<p> This study is a review of the Learning Acceleration Program and the impact it has on student academic success in the Rural School District (pseudonym). This mixed-methods study used qualitative and quantitative data analyses to identify the impact that the Learning Acceleration Program has on the overall attendance and graduation rates for the district. The study also provided an understanding of the impact the Learning Acceleration Program has on perceptions as it pertains to the program. Data for this study were collected for the period of three academic school years on attendance, graduation rate for each year, and surveys completed by participants who have first-hand knowledge of the Learning Acceleration Program. The participants in this study were high school principals, one assistant principal, high school counselors, and Learning Acceleration Program personnel. The findings exhibited statistical significant difference in attendance or graduation rates on district. Furthermore, the findings from the survey highlighted the ability to meet the needs of each individual on an individual basis and provide future recommendations. </p><p>

<p> This study was guided by Deci and Ryan&rsquo;s (2015) self-determination theory, which focuses on meeting three specific psychological needs: autonomy, relatedness, and competence. The literature review for this study included topics relating to alternative education such as educational reform, school improvement, school climate, student discipline, intervention strategies, at-risk students, and the achievement gap. This study involved determining the effectiveness of alternative schools through a mixed-methods examination of graduation rates, school climate, student motivation, and academic rigor in high schools from the southwest Missouri region. Graduation rate data were compared from school districts without alternative schools and those with alternative schools utilizing a t-test. The mean of the graduation rates of districts with alternative schools was significantly higher than districts without alternative schools. Quantitative data collection continued via a survey designed to measure the degree to which high school principals report an improved school climate upon implementation of an alternative school. These data demonstrated an improved school climate within the traditional school due to the implementation of an alternative school. Qualitative data collection consisted of interviewing subject-area high school teachers and alternative school teachers from randomly selected school districts in southwest Missouri. These interviews were designed and conducted by the researcher to gather teacher perceptions of the degree of student motivation and academic rigor evident among alternative school students within their respective school districts. These data demonstrated increased student motivation with mixed results pertaining to academic rigor in alternative schools.</p><p>

<p> This mixed-methods case study examined the impact of a mandatory service-learning intervention college preparatory elective class on at-risk students in a Southern California charter high school. At-risk was defined as, disadvantaged high school students from low income families and possessing poor health, cognitive problems and/or behavior issues that might hinder educational attainment. The embedded design analyzed two years of archival data from four student cohorts (<i>n</i> = 133), all of whom had the same instructor, who was trained to lead the class. The study included a quantitative survey taken by the students at the program&rsquo;s beginning and end, demographic information, students&rsquo; GPAs, attendance records, and reflective journals and notes from the teacher of the class. </p><p> The examination of academic achievements of participating students found that student participants increased their school attendance and overall GPA following completion of the class. Including student voice in instructional activities and reflection in writing journals contributed to developing the students&rsquo; understanding of leadership capabilities. These leadership capabilities included their change in self-awareness that they and their friends could assume positive leadership roles. Following the class, female students significantly increased their participation in clubs and organizations on campus. </p><p> During data analyses, the data coders noted that over the course of the study, the instructor became more focused and included more activities into the class. In year one more than 50% of students were unable to participate in the service-learning project (SLP) prior to the semester&rsquo;s completion. In year two, the program instructor decreased the time spent on formal curriculum to allow students the opportunity to increase their time spent working on actual SLP. Since then, the service-learning program has been embraced by students and administration as these at-risk students build relationships with their peers and identify student leaders based on their experiences in the ACT program. </p><p> Recommendations include that the SLP increase hands-on activities and seek formal opportunities to engage students in diverse communities. In that process, the SLP should garner student input in the implementation and design of the SLP to ensure that the curriculum, activities and projects remain relevant to at-risk SLP students.</p><p>

