Secondary Education Commons^™

Letter From The Editor In Chief, Jeffrey Lee

Transform

The TRANSFORM journal is a space for leaders, mentors, researchers, and practitioners of transformational leadership to be seen, heard, and valued; it is a place for making connections. Relationship-building is central to transformational leadership at all levels of an organization; this fundamental truth is a trending topic in literature. Otherwise, however, leadership can be an isolating experience.

As an ethnographer, I believe the best way to launch an academic, peer-reviewed journal is to do what I do best: storytelling. I want to share my thoughts on transformational leadership through a story in the form of a letter to my younger …

The Effect Of Reading Habits On Academic Success, Taylor Hicks

Masters Projects

The goal of most students is to achieve academic success. In order to be successful, students must form healthy reading habits because there is a positive correlation between academic success and reading habits. The more students read, the greater their chances of performing well academically. By participating in frequent reading, students will, not only perform well in school, they will also expand their vocabulary, improve their writing skills, and sharpen their critical thinking skills. We are in the midst of a literacy crisis, though. Students are choosing other avenues for entertainment instead of reading. This could potentially have detrimental consequences. …

College Preparedness. Narratives Of Transitions From High School To College., Chelsey Luann Vincent

Theses and Dissertations

Despite many theories on student success as well as many resources to help students make the transition from high school to college, many students do not persist in or graduate from college. The purpose of this dissertation is to provide insight into what takes place when students leave P-12 institutions and enter institutions of higher education by using focused narrative inquiry. This study took place at a large research university in the south. The study included 4 participants at various parts of their transition journey. Participants in the study responded to written prompts. Follow up interviews were conducted, and a …

Examining Disparities In Ninth-Grade Advanced Courses, Sarah Mckenzie, Josh Mcgee, Sarah R. Morris

Policy Briefs

In this brief, we examine the racial and socioeconomic disparities in ninth-grade advanced course placement. We utilized a statistical analysis of course placement patterns and interviewed Arkansas counselors. We suggest districts implement local norm-based placement systems that automatically enroll students in ninth-grade advanced courses to enhance equity in course placement.

Influential Experiences: Practices Of Teaching And Learning Successes To Increase Pre-Service Teachers’ Self-Efficacy, Amanda L. Steiner, Jennifer Lemke

Journal of Curriculum, Teaching, Learning and Leadership in Education

Teaching is a complex yet rewarding career; still, 40% - 50% of teachers leave the field within the first five years of their career (Ingersoll & Strong, 2011). Teacher preparation programs are often criticized for the lack of connection between theory and practice. Pre-service teachers who have more pedagogical courses and field experiences built into their coursework display higher levels of self-efficacy in their first year of teaching (Boyd et al., 2009; Clark, 2016). Through the lens of Bandura’s four sources of self-efficacy, this case study examines what experiences are most influential in developing pre-service teachers’ self-efficacy.

Pisa In Brief 2022: Student Performance And Equity In Education, Lisa De Bortoli, Catherine Underwood, Sue Thomson

OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) Australia

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is an assessment that measures the knowledge and skills of 15-year-old students, an age at which they have nearly completed compulsory schooling. PISA assesses young adults’ ability to apply their knowledge and skills to real-life problems and situations rather than how well they have learned a specific curriculum. This PISA in Brief report provides a summary of student performance in the PISA 2022 assessment and tells us about their capacity to apply knowledge and skills in the domains of reading, mathematical, and scientific literacy.

Pisa 2022. Reporting Australia’S Results. Volume I: Student Performance And Equity In Education, Lisa De Bortoli, Catherine Underwood, Sue Thomson

OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) Australia

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is an international comparative study of student performance directed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). PISA measures 3 core domains of reading literacy, mathematical literacy, and scientific literacy. The assessment focuses on young people’s ability to apply their knowledge and skills to real-world problems and situations. The term ‘literacy’ reflects a focus on broader skills. As a concept, literacy is more than simply being able to read and write. Eighty-one countries or economies, involving around 690,000 students, participated in PISA 2022. In Australia, 743 schools and a total of 13,437 …

Course Correction: Navigating Equity In Ninth-Grade Advanced Placement, Sarah R. Morris, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Miranda Vernon

Arkansas Education Reports

This robust mixed-methods study examines ninth-grade advanced course placement in Arkansas, revealing disparities rooted in race and socioeconomic status. Utilizing a logit analysis for a five-year pooled sample (n=163,616), we find persistent enrollment gaps for Black ninth-grade students after controlling for prior academic achievement, highlighting systemic barriers to access to advanced courses. Socioeconomic divides are also evident in our analysis. Qualitative findings from counselor interviews highlight the importance of parental involvement in course placement decisions, particularly for students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. Overall, we find through these interviews that districts consider a myriad of factors when considering course placement for …

