This study develops recommendations for school district administrators and policy makers regarding policies and programs for students at risk of school failure. The study develops a descriptive picture of policies and programs for at-risk students in Washington County school districts and evaluates those policies and programs against criteria for effective policies and programs in order to understand the degree to which such policies and programs implemented in Washington County school districts correspond to criteria associated with effective practices reported in the literature. The study identifies 23 such criteria and numerous indicators associated with each. Data collection, analysis and evaluation were guided by five research questions focusing on procedures used to identify at-risk students, policies and programs implemented to serve the needs of at-risk students, procedures used to evaluate at-risk students and programs, and the effectiveness of at-risk student programs and policies. D"",' were collected from the 13 Washington County school districts and other agencies using interview, document analysis, and survey techniques. Interviews were conducted with 11 school district administrators, 66 documents were examined, the 13 Washington County school district superintendents were surveyed, and 56 of 93 elementary, middle and high school principals completed and returned a 29 item survey. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and written descriptive summaries. The data were further analyzed by applying the program evaluation technique of comparison to a standard, using the criteria for effective policies and programs developed from the literature as standards. The results show nearly all schools and districts meet two of four criteria related to at-risk student identification. Identification practices vary from formal to informal. Most schools and districts meet both criteria related to the use of ineffective programs. Retention at grade level and diagnostic/prescriptive pullout programs are seldom used as an intervention with at-risk students. Most districts and schools meet one of four criteria regarding programs that prevent students becoming at risk. No district offers preschool programs. Few full-day kindergarten options are available. Tutorial reading programs are available at the primary grades in most schools. Three of 12 criteria regarding programs that serve identified at-risk students are met by nearly all schools and districts. A variety of classroom, schoolwide and alternative programs exist that partially meet criteria for effectiveness. Most programs serve secondary students. No district meets the criterion for supporting programs with written policy. Few policies specific to at-risk students or programs exist. In summary, nearly all Washington County schools and districts meet eight criteria for effective policies and programs for at-risk students. The remaining 15 criteria are either met by some schools and not others, partially met by some or all schools, or met by few or no schools at all. Other results show that little or no at-risk student or program evaluation occurs in most districts that administrators perceive resources for at-risk students and programs to be inadequate, and that coordination of at-risk programs both within and between schools and districts is varied and often minimal or lacking. Based upon these results, 52 specific recommendations are made to school districts administrators and policy makers.

A credit recovery (CR) program was implemented at a rural high school in Texas to assist with high school completion. While graduation rates increased, the time for completion also increased for students in the CR program. The purposes of this correlational study were to examine factors that impact student learning in the CR program and to determine whether teachers were implementing student-centered instruction. Piaget's constructivist theory provided the framework for the study. The guiding question was to examine the relationships between student achievement and classroom environment, active learning, attendance, and student success from those enrolled in the credit recovery class at the target high school. A sample of 103 students in Grades 9-12 completed a 65-item Likert-scale customized form of the What Is Happening in the Classroom (WIHIC) survey with subscales in classroom environment, active learning strategies, student motivation, and student success. A correlational analysis was conducted using scores from the state assessment test, attendance data, and scores from the WIHIC. Results showed no statistically significant relationships among the variables. Based on these findings, a professional development program was crafted to assist teachers at the study site with writing CR curriculum to better align with the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills and to include more hands-on constructivist learning activities. Implications for positive social change include the potential to improve secondary students' academic outcomes.

No description available.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Nevada, Reno, 2006. / "May, 2006." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 85-92). Online version available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Ohio University, June, 2007. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references.

Low completion rates have created serious "leakage points" (Astin, 1988) and "severe hemorrhaging" (Lango, 1996) in higher education to a large number of Hispanics. Traditional research on college persistence, which has blamed the students' culture for low performance, is inaccurate. Little research has specifically investigated academic persistence from a cultural perspective. Spirituality is a dynamic dimension among this cultural group. It is an untapped richness that Hispanic students bring with them to higher education. The study focused on six participants' understandings of spirituality from a cultural perspective. The purpose of the study helped participants voice the influence of their cultural spirituality and critically reflect the university's role regarding this cultural dimension. The research question was: What does spirituality, from a cultural aspect, mean in the context of persistence by Mexican American Chicana (o) students who transfer from a community college to a small liberal arts university? Critical theory, emphasizing phenomenology and critical consciousness, was the epistemological perspective. An indigenous methodology was used. Such a critical perspective and indigenous methodology embraced the participants border knowledge. Three data collection methods were used. A 43-Item Likert Survey, twenty-four diaolgos (individual conversations), and three circulos de cultura (group discussions). Data was interpreted with the following findings. The majority of the participants' survey responses indicated that matters of the spirit are important and significant to them. Through the di��logos the participants expressed interpretations and critiques by indigenous modes of language that spirituality did influenced their persistence. In the circulos the participants developed insights interconnecting spirituality and persistence. Spirituality was expressed through various images: "a push," "passion," "a driving force and desire," "an inner force," "La Virgen," and a "quiet inner strength." Most importantly, their persistence was influenced by a family-centered spirituality grounded in their cultural heritage. This qualitative study highlighted the six voices. Each case consisted of an interpretation of the participant's phenomenological understanding and growth in critical consciousness. The co-investigators' enriched the analysis by their cultural intuition and bicultural understanding. The following themes emerged from participants' visual and written summaries: 1) Family. 2) Quien Soy Yo? (Who Am I?) 3) Quiet Inner Strength 4) Recognizing My Background. 5) Encouraging Me to Persist. 6) Critical Consciousness of the Interrelationships of One's Culture. Study concluded with testimonies from the co-investigators. Researcher proclaimed: it is important to listen to students voice why they persisted from strengths within their culture. / Graduation date: 2002

The purpose of this research was to explore non-persistence by vocational students in the College of Career and Vocational Education at the University of Alaska Anchorage. A cohort of 156 students were identified and tracked from fall 1989 through spring 1992. In the first part of the study, using the University of Alaska Anchorage Institutional Research data base, demographic characteristics of the cohort, their patterns of enrollment and performance were identified. In the second part of the study, a sample of 12 non-persisters within the cohort were interviewed to learn about their motives for enrolling in postsecondary vocational education, factors contributing to their withdrawal and their perceptions regarding the quality of their educational experiences. Traditional-age (19 and under) students were the dominant age group, representing 46 percent of the cohort. Eighty percent of the students within the cohort were full-time students taking 12 or more credits. Over half (55 percent) of the students were "early-leavers" who discontinued their education at some point within the first year of the study. The graduation rate for the cohort was 3.8 percent and, at the conclusion of the study, 7.1 percent of the original cohort had maintained continuous enrollment, however, if students attending in stop-and-go patterns were included, 14.7 percent were still persisting. Implications for further study revealed by the interviews of "early-leavers" (i.e., students who did not persist beyond the first or second semesters of the study) included the following questions: 1. What retention strategies, policies and procedures can be implemented to encourage persistence of vocational students beyond the first or second semester? 2. How can the University of Alaska Anchorage assist students with their career development and decision-making? 3. How can the University of Alaska Anchorage encourage the persistence of commuter students? / Graduation date: 1995

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Delaware, 2006. / Principal faculty advisor: Barbara Curry, School of Education. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2006. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file viewed on (April 25, 2007) Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Oregon State University, 2007. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 279-295). Also available on the World Wide Web.