3543 research outputs found
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The Transition Experiences of High Achieving High School Students from Secondary Education to College : A Case Study
No full textThis qualitative multiple case study explored the experiences of eight students as they transitioned from high school to college. Eight students from an urban high school in the southern United States agreed to participate in this study. Participants were high-achieving students, 18 years of age, who participated in a teacher preparation class and took the MSLQ for a class project during the last semester of their senior year of high school. The researcher collected and triangulated data to ensure reliability: archival MSLQ scores from the participants’ senior year, open-ended interviews after the participants’ first year of college, document review of syllabi as well as college websites, and college course observations. Four themes emerged in this study including high-school preparation, college academic readiness, college emotional readiness, and navigating independence. Additionally, eleven subthemes deepened the understanding of the thematic analysis of the participants’ experiences. The results of the study revealed that students who take college preparatory classes in high school are more prepared for the high-performance, postsecondary education demands. However, they are not emotionally ready to meet the time constraints, separation from friends and family, and independence a college environment requires. The study can suggest, based on student perceptions, improvements in the high-school course of study that can help students be successful in their transition to higher education
New Teacher Perceptions - Mentoring and Coaching at a California Catholic School
No full textAn explanatory case study was employed to explore the perceptions of the influence of coaching and mentoring programs on new first year teachers. The research was conducted at a private Catholic high school in Southern California. Guided by the Situational Leadership model, which was founded in the ideal that no single approach to leadership exists, this study examined how new first-year teachers perceive the influence of coaching and mentoring programs on their growth and performance, and their students’ learning in a private Catholic high school in Southern California. This study revealed that new first-year teachers perceived that coaching and mentoring had a significant impact on their growth and performance as well as their students‘ learning. Nine new first-year teachers participated in semistructured interviews with the researcher. Questionnaires were also utlized to gather data from all new first-year teachers some of whom may not have opted to participate in the interview. A focus group of site administrators was also used. The questionnaires, interviews, and focus group data were coded using hand coding and Nvivo software. Responses to the questionnaires, the interviews, and the focus group reflected the new first-year teachers\u27 perceptions of coaching and mentoring programs. New first-year teachers benefit from the support of experienced teachers who act as coaches and mentors. Future studies should discuss the long-term impact of the program as well as expand the scope of the study
A Common Enterprise: Law and the Connection Between Civil and Heavenly Realms in the Writings of John Calvin
No full textThe common ends that once united spiritual and civil realms have been privatized as those ends have come to be seen as controversial and plural, rather than unifying and common. Acknowledging the diversity of ends resulted in increased attention to uniform rules. Since there was no longer agreement about what teloi mattered for society, law gradually lost its aspirational features and became simply a way to limit and punish uncivil and criminal behavior.
The formal separation, but ultimate unity, of civil and heavenly spheres, of norm with vision, articulated by Calvin, allowed him to be both idealistic and realistic about law’s capacity. Calvin the realist, more so than any prominent theologian, recognized the pervasiveness of human sinfulness and chastens any legal or political system that assumes the perfectibility of humankind. Calvin the idealist, however, reminds us of law’s potential to educate individuals in God’s will and to cultivate virtuous action in the process.
