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The increasing focus on the underachiever has intensified the search for affective education models. Underachievement is frequently associated with a low self-concept. Current studies are sparse, indicating that Mentor Programs may improve self-concept, but empirical assessments are lacking. This study investigated the efficacy of a mentor model on self-concept and achievement variables of intermediate school underachievers. A Mentor Program model was implemented with an experimental group of 55 underachieving students in a Fairfax County, Virginia, intermediate school. A 42 student control group of underachievers in another Fairfax County intermediate school were monitored. Forty education staff members served as mentors to the experimental group of students. The study was of a quasi-experimental, nonequivalent control group design. Primary measurement instruments used were the Self-Concept and Motivation Inventory (SCAMIN), an appropriate measure of self-concept in the school setting, the Grade Point Average (GPA), the standard measure of academic achievement, and the Failure Rate, including students retentions and classes failed. Four research questions were investigated. For testing overall effects of the treatment/Mentor Program at the school level, a Value Added Analysis was performed. For testing the hypotheses, the following analyses were undertaken: ANCOVAs were performed on the achievement data; t-tests and ANOVAs were performed on the self—concept data, Chi-square, t-test, and ANOVA were performed on the failure data. Canonical Correlation Analysis was performed to explain the relationship between the predictor measures and the criterion measures. Descriptive and ethnographic information in the form of quantitative and qualitative data analyses added to the breadth of the assessment. Results revealed that the Mentor Program produced positive, nonsignificant gains at the experimental school. The gains were better than those at the control school, but not significantly better. Analysis of the results also disclosed changes in the study design should be considered for future research. Recommendations include two year assessments, multiple school comparisons, and longitudinal studies. Post program results from teacher ratings, mentor and students evaluations were positive, providing qualitative statements of program worth. The findings and conclusions drawn from this study serve to further improve program evaluation and assessment of Mentor Programs. / Ed. D.

Students in school districts throughout the United States are administered standardized tests in an effort to assess achievement. These annual "academic rites of passage" serve as measures of accountability to the citizenry of every locality served. Many at-risk African-American males score in the lower two quartiles on these tests. Remediation efforts have not significantly raised the achievement of these students. However, there are teachers who are effective with these students. They use both verbal and non-verbal behaviors that facilitate learning. This study was designed to answer the question: What non-verbal behaviors are used by effective teachers of at-risk African-American male middle school students? Data were collected via teacher observations using the Non-verbal Behavior Teacher Observation Form, an instrument developed to record nonverbal behaviors of teachers. The instrument consists of thirteen behaviors that cover seven non-verbal domains. Four teachers were observed three times each for thirty minutes and two teachers were observed one time. The researcher selected a different at-risk male student each observation resulting in a total of fourteen teacher observations and their interactions with fourteen at-risk male students. Descriptive statistics were used to identify most frequently and least frequently used non-verbal behaviors. When effective teachers in this study interacted with the at-risk African-American male middle school students, they frequently were in close proximity, changed their voice inflections, established eye contact, invaded students' territories (were within two feet), and gestured to students. The results of this study may be used as a vehicle or catalyst for the implementation of a school or district-wide training program for teachers of at-risk African-American male students. These results may also be used for teacher preparation programs at the college or university level. / Ed. D.

The purpose of this study was to describe how students moving from a school for students with learning disabilities to a regular public school classroom adjusted to the new school setting. The questions guiding the study were derived from issues identified by Dweck and Elliot in Fisher and Cooper (1990) as important to students when they change schools. The guiding questions are: What are the education settings in each school and how does the student adjust to the differences? How does the student react to the presentation of structured, sequential instruction in one school and to varied instructional techniques in another? What is the student's relationship with the teachers in each school? What is the student's relationship with peers in each school? Three students participated in this case study. They were observed and interviewed in both the private and public school settings. Data include school histories, academic records, observations and interviews. Student observations took place in classes, school hallways and while they participated in school programs. Interviews were conducted with the students, their parents and their teachers in both schools. The findings of the data analysis indicated that when the students changed schools they adjusted easily to the larger school setting and to the new instructional methods. Two of the students worried about grades and their academic progress in both settings and were able to find ways to meet their learning needs in their new environment. The three students described themselves as being happy, making friends and establishing relationships with their teachers within the first six weeks in their new school. Suggestions for further research include following these students for a longer period of time. Another study might compare the school experience of students with similar learning characteristics who are not considered to be students with a learning disability. / Ph. D.

This quantitative descriptive study investigated the attitudes of educational supervisors (i.e., head teachers) in Kuwaiti middle schools toward the involvement of families in the education of their adolescent children. Joyce Epstein's model of family involvement (1996c) provided the theoretical framework. A survey instrument, Supervisor's Attitudes toward Family Involvement in Kuwait Middle Schools, was adapted and translated into the Arabic language to collect data from male and female Kuwaiti middle schools supervisors in the six school districts. As anticipated, the results of this study identified (a) any significant differences, by gender and district, in attitudes about family involvement among Kuwaiti middle school supervisors; (b) the level of responsibility for encouraging family-school relationships among administrators, teachers, parents, and students; (c) the level of importance of different types of family involvement; (d) the barriers preventing families from being more involved in their children's middle schools in Kuwait; and (e) the degree of importance of each type of educational involvement for family participation during their children's middle school years. Independent sample t-tests were conducted to compare the mean scores by gender for supervisors' attitudes. One–way ANOVA was conducted to determine whether there were significant differences in the mean scores by district. The results indicated there were no significant differences in