Spatial Visualization Of High School Geometry Students, Jennifer Crissey

Dissertations

Spatial ability has been defined as “the innate ability to visualize that a person has before any formal training has occurred, i.e., a person is born with ability” (Sorby, 1999, p. 21) and is comprised of spatial orientation and spatial skills.Each of these facets are used in everyday life. High school students can enhance their spatial visualization skills through experiences and instruction. The purpose of this study was to test an intervention with the aim of increasing high school geometry students’ spatial visualization skills. The participants in this study were high school geometry students who were randomly placed in either …

Examining High School Girls’ Experiences In A Global Leadership Program: A Constructivist Grounded Theory Study, Erika Haskins

Theses & Dissertations

The proportion of women in influential leadership positions continues to grow at a slow pace (Beaupre, 2022; Hoyt & Johnson, 2012). Inequalities are still present in the representation of leadership and salary wages (Catalyst, Inc., 2022; Choi, 2018). While progress is evident in regard to diversity and inclusion policies and practices in the workplace, barriers continue to exist that hinder opportunities for women who strive to achieve higher-level positions (Elias, 2018). With more women in leadership positions, advocacy for women and girls can occur, such as access to leadership development programs in schools and organizations (Beaupre, 2022; Shier et al., …

The Effects Of Adolescent Trauma, Mental Health Treatment, And Demographic Variables On Educational Outcome, Christopher Postema

Dissertations

Poor educational performance in adolescence can occur due to trauma, substance use, or other stressors. This study used conflict theory as a foundation, suggesting differences in educational outcomes can be attributed to systems perpetuating the current power structures that cause inequality in academic opportunities and performance. Trauma in adolescence can have adverse effects on educational outcomes and emotional stability. Research suggests that mental health therapy as well as a reduction in trauma symptoms can improve educational outcomes. Race, gender, substance use, socioeconomic status, and employment are important variables that could influence educational outcomes. Interaction terms were found in the literature …

Ways To Make Cybersecurity Education/Opportunities More Accessible In The Philippine Public School System, Joshua Oania

Cybersecurity Undergraduate Research Showcase

This paper will examine how the Philippines can make cybersecurity education more accessible in their public school system. The solutions it proposes include making cybersecurity a part of the school curriculum, creating summer/internship programs for Junior and Senior High School students in multiple different areas within cybersecurity, and providing basic infrastructure and resources for students to meet their educational needs and aspirations.

Reading Interventions For High School Students With Reading Difficulties, Dixie Poulsen

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

Literacy is an important skill necessary for better outcomes in life. There are many high school students that struggle with word reading and comprehension. Some may even graduate without a functional reading level. What can teachers do to make a difference? Are there strategies that can be implemented into classrooms to better help struggling students? It is important to gather the correct information about the students reading abilities. For this professional portfolio, I conducted 5 different reading assessment, to understand the student’s current abilities. With these assessments I could determine where my student struggled the most. The student had difficulty …

The Casnr L.I.N.K.S. Newsletter: Learning Innovation Network For K-12 Schools, Volume 2, Edition 11, December 2023, Bailey Feit, Tammy Mittelstet

CASNR L.I.N.K.S. Newsletter

The purpose of this L.I.N.K.S. newsletter is to provide a monthly update of opportunities and resources for K-12 schools to connect with the University of Nebraska's CASNR Food, Energy, Water, and Societal Systems (FEWS²) programs and partners.

Included in this edition:

New engage in the range curriculum, World Wildlife Fund

The CASNR Change Maker Competition

Data Driven 2024: 4-H Statistics Field day

UNL CASNR six interest areas

Focus on Department of Food Science and Technology, Center for Grassland Studies, and Environmental and Sustainability Studies

Career spotlight: forest ranger, range management, US conservation specialist, environmental lobbyist, food chemist, nutritionist, nonprofit fund …

Career And Technical Education Teachers’ Perceptions Of Instructional Feedback From Supervisors, Brooke L. Thiel, Justin V. Benna, Breanna Pastir, Nikki Fideldy-Doll

Journal of Research in Technical Careers

The purpose of this study was to examine Career and Technical Education (CTE) teachers’ perceptions of feedback from supervisors. All CTE teachers in North Dakota were surveyed during early 2023. A series of one-way ANOVAs and t-tests were run to compare the differences in teachers’ perceptions based upon reported professional characteristics. The results of the study indicate that, even though CTE is different from other content areas, CTE teachers still prefer pedagogical feedback over content-specific feedback. Unless, however, the supervising principal was a former CTE teacher, then the feedback related to their lived experience seemed to be valued by …

