Thesis (M. Ed. (Education Management)) - Central University of Technology, Free State, 2013 / The study focuses on the challenges facing principals of high-poverty schools in the Lejweleputswa Education District in the Free State. This study moreover deals with the strategies employed by principals of high-poverty school in addressing these challenges. It further profiles the leadership qualities as exhibited by the principals of high-performing, high-poverty schools. An in-depth literature review which covered typical problems faced by such schools and the leadership styles generally employed when managing them, was conducted. An empirical investigation using a qualitative research design was conducted and data was gathered through interviews with the principals and focus group discussions with teachers of the five selected schools. In the final analysis, findings and recommendations were made to officials in the Department of Education, teachers and the principals of high-poverty schools on how to confront challenges in the disadvantaged communities while at the same time moving towards maintaining academic excellence.

The problem of this study was to determine the interrelationship of intelligence, socio-economic status, and ten subtest measures of achievement in a selected population of high-school seniors. In addition to the general problem, the specific problems were as follows: 1. To determine the relative independence of dependence of each of the variables in relation to their influence on each of the other variables. 2. To determine the degree of predictive validity with which behavioral regression equations can be used in terms of intelligence, achievement, and socio-economic status.

The purposes of this study were as follows: 1. To measure selected junior high school students' creativity in art. 2. To determine the relationship between the following factors and the degree and kind of creativeness in art demonstrated by the subjects involved: ethnic group, sex, social class, community size, previous art training, cultural interest in the home and community.

University of Macau / Faculty of Education

M.Ed. / In spite of notable changes that have been made in education since 1994 in South Africa, many challenges are still being experienced in the education system. Not least of these are the academic challenges experienced by learners from contexts of poverty, and in particular, those who live in informal settlements and who attend public (former model C) suburban secondary schools. Inclusive education, founded upon the principles of human rights, aims to provide equal and quality education to all learners in South Africa. A process of addressing and responding to the diversity of learners, its objective is to reduce exclusion from education, however, many learners either fail to achieve or drop out of the education system altogether. In the changing educational climate, and with limited research in this sector of education being found, the researcher, wished to explore, interpret and describe these academic challenges. To achieve this, a qualitative approach was chosen with a phenomenological design and a constructivist paradigm. The methodology was selected according to the research question. Data collection was based on semistructured, conversational interviews and projective techniques, namely, the sentence completion method. The data analysis approach was qualitative in nature. Data from both the interviews and incomplete sentence sets were compared with connections sought between the data. Attention was paid to trustworthiness and ethical considerations in the study. The results of the study revealed four themes: Learning Challenges; Relationships; Lack of Resources; Family Support. Firstly, the study revealed that learning and academic achievement was of great importance to the participants, secondly, relationships played an important role in learning, thirdly, a lack of resources was a major challenge, and finally, the importance of family support was indicated. Guidelines and recommendations were provided to educators and other learning support professionals in order to support participants and other learners so that they can achieve their potential in school.

The problem set forth in this study is to determine the relationship of certain factors to the popularity of students in the eighth grade of the Junior High School at Ozona, Texas. The factors to be considered in this study are as follows: 1. The socio-economic status of the parents; 2. Each of the factors measured by the California Test of Personality; 3. The intelligence quotient; 4. Scholastic achievement; 5. The length of family residence in the community; 6. Physical attractiveness of the students as evaluated by three teachers; 7. Athletic ability as evaluated by the physical education teachers; 8. Conduct in the classroom as evaluated by the home room teacher.

This study analyzes how a group of six high school freshmen responded to engaging in Teaching and Learning Mathematics for Social Justice (TLMSJ), which is one possible articulation of criticalmathematics. Commonalities among this diverse group of students were that they were all students of Color from low socioeconomic status, enrolled in Algebra 1, attending the same Title I public high school. These students participated in an eight-week-long after-school program named “Socially Aware Algebra Students” (SAAS), where they investigated a variety of social injustices through doing Algebra 1 mathematics. This program was designed and facilitated by this study’s author, whose role would be considered practitioner–researcher. The purpose of this dissertation is to address the need for feedback on TLMSJ from a diverse group of students of Color. Specifically, this study sought to determine the participants’ perceptions both of engaging in TLMSJ and of the social justice topics that were investigated as well as the participants’ mathematical learnings that occurred during the SAAS program. This qualitative ethnographic case study relied on the following data sources: interviews, questionnaires, observations, journal entries, student work products, and pre- and posttests. Findings suggest that students’ reactions to this particular version of learning mathematics through social justice are as varied as the students themselves. While all participants reported increased mathematical skill and confidence due to their participation in SAAS and all enjoyed learning mathematics that was related to real-life topics, not every participant was interested in learning about social injustices. Secondly, the post-assessment data did not display measurable growth, despite the participants’ perceptions of their mathematical improvement. These findings suggest that TLMSJ, despite being the most common articulation of criticalmathematics, may not be the most effective means by which mathematics teachers can render their teaching socially just. The study concludes with various recommendations for mathematics teachers interested either in teaching mathematics through social justice topics, or in teaching mathematics in ways that are aligned with the spirit of social justice.

