Adolescent girls often face barriers to fulfill their educational aspirations after childbearing. Unfulfilled goals tend to be associated with low educational attainment and other adverse outcomes for the young mothers, their children, and society. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of Barbadian young women who parented as adolescents and struggled to graduate from formal secondary school. The goal was to understand their perceptions of support for their educational aspirations by their peers and significant others. Social constructionism was the conceptual framework. Moustakas’ transcendental method guided data collection and analysis. Data were collected by conducting in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 8 Barbadian women who bore children in their teen years and who struggled to complete formal high school. Rich descriptions emerged from the essence of their experiences and provided insight into the academic and emotional needs of school-age mothers. The analysis revealed that they experienced challenges balancing motherhood and being a student, stigma, hopelessness, and determination to reach their aspirations. They also experienced support by their friends, school personnel, and their families but they experienced little support from the fathers of their children. This study has implications that could affect positive social change by informing educators and families of the importance of meeting the unique needs of this vulnerable group. Educational leaders and policymakers could use these findings to guide programs aimed at empowering pregnant or parenting girls to achieve educational success and long-term socioeconomic well being.

The lack of educational attainment among Latino youth, as evidenced by high school dropout rates, is a growing and costly problem that affects not only Latinos but society as a whole. Using a sample of 139 middle school Latino students, primarily of Mexican descendant, the current study used cluster analysis to identify a typology of students based on their educational aspirations, expectations, and perceived academic competence. Three distinct profiles emerged: a college-bound-congruent group with college aspirations and similar college expectations, and high academic confidence; a college-bound-incongruent group with college aspirations but vocational expectations, and medium academic confidence; and a vocational-bound congruent group with vocational or technical school aspirations and similar expectations, and low academic confidence. Students’ relationship with teachers was a factor that helped differentiate students across the different profiles. Relationships with parents and peers were not. Students’ gender, immigration status, and ethnic identity did not contribute to the differences in profiles. The findings suggest that future educational profiles of middle school Latino students are an important component of a comprehensive “early warning system” that could help identify students who may be at risk of dropping out school.

The purpose of this study was to examine how performance expectations influence contest performance at the National FFA Agricultural Mechanics Career Development Event. The population for this study included all participants at the national contest in the years 2001 through 2006 with a total response of 976 participants. Data were collected using a 20 item questionnaire administered after the contest. The questionnaire included questions to measure current educational status, aspired education and career, contest expectations, evaluations of contest relatedness to previous coursework and difficulty, preparation, and interest in agriculture and agricultural mechanics. Contest scores were used to quantify participant performance. Career Development Events are an important component to a complete FFA program used to enhance student learning. Expectations and aspirations may have an effect on student learning. Of the respondents, 61.7% had not graduated from high school. In addition, 86.4% planned to pursue education after high school, and 30.2% planned to pursue a career related to agricultural mechanics while another 40.4% planned to pursue a separate agriculturally related career. The mean response for expected individual finish was 55th place out of about 163 contestants, expected team finish was 15th place out of about 44 teams participating annually, and 43.1% expected to finish second on their team. The most statistically significant predictors of contest performance were expected individual and team finish. Participants who expected to perform better performed better. High education aspirations and career aspirations in agriculture also produced a significant influence on performance. The number of contests participated in before national contest, the relatedness of the contest to previous coursework, and the difficulty of the contest produced a significant direct influence on performance. The longer the participant has been in school and as the participant takes more agriculture courses, performance significantly increased. The interest of the participant in agriculture and agricultural mechanics positively influenced performance. Further research was proposed to specifically differentiate between aspirations and expectations, and measure performance aspirations and expectations before and after the contest. As agricultural science education moves toward a more multidisciplinary approach, it would be useful to determine how math and science courses influence performance.

Thesis (M.Ed.), Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2000. / Bibliography: leaves 302-313.

