Thesis (Ed.D.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / In a review of the literature, no studies were found on the achievement of school-age English-Speaking Caribbean students. This study was initiated to remedy this lack by examining the characteristics of twenty-one 12-18 year old high achieving and low achieving English-speaking Caribbean students and the influence of twenty-one parents' and seventeen teachers' attitudes on the students. Support was found for Bandura's theory that role models influence people's self-efficacy which in turn influences their choice, effort and persistence. The study further supports the resiliency theory which suggests that people can be successful, despite environmental challenges. This study also found that the unidentified bilingual status of English-speaking Caribbean 12-18 year old students and their new environment with unfamiliar teaching styles, regulations and procedures were additional challenges not commonly identified in the literature. In order to support self-efficacy and promote resiliency, 1) better assessment of English-speaking Caribbean students' ability to use Standard English and 2) greater planning and collaboration among parents, teachers and students are recommended. The following are questions to be addressed in future research: 1) What are the similarities and differences among students, parents and teachers regarding expectations of ESC students' school performance? 2) What are ESC students' reading and writing proficiency levels in Standard English? 3) How can schools support self-efficacy and resiliency characteristics in all students? / 2031-01-01

Public school systems in America continue to show unequal learning outcomes for African American students. This investigation seeks to understand salient factors that are critical and essential to the process of increasing the probability of academic resilience (success) among African American students. Academic resilience is defined as "the process of an individual who has been academically successful, despite the presence of risk factors (i.e., single parent family, low future aspirations, and low teacher expectation) that normally lead to low academic performance" (Morales & Trotman, 2011, p.1). Using the baseline data from the Educational Longitudinal Study (ELS: 2002), a multilevel logistic model was developed that aimed to identify individual and collective characteristics of African American students who were academically resilient. The multilevel logistic model revealed five statistically significant student-level variables. When comparing two African American high school students one unit apart in SES, for the student with the lower family SES, one unit increase in their academic expectation would make the student 3.21 times more likely to be academically resilient; whereas for the student with the higher SES, one unit increase in their academic expectation would make the student 2.48 times more likely to be academically resilient. Consider two African American high school students one unit apart in terms of teacher expectation, the one with higher teacher expectation was 1.67 times more likely to be academically resilient than the one with lower teacher expectation. Spending one more hour in homework per week was 1.12 times more likely to make an African American high school student academically resilient. Lastly, when comparing two African American high school students one activity apart in terms of school involvement (e.g., band, chorus, sports, or academic clubs), the student with the higher number of school involvement activities was 1.67 times more likely to be academically resilient than the student with the lower school involvement activities. The multilevel logistic model also revealed two statistically significant school-level factors. Specifically, when comparing two high schools one unit apart in school academic climate, African American students in the high school with higher academic climate were 7.44 times more likely to be academically resilient than African American students in the high school with lower academic climate. When comparing two high schools one unit apart in school remedial efforts, African American students in the high school with lower school remediation efforts were 4.54 times more likely to be academically resilient than African American students in the high school with higher school remediation efforts.

Th e purpose of this study was to test the effectiveness of the Basic Interpersonal Relations program as a facilitator of interpersonal relations for high school students. Three intact classes of high school introductory psychology students were used to contrast the effectiveness of the Basic Interpersonal Relations program as shown by the experimental group with a treatment-control group receiving didactic instruction, and with a no-treatment control group. All subjects were pretested with the following instruments: Attitude Toward Others Scale (MMPI), Attitude Toward Self Scale (MMPI), Rotter's Internal- External Control Scale, and an achievement test based on the content of the Basic Interpersonal Relations program. Following pretesting the experimental group began training using the Basic Interpersonal Relations program. While the experimental group received training using the Basic Interpersonal Relations program, the treatment-control group received an equal amount and distribution of time in interpersonal relations training based on the Effectiveness Training principles of Dr. Thomas Gordon. The no-treatment control group participated in their regularly scheduled psychology class. At the conclusion of training, all subjects were posttested using the same measures used for pretesting. In addition, a student opinion survey was administered to the experimental and treatment-control groups subjects, and a parent questionnaire was mailed to the parents of all subjects. The results of the study were not conclusive. Some support was indicated for the effectiveness of the Basic Interpersonal Relations program as a facilitator of interpersonal relations of high school students by the results of the parent questionnaire, the student opinion survey, and the Basic Interpersonal Relations program achievement test. No significance was obtained using the Attitude Toward Self Scale, Attitude Toward Others Scale, and the Internal-External Control Scale. Further research is needed to clarify the effectiveness of the Basic Interpersonal Relations program for use with high school students.