Increasing Student Engagement And Learning Of The Age Of Exploration Through Differentiated Instruction And Assessment, Hannah M. Smith

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

This capstone project examines the impact of incorporating two instructional and two assessment strategies within a tenth-grade World Civilization unit centered on enhancing students' comprehension of the Age of Exploration. The Age of Exploration unit had 16 instructional days between the pre- and post-assessment. Drawing insights from student data, it was that learners demonstrated enhanced and increased comprehension and improved performance throughout this unit, attributable to various differentiated instructional strategies and assessment methods. This paper will report what the instructional strategies and assessment methods consisted of and the effect they had on student learning. I collected and analyzed the pre- …

The Influence Of Advanced Math Course Enrollment In Potential First-Generation Students, Marian N. Jackson

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

There is limited research on potential first-generation college students’ K12 experiences. The enrollment in advanced math coursework while in high school is a crucial factor for such prospective college completion and success. Potential first-generation students, however, are more likely to enter college without advanced mathematics coursework. This grounded theory study utilized math literacy (Moses & Cobb, 2001) and notions of additive schooling (Valenzuela, 1999) to explore the reasons behind potential first-generation students’ enrollment decisions in advanced math courses. Data collection included semi structured interviews and demographic survey data of potential first-generation students. Findings indicate that the school counselor functions as …

Teaching Without A Roadmap: A Mixed Methods Study Of New Teachers' Experience With A Missing Curriculum, Christopher Reid Williams

Dissertations

As new teachers enter the field of education, they face many challenges as they work to quickly adapt to the many demands of the job. One of the most pressing factors for new teachers is deciding what to actually teach each day. For educators, the curriculum represents the master plan that both guides their educational efforts and supplies the tools to get the job done. However, new teachers experience varying levels of curriculum support when they begin their careers, and some receive absolutely no support at all. This study describes those cases of beginning a teaching career with little to …

Fashion Around The Francophone World: A 20-Unit Lesson Plan For Teaching Students 7-12 How To Discuss Clothing In French, Justin Solheim

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

This paper is the directions for a high school French world language curriculum at the novice-low level. The curriculum covers 20 class periods, or four weeks, and it uses a variety of pedagogical techniques and technologies to help students quickly learn and retain French vocabulary and grammar. Each class period is 40 minutes. The lessons use a variety of assessments and feedback to help students improve and allow the teachers to monitor student achievement. The following lessons focus on forming basic sentences and practicing the basics of subject-verb agreement, while teaching the vocabulary for different types of clothing in the …

Impact Of School Leaders’ Actions On Teachers And Their Practices, Dinara Metova

Dissertations

School leaders play a vital role in teachers' performance; while some leaders create an environment conducive to learning, collaboration, and achievement, others inadvertently contribute to teacher attrition and educational disparities. The purpose of this study is to determine the impact of school leaders' actions on teachers and their practices. The context of this inquiry includes two stakeholder groups: 582 school leaders and 1,054 teachers from all 50 states who are members of Facebook Educator Groups. I implemented a mixed methods design by researching scholarly articles and using qualitative and quantitative survey data to find the most effective school leader practices …

Influences Of A Formal Mentoring Program On African American Male Achievement Throughout High School And Beyond, Justin Smith

Graduate Theses and Dissertations (2019 - present)

There has been a growing concern for African-American male students (Hawkins-Jones & Reeves, 2020) due to the fact that they maintain consistently low achievement levels throughout their education and graduate from high school at lower rates than their peers. Their failure rate in math and reading on the National Assessment of Educational Practice (U.S. Department of Education, 2017) is above average, and the U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (Hussar et al., 2020) reported that they also have higher than average dropout, suspension, and truancy rates. The achievement and discipline gaps that African-American male students face in …

Parent Choice: Learning Pods Or Public Education During Covid-19 Pandemic, Shari Kinney

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative study was to examine the decision-making process of K-12 parents living in the Appalachian Highlands who chose to remove their children from traditional public schools to join learning pods (sometimes referred to as pandemic pods) during the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to answer this overarching question, the researcher focused her study on two areas: first, what were the possible push factors that influenced parents to remove their children from public schools, and secondly, what were the pull factors that lead parents to choose learning pods over other school choice options. Through the data collected …

The Impact Of Counseling Demographic, Job Related And Professional Factors On Disciplinary Outcomes, Tiffany Chelece Chaney

Dissertations (2016-Present)

Counselors interact with every student on their campus and impact student outcomes. The researcher examined the predictable relationship between counselors’ demographic factors, job-related and professional-related factors (Texas Counseling Association, 2018), and student discipline outcomes (Texas Education Agency, 2021). The researcher used secondary data in the form of discipline frequencies, counselor gender and race of counselors, the Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) accreditation status of the counselor’s master’s program, counseling licensure, counselor ratios, and the time counselors spend providing services within the Comprehensive School Counseling Program. This correlational research design allowed the researcher to examine …