<p> As the achievement gap between African American and Latino students and their White counterparts continues to grow, lawmakers are searching for ways to decrease the disparity. As a result, college access programs that focus on improving basic skills and strengthening academic achievement have become essential to fostering student success. With Upward Bound being one of the longest running federally funded college access programs, its success and effectiveness have been the focus of several studies. Surprisingly, very little qualitative phenomenological research exists that is solely devoted to student perceptions. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to understand the impact of Upward Bound, and its relation to postsecondary success, but from the perspective of former program participants. Eight former Upward Bound participants completed the data collection process, which included completing a demographic survey and participating in a 60-minute interview that consisted of sixteen open-ended questions. The study was conducted on the campus of a public community college in a large urban city in Southern California. Key findings of this study indicated that tutoring, summer college classes, workshops, field trips to college campuses, motivation and attention beyond high school from program staff were significant in helping students achieve postsecondary success. The conclusion of the study indicated that the participants did believe that Upward Bound had a positive influence on their decision to go to college and ultimately helped them achieve postsecondary success.</p><p>

<p> The local high school and school district have failed to achieve adequate yearly progress in reading due to the poor performance of 9th-grade and special education students on the annual state reading assessment. There may be numerous factors leading to the low scores, but researchers have suggested that students whose parents are engaged in their education have more academic success than students whose parents have minimal participation. An explanatory survey design was used in this quantitative study to identify the involvement activities of parents of 9th-grade students and determine if there was a relationship between their involvement and their child&rsquo;s reading achievement. The theoretical framework was Epstein&rsquo;s theory on parental involvement. Archival data from the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness-end of course English I/reading test of 65 9th-grade students were coded for anonymity and matched with their parents&rsquo; total scores on the Parent Choice of Involvement Activities survey. Data analyzed using the Pearson product-moment correlation analysis yielded no significant relationship between parent involvement and students&rsquo; reading scores. Descriptive analysis identified that parents were more involved with educational activities in the home, rather than participating at school. Therefore, a school-based parent development program was designed. Additional research is needed to explore other reasons for the poor reading outcome of the 9th-grade and special education students. Providing parents with strategies that empower them to become fully involved in the secondary education of their children can bring about positive social change by building strong relationships between the school, family, and community to support the academic achievement of high school students.</p><p>

<p> Racial disparities in educational achievement have been a persistent phenomenon in the United States. This inequity has been described as educational &ldquo;opportunity gaps&rdquo;, &ldquo;education debts&rdquo;, and &ldquo;achievement gaps&rdquo;. Education debt refers to the year after year amassed racial and ethnic achievement gaps that result in a debt for most minoritized groups in comparison to White and Asian students. Despite the repeated significance of focusing on education inequalities concerning race and ethnicity, there is a paucity of research that examines the interrelatedness of school climate and academic achievement specifically with respect to racial and ethnic differences. The ecology of human development framework provides a complex lens to better understand the students&rsquo; experiences in the environment of the school. For this quantitative, correlational, cross-sectional study descriptive statistics and structural equation modeling (SEM) were applied to answer the research questions about the extent that high school students&rsquo; perceptions of school climate predicted their self-reported grades, whether they differed as a function of students&rsquo; race and ethnicity, and whether the magnitude between race/ethnicity groups was substantial. Overall, evidence was found for the unceasing and persisting education debt for minoritized groups regarding their grades, but also in connection to the influence of school aspects on their academic achievement. For Black and American Indian/Alaska Native students the results indicated an intensification of the education debt through the considerably lower impact of school climate characteristics on grades than for White and Asian. For Mixed, Latin@, and Other the debt appeared to be unchanging due to similarly small impacts as for White and Asian, yet, not lessening due to their lower grades.</p><p>