Home/school/community factors of student jobs, extracurricular activities, church activities, community activities, family activities, and television watching were examined to determine the relationship between these factors and the time students spent on homework. Two hundred forty-seven high school students were used as subjects. A student time log and questionnaire were developed and used to collect the data. Eight students were closely examined through case studies. When time spent on homework was correlated with time spent at a job, the results were strongly negative (r = -.89). Time spent on homework was moderately correlated (r= + .46) with time spent in extracurricular activities. When time spent on homework was correlated with time spent in family activities, the results were moderately negative (r= -.41 ). Time spent on homework was moderately correlated (r= +.64) with time spent in church activities. When time spent on homework was correlated with time spent watching television, the results were strongly negative (r = -.77). No statistically significant difference was found between the number of conflicts above average students reported doing homework and the number of conflicts below average students reported doing homework. A call was made for parents, students, and school personnel to beware of the possible negative effects of students spending excessive time at jobs, watching television, and in extracurricular activities.

The study challenges current literature, which views the notion of problem-finding as the initial identification of a problem to be solved. The concept of problem-finding in this study is that problem-finding continues throughout the problem-solving process and is not distinct from it. This thesis aims to develop a better understanding of problem-finding by examining high school students using problem-finding to solve industrial design problems. The study seeks to find out what types of problem-finding exist and what roles they play in solving design problems. To explore problem-finding, this study uses a Think Aloud methodology to examine the thinking of three high school industrial design students and one high school industrial design teacher solving an authentic industrial design problem. Protocol data was gathered from the subjects and then transcribed, segmented and analysed in three ways, each of which became progressively more specific: Firstly, a macroscopic examination which identified problem-finding episodes occurring throughout the design process; secondly, a microscopic examination which identified four categories of problem-finding; and lastly, a microscopic examination which looked at the role played by the different problem-finding categories in solving design problems. The findings of this study are fourfold. Firstly, problem-finding was found to be used throughout the entire design process. Secondly, there were four categories of problemfinding. Thirdly, each category played an important role predominantly through interaction with other categories. Lastly, the more experienced a person was, the more able they were to use problem-finding effectively to solve design problems. Many current practices use trial and error methods to solve design problems. The importance of this study is that through a better understanding of problem-finding, designers may be able to use metacognitive strategies more efficiently in the process. Similarly, in educational practice, high school design students may be able to learn to think about the methods they use to solve design problems, and this may result in more creative designs.

Kenneth Goodman's view of the reading process suggests that the reader utilizes three cue systems (grapho-phonic, semantic and syntactic) in obtaining meaning from the visual array. The study was designed to explore means by which first year high school students could be taught syntax informally to facilitate their utilization of syntactic cues in reading. The literature was reviewed to provide an understanding of those syntactic structures which were likely to present difficulty and to discover theoretically sound bases for teaching strategies. Because of the absence of data on Australian students in the first year of secondary school, a survey of the Grade 8 population of a large metropolitan high school was undertaken. This survey linked syntactic knowledge to scores obtained on a standardized test of reading comprehension. Suggestions on the informal teaching of grammar were then proposed.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1984. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1980. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 114-119). Also available in print.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1986. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.