<p> Students with disabilities have a disproportionately higher rate of dropout compared to typical peers. This study was intended to investigate the predictive factors of dropout for youth with disabilities. Specifically, this study examines how disability classification and demographics impact dropout rates for youth with disabilities. Participants in this study were all students in a large urban school district who were identified with a disability (as defined as having a IEP) in grades 9-12 (N=1439). As most variables were categorical, nonparametric analyses were used, including cross-tabulations and contingency table analyses. In addition, a binary logistic regression model was used to isolate the variables associated with dropout. Findings suggest that youth with serious emotional disability (SED) have a high risk of dropout compared to students who fall under other disability categories. Additionally, students who did not qualify for free and reduced lunch and students who were never retained (repeated a grade) were more at risk for dropout. Practical implications and future directions are discussed.</p>

<p> While dual enrollment participation has substantially increased among Caucasian, Hispanic, and Asian high school students, the rates of participation among African American students, especially male students, has decreased since 2006. As a result of low participation rate in dual enrollment and research studies, little is known about the dual enrollment experience among high-achieving African American males. The purpose of this qualitative study, using a transcendental phenomenology design, was to explore the dual enrollment experiences of 10 high-achieving African American males, between 18 to 22 years, who currently attend a community college that is part of the Texas State Community College Consortium (a pseudonym). Descriptive interviews with study participants and qualitative data analyses were conducted in accordance with transcendental phenomenology methodological Four themes emerged from the data. The first theme was academic rigor of college, noted by all 10 participants. The second theme, also noted by all 10 participants, was social support and encouragement, which had six sub-themes pertaining to support from family, fellow students, and high school and college faculty/administration. Data from the 10 participants revealed the third theme of college and academic readiness, which was delineated into three sub-themes related to college and academic readiness, responsibility, and planning skills. The fourth and last theme was college tuition/financial benefits of dual enrollment, remarked upon by three students. Results from this study, can be utilized to promote social change as it concerns African American male&rsquo;s academic achievement and college persistence.</p>

<p> This qualitative study examines the perspectives of teachers in a small, rural community and the influence of the school counselor who support students returning to school after a death by suicide. The researcher took an autoethnographic approach because of the years of personal and professional experience and knowledge within the professional setting used in this study. A thorough review of the existing literature in the areas of the conceptual frameworks of grief, theories of grief, theories of suicide, policies and culture of rural school communities informs the study. Data triangulation was used to understand how different data sources show consistency using the same method. Data triangulation contributes to verification and validation of qualitative analysis (Patton, 2015). </p><p> A purposeful sample was used to select recently retired teachers with classroom experience. Retired teachers were selected because of years of classroom experience and knowledge in the professional setting with students who return after a death by suicide. Criteria for selection of retired teachers within a small group of professional educators in a small, rural Midwestern community are comprised of retired teachers at the secondary level of public education. Retired teachers have experience as a classroom teacher, have worked with the school counselor and have experience with students who returned to school after a peer death by suicide or family member death by suicide. Retired teachers were selected that have good recall of events and experiences in the classroom. </p><p> This study is designed to understand school counselor influence and the perspectives of teachers in a small, rural community who support students after a death by suicide. Qualitative methods were used to collect and analyze data. An interview guide approach was used to increase the comprehensiveness of the data. Research questions were generated from an extensive review of the literature. Data were collected from the following methods: interviews, private anecdotal counselor notes, researcher reflections and member checking. Educational research has not investigated as to how teachers feel about their preparedness and ability to support students after a death by suicide. Lack of data from research on the role of teachers, the influence of the school counselor and their preparedness to support students after a death by suicide is particularly meaningful for rural school communities. Therefore, the need for this study is significant as rural school communities, researchers and those who experience death by suicide explore this phenomenon and the policy implications for best practice based on data that informs the research questions. Trustworthiness of data analysis and believability of the study assures transferability, dependability and confirmability. </p><p>

