Thesis (MEd)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / Bibliography / Internationally, contemporary youth struggle to make sense or meaning of their lives. That is so because they live in a world where they daily witness unsolvable problems of struggling economies, poverty, HIV, and religious and national conflict, and where they are generally treated with ambivalence and a threat to the existing social order. Youth also struggle because within the public imagination they exist on the fringe of society. Giroux (2012: 2) argues that youth are given few spaces where “they can recognise themselves outside of the needs, values, and desires preferred by the marketplace” and are mostly subjected to punitive and zero tolerance approaches when they behave in unacceptable ways. In South Africa presently, it is generally claimed that “discipline problems” amongst youth have become the most endemic problem in South African schools, with policy makers and educators daily complaining about the disciplinary problems within schools that affect how learners engage with learning. Equally, discipline as punitive coercion has been shown to be an unsuccessful educational method in dealing with youth (Porteus & Vally 1999). With the above schooling challenge in mind, this qualitative study explored the views of thirteen young learners at Avondale High School in the Western Cape on school discipline. Via semi-structured interviews, the youth were asked about their understandings of the rules, disciplinary structures, forms of authority and order at the school, how they interpreted the role of discipline, and how they thought this would influence the futures awaiting them. The goal of the study was to provide a multi-dimensional view of what youth regarded as discipline at one school, and to explore whether different learners adopted different meanings of ‘discipline’ according to the context of their individual lives. I show in the study - utilising the views of Emile Durkheim, Michel Foucault and Pierre Bourdieu - that school discipline needs to be thought of as more than punishment or structures of ordering per se if it is to play a productive role in the functioning of schools. Along with Yang (2009: 49) I suggest that only when schools recognise that discipline has multiple meanings and (limited) roles within their daily functioning, will the emancipatory and transformative possibilities of school discipline be unlocked. For that to happen, the voices and views of youth in schools have to be taken account of, and meaningful relationships developed between learners, educators, and school management.

This study examined the effects of a computer-mediated intervention on "at-risk" preschool students' receptive vocabulary development, computer-literacy skills, and enthusiasm for leaning. Twenty-two preschool-aged children attending an urban primary public school and participating in government subsidized school lunch program participated in the study. A pretest/posttest control-group design and case-study participant observations were used for data collection. Students were assigned to one of two treatment groups. Eleven preschool students with pretest School Readiness Composite (SRC) standard scores of 80, or below, on the Bracken Basic Concept Scale-Revised (BBCS-R), were assigned to the intervention group. Eleven pre-school students matched by age level and teacher comprised the comparison group. The intervention group received computer-mediated instruction while the comparison group received classroom teacher instruction. The first research question examined the effect of the intervention on students' receptive vocabulary analyzing groups' pretest and posttest BBCS-R School Readiness Composite mean scores. Combined analysis of a Two-Factor Repeated Measures and a Posttest only ANCOVA revealed that computer-mediated instruction was as effective as classroom teacher instruction in helping "at-risk" students acquire readiness receptive vocabulary. The second research question examined the effect of the intervention on "at-risk" student's computer-literacy skills analyzing participants pretest and posttest mean scores on the Computer Input Observation Rubric (CIOR), a rubric developed by the researcher. Analysis of One-Factor ANOVA and of Two-Factor Repeated Measures indicated that computer intervention significantly increased students' computer literacy skills. The third research question examined the impact of computer-mediated intervention on preschool students' enthusiasm for learning and followed descriptive case study methodology. Students' level of task involvement and positive-self statements confirmed enthusiasm for learning with technology.

