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<p> The purpose of this case study was to examine the School-Wide Positive Behavior Support (SWPBS) impact on five selected student performance factors. A literature review revealed there have been many SWPBS research studies regarding traditional public schools. However, there have not been any published empirical SWPBS studies involving K-12 alternative public schools. Addressing this gap in the literature a Midwestern K-12 alternative public school involving 1,164 students was studied 2007&ndash;08 through 2010&ndash;11. Data were collected through several school information systems including School Administration Student Information System (SASI), School-Wide Information System (SWIS), and Power School. The independent variable SWPBS was investigated regarding its impact on the five dependent variables academic achievement, attendance, office discipline referrals, dropout rate, and persistence to graduation. Frequencies and percentages of each variable were analyzed using the Chi-square &ldquo;goodness of fit&rdquo; test (field, 2009).</p><p> Previous studies at traditional public schools reported SWPBS positively impacted the five student performance factors, however this case study did not yield any significant findings at the K-12 alternative public school. Specifically, there were no significant differences between the first year when there was no SWPBS and the fourth year when SWPBS was fully implemented. These outcomes raised more questions than answers. (a) Do the students at K-12 alternative public schools require a different threetiered level system as compared to those in the traditional public schools? (b) Does the process of advancing from one level to another take a longer time for these students? (c) Does professional development need to focus more on how to provide SWPBS strategies to at-risk and special needs students at K-12 alternative public schools? (d) Does the plan of gradually working through the SWPBS initial stages to full implementation take more years for the K-12 alternative public schools to achieve?</p><p> Since there are no empirical studies for K-12 alternative public schools to use as guides, future research is essential to answers these questions. The findings and conclusions of this case study will guide building level and school district leaders as they continue the quest for programs and strategies to enhance positive student behavior and academic success. Implications are addressed and recommendations made for further research. The dissertation findings will also add to the gap in the literature and provide a springboard for future research regarding SWPBS effects at alternative public schools. </p>

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The purpose of this study is to explore the aspirations of parents of elementary children of Caribbean background in Montreal. Several studies show that these children tend to do poorly in Canadian schools. Research indicates that a significant variable in the home environment which influences school performance is the aspirations of parents for their children. The aspirations can be manifested through parental encouragement and are influenced by factors such as culture, class and/or ethnicity. / A sample of 20, English speaking West Indian parents agreed to participate in this research. An interview protocol was used to collect the data by telephone. The semi-structured interview was based on questionnaires used in similar studies and from issues emerging from the literature review. / The findings show that despite West Indian parents' high aspirations, their socioeconomic and/or ethnic status influence the outcome. They feel disadvantaged in a society where the realization of their perceptions of success are dependent on their ethnic status vis-a-vis the dominant group. Despite human rights legislation and multicultural policy, these parents anticipated racial and socioeconomic disadvantages for their children. The language factor in Quebec is seen as compounding the problem for English speaking Canadians of Caribbean origin.

<p> This mixed methods study investigated teacher, parent, and school leader perceptions of the impact of parent communications and expectation on teacher practices, focusing specifically on four categories: grading, communication, instructional, and curriculum practices. Quantitative data were collected through online surveys from 25 teachers in second through fifth grades, as well as 96 parents of second through fifth-graders, in five private Jewish day schools located in the Southeastern United States. Qualitative data were collected from ten teachers, ten parents, and three school leaders who provided interviews, where they elaborated on the nature of parental communications and expectations at their own schools and their perceptions of their impact on teacher practices.</p><p> The findings indicated that parent communications take place with high frequency, and are initiated fairly evenly between parents and teachers. Parents and teachers differ on their perceptions of negativity of communications, with teachers reporting more negative communications than parents. A t-test was conducted on the survey items that corresponded with the four categories to compare parent and teacher responses. There were some statistically significant differences in the perceptions of parents and teachers of the impact of particular types of parent communications on teacher practices in private Jewish day schools. These included requests for reviews of a child's grade or a grade change, as well as requests for changes in the content of homework. However, the qualitative data overwhelmingly indicated that parents and teachers have similar perceptions of the impact of parents communications and expectations. They felt that parents occasionally request certain changes, but that these changes have minimal impact in the classroom, outside of isolated, individual events. The school leaders who participated in the study agreed that, for the most part, the day-to-day practices of teachers were not greatly impacted by parent communications.</p>

This dissertation seeks to identify teachers' perspectives and practices which play a role in the literacy process. The qualitative method was used in the examination of four first-grade classes in a school serving a slum population in Porto Alegre, Brazil. / The concepts "classification" and "frame" of educational knowledge (Bernstein, 1975), the "process of social stratification" in the classroom (Sharp and Green, 1975), and the "we-they-relationships" (Schutz, 1971) are used in the analysis. Participant and non-participant observations demonstrated the presence of political, economic extra-school factors which interfered with effective teaching. Nevertheless, pupils with a long career in the first grade as well as first-time students became literate during 180 school days. / Factors influencing the success of literacy teaching were: (a) the teachers' competence; (b) their belief in education as essential to the improvement of the standard of living of slum-dwellers; (c) the establishment of a "we-relationship" where the teachers assume responsibility for the learning of each pupil and reject the rigid categorization of scholastic failure.

For the past 100 years the majority of schools in North America have been organized on a graded basis. The classification of children by grades, the common method in Quebec, assumes that if a child is ten years old and in grade five then he should be able to work at the same level as his peers in all the subjects of the curriculum. [...]

This study examined the ‘intended’ curriculum and the processes of its translation into classroom practices. The ‘intended’ curriculum is the rhetoric incorporated in state documents of the independence era in The Bahamas. These state documents included three key general educational policy documents in which policy makers presented persuasive arguments and strategies for the nation’s development, and the curriculum guides based on these earlier policy documents. Since these documents represent the educational intentions and objectives of the nation, it was assumed that an examination of their rhetoric would produce a portrait of the government’s ‘independence plan.’ However, because one cannot assume that rhetoric is translated into practice, this study also examined the extent to which teachers in the Bahamian Primary School System have translated this ‘independence plan’ into their contemporary practices. The methods of investigation included documentary analysis, participant observation, informal interviews with classroom teachers and other Ministry of Education officials, and a teacher questionnaire. The documentary analysis revealed a continuity of themes ran throughout the major educational documents. Foremost among these themes were the move toward the Bahamianisation of the educational system, the production of indigenous materials, the recognition of the classroom teacher as central in the reform process, and the importance of communication between policy makers and teachers. Field investigations revealed a divergency between the rhetoric of the educational policy documents and the practices within the contemporary educational context. The study identified five major factors that influence the success of the curriculum implementation process. These factors include resources, support services, the internal dynamics of the school context, assessment practices, and the personal backgrounds and professional experiences of teachers. The evidence reported in the study pointed to several components that would enhance success in the implementation of the intended curriculum. The question of resource availability, specifically resources of an indigenous nature, was the most significant issue uncovered by this study. In addition, the need for a more collaborative support network for teachers was evident. Finally, the study highlighted the importance of two components that are directly related to the formulation of policy. These include the need for policy makers to use teacher experience and insight, and be more cognizant of the factors that have an impact, both internally and externally, upon the school context.