This study explores how Asian Americans’ educational aspirations are different from other racial groups as well as uncovers differences among Asian American subgroups. This study developed a hypothesized model on the formation of educational aspiration. Among factors affecting educational aspirations that were derived from the literature review, students’ academic effort and performance, students’ perceived academic self-efficacy, and support received from students’ significant others were hypothesized to have direct effects on students’ educational aspirations. In addition, students’ perceived self-efficacy and academic effort were hypothesized to have indirect effects on students’ educational aspirations through students’ academic performance. Students’ demographic and socio-economic characteristics were controlled to examine if they had any direct and indirect effects on educational aspirations. In order to test validity of the hypothesized model on educational aspiration, this study adopted structural education modeling (SEM) to analyze the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09). As a result, the hypothesized model was confirmed because of its adequate model fit. In addition, this study found that Asian American students’ educational aspirations were different from other racial groups. First, neither academic effort nor performance affects Asian Americans’ educational aspirations whereas both affect aspirations significantly in the entire sample. Second, there was a positive effect of academic self-efficacy on Asian Americans’ educational aspirations whereas efficacy did not affect aspirations in the entire sample. Third, there was a positive effect of support with college information from significant others on Asian Americans’ aspirations, which was not statistically significant in the results of the entire sample. This indicates that Asian American students’ educational aspirations are more influenced by subjective or perceived factors such as academic self-efficacy and support with college information received from significant others, rather than objective indicators such as academic performance and academic effort. Moreover, there are differences in aspirations by Asian American ethnic subgroups even after controlling for other variables. Compared to Filipino Americans, all other four Asian American subgroups show significantly higher educational aspirations. The findings of this study help to understand how high school students’ educational aspirations are formed in general by examining the conceptual model with the entire data. In addition, the findings help to fill the gap in the literature about debunking the model minority myth about Asian American students by proving that they are heterogeneous. / text

The central theme of the study is whether deliberate actions to realise aspirations can and would be likely to increase capabilities amongst the poor, and whether such attempts might reduce poverty. Capabilities are seen here as real opportunity sets which people can use to achieve what they want to be or do (Sen, 1990:43-44). In addition Amartya Sen also emphasises the important role of agency in the achievement of capabilities (Sen, 1985). The relationship between aspirations, agency and capabilities is therefore explored, with emphasis on whether people can escape a potential poverty trap by deliberate and focused use of agency. I also ask what role structural opportunities and constraints play in this process. The study has been largely inspired by the idea of Arjun Appadurai (2004) that the poor might be constrained in their efforts to escape poverty because they lack the capacity to aspire, as they might have been socialised to accept that their aspirations would not be realisable. This idea was tested in a five year action research programme in Site C, Khayelitsha, near Cape Town. The dissertation offers an analysis of the programme in which a group of women was assisted in voicing their aspirations and subsequently worked on the realisation of these aspirations with a limited amount of support and facilitation by the researcher. Although many papers have been written on the social and economic implications of Appadurai’s idea, both within and external to the human development approach, the practical implementation of the idea in a project seems to be novel. The analysis of aspirations and capabilities is contextualised in the dissertation. The history and migration of the participating women show how their lives have been shaped by colonialism, apartheid, and their own cultural practices. This is followed by a discussion of the literature which informs the research and the analysis. The capability approach is discussed with particular reference to its conceptual tools, and the differences in the approaches of Sen and Nussbaum are briefly described. I review the ways in which capabilities are generally measured, and discuss the perspectives of different authors on individualism in the approach. Adaptation and agency as seen from the perspective of the capability approach provide important conceptual material for the analysis in a later chapter. A number of studies which assessed capabilities by qualitative means are then briefly reviewed, and these again provide background information for the analysis of the Khayelitsha study. The study on the use of agency in the capability approach reveals that there are lacunae, which could possibly be addressed by amplification from other disciplines. With this in mind agency is further explored in different disciplines – economics, psychology and social theory. Particular attention is given to three classical theorists of agency, Giddens, Bourdieu and Habermas, but the work of Archer, Latour, Long and Joas is also reviewed. I then recommend that the capability approach would benefit from a hermeneutical analysis of agency, and indicate specific elements which I think can be brought forward into such an extension. The literature review also includes a section on aspirations, which takes account of the conceptual relationship between aspirations, agency and capabilities. The empirical material is introduced under the umbrella of an action research programme which spanned a five year period. As part of this programme there was a household survey to obtain benchmark data. This was followed by the presentation of a life skills course based on Participatory Action Research or PRA methods. Between late 2006 and 2010 the women implemented their decisions, and their actions were observed. The main research process during this phase was an ethno-methodological study of the participating women. During this phase a number of life histories were recorded and I also conducted a set of individual interviews which focussed on individual agency. In 2010 I assessed the women’s increase in functionings and capabilities by taking note of actions taken towards achieving their aspirations, and in 2012 I recorded seven interviews on the rural-urban dynamics in their lives. The main findings of the household survey are given in a separate chapter on research findings. The different recordings of the aspirations the women articulated, and how these changed, are also recorded in the chapter on findings. The analysis of the respondents’ increase in functionings and capabilities is done with reference to an adaptation of a diagram published by Robeyns (2005:98), which visualises the essential conceptual parts of the capability approach. I adapt the diagram for a specific social context, for aspiration formulation, for agency assessment, and for the assessment of increased capabilities. In a second analysis chapter I do a hermeneutic agency analysis of six of the participating women in the context of the capability approach, asking whether the pursuit of their aspirations had been agency-unlocking. This is followed by a concluding chapter. / Philosophiae Doctor - PhD

