<p> Teenage pregnancy greatly influences the probability of high school graduation for girls (Ng &amp; Kay, 2012; Solomon-Fears, 2015). Only 51% of women who give birth as teenagers earn a high school diploma by the time they are 22 years old, as compared to 89% of their non-teen-pregnant contemporaries (Ng &amp; Kay, 2012). The United States Department of Education reports that the median income of a person from 18 to 67 years of age in 2012 without a high school degree was about $25,000, as compared to $46,000 with a high school degree (Stark &amp; Noel, 2015). In a lifetime, that amounts to a personal loss of $670,000 because of the lack of a high school diploma and reflects a $250,000 loss to the national economy in reduced tax contributions, higher rates of illegal activity, and higher costs in welfare dependence (Stark &amp; Noel, 2015). The final goal of this study was to create a flow chart to provide suggested support for pregnant and parenting teenagers in South Louisiana high schools to ensure graduation. To accomplish this goal, this qualitative phenomenological study investigated the perceptions of women in South Louisiana who experienced a teenage pregnancy while in high school and went on to earn a high school degree, in relation to: (1) experiences in high school, (2) the effects of their individual attributes on high school experiences, (3) school-provided supports they found to be beneficial, and (4) what they believed to be their greatest support leading to graduation. Nine participants were interviewed, and the findings revealed that women who experienced a teenage pregnancy in South Louisiana and went on to earn a high school degree (1) felt some sense of shame or embarrassment during the pregnancy, (2) experienced a lack of understanding or compassion by school personnel and their peers, (3) if African American, were generally more resilient, (4) had educational aspirations and academic success prior to pregnancy, (5) may have opted to attend an alternative school rather than stay at their base school, and (6) valued connecting with others with similar experiences.</p><p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to identify best practices perceived and used by principals in low-SES high schools to achieve high annual attendance rates. </p><p> The study was an applied qualitative design, which used interviews for data collection and an emergent approach to data analysis. It involved a combination of criterion and extreme sampling to identify and interview eight principals from low-SES high schools (grades 9&ndash;12) in West Virginia with an annual attendance rate over 90%. Coding and data analysis processes involved in vitro and structural protocols. </p><p> The following best practices emerged from the research in order of most to least used: offering incentives and student recognition; establishing a positive school culture with high expectations for students to come to school; holding meetings with parents, students and an administrator; having personalized communication between students and an adult within the school; telephoning families of absent students; consistently following established district and state policies for attendance; and picking up absent students at their homes. </p><p> All the approaches revealed could be characterized as aspects of one overall best practice: developing a positive culture within the school. The ensuing specific best practices were actions and policies consistently applied and enforced. </p><p> Improved attendance results in improved performance and college- and career-readiness. Approaches similar to those revealed in this study of high-attendance, low-SES West Virginia high schools may help to improve attendance and achievement in other high schools, not just in West Virginia, but throughout the United States. </p><p>

<p> With the ever-changing requirements of a secondary level of education and the application of standardized testing criteria to determine proficiency in mastery of the subject matter, the attempt to create a standard and acceptable curriculum for all school sites has left the control of the schools. Now classrooms are scrambling for focus, guidance and support with curriculum development and implementation. Over the last three decades, there have been numerous research studies that have examined the place of the classroom teacher in the process of creating curriculum for their classroom with mixed results. The efforts to reform secondary education, from the federal level to the local level, have shut out the local input from teachers and professionals in their particular fields as to what the curriculum in the classroom should be and left that decision to people outside the classroom environment.</p><p> This research study was conducted to derive a theory developed on the empirical basis of teacher input through the lens of the methodology of grounded theory. Its goal was to identify the underlying issues and problems associated with classroom teachers; input into local curriculum as well as the barriers to changing the prevailing thought of classroom teachers on curriculum. Classroom teachers from two separate academic subject matters that are currently being taught at the middle school level were interviewed and their responses were coded using the classical grounded theory methodology and processes.</p><p> The resulting research shows that the involvement of classroom teachers is considered a benefit to the local curriculum development, regardless of experience in the classroom or length of service as a teacher. While most teachers feel that their input is paramount to learning in their particular classroom, teachers admit that they lack the skills to effectively create curriculum for implementation. It is in this manner that teachers strive to do what is best for their students; however, in some cases they lack the support and direction from the district, state or federal level. Knowing the issue as it appears to the classroom teacher, the creation, implementation and execution of locally created curriculum would be and is met with great resistance due to the adherence to the prevailing thoughts on curriculum development at the state of federal level and the need to comply with and execute the curriculum within the existing frameworks.</p><p> Further studies in looking at the existence of and use of locally teacher created and implemented curriculum, in different state or regional areas, would contribute to a better and clearer understanding of the particular issues that surround and deal with teacher involvement in the classroom curriculum decision making process. It is believed that the use of the grounded theory model as a methodological research tool provides a pathway for all interested parties to be open and candid about the issue and provide a better introspective look at the issues at hand.</p><p>