<p> Little is known about what attracts men to the counseling profession and what their experiences are in counseling programs and the profession post-graduation. This qualitative case study examines what attracts men to the counseling profession, recruitment strategies, and proposed recruitment strategies that could affect prospective male students. It also reveals the experiences of males in counseling programs and the counseling profession, after graduation. Findings indicated men are attracted to the field for various reasons. Most participants did not notice any specific recruitment strategies directed toward males. The participants shared ideas for future male recruitment. Findings also indicated there are benefits and challenges associated with being a gender minority in counseling programs and the profession. Implications for counselor preparation programs are presented.</p><p>

<p> The qualitative research on this intervention involves therapists and their work with patients within the field of mental health, working with inner city and under-served teens from 12 to 18 years&rsquo; old in Middle and High School settings. While providing care to patients, one of the key elements used in therapeutic interventions is that of mindfulness. Thus, while using mindfulness-based techniques, such as Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR) or Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) or Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), therapists worked to treat patients&rsquo; symptoms. Often however, many of the therapists using these interventions faced situations where patients began exhibiting maladaptive behaviors with their original symptoms being left intact or severely intensified. Furthermore, in using mindfulness techniques many of the patients working through severe anxiety found themselves dissociating from their bodies in an attempt to avoid re-experiencing powerful traumatic emotions. Thus, two main issues resulted, a) symptoms got worse, and b) dissociation from the body took place. </p><p> As a response, I devised an intervention that incorporated principles of Buddhist meditative practice such as virtue, mental cultivation through awareness, and subsequently wisdom, i.e. the three trainings (<i>s&imacr;a, sam&amacr;hi, pa&ntilde;&ntilde;&amacr;</i>). The goal of this intervention is to alter patients&rsquo; automatic reactions of being drawn into overwhelming feelings and the dysregulation of bodily sensations, and instead to simply ground the patient by intentionally directing their thoughts and attention to the here and now, while using the body and its parts as anchors of awareness. Thus, the intervention was coined the &ldquo;Mindful Grounding&rdquo; (MG). </p><p> In using the MG, patients were able to meet their treatment goals much sooner than originally anticipated in their initial assessment during intake. In some cases, therapists observed reduction of anxiety, depression, anger, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms within one or two sessions from first introducing patients to the MG intervention. The process of experiencing the body thus in a new way as prescribed by the MG, involves helping patients become calmly reacquainted with their own bodies. It is through this connection of body and mind that they develop a deeper and more existential connection with their world, as they heal with the insight gained through acceptance and understanding of their trauma and thereby rebuild their lives.</p><p>

<p> This qualitative portraiture study examines current issues that surround the experience of third-year and beyond, first-generation college students. There is a need to understand the self-perceptions of first-generation college students. Very few studies follow the group into the third year of college. Most programs track the population for just one year beyond matriculation. Success for first-generation college students is vital, as the group has been identified as a growing population with low college completion rates. This study is presented at a critical time, when the President of the United States claims a college education is necessary to live above the poverty line and achieve middle-class status. The United States government has based public policy and higher education funding upon both student need and institution completion rates. This study used arts-based research and literacy through photography techniques to explore the narrative experience of a small sample of first-generation college students while engaged in interpretative photography. The technique aimed to promote imagination, creativity, critical thinking, and personal reflection. The study engaged participants in literacy through photography and sought to synthesize data in the form of writing samples, interpretative photography, and transcribed interviews to uncover patterns that better explain the tenants of culture leading to academic discourse within a disadvantaged population. The portraiture method was used to provide rich and descriptive data by illuminating themes through participant-researcher collaboration with reflective and narrative components.</p>

<p> The impact of poverty on one rural elementary school&rsquo;s student achievement was measured based on formative and summative assessment data. Student assessment data were examined to determine if strong relationships can be linked between students living in poverty and academic achievement. Additionally, parental perceptions were addressed as to whether or not parents are engaged in their child&rsquo;s education, and if so, does this engagement impact student achievement. The topic was chosen for the relevancy of determining students&rsquo; instructional needs and how best to move the elementary in a positive direction academically. The socio-economic levels of families in the area studied are unlikely to change for the better; however, the level of student academic achievement can change for the better. Presently, elementary schools with high poverty rates and high academic achievement do exist, as described in specific detail in this paper. The data from this study indicated some students currently living in poverty are capable of achieving on a high academic level. The data from this study also showed all students who performed below proficiency within the research sample were also living in poverty. This quantitative study involved examination of how students living in poverty and students not living in poverty achieved academically. Details are provided on how schools with high numbers of students living in poverty can be academically successful.</p>

