evaluate cultural understanding. It uses qualitative interviews with high schools world

language teachers. Practices are evaluated against research findings and analyzed for

reliability and effectiveness. Findings will help with curriculum design for world language

application.

Overall, the study’s findings were positive. Interviewed teachers generally incorporate …

The Impact Of Themes On Students’ Historical Consciousness And Relevance, Madeline Rainey Lincoln

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

Many students have long perceived history as boring and irrelevant to their lives beyond the classroom. Although recent shifts towards skills-based instruction have attempted to address these issues, students still struggle to recognize the purpose of learning history. This study examined the effectiveness of thematic instructional pedagogy in enhancing 9th-grade students’ historical consciousness and perceptions of relevance in a World History course at a suburban high school in Minnesota. A pre- and post-survey measured students’ views of historical consciousness, thematic learning, and the purpose of learning history before and after a unit of thematic instruction was implemented. Student artifacts, along …

Digital Leadership: Secondary Education Principals’ Perceptions And Change Competencies Toward Implementing Digital Citizenship Curricula, Waylon M. Randolph

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Secondary education public schools are increasingly being confronted with student misuse of information and communication technologies (ICTs). Students are using these technologies to engage in disruptive and harmful behaviors like cyberbullying and sexting. As a result, some public school districts have responded by banning the use of ICTs in the classroom, while others have turned to teaching digital citizenship through a dedicated digital citizenship curriculum. However, effectively implementing such a curriculum remains a significant challenge. According to the literature, the best way to implement a digital citizenship curriculum is by fostering a positive school culture where stakeholders model and support …

From Belief To Practice: Building A Culture Of Disciplinary Literacy, Bradley Stabler, Ruth Poulos

Michigan Reading Journal

This article tells the story of how Pontiac High School began building a stronger focus on reading, writing, and thinking in every subject. The work started with a few shared questions, not a detailed plan. A small group of teachers and coaches came together to figure out how to help students think more deeply and express their ideas more clearly. Over time, they led staff-wide efforts that included planning lessons together, visiting each other’s classrooms, and trying out new teaching moves. Feedback from students and staff helped guide the work. Along the way, teachers began to shift their instruction, and …

Ai-Enhanced Structured Literacy Intervention For Secondary Students: A Case Study Of Science Of Reading, Jennifer Bird

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

This study examines the effectiveness of Lexia PowerUp, an AI-powered literacy program, for sixth-grade students requiring Tier 3 reading intervention. Seven sixth-grade students (six boys, one girl; five African American, two Caucasian; all qualifying for free/reduced lunch) participated in a six-month intervention combining 50 minutes of daily small-group instruction with individualized Lexia PowerUp usage. Researchers measured progress through Achieve 3000 Lexile assessments and Lexia PowerUp performance data across three skill strands: Word Study, Grammar, and Comprehension. All participants demonstrated Lexile level improvements from beginning-of-year to mid-year assessments, though students remained below sixth-grade benchmarks (925-1070L). Analysis of Lexia PowerUp progression showed …

Phenomenological Inquiry: High School English Language Arts And Reading Professional Development Design And Delivery, Michelle Jestice

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative, phenomenological inquiry aimed to understand the overall essence of public high school English language arts and reading professional development design and delivery from an inclusive, sociocultural, responsive theoretical lens. The lens extended previous scholarship, combining six educational concepts and theories to develop an ideological framework for high school English language arts and reading professional development design and delivery. They include Vygotsky’s (1978) sociocultural theory, Knowles’ (1978) andragogy, Shulman’s (2013) content-pedagogy-curricular contextualization, Hammond’s (2015) culturally responsive teaching, Bennett’s (1986) intercultural competencies, Smale-Jacobse and others’ (2019) and Tomlinson and others’ (2003) concepts of differentiation: referred to as SACReD. A central …

A Teacher, A Tutor, A Friend: Chatgpt And The High School Experience, Saisha Gupta, Vivek Mehta, Rebecca Kam, Caroline Ehmann, Alma Orgad, Emily Kuang, Alejandro Castro Barrantes, Matthew Posada, Samay Shah, Nikhita Prasad, Tara Pai, Eileen Ho, Shirley Xi, Tianyi Zhou, Elaina Li, Stephanie Wan, Shreya Paranjape, Zoe Dearling, Siqi (Grace) Peng, Aanya Kaveti, Gwendolyn Lowrance, Angela Ziyi Xie, Mira Xu, Adhiti Hariram, Alexa Muse

