<p> The research design is a quantitative causal comparative method. The Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) which measures student scores included assessments in mathematics and reading. The design study called for an examination of how type of small learning community (SLC) or the type non-SLC high school environment affected student achievement in FCAT mathematics, FCAT reading, graduation rates, and entrance into college/post secondary education, employment, and teacher job satisfaction using analysis of variance. Results indicate that students who participated in SLCs were more likely to graduate from high school than their non-SLC counterparts. SLCs seem to be supportive of both high school completion and education beyond the high school diploma. Participating teachers provided self-reported levels of employment satisfaction using the Mohrman-Cooke-Mohrman Job Satisfaction Scales (MCMJSS). Results of the ANOVA analysis indicate that SLC teachers do demonstrate a significantly higher rate of job satisfaction than their non-SLC colleagues indicate the probability that the relation between the variables found in the sample (<i> p</i> &lt; .001) was significant. The results of this study were that SLCs improve student graduation rates, students&rsquo; entering college and post-secondary education and further expanded the empirical evidence that teachers in SLCs have increased job satisfaction.</p>

<p> This dissertation argues that bullying is a fundamental response to bullies&rsquo; feelings of insecurity. Past research has found factors associated with bullying to include socioeconomic status and propensities towards violent behavior. Contextual factors posited here that produce the feelings of insecurity, which lead to bullying, include peer group dynamics, school climates, and teaching. </p><p> In relationship to peer groups, the theoretical framework of this dissertation draws primarily from the theories of Robert E. Crosnoe and Dorte M. Sondergaard. The assumption is that students are socially embedded in peer groups in which they struggle for social status (Crosnoe 2011) and in many cases experience the threat of social marginalization (Sondergaard 2012). Sondergaard, in particular, theorizes that the more insecure students feel about their social status in peer groups, the more likely they are to resort to bullying behavior. </p><p> All multivariate analyses in this dissertation are limited to white, black, and Latino boys. The resulting sample comprises N=6,491 student observations nested within 153 schools. The nested sampling structure requires multi-level modeling (MLM) for the calculation of unbiased estimates.</p><p> I find that individual-level student background characteristics are stronger predictors of bully identification than the school context, as measured by student body composition and teaching style factors. In addition, social status insecurity is a mediating factor for many of the student- and school-level predictors of bullying. </p><p> The dissertation distinguishes four types of schools, each of which is above or below average on two major dimensions. The first dimension is academic support (i.e., how caring and responsive teachers are), while the other is academic press (i.e., how strict and demanding they are). </p><p> I find that black male students are more likely to self-identify as bullies in schools that are below average on both academic support and academic press, compared to those that are above average on both. The pattern for Latino boys is different. For them, self-reported bullying is higher when the school rates high on academic support, but low on academic press. </p><p> I find no statistically significant role for teaching styles in predicting the amount of bully identification among white males.</p>

<p> To comply with The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) regulations, parents of high school students taking college classes as part of a dual enrollment program have to employ alternative monitoring practices to remain informed about their students&rsquo; academic progress. This quantitative research study explored how parents&rsquo; perceptions of access to student academic progress information correlated with their students&rsquo; academic performance based on cumulative grade point average (GPA) in college classes. Credit-based transition programs (CBTP) and parent monitoring theory provided the framework. All 867 parents of students under age 18 enrolled in the dual enrollment program at an urban community college in a western state during the winter quarter 2015 were asked to respond a 10 question survey instrument, modified from Stattin and Kerr (2000) and six demographic indicators. The results of 59 returned questionnaires were linked to GPAs of students using descriptive and correlational statistics. A small response (6.8%) limited the ability to correlate parental perceptions and dual enrollment success in college courses. No significance was demonstrated; however, when cumulative GPAs and parent responses on the survey instrument were correlated using split-cases with demographic indictors, six significant correlations appeared. These indicated that parents do appear to play some significant role in supporting their dual enrollment student&rsquo;s success in college courses. As a result, colleges may want to find mechanisms for parents of dual enrollment students to stay engaged without compromising the FERPA regulations.</p>

<p> Changes in recent federal, state, and local legislation have added increased scrutiny of and pressure on the evaluation systems of educators across the nation. This scrutiny and pressure have prompted significant changes to both the systems and processes for determining and reporting the effectiveness of teachers and principals. One of the most substantial changes is the use of student growth goals in determining evaluation outcomes for educators. This qualitative study examined the practice and impact of student growth goals created by principals. How do principals describe the impact of evaluative student growth goals on their leadership practice? In what ways are teacher-created student growth goals reflected in the student growth goals that principals set?</p><p> To examine these questions, the researcher interviewed ten principals and analyzed the data using an open coding and thematic organization of the results. Several themes that emerged from the participant interviews included: (a) principals view improved evaluation as a crucial leadership practice; (b) principal level (i.e. elementary or secondary), rather than experience, is a critical factor in goal-setting effectiveness; and (c) principals must have expertise in collaborative leadership to effectively develop meaningful student growth goals.</p><p> The implications of these themes suggested that policymakers and practitioners increase professional development designed to improve the level of learning-focused conversations of teachers and principals, target increased professional development to secondary principals, develop student growth measures that are useful at the secondary level, and find ways to create time in the system for teachers, principals, and their evaluators to engage in these evaluation conversations. </p>