<p> Extensive research confirms that a high school diploma has a lasting value on future educational opportunities and career goals. Some students, in their transition to high school, can harm grade point averages to such a degree that future opportunities for rigorous courses or post high school opportunities are diminished. Caring relationships are a critical element in the motivation and encouragement of most of life&rsquo;s endeavors and the purposeful creating of this type of relationship within the school day could have a positive impact on a student's&rsquo; success. The improvement in semester grades for the first semester of high school could only serve to increase the probability of future success in school. </p><p> This quantitative study, utilizing a quasi-experimental design, looked at the immediate impact of using teachers as mentors for struggling students during the first semester of their transitional year of high school at a suburban, middle-class high school in the Pacific Northwest. The students were not aware that the teacher had been assigned to them, hence the term invisible mentor, in order to examine the impact of natural forming relationships. </p><p> Two-sample t-tests were conducted on the mean grade point averages of the struggling students who had invisible mentors for their transitional semester into high school. The results conclude that such a mentoring program had a positive impact on the first semester grades of the first semester of high school. Linear regression scatter plots showed positive relationship between the frequency of interactions that an invisible mentor has with a mentee and their academic improvement, as measured by GPA. This study scratches the surface into the impact of invisible mentoring for struggling students in this suburban, Pacific Northwest school district. Additional research may serve to strengthen these initial findings that promote the academic improvement of struggling students.</p><p>

<p> This study was a qualitative action research project that involved focus groups of key stakeholders at an alternative education high school including: students, teaching staff, classified staff, supervisors, families, and collaborative partners. A semi-structured interview guide was used to discover their perceptions of a school culture and climate where students FLOURISH. The word FLOURISH is used in this research to describe the optimal experience of thriving and growing as well as an acronym that contains the elements that a literature review found to be important for such environments serving the most vulnerable student populations. This type of research is especially important in light of the recent transformation to educational planning and finance in California called LCFF (Local Control Funding Formula) and its creation of the Local Control Accountability Plans (LCAPs) with their mandate for stakeholder input. Finally, and most importantly, emerging research shows schools that improve their culture and climate can counter the &ldquo;school to prison pipeline&rdquo; effect so often experienced by vulnerable youth in the alternative education system. Both systematic analysis and a constructivist approach were used in coding and memoing to track the presence of existing themes from the literature review and to capture new ones emerging from the transcripts. Leadership, systems, equity and implementation implications were explored as secondary questions. Findings included the generation of a new model, coined The 5Rs Cycle &ndash; Resources, Regulation, Relationships, Relevance &amp; Rigor, which captured the essential elements found in the literature review along with the myriad themes produced by the focus groups.</p><p>

<p> The growing demand placed upon educators has taken a toll on the profession (Walker, 2014). Teacher burnout, stress, and unhappiness may be predestined unless administrators recognize how to prevent these from happening (Elias, 2012). The intent of this quantitative study was to survey teachers in southwest Missouri to determine their level of job satisfaction as it relates to student performance on state-mandated assessments. The survey included items designed to collect data on overall level of teacher job satisfaction in relation to demographic areas of age range, gender, level of education, years of teaching experience, subject areas taught, and salary range. The first research question was designed to determine the correlation between high school teacher job satisfaction and high school student achievement. Based on this research, there was a relationship between teacher job satisfaction and Missouri Performance Index scores. The second research question was designed to determine the correlation between teacher job satisfaction and years of experience, salary, age, level of education, and gender. Based on the data collected, there was a correlation between teacher job satisfaction and years of experience and between teacher job satisfaction and the age of the educator. However, there was no correlation between teacher job satisfaction and level of education, nor between teacher job satisfaction and gender. Research question three was posed to determine if there was a difference in teacher job satisfaction between those teachers required to administer end-of-course (EOC) exams and teachers who were not required to administer EOC exams. The research determined there was no difference in job satisfaction between the two groups.</p><p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to evaluate the extent to which secondary students, aged 14-21 with intellectual disabilities in North Dakota (ND) engage in community-based work experience (CBWE). Perceived barriers to implementing CBWE were examined and a comparison was made between rural and urban communities. A quantitative, cross-sectional design was used to survey professionals responsible for implementing CBWE in ND secondary schools. Data obtained from the study showed that 60.01% of students with ID are engaged in CBWE and there was no difference between rural and urban communities in percentage of students engaged in this practice. There was no significant difference between these communities in types of jobs in which students were engaged. Professionals were asked to agree or disagree to a list of perceived barriers to implementing CBWE and, there was little difference between rural and urban communities. Professionals identified child labor laws, parental concerns, and requirements to align instruction to academic standards as common barriers to implementing CBWE.</p><p>