Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 102-119). Also available in print.

This study examines whether middle-school students' dense, extended engagement in an argumentation curriculum promoted development of argument skills, specifically increased use of direct counterargument and improved argument evaluation skill. A total of 56 students in two classes participated twice a week for three years (grades 6, 7, and 8) as part of their regular school curriculum. Students attended an urban middle school affiliated with a large university and were predominantly Hispanic and African-American and from lower and lower-middle socioeconomic backgrounds; 20% were from middle-class Caucasian families. In addition to its central element - electronically conducted pair dialogs on social issues - the curriculum encompassed a range of activities including small group preparation of arguments and reflective activities. A third class of 23 served as a comparison group; they also met twice a week over the same time period. They addressed similar social issues in more traditional whole-class discussion and wrote essays. Assessments of dialogic argumentation skill and argument evaluation skill initially and at the end of each of the three years indicated that that the curriculum promoted the use of counterargument generally and the direct counterargument skill specifically. Performance of the experimental group increased over time in both respects and exceeded that of the comparison group. Students participating in the intervention also engaged in more sustained direct counterargument sequences than did students in the comparison group at the final assessment. Parallel improvements in argument evaluation skill of the experimental group relative to the comparison group suggest that evaluation skill responds to practice much the same way as does argumentation performance. Theoretical implications for our understanding of developmental mechanisms are considered, as well as educational implications.

Despite the robust evidence that spiritual development begins in childhood, the relationship between adolescent spirituality and positive development outcomes has been largely overlooked; thus, while the positive impact of spirituality on development has been established again and again, the empirical data on childhood and adolescent spirituality remains limited (Peterson & Seligman, 2004; Stolzenberg, Blair-Loy, & Waite, 1995). This topic, however, may be especially relevant in such turbulent times in education and development, particularly in the backdrop of the recent surging interest in character education. Using data from 1,352 middle-school adolescents who live throughout Israel, the current study examines the following hypotheses: 1. Spirituality is a foundational facet of character, independent of interpersonal, intrapersonal and intellectual facets of character. 2. Spirituality is stable over time during adolescent development. 3. Spirituality is correlated with positive outcomes such as positive emotions, prosociality and life satisfaction, and with character strengths such as kindness, gratitude, perseverance, and perspective. 4. Changes in spirituality over time are related to changes in positive outcomes and character strengths. Variables were measured according to several previously validated scales, completed in this study by the Israeli middle-school adolescents. Data were analyzed using a common factor model, latent class analysis and latent growth mixture modeling. The results revealed four distinct dimensions of strength/character among middle school adolescents: spiritual, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and intellectual. The emergence of a statistically autonomous spirituality factor, incorporating the various aspects of spirituality measured in the current study, suggests that spirituality is a divergent aspect of youth character, and one of the foundational aspects of character. The findings also suggest that spirituality is stable over time. The current study suggests meaningful relationships between spirituality and positive emotions, life satisfaction, prosociality, interpersonal character (e.g., prudence, judgment, selfregulation, honesty, forgiveness, teamwork, humility), and intrapersonal character (e.g., zest, life orientation, humor, hope, perspective). Spirituality did not show meaningful relationships with intellectual character strengths. Lastly, these findings suggest that spirituality is longitudinally related to positive outcomes, and that adolescents with spiritual growth report the highest levels of positive emotions, life satisfaction, prosociality, and character strengths such as gratitude, kindness, honesty, perseverance, hope, and prudence, as well as the lowest levels of problems with peers. These findings suggest that spirituality is an important aspect of adolescent psychological development, both in terms of intrapersonal and interpersonal growth. Further research on this issue is warranted in order to determine whether the education of middle-school adolescents should include spirituality as a core tenet.

The purpose of this work is to explore the spatial lives of three adolescents in grade nine, between January and May, as they navigated their lives and anticipated their upcoming transition to high school (for students in Grades 10 – 12), with an interest in equitable access to International Baccalaureate programs. Researched in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, in a context where access to IB was a student choice, free of cost, and void of consideration regarding academic history, the students involved in this study came from neighborhoods that have been historically marginalized from participation in IB, regardless of this “open access” policy. Methodologically, this study is grounded in spatial theory (hooks 1989; Lefebvre, 1979, 1991; Soja, 1996, 2010) and draws on narrative (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000; Naraian, 2017) and ethnographic techniques (Emerson, Fretz & Shaw, 1995; LeCompte & Schensul, 1999; Merriam, 2009), using an a/r/tographic stance, that is Artist, Researcher, Teacher positionality (Fendler, 2013; Irwin & Springgay, 2008) as a way to conceptualize the adolescents lives in and outside of school. The research questions address: how adolescents define, describe and map the spaces where they spend time; how they describe their identities, experiences and relationships across space and time; and, what connections they make between engaging in this process and their perceptions about high school. The findings suggest that the spatial stories of adolescents matter, are complex, and provide insight into the ways in which they navigate their worlds and make decisions about their academic futures. Methodologically, using a narrative and ethnographically inspired a/r/tographic approach to exploring the spatial lives of adolescents was useful and generative in terms of eliciting insight and understanding of their complex lives in and out of school. Finally, the findings suggest that for schools seeking to become more inclusive of historically marginalized adolescents, they may need to reconsider an approach that pulls marginalized youth into the “main body” (hooks, 1989), and, instead, travel to the “margin” (hooks, 1989) to re-conceptualize and design programs from there, the “space of radical openness” (hooks, 1989).

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / In a review of the literature, no studies were found on the achievement of school-age English-Speaking Caribbean students. This study was initiated to remedy this lack by examining the characteristics of twenty-one 12-18 year old high achieving and low achieving English-speaking Caribbean students and the influence of twenty-one parents' and seventeen teachers' attitudes on the students. Support was found for Bandura's theory that role models influence people's self-efficacy which in turn influences their choice, effort and persistence. The study further supports the resiliency theory which suggests that people can be successful, despite environmental challenges. This study also found that the unidentified bilingual status of English-speaking Caribbean 12-18 year old students and their new environment with unfamiliar teaching styles, regulations and procedures were additional challenges not commonly identified in the literature. In order to support self-efficacy and promote resiliency, 1) better assessment of English-speaking Caribbean students' ability to use Standard English and 2) greater planning and collaboration among parents, teachers and students are recommended. The following are questions to be addressed in future research: 1) What are the similarities and differences among students, parents and teachers regarding expectations of ESC students' school performance? 2) What are ESC students' reading and writing proficiency levels in Standard English? 3) How can schools support self-efficacy and resiliency characteristics in all students? / 2031-01-01

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Delaware, 2007. / Principal faculty advisor: Sharon Walpole, School of Education. Includes bibliographical references.

This qualitative and quantitative study examines the potential improvement in aggressive student behaviors when a block schedule is implemented in a rural, low socio-economic and multi-cultural middle school. The number of incidents of physical aggression and harassment were obtained from official school records for the years 1992-1996. Interviews were also conducted with staff members who had long term tenure in the school and who had a clear vision of student behaviors both pre and post-block schedule implementation. The face value of the school record data suggest a dramatic improvement in student behaviors. These data corroborate very closely with interview information. Teachers believe behaviors have substantially improved. In 1992-1993 there were 30 assaults in the school. In 1993-1994 there were 15, in 1994-1995 there were 0, in and in 1995-1996 there were 4. The substantive conclusion is the development and implementation of a block schedule in this particular middle school was highly successful in helping alter the aggressive behaviors of students. / Graduation date: 1997

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 106-121). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2009. / Open access. Includes bibliographical references (p. 311-324). Print copy also available.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of La Verne, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 438-452).