The purpose of this study was to describe a Title I inclusion program in a north Texas middle school, to evaluate the degree of its success as a high achieving program, and to analyze how closely it met the requirements of the Improving America's Schools Act of 1994. Data were collected from the learning facilitators and teachers at the middle school with the permission of the school district. This study began with extensive research on the nature of adolescents and the beliefs and characteristics of high achieving middle schools. It addressed the steps which were recommended in the literature to improve middle schools and benefit students that are at-risk of failing to master the curriculum at their grade level. The researcher concluded by reporting effective strategies being used in middle school at-risk programs. These are strategies noted by experts as successful in identified programs. The population for this study was seventh and eighth grade Title I students who attended middle school during the 1992-1993, 1993-1994, 1994-1995 and 1995-1996 school years. The data collected by the researcher are presented in two parts: the description of the Title I inclusion program; and the results of the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills tests in reading and math, the Shaw-Hiehle Math Tests, and the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Tests. Findings from this study suggest that the program met the requirements of a Title I program established by the federal government. The test scores for the middle school improved during the three years of the program. The Title I inclusion program met the requirements of the Improving America's Schools Act. Finally, the Title I students were successful working in classrooms with other students on challenging curriculum which met the State's content and performance standards. These findings have implications for other middle schools who are developing Title I programs to meet the requirements of the Improving America's Schools Act.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between family characteristics and parent involvement in Head Start, and the differences between parents who participated in Head Start parent involvement activities and parents who did not participate, as to their behaviors and attitudes concerning education, their children, their communities, and their children's academic achievement. This study analyzed existing data collected for a national parent involvement study. The sample consisted of 2,051 parent-child pairs (1,443 Head Start and 606 non-Head Start). Findings indicated a significant relationship between numerous family characteristics and parent involvement in Head Start, with variables related to a higher level of education of the mother or primary caregiver being the most dominant. Significant differences were found between the parents who participated in Head Start activities and parents who did not participate. The involved parents felt more strongly about teachers needing knowledge of their children's families, parents having knowledge worthy of sharing with their children's teachers, and parents wanting advice or input from their children's teachers. They reported a higher frequency of behaviors such as talking, reading, and playing with their children, trying to teach their children basic concepts, and having materials available for their children's use. Involved parents rated their level of participation, acceptance, and influence in their communities to be greater than did the uninvolved parents. Also, they had higher expectations concerning their children's education. The involved parents and the non-Head Start parents had heard of the resources available in their communities more than the uninvolved Head Start parents had; however, both groups of Head Start parents had used the resources more than the non-Head Start parents had. The children of the involved parents and the non-Head Start parents scored significantly higher on the Preschool Inventory than did the children of the uninvolved Head Start parents.

The problem of this study was to determine if there were differences in perceived attitudes of self-concept between young people who returned to alternative education after dropping out of public education and educationally disadvantaged at-risk youth in Coordinated Vocational Academic Education (CVAE) classes as measured by the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale. The hypotheses formulated for the study predicted no significant difference in mean attitude self-concept scores of returned dropouts to alternative schools and CVAE students enrolled in junior high school preemployment laboratories and high school students enrolled in Cooperative Education classes as measured by the Piers-Harris scale; and no significant change in mean attitude self-concept scores of former dropouts enrolled in alternative education centers and CVAE students as measured by the Piers-Harris scale over a two-month period utilizing an extended Solomon Four-Group Design, with and without the treatment. The scale was administered to 351 students from junior high and high school CVAE classes in Ector County (Odessa), Fort Stockton, and Midland Independent School Districts and alternative schools in Denton, Fort Stockton, Midland and Odessa, Texas. The self-concept scores were treated for significance by an analysis of variance. Findings were that all groups tested scored within the age range, junior high school CVAE students scored lowest, but not significantly lower (p > .05); and junior high school CVAE students, alternative school students, and high school CVAE students all had a slight increase in self-confidence scores over the two-month period. All null hypotheses were retained. It was concluded that, overall, junior high school CVAE students, former dropouts who returned to an alternative school, and high school CVAE students possessed positive self-concepts that were above the national mean for the scale; and that CVAE classes enhance the self-concept of academically disadvantaged students in Cooperative Education classes.

Closing the achievement gap has been a national conversation for several decades and a priority for educators and researchers. By looking closely at one school which is showing exceptional success with closing the achievement gap for low income students and English language learners, this study seeks to understand how school personnel and parents view after-school activities and ways in which those activities may be impacting students who are making significant gains in spite of the achievement gap. After-school activities have been shown to bring many positive outcomes for students. That said, there is much that we do not yet know about what takes place at the intersection of schools and after-school activities. To maximize after-school opportunities for disadvantaged students and use or redirect existing resources most effectively, we need to ask and understand how schools perceive their role vis-à-vis after-school activities. We also need to explore how school personnel and parents perceive access and barriers to participation in after-school activities. Using secondary data from a large on-going study, this case study asks how one school understands engagement with after-school providers to bolster those students who may have the most to gain from such enrichment in the form of the many opportunities after-school resources can offer. This study will contribute to our understanding of how after-school resources can support success for low income and English language learners.