Fr. Marcelino García, S.J. has been the president of Belen Jesuit Preparatory School for 25 years. The longevity and success of his tenure is an exemplary case of effective leadership and provided significant insight into what constitutes effective school leadership. The target population for this case study consisted of the school’s 7 administrators, 90 faculty members, 10 English-speaking staff members, and 3 key informants. Data were collected using Bolman and Deal’s (1997) Leadership Orientation Survey along with the Jesuit Secondary Education Administration’s (1994) Administrative Leadership Profile Survey (ALPS). Data collected from the surveys were analyzed using the SPSS, version 10. The study also included data collected from focus interviews with Fr. García and six other significant members of the school community. The interviews were approximately 1-hour individual interviews that employed a semi-structured guide. A concurrent triangulation method was used that directly compared the results from these data collection methods. This was done by looking at the data as a whole and in parts. The parts were internal (faculty, administrators, and staff) and external (parents, alumni, and the superior of the Jesuit community) sectors. The comparison of the findings was then examined in terms of each research question. Analysis of the data revealed that while Fr. García’s predominant leadership style reflected the typical Bolman and Deal characteristics associated with the political frame, his leadership demonstrates access to all four frames. Research has found a correlation between multiple frame use and successful leadership. Relatedly, Fr. García’s capacity to approach his administration from various perspectives is indicative of success. In addition, from the perspective of Jesuit education, an analysis of Fr. García’s leadership indicated recurring themes that contributed to the school’s organizational health. The results of this study provide an extensive analysis of the administration of a unique leader. An analysis of Fr. García’s leadership style from two perspectives gives fresh insight into sustained and successful leadership.

The modern foreign language (FL) classroom holds many challenges for FL teachers. Educators have recognized the value of proficiency-oriented instruction and acknowledged that the traditional emphasis on structure of the target language is no longer sufficient. Teachers who are knowledgeable about current research and teaching methodologies and are able to apply these are needed to implement changes in FL education. However, personal experiences in FL learning, teaching, and training can leave teachers with firmly entrenched ideas on how to teach a foreign language. These beliefs affect teachers' classroom practices and how they interpret proficiency-oriented approaches to FL teaching. This dissertation examines the beliefs of six high school FL teachers with different levels of experience. It explores the origins of these beliefs and relationship between these beliefs and teaching practices. This study utilized videotaped classroom sessions, semi-structured interviews, reflective essays, and surveys. This triangulation created an in-depth portrait of each participant and provided extensive information. Participants expressed beliefs reflected their personal FL learning and teaching experiences. Other factors such as interactions with students and colleagues, interactions with a role model, professional development, and choice of teaching approach influenced participants' beliefs. These expressed beliefs were evident in some of the participants' teaching practices and not in others. This mismatch may be due in part to problems at the theory-practice interface (Munby, 1984) and cognitive anchoring. Each of these concepts involves the influence of pre-existing beliefs about FL teaching and learning.