<p> This study explores teacher perceptions of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) programs in the classroom, with a focus on teacher use, student equity of access, and student ability to use their devices as learning tools. While one-to-one laptop programs (students assigned identical school-owned laptop or tablet) has an extensive body of literature behind it, BYOD has relatively little peer-reviewed research. </p><p> A framework was developed to guide this research that related teacher technology use, equity of student access, and student ability to learn to use the devices they brought. Two instruments were created to collect data: (a) an anonymous online survey to collect information from 108 teachers already incorporating BYOD into their classes, (b) a semi-structured interview with eleven teachers who volunteered after completing the first instrument. </p><p> Findings suggested that teachers with constructivist compatible beliefs were likely to have more positive perceptions of BYOD, as were those who worked in schools with a more positive atmosphere. Very few teachers (12%) thought that BYOD programs were inherently inequitable, although 25% thought the programs in their own school was inequitable. Teachers were concerned that all students have access to an effective device when the student did not bring one and they primarily looked to school-owned technology to be available. Teachers also reported that students could learn to use their individual devices by working with other students and through working on assignments, while teachers had specific techniques they used to support this learning. Teachers overall did not view themselves as being responsible for providing technology support to students, and instead expected students to resolve their own technology problems. Many teachers (42%) liked that students had different types of devices. </p><p> A key advantage of BYOD is the knowledge the students bring when they bring their own device. These results provide tentative support for Bring Your Own Device programs as a viable, cost- effective way for students to use their own technology for learning.</p>

<p>In 1983, the <i>A Nation at Risk</i> report stated that our educational institutions in the United States and especially in urban areas were not meeting the educational needs of our students. Since <i>A Nation at Risk</i>, elected school boards in urban areas were under fire from the media, parents, other civic and community leaders, and voters due to fiscal irresponsibility and poor student achievement. In selected urban cities across the nation, elected school boards were replaced in favor of mayoral control (e.g., Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington DC) and appointed school boards (Wong et al., 2007). In 1999, the Detroit Public Schools (DPS) was taken over by the state of Michigan in an effort to reform the district. In 1998 prior to the state takeover, DPS had 261 schools, 167,000 students enrolled in the district, and a $93 million budget surplus. In 2014 after several years of state control, DPS had 97 schools (&minus;62%), 47,000 students enrolled (&minus;71%) in the district, and a $232 million budget deficit (&minus;349%). During this same time period, DPS had eight different district leaders under three different school governance models. This qualitative historical case study developed an understanding of the overall impact of school governance reform on the institutional progress in DPS from 1999&ndash;2014. <i>Institutional Progress</i> examines the overall functioning of a school district in the areas of: leadership, educational programs, finances, personnel, community support and political support. This study also described the external and internal barriers preventing DPS from making institutional progress. This qualitative study utilized four data sources: interviews of current and former Detroit Public School personnel (i.e., school board members, central and building administrators, teachers, parents and community activists), Detroit Board of Education meeting minutes reports, daily newspaper coverage of DPS from the <i>Detroit Free Press </i> and the <i>Detroit News</i>, and city of Detroit archives on the annual <i>State of the City Address</i> given by Detroit mayors to determine whether or not institutional progress was achieved in DPS from 1999&ndash;2014. The findings of this study were the following: 1.) there was a lack of institutional progress in Detroit Public Schools; 2.) school governance reforms in DPS did not have a positive impact; and 3.) internal and external barriers prevented DPS from making institutional progress. </p>

Through an exploration and analysis of the roles of Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) in education policy reform particularly at the Basic Education level in Zambia, this thesis argues that over the past few decades, NGOs have become increasingly visible. Indeed, since the 1990s, many NGOs supporting education have entered the arena of advocacy and policy dialogue with government; yet the success of internationally recognised goals - such as Education For All (EFA) – seem as remote as ever. To address the concern regarding the role of NGOs in education policy, qualitative methodological approaches were utilised. These included interviews, participant observation, focus group discussions and documentary analysis. This research finds that the participation of NGOs in Basic Education Policy Reform in Zambia needs to be “reformulated” to end problems concerning access, inequity and quality in education. Although NGOs are involved in policy through their roles as service providers and policy advocates, the majority depend on foreign donor funding which creates tensions between government strategies and donor priorities. Due to their dependence on international funding NGOs in Lusaka province appear to have made a limited contribution to educational developments. The government of Zambia, because of its indebtness, has accepted neo-liberal policies in education which are frequently tied to conditionalities in aid packages. Therefore, it has been found that NGOs have helped the neo-liberal agenda of donors rather than the needs of local communities and schools. The conclusion one must draw, is that if NGOs are to contribute to minimising educational problems, they need to support policies that are indigenous that put educational needs of all children, especially the marginalised and vulnerable, first.