The Qualitative Report

Given the increasing emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) in education, high school students' perspectives on ChatGPT are underrepresented in current research literature. As high school student researchers in an English Language Arts course, we approached this gap in literature by asking the question: In what ways do pressures within high school communities influence students’ perspectives on justifying or rejecting the use of ChatGPT? We interviewed 24 secondary students and conducted a thematic and discourse analysis, coding the interviews through the lenses of social goods (Gee, 2014), Figured Worlds (Holland et al., 1998), and positioning theory (Holland et al., 1998; Ingram …

A Teacher, A Supervisor, An Undefined Self, Alexa Muse

The Qualitative Report

This article follows the experiences and reflections of an American high school English teacher while evolving a single tenth grade memoir and grammar unit into a published student-led research project over the span of 3 years. As a partner piece, this article supplements my students’ published project, titled “A Teacher, a Tutor, a Friend,” that explores ChatGPT and student perspectives through a thematic discourse analysis under the framework of Figured Worlds (Holland et al., 1998); as their teacher-turned-supervisor, I found that preparing 10th grade students—now called the Lexington Student Research and Publication Collaborative—to grapple with such complex material was a …

Youth’S Experiences In Trauma-Informed Writing Instruction: A Narrative Inquiry Analysis, Shantell Lee

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study examines the experiences of high school age youth who engage trauma-informed writing instruction in an afterschool setting. Trauma-informed writing instruction can aid youth in processing their lived experiences and the after-school program utilizes a curriculum that connects traditional aspects of the writing workshop with trauma-informed writing instruction. Participants in this study included youth who were enrolled in the after-school program and their adult facilitator. For this study, data was collected through observations, semi-structured individual interviews, my research journal, and students’ written pieces. These data sources were then analyzed through the narrative inquiry methodology which resulted in the participants’ …

Beyond The Exam Score: An Examination Of The Kenyan Education System, Its Reforms, Inefficiencies, And Impact On Individuals And Society At Large, Olivia M. Pederson

Honors Projects

In Kenya, secondary education plays a decisive role in shaping students’ university and career opportunities as well as their social mobility. The national exam, Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE), acts as a key gateway to higher education and employment. The quality and accessibility of education for Kenyan youth, however, has been impacted by systemic inefficiencies ranging from underfunding and disparities in resource allocation to an exam-centric curriculum. This study takes a qualitative approach, using both purposive and convenience sampling to gather data through a questionnaire sent to university students and adults that have graduated from a Kenyan secondary school. …

Secondary Educators’ Knowledge And Perceptions Of Their Own Self-Efficacy As It Relates To 504 Plan Accommodations For Students Diagnosed With Adhd, Anne Richardson

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

This study investigated the role of Section 504 accommodations in meeting the needs of secondary students with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in the United States. While legislation requires equitable education for students with disabilities, gaps remain in understanding how educators perceive their own abilities in implementing Section 504 plans for students with ADHD. The study used a qualitative research design to explore the academic and organizational challenges faced by secondary school students with ADHD, specifically examining the knowledge, perceptions, and self-efficacy of secondary educators regarding ADHD strategies and 504 plan accommodations. Semi-structured interviews were conducted via Zoom with 11 educators from …

Exploring The Relationship Of Program Type On Multilingual Learners Students’ English Growth And Promotion In Secondary School, Simone M. Wilkinson

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

This study explores the relationships between tenure as Multilingual Learners (MLs), English proficiency, academic performance, and promotion among middle and high school students. This study is grounded in Bourdieu’s (1967, 2018) theory, which emphasizes that schools perpetuate cultural norms by limiting ML’s language access and post-secondary success. Also informed by Krashen’s (1982, 1985, 2003) theory of Input Hypothesis, this study investigates how meaningful interaction is key for language learning. The primary research questions explore: (1) Is there a relationship between students’ tenure as a ML, English proficiency, and promotion through secondary school? (2) Is the EL program type for MLs …