This study documents an effective counseling/teaching model, the Coordinated Youth program, that was implemented in one middle school in the Boston area, to provide intervention and prevention services for violent and disruptive students from 1982-1985. This study first examines the demographic and social trends that lead youth to behave violently in school, including the pervasive cycle of suspension and further disruption. Then, through observations in the school as well as interviews with parents, teachers and students, a portrait is painted of the program itself. CYP developed from community initiatives and included strong counseling and coaching components. These are described in detail, along with some classroom innovations, and statistics on student behavior. Collaboration between counselors, teachers, parents, and community figures was stressed throughout the program. One chapter is devoted to case studies of individual students assisted by the program, and the study ends with recommendations for implementing similar programs in other middle schools. (1) The counseling/teaching must encourage teachers and administrators to become reinvolved with students and parents. (2) The counseling/teaching must work to teach the violent and disruptive students self-control behaviors. (3) The counseling/teaching must include parents and friends. (4) The counseling/teaching must be a collaborative effort by the schools and agencies. (5) The counseling/teaching program must have a dedicated, skilled, and caring staff. (6) The counseling/teaching must offer opportunity for school and community understanding. (7) The counseling/teaching client student must continue his or her education into high school. Definition. Counseling/teaching programs offer a new technique for use in our social activities and service programs. A student entering the program is coached systematically by school counselors. This coaching places an objective focus on better behavior and self and other understanding.

This critical case study explores multiple meanings of a small chapel at Concord Academy, a private secondary school in Massachusetts. The relationship between participation and empowerment is explored, as revealed through the chapel and as understood, experienced, and articulated by people involved with the chapel over time. Architecture is considered as a vehicle for democracy--an opportunity for risk, interaction, community, and encounter. Found abandoned in the 1950s, the chapel was rescued by Concord Academy women, girls, and a few men who took the building down, reassembled and refurbished it at Concord, and built huge architectural carvings, pulpit, altar, and steeple. Seniors and faculty soon addressed the school in morning "chapels," which evolved into a "central rite of passage" for students--pivotal, powerful "Who am I?" experiences described as "saying hello to adulthood and good-bye to childhood." The chapel is explored as building project, rite of passage, evolving drama, and forum for community. Questions include what is empowerment and what makes environments empowering, experientially, pedagogically, institutionally and architecturally? What does the chapel mean to those those who know and use it? Issues include: the relationship between individuality and community; what makes places meaningful; the chapel in relation to women; finding and speaking one's own voice; the separation of learning from doing; and intersections of gender, class, race and sexual orientation. Empowerment is considered both as individual self-confidence and efficacy and sociopolitical consciousness and intervention. This study also explores alternative, participatory ways of conducting research and writing a dissertation--more a weaving of stories and an evolving saga than a removed, academic treatise. For me this has been an odyssey, challenging and inviting us to be engaged as full human beings, not just thinkers. Qualitative, ethnographic, phenomenological, and participatory, this study uses interview/dialogues, participation, photography, and interaction as opportunities for participants' increasing involvement, control, and appropriation. The project should interest the public, educators, architects, environmental designers, historians, anthropologists, community activists, and participatory/action researchers. This study is not simply rational. I hope my heart, C.A.'s heart, and the rhythm of the chapel's steady pulse come through.

From a rather obscure beginning in Boston in 1908, with emphasis on vocational counseling, the concept of guidance has expanded in a variety of directions and today is generally interpreted to cover broadly the areas of educational, vocational, and social adjustment. The term has received a valuable boost from the recent emphasis in education on building the offerings of the school around the needs of the student. This is evident in reading the literature on the subject, wherein there is general agreement that education is the broader term and guidance is an aspect or element in education. Regardless of how the term is interpreted, there can be no doubt that some of the fundamental changes in our society have made evident the need for offering assistance to individuals making adjustment, and particularly as applied to the youth of the nation. / Typescript. / "June, 1951." / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts under Plan II." / Advisor: H. F. Cottingham, Professor Directing Paper. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 35-36).

A need for guidance is found wherever the environment is sufficiently complex to permit a variety of responses and whenever individuals are not equipped to react instinctively to the stimulus of the environment. The chaotic world conditions which have produced two World Wars within 25 years are ample proof that men has not prepared himself to solve his problems in a satisfactory manner. / "July, 1949." / Typescript. / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts under Plan II." / Advisor: Mode L. Stone, Professor Directing Paper. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 82-84).

In these times of stress and uncertainty, when the forces of communism stand menacingly at our very threshold, the schools must make the development of well-adjusted, capable, democratic citizens their first concern. If the cradle of democracy is to continue to be the bulwark of mankind against subversive forces, the schools must strengthen and increase their powers to promote human understandings. In other words, the schools must continue to be our first line of defense and if education fails, this first line of defense has fallen. / "July 1951." / Typescript. / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts." / Advisor: H. A. Curtis, Professor Director Paper. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 44).