<p> This study investigated the effectiveness of a new dropout prevention program, Project WALK, which was launched at a low-income high school in Missouri during the 2012-2013 school year. After examining alarming dropout statistics, Washington High School chose 40 students to participate in a new program, Project WALK, which was designed to use graduation coaches to improve at-risk students' performance. The program's six graduation coaches formed relationships with at-risk students, monitored student progress, and consistently communicated with parents, teachers, and school administrators about the at-risk students. The researcher, an administrator at the school, gathered quantitative data to measure the effects of the intervention and qualitative data to measure the perceptions of the students who participated. The quantitative data collected for this study enabled the researcher to assess whether the graduation coach had an effect on each student's attendance, discipline, and number of credits earned during the time of the intervention compared to other years the student was in high school. The researcher considered secondary data in order to compare students' performances before and after the intervention and thus to test for a correlation between a student's being paired with a graduation coach and student outcomes such as attendance, discipline, and number of credits earned. </p><p> In addition to quantitative methods, the use of qualitative methods enabled the researcher to describe and analyze student perceptions of their experiences. Little is known about the perceived experiences of individual students who are considered to be at risk of dropping out of high school. Because qualitative data on this subject have been lacking, the qualitative component of the present study could lend greater insight into the effectiveness of interventions in students' lives. This study looked at 30 males, 10 females, 20 general education students, and 20 special education students. The results of this study indicated that the graduation coaches were beneficial in preventing dropouts, which suggests that the strategy of using graduation coaches is a promising one for serving at-risk students. These findings inform the work of educational specialists, practitioners, and school systems personnel who design interventions to help reduce the dropout rates in schools.</p>

Thesis (PH.D.)--Syracuse University, 2003. / "Publication number AAT 3081632."

<p> The purpose of this study was to explore the perspectives of academic advising at a tertiary institution in Jamaica and how it has influenced teacher-efficacy and instructional attentiveness among student teachers. The participants included twelve student teachers and four lecturers who have been intimately involved in academic advising. The student teachers selected have been engaged in academic advising for two to four years while the lecturers have been advising for ten to sixteen years. </p><p> This qualitative study explored how academic advising is related to teacher efficacy and instructional attentiveness among a set of second to fourth year student teachers at a teacher training college in Jamaica. All participants were actively receiving and giving academic advising in a government-owned teacher training institution. The primary source of data was unstructured interviews with student teachers and lecturers. Data were acquired over a two-month period by means of unstructured interviews and field notes. These tools afforded the opportunity to extend the conversations and generate meaning from the responses thereby providing rich descriptive notes of the phenomenon. Data were prepared using triangulation matrices, data coding and the Constant Comparison Approach to generate categories showing patterns and relationships of meaning. </p><p> The findings on the perspectives of the study participants indicate academic advising has significantly influenced teacher-efficacy among the student teachers as their level of confidence increased, appreciation of teamwork blossomed, instructional competency broadened and misbehaviors controlled. Additionally, their valuing of self and acceptance of other personalities grew immensely which positively affected their relationship with various tiers of staff in the learning environment. The interview data garnered from student teachers indicate that instructional attentiveness improved through the use of multiple teaching methods which included authentic assessment, field experience and student-centered learning. Other factors that boosted instructional attentiveness were good relationships with advisors who were understanding of their differences and commended simple efforts. As a result of the academic advising received, there are several implications for practice and policy which need to be addressed in order to help student teachers to identify their strengths and weaknesses, remain on task, avoid drop out and maintain equilibrium between academic and social experiences as they navigate their way through college.</p><p>