The aim of this thesis was to explore the key care factors that influence the educational achievement of children looked after at home and away from home in Scotland. Traditionally there has been less research conducted in Scotland than in the rest of the United Kingdom. The research analysed a large new sample - one fifth of the care leaving population in Scotland - and spans a five year period. The thesis makes an original research contribution. A unique features of the research is that it investigates the experiences of children looked after at home, alongside those looked after away from home. In addition, the research involved two large local authority areas in Scotland that had not previously participated in such research on looked after children. What emerged from the research was that the Corporate Parent (local authorities and partner agencies) had not yet successfully prioritised the educational achievement of looked after children in policy and practice, despite education being identified by the government as a mechanism for combating social exclusion. The key findings of the research demonstrated that looked after children perform less well academically than the general school population. In particular, placement type, the reason for becoming looked after and the age on becoming looked after were significant factors in determining educational achievement. Other factors such as gender and number of placements were also found to be associated with educational achievement. Empirical results further indicated that looked after children suffered from discrimination and social exclusion in all aspects of their lives, including school and where they lived. This was a significant finding as the disadvantage experienced by many looked after children continues to impact on their lives into adulthood, making them some of the most socially excluded adults in Scotland and the United Kingdom today.

In recent debate within education, the notion of barriers to learning has been reconceptualised to focus on systemic issues rather than deficits in individual learners. These barriers are factors which contribute to learning breakdown and exclusion. HIV / AIDS has been recognised as one of the factors which contributes to preventing children from participating in and benefiting from learning. In South Africa HIV/ AIDS has reached pandemic proportions. There has been a call for in depth qualitative micro-studies to supplement the numerous macro, quantitative studies on HIV / AIDS to explore contextualised experiences of HIV / AIDS and barriers to learning. This study was aimed at mapping barriers to learning in a context of HIV and AIDS amongst grade 6 and 9 learners in the Richmond district of KwaZulu-Natal. The study used semi- structured interviews and focus groups with participative methods of data collection. The total sample was 60 with an equal number of male and female participants. The data was analysed qualitatively using thematic analysis and the framework provided by Bronfenbrenner's theory with a particular focus on contextual factors to describe and analyse the barriers to learning in the study. The study found that psychosocial exclusionary factors that were located at different system levels in terms of Bronfenbrenner's theory exacerbated the impact of mv/ AIDS in the context of the study. The interconnectedness of, and the ripple effects amongst, these barriers to learning create additional challenges for the current education policies to minimize the impact of HIV / AIDS in formal education / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006.

Thesis (M.S.W.)--Smith College School for Social Work, 2008. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 75-77).

Many disadvantaged schools in South Africa are characterised by poor performance, which is often linked to the legacy of the apartheid regime. Yet, some disadvantaged schools are surviving and even producing excellent results. Many successful businessmen, politicians and academics can attest to the success of these schools, being a product of such schools. Leadership, which has received a lot of attention in recent years, are often the cause of schools failing to produce the expected results. Previous studies have shown that leadership is the key to academic excellence and that to lead disadvantaged schools to success requires strong leaders with moral purpose, who possess qualities of transformational leaders, but also leaders who can focus on instructional leadership practices. This study focuses on the role of leadership in maintaining academic standards at a school in the northern areas of Port Elizabeth. The school has a proud tradition of good academic performances and has even been labelled as a 'model C school in the northern areas'. It has been found that teachers are committed and hardworking and the principal is perceived as having expecting high expectations for the children of the area. He believes as an educator one should never give up on the children. The study found that the principal is a strong leader who shows characteristics of a transformational leader and has the drive of an instructional leader to lead the school and to maintain academic standards. He is a well-respected leader who leads with moral purpose and who has the desire to uplift the community. The study has the potential to provide guidance and encouragement to school principals, and to inform the Department of Education's leadership training programmes.