The record of study, The History of Cranfills Gap ISD, traces the significant chronological events, external and internal influences and aspirations of community, parents and students through the development of this rural school in Central Texas. The development of the Cranfills Gap institution follows the organizational lifecycle theory of Ichak Adizes, Ph.D. This work poses a single question: What were the significant events throughout the 120 year history of CGISD? The pursuit of an answer to this question reveals the intricately woven web of issues associated with any discussion of educational change. On one level, the question might conjure a debate between educators who support small schools as opposed to large consolidated schools. This record of study, however, was framed to present the rural Texas school from an organizational development point of view. The rural school is remembered by former students, teachers and administrators within the context of county, state and national changes. Historic documents and oral histories are used to provide evidence of the stage of development. Within the stage of development the aspirations and needs of the community and students are revealed. Historic documents describe the school in quantitative terms, providing tangible, measurable data in the form of information such as cost of buildings, furnishings, number of pupils, teachers and length of term. Oral histories describe the rural school in qualitative terms. From the perspective of former students, teachers and administrators, a rural school is described by interpersonal relationships with the community at large, parents and classmates. The accumulation of unquantifiable, intangible, holistic data provides a complete picture of the rural school in Central Texas. The contribution of this record of study to the general knowledge of the educational community is that rural schools reflect the community’s moral convictions, aspirations and challenges. The evolution of change in education is influenced by external forces such as, state and federal policy, national economic situations, technological advances and internal factors such as leadership changes, patron demands, and financial stability. A longitudinal review of one educational system enables insight into the impact these forces have had. The 140-square-mile region around Cranfills Gap saw the convergence of Norwegian immigrants in 1854, when they began establishing churches and schools. Committed to ensuring Norwegian children were afforded sufficient education, community members took risks financially to establish and maintain the school. The reform movement to standardize education at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution propelled Cranfills Gap into providing a local high school. The 1930s and 1940s were a time of rapid growth and change. The period of greatest success featured a school-community partnership illustrated by actions of internal cohesion. By 1960 the rural district was experiencing declining enrollment, placing the district in a survival mode. Content to enjoy and rely upon the momentum created during the Prime stage of development, Cranfills Gap became a bureaucratic institution at the brink of closure in 2008.

Thesis (M.S.)--Georgia Southern University, 2005. / "A thesis submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Georgia Southern University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Science." ETD. Includes bibliographical references (p. 29-41) and appendices.

Thesis--Wayne State University, Dept. of Education. / Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Bibliography: leaves 224-234.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 441-479).