Educator Perceptions Of The Care And Instruction Of Trauma Exposed Students In A Small, Urban, Christian School., Mitzi L. Phelan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

It is the endeavor of this research project to investigate how a gap in understanding and communication of an advisory program’s fundamental purpose could potentially impact the thoughts and beliefs of teachers in shaping their perceptions of an advisory program’s efficacy. To this end, the purpose of this phenomenological study is to explore the lived experiences of twelve teacher-advisors in two high schools in Shelby County, Kentucky to understand their concepts of an advisory program’s efficacy. Using convenience sampling, twelve teacher-advisors participated in semi-structured interviews, providing insight into three research questions regarding teachers’ beliefs, intentionality, and challenges of implementing a …

The Effects Of Math Pathways On Pupils In Poverty, Edward Kameen

All Dissertations

This was a Mixed Methods study that evaluated the implementation of a Math Pathways Program at Crestview High School. The study leveraged Improvement Science and a long-range PDSA cycle with the aim of improving outcomes for Pupils in Poverty in Dual Credit math courses. This study sought to answer three research questions. The first two research questions were answered with quantitative data and the final research question was answered with qualitative data. The research questions that guided this study were (1) What effects did the Math Pathways Program have on the enrollment of Pupils in Poverty in Dual Credit math? …

The Use Of The South Carolina School Improvement Model - Quick Cycles In Sixth-Grade Science Classrooms, Jennifer Gnann

All Dissertations

Using data to make informed decisions about instruction strengthens a teacher’s delivery of content within the classroom. However, many teachers have not been taught how to properly use a model of rapid improvement cycles to analyze data and apply it to their classroom instruction. I modified the South Carolina School Improvement Model so that it could be used in short cycles to see how teachers used it to plan for, monitor, and adjust instruction in their classrooms.

I conducted a single case study over a six-week period in which I instructed two sixth-grade science teachers on how to use the …

Making The Move Toward Meaningfulness In Learning Activities: Enhancing Teacher Self-Efficacy In Student Engagement Through An Instructional Coaching Approach In Improvement Science, Maureen Tiller

All Dissertations

Student engagement is a common problem in schools today and a challenging one to solve. Choosing to dive deeper into this complex problem at one high school, ten teachers participated in a coaching cycle designed to impact self-efficacy in student engagement with the support of the school’s instructional coach in collaboration with the principal. One overarching research question guided this improvement science study: What impact does an instructional coaching cycle focused on meaningfulness in learning activities have on teachers’ self-efficacy in student engagement? To answer the research question, I conducted a quantitative and qualitative data analysis of pre- and …

Analyzing The Impact Of An Informal Mathematics Teaching Experience On Preservice Teacher Mathematics Teaching Self-Efficacy, Kayla Fruth

Honors Projects

A teacher’s sense of efficacy is their belief in their capability to successfully accomplish a specific task. Teachers with a high sense of efficacy exert more effort, persistence, and commitment to teaching, which leads to higher student achievement and attitudes. The purpose of this study is to determine how participation in an informal mathematics teaching experience impacts preservice teachers’ sense of mathematics teaching self-efficacy. This research was conducted at one informal mathematics teaching experience, during which, all participants completed pre-surveys and post-surveys rating their mathematics teaching self-efficacy using the MTEBI. Later, some participants were interviewed to gain insight into their …

Destigmatizing Working With Dyslexic Learners, Riley N. Dandurand

The Writing Center Journal

In the field of writing center research there is a paucity of information regarding tutoring students with dyslexia. This comes as no surprise considering it is only in the last 50 years that there has been a conscious effort to include those who have exceptionalities in all areas of education. In addition to a lack of research and training there is another issue that arises with disclosing exceptionalities. Those studying dyslexia have found that students are hesitant to disclose their learning disability because of the stigma and feelings of differentiation from their peers (Brizee et al., 2012). The question then …

Investigating Relationships Between Muslim High School Students’ School Belonging And Career Decision-Making, Nour Alhiyari

Dissertations

Muslim Americans have been subjected to systemic oppression and unjust experiences, such as discrimination, racism, hate crimes, and stereotypes, for generations in the United States. Although ample research has investigated relationships between systemic oppression in society and its impacts on marginalized students in public school environments, little research has directly investigated Muslim students' school experiences. Additionally, studies and scholarship have explored the long-term impacts of systemic oppression on marginalized groups to develop a comprehensive understanding of minority groups’ experiences in the United States. This study investigated Muslim students’ experiences in public high schools regarding their sense of belonging and other …