The development of Western legal and political institutions in the modern and contemporary eras likely benefited from Calvin’s recognition of the law’s limits as well as its capacities. If there is anything that the contemporary world should draw from Calvin’s writing on the law, it is that law is a richer resource than we often realize. At its best, it performs multiple functions. Law limits and enables; it punishes but also educates
A Multiple Case Study of Perceptions of the Impact of the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) Program
No full textThis multiple case qualitative research study sought to explore how secondary students, teachers, and administrators perceive the impact of the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program. The study was conducted at two public high schools in northeast Oklahoma. Although the two high schools are similar demographically, one of the participating schools is considerably larger than the other. AVID is a program designed to close the achievement gap, while simultaneously improving schools and school culture. AVID students are typically average students that are at-risk, minorities, or under-privileged. AVID’s mission is to prepare and enable all students to succeed in high school, college, and life. Many previous research studies have examined the effects of AVID; however, it was the goal of this study to provide insight on the perceptions of AVID’s impact. Semi-structured individual interviews and focus group sessions were used to explore how secondary students, teachers, and administrators perceive the impact of AVID on academic achievement, organizational skills, and social relations. The data collected during the interviews and focus groups sessions were transcribed using NVivo. Codes were identified and themes emerged. Finally, triangulation was accomplished by collecting data from multiple sources and asking the same research questions to various study participants. The results of this research indicated that secondary students, teachers, and administrators perceive AVID as having a positive impact on academic achievement, organizational skills, and social relations
Collaborative Partnerships Between Community Colleges and High Schools
No full textA key concern in education today is the overwhelming number of students who leave high school unprepared for college in the core courses of English and Math. As a result of student unpreparedness, more and more students are entering college having to take developmental courses. A high number of those students are students in the state of Mississippi. The purpose ofthis qualitative case study was to explore how educational stakeholders perceive the need for implementation of college preparedness and developmental education courses for students with developmental deficiencies in urban high schools in Mississippi. In the study, the researcher used Tinto’s (1993) theory of integration and retention, Astin’s (1993) theory of student involvement, and Bandura’s (1993) theory of self-efficacy to outline the conceptual framework that supported the assumption that educators would perceive that a collaborative means for remedial and developmental education prior to high school graduation (e.g. grades 9-12) will result in a positive and significant impact on student college success and retention. The study consisted of 20 educators from three high schools and two community college branches in urban Mississippi. The researcher conducted research using three data collection tools: Phase I Qualtrics Survey, Phase II Face-to-Face Interviews, and Phase III Focus Group Sessions. The results of the study indicated that educators from both the community colleges and high schools perceived the need for identification and intervention early in student’s academic career in order to reduce the lack of college readiness. The findings also indicated the need for a revamping of high school curriculums to mirror college expectations, in addition to a closer collaboration between the two institutions of learning to reduce the number of students who graduate underprepared
Fifth Grade High Suspension Rates and Classroom Behavior Management: An Action Research Study
No full textThis action research study was designed to understand the causes of behavioral problems that led to an excessive number of teacher office referrals and school suspensions at a public school in North Carolina and identify behavior techniques and effective modern-day classroom management methods that could be utilized in the classroom to reduce this problem. The sample was formed by a total of 60 fifth-grade students between the ages of 10 and 11 years and six teachers. Data was gathered using parent and teacher questionnaires, school suspension records, teacher write-ups, office referrals, classroom observations, and video conferencing or face-to-face interviews. Based on the results of the data analysis and informed by the theories of pro-social behavior, behavior, and change theory, a behavior management intervention was developed and implemented for the fifth grade. Findings showed that, once the teachers learned and applied strategies to handle and prevent unwanted behavior, there was a significant decrease of office referrals, teacher write-ups, loud outbursts, off-task students, and disruptive behavior, as well as an increase of teacher confidence
The Effects of Extended Reading Time on Third-Grade Students with Diverse Reading Needs: A Comparative Analysis of Two Title I Elementary Schools
No full textReading is one of the basic and necessary skills for success in life. When an individual cannot read, it will limit the individual’s opportunities to grow, produce, and thrive. The researcher explored three factors relative to reading: the effects a supplemental reading program, Extended Reading Time (ERT), had on third-grade students with diverse reading needs, the reading improvement of third-grade students who did not receive ERT services, and to what extent will third-grade teachers effectively utilize ERT to meet the needs of their students best. The researcher used archival data from two Title I elementary schools; one received ERT services, and the other did not receive the services. There were four comparative analyses conducted on quantitative data. Statistically significant differences were found in the pretest and posttest reading scores of third-grade students who received ERT services (F (1, 336) = 8.79, p = .003, η2 = 12.19). Also, there were no statistically significant differences found in the pretest and posttest reading scores of third-grade students who did not receive ERT services. These findings suggested that ERT services may have helped the non-ERT third-grade students achieve higher reading scores on their posttest. Limitations included the characteristics of Title I third-grade students, characteristics of Title I schools, and third-grade teachers’ pedagogical effectiveness. Some of these characteristics were no in-home education between the ages of 0 to 4 years old, as parents possessed limited formal education, and little to no connection between parents and their children’s school(s). These limitations may have caused the results to be unique and restricted their abilities to be generalized to different populations, as the results could be only applicable to other similar Title I populations