Doctorat en sciences psychologiques / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

School physical science is a prerequisite for science courses at institutions of higher education. Science graduates are an important link in a nation's scientific and technological development which often shapes a country's economic development. The purpose of this study was to investigate psychological and social factors influencing physical science achievement and attitude of black secondary school students in South Africa. The first part of the literature study which was concerned with physical science education in South Africa revealed that few black students chose to study science after standard seven, that failure rates were high and that science education was generally in a state of crisis. The second part of the literature study identified psychological and social factors related to science achievement and attitude. These were home environment variables, teacher and school related variables, personal variables (self-concept, motivation, gender, ethnicity) and students' abilities. The third part was the construction of a Structural Equation Model (SEM) specifying the relationships among the psychological and social factors and their effects on physical science achievement and attitude. The theoretical SEM fit the data reasonably well. The best fitting model, however, was a revised model in which several paths were constrained. The latter accounted for a substantial variance in attitude towards physical science (70.3%) and a meagre 17.7% in physical science achievement. The variables ability, home environment and self-concept had the greatest total effects on physical science achievement. Self-concept, home environment and motivation made the greatest total contributions to physical science attitude. Teacher characteristics and school environment had non-significant effects on physical science achievement and attitude. Multiple-group structural equation modelling analyses found no significant difference in the structural parameters of boys and girls. Theoretical and educational implications of the findings were discussed and specific recommendations for improving educational practice in general and physical science achievement and attitude in particular, were made. / Psychology of Education / D. Ed. (Psychology of Education)

Kim, Ji Hye. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2011. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 68-74). / ABSTRACT --- p.i / ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS --- p.ii / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.iii / LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES --- p.v / Chapter CHAPTER ONE --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- BACKGROUND OF STUDY --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- LAYOUT OF THESIS --- p.4 / Chapter CHAPTER TWO --- LITERATURE REVIEW --- p.5 / Chapter 2.1 --- DEFINITION OF SCHOOL LIFE SATISFACTION --- p.5 / Chapter 2.2 --- STUDENTS' SOCIAL RELATIONS AND SCHOOL LIFE SATISFACTION --- p.8 / Chapter 2.3 --- SOCIAL RELATIONS AND KOREAN CONTEXTS --- p.19 / Chapter 2.4 --- FOCUS OF THESIS --- p.20 / Chapter CHAPTER THREE --- THE EMERGENCE OF THE HIERARCHICAL SCHOOL SYSTEM IN SOUTH KOREA --- p.21 / Chapter 3.1 --- EDUCATIONAL EXPANSION DURING THE COUNTRY'S ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT --- p.21 / Chapter 3.2 --- THE EMERGENCE OF ELITE HIGH SCHOOLS AND THEIR REPID DEVELOPMENT --- p.22 / Chapter 3.3 --- VOCATIONAL HIGH SCHOOLS EDGED OF THE HIERARCHY OF HIGH SCHOOL SYSTEM --- p.25 / Chapter CHAPTER FOUR --- METHODOLOGY AND RESULTS --- p.30 / Chapter 4.1 --- HYPOTHESES --- p.30 / Chapter 4.2 --- DATA AND SAMPLES --- p.30 / Chapter 4.3 --- VARIABLES --- p.31 / Chapter 4.4 --- METHOD AND ANALYTICAL STRATEGIES --- p.33 / Chapter 4.5 --- RESULTS AND FINDINGS --- p.38 / Chapter CHAPTER FIVE --- FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION --- p.51 / Chapter 5.1 --- MAJOR FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION --- p.51 / Chapter 5.2 --- ADDITIONAL FINDINGS --- p.56 / Chapter 5.3 --- THE SOCIOLOGICAL IMPLICATION --- p.58 / Chapter 5.4 --- LIMITATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH --- p.59 / Chapter 5.5 --- CONCLUSION --- p.60 / APPENDIX A --- p.62 / APPENDIX B --- p.65 / REFERENCES --- p.68