Socio-Cultural Curriculum To Enhance Learning: The Case Of Pre-Service Teachers In A Classroom Assessment Course, Kaitlyn Fuoco

Education Student Scholarship

Kaitlyn Fuoco ’26, English/Secondary Education major

Faculty mentor: Dr. Comfort Ateh, Secondary Education

This project examines pre-service teachers’ (PSTs) engagement in a socio-cultural curriculum aimed at enhancing their knowledge and skill in practicing inclusive assessment. The study considers the complexity of the education landscape arising from an increasing diversity in student population, which calls for inclusive pedagogy that allows every student to have access to knowledge regardless of socio-cultural background. The data collected included documents (lesson and unit plans, weekly teaching reflections and evaluations, etc.) that were coded based on socio-cultural themes and discussed through a validity lens. Findings show …

Computing In The Commonwealth: Specialized Education In Computer Science And Information Technology For High School Students In Virginia – An Environmental Scan, Amy Corning, Jonathan D. Becker, Jon Graham, James Carrigan, Keisha Tennessee

ICRE Publications

Over the past two decades, Virginia has invested substantially in STEM education, in part through specialized programs focused on computer science and information technology (CS/IT). This study represents the first effort to identify Virginia’s specialized secondary CS/IT programs and examine them collectively. Findings from the statewide environmental scan indicate that the programs are delivered through a wide variety of institutional structures, including Governor’s STEM Academies, Governor’s Schools, specialty centers, and academies, but most often through Career and Technical Education (CTE) centers. Programs tend to be concentrated in metropolitan areas, and some rural divisions may not be served. The programs provide …

Impacts Of A Yoga And Mindfulness Course On High School Students, Nick R. Abel, Akande Akande, Brandie M. Oliver

Scholarship and Professional Work – Education

This research investigates the impact of a yoga and mindfulness (YM) course taught by a high school counselor in the United States to address student anxiety, stress, and coping skills. Pre- and post-tests administered to participants and a control group indicated significant reductions in anxiety and stress among class participants, suggesting YM interventions can effectively enhance student wellbeing in school settings. Implications for educators include integrating YM practices into a comprehensive program to support holistic student wellbeing.

An Exploration Of Teacher Exodus In Predominantly African American Secondary Public Schools Amid Covid-19, Keith Demond Ford

Educational Leadership & Policy Studies Dissertations - Archive

For some time, K-12 teachers across America have been resigning from classrooms in large numbers. Like many of the nation’s communities, schools in American neighborhoods of color have seen an overwhelming amount of teacher resignations amid the COVID-19 pandemic. According to existing literature, education’s traditional systemic norms and health protocols which were initiated during COVID-19 motivated classroom teachers to leave their jobs. This qualitative study uses a phenomenological methodology as it discovers that an interrelatedness of factors influences six participants to resign from their classroom teaching roles at predominantly African American middle and high schools during and immediately following …

The Implications Of Student-Centered Design On High School Dropout: The Experience Through The Lens Of Students At-Risk Of Dropping Out, Angela R. Alford

Doctor of Education Dissertations

This qualitative study explores the implications of Student-Centered Design on high school completion, particularly for students identified as at risk of dropping out. Grounded in the theory of Student-Centered Design, this research examines how this approach serves as a scaffold for collaborative problem-solving in secondary education and addressing real-world challenges faced by students at-risk of dropping out.

The study uses a qualitative methodology, utilizing a survey and a focus group to gain insight from former students who experienced Student-Centered Design, as well as educators who implemented this approach. By analyzing participant feedback, the research evaluates the effectiveness of Student-Centered Design …

Teacher Views Of Augmentative And Alternative Communication With Nonverbal Students With Severe Intellectual Disabilities: A Generic Qualitative Study, Lelita K. Thomas

Theses and Dissertations

Students with significant intellectual disabilities who are nonverbal often depend on augmentative and alternative communication devices to engage with lessons and participate in secondary educational environments. Despite advancements in this technology, issues pertaining to training, consistency, and institutional support persist, hindering effective application in urban schools. The objective of this generic qualitative study was to investigate the perspectives of teachers and related service providers regarding the utilization of these devices for nonverbal students with severe intellectual disabilities in urban secondary schools.