<p> This qualitative research study discovers, investigates and explores how selected Latinas make meaning of their high school experience. This study also examines whether there are any resources and/or factors that contributed to their success. The 14 participants are currently enrolled as full time students at a post-secondary institution. The researcher conducted one in-depth, semi-structured interview with each participant. Qualitative research methods (Merriam, 2009) were used to analyze what participants shared. Social capital theory was the theoretical perspective that provided the lens for this study (Coleman, 1988; Putnam, 2000; Stanton-Salazar, 2001). A concept map containing four categories, self, family, school and community, along with a constructivist outlook were included in the overall approach to interpret how Latinas made meaning of their experience. Results from analysis of the data revealed five main themes: (a) Self Identity, (b) Family Influences, (c) Educational Experiences, (d) Advocacy, and (e) Community Connections. These themes and the categories in the concept map are interrelated and were found to have an impact on how Latinas access, acquire, network, and build upon social capital. The conclusions, along with the implication to theory, inform the implications for practice in school systems and policy.</p>

Thesis (MEd)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The purpose of this study was to understand and to interpret the complex array of factors that contribute to the phenomenon of learners dropping out of school. This investigation highlights the phenomenon of high school dropouts in particular. Whilst I am not entirely comfortable with the term “dropout”, I have decided to use it based on its use in a report of the Ministerial Committee on Learner Retention in the South African Schooling System that was published in October 2007. This report provides various understandings of the term, and I use the term with reference to said report. The research methodology for the study is interpretive analysis, and the purpose thereof is to provide “thick description”, which means a thorough description of the characteristics, processes, transactions, and contexts that constitute the phenomenon being studied. The analysis is couched in a language not alien to the phenomenon, and takes into account the researcher’s role in constructing the description. The research data have identified a number of factors within families, within schools, and within communities that affect whether learners are likely to drop out, or to graduate, from high school. These are: poverty, almost all the parents of the participants were school dropouts themselves (did not complete their schooling), teenage pregnancy, substance abuse, the lack of home and school stability, social behaviour, rebellion, peer pressure, and a sense of caring. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doel van die studie was om die legio faktore wat bydrae tot die verskynsel van leerders wat by skole uitval te verstaan en te intrepreteer. Hierdie ondersoek lê veral klem op die hoë uitvalsyfer van hoërskoolleerders. Hoewel ek nie gemaklik voel met die term “drop out” of uitval nie, het ek besluit om die term te gebruik aangesien die woord “drop out” gebaseer is op 'n Ministeriële Komitee verslag oor die behoud van leerders in die Suid Afrikaanse Skoolstelsel, wat in Oktober 2007 gepubliseer is. Die verslag dui op verskillende interpretasies van diè term, en ek gebruik diè term met verwysing na diè verslag. Die navorsingsmetodologie vir die studie is interprevistiese analise, en die doel daarvan is om 'n uitgebreide beskrywing te verskaf, waarmee bedoel word 'n deeglike beskrywing van die eienskappe, prosesse, ooreenkomste en die konteks wat die verskynsel verteenwoordig. Die analise word aangebied in 'n taal wat nie vreemd is tot die verskynsel nie, en poog ook om die navorser se rol in die konstruksie en samestelling van die beskrywing uit te beeld. Die navorsingsbevindinge het menige faktore binne families, binne skole en binne gemeenskappe geïdentifiseer wat leerders affekteer wat waarskynlik sou uitval of verhoed om hul hoërskoolloopbaan te voltooi. Dit is: armoede, ouers wat self skool vroeg verlaat het (“drop out”), tienerswangerskappe, dwelmmisbruik, gebrek aan huislike en skool stabiliteit, sosiale gedrag, rebelsheid, groepsdruk en omgee.

<p>The Personalized Integrated Educational System (PIES) design theory is a design recommendation regarding the function and features of Learning Managements Systems (LMS) that can support the information-age learner-centered paradigm of education. The purpose of this study was to improve the proposed functions and features of the PIES design theory such that it is compatible with the technological needs of the information-age, learner-centered paradigm of education. Four schools or educational systems that embodied all or some of the characteristics of the learner-centered, information-age paradigm were selected through a purposeful, theoretical sampling process. They were selected based on how useful they would be in extending and improving the design recommendations for PIES and the extent to which the naturalistic cases had transitioned into the learner-centered, information-age paradigm of education. Research participants within these schools were chosen through a non-probability sampling method. Twenty teachers agreed to participate and were interviewed and observed. Data collected in the form of interview transcripts and observation notes were analyzed to reveal functions and features that could be added and removed from the PIES design theory. Data were analyzed to also reveal factors that encouraged/discouraged technology use, implementation, and policy. </p>