Data were gathered via semi-structured interviews with 11 participants, comprising special education instructors, related service providers, and special education …

From Rural Roads To College Credits: Understanding Dual Enrollment In New Hampshire's Rural High Schools, Sarah Chase

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Dual enrollment programs vary significantly across states, schools, and districts, leading to inconsistent college readiness outcomes. While previous research primarily examines differences at the state level, little is known about how these programs operate within rural high schools in the same region. This study examines dual enrollment in four rural high schools in New Hampshire using a multiple-case study approach and thematic analysis. Data was collected through interviews with administrators, faculty, counselors, and alumni, along with reviews of public documents. Six key themes emerged: (1) Barriers to Dual Enrollment, (2) Conflicting Perspectives of Key Players, (3) Benefits of Dual Enrollment, …

An Exploration Of How Education Stakeholders Perceive The Implications Of Grade Repetition In Secondary Education In Western Uganda: A Qualitative Multiple-Case Study, Patrick Tumwine

Theses & Dissertations

Grade repetition is one of the bottlenecks to Uganda’s vision of producing skilled human capital to transform the nation’s status from peasant to middle class. This study explored how education stakeholders perceived the implication of students’ grade repetition at a secondary school level. I employed a qualitative approach with an embedded multiple-case study design, through which cross-case synthesis on each school’s perspective revealed similarities and differences in understanding grade repetition at a secondary school level. Individualism-collectivism theory guided the study, to understand how students realized educational expectations through an interplay of educational and cultural influence on a school’s instructional process. …

An Examination Of The International Baccalaureate’S Approaches To Learning As Humanizing, Leah Yates

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The development of 21st-century skill frameworks characterized as being universal, transferrable, and future-facing are ubiquitous among international educational organizations (Suto & Eccles, 2014). The International Baccalaureate (IB) incorporates a similarly articulated universal, transferrable, and future-facing set of skills called the Approaches to Learning (ATL) in its four programmes (International Baccalaureate, 2022b). However, critiques of the IB as being Eurocentric and solely concerned with the development of learners for Western educational experiences calls for a critical examination of the ATL as promoting monocultural skills which are not contextual, personalized, or humanizing (Refai, 2020). This multiple-case study and document review utilized the …

From Academic To Everyday: Utilizing Social-Emotional Learning In The Secondary English Classroom, Claire Collins

Senior Honors Theses

Social-emotional learning is an educational process that allows students to better understand themselves, their relationships, and their problems. While social-emotional learning is often emphasized at the elementary level, the concept continues to be important in secondary grade levels, and teachers have many opportunities to incorporate social-emotional learning within secondary English classrooms. Teachers can utilize diverse literature choices to intertwine life skills with instruction, as well as classroom activities. This integration starts at the planning level and moves into daily instruction, where there are numerous ways to engage students in meaningful discussion, promote reflection, and practice empathy and perspective. English educators …

Beyond The Canon: Intertextuality, Diversity, Student Engagement, And Combatting Polarization In The Secondary Humanities Classroom, Francis Ellinwood

Dartmouth College Master’s Theses

This thesis addresses the need for an inclusive, interdisciplinary approach to secondary humanities education in response to contemporary American social polarization and the influence of digital media. Traditional humanities curricula, often centered on a Eurocentric canon, fail to foster critical thinking and empathy in an era of identity politics and algorithm-driven social media. Advocating for a curriculum that integrates diverse cultural narratives and various storytelling mediums, this thesis combines theoretical analysis, pedagogical experimentation, and case studies. Drawing on cultural critics and theorists like bell hooks, Paul Gilroy, and Tricia Rose, the thesis underscores the importance of diverse narratives in education. …

Introduction To Landscape Architecture State Standards And Curriculum For Utah High Schools, Joseph Pancoast

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

Utah State University (USU) offers a successful Introduction to Landscape Architecture class for college students; this class increases awareness and understanding of landscape architecture as a profession. Though this is a wonderful resource offered at the college level, high school is a key time for career awareness. Unfortunately, there is a lack of student awareness surrounding the profession of landscape architecture. In Utah and the rest of the United States, there are currently no in-person Introduction to Landscape Architecture classes available in a high school setting to increase awareness and understanding for students in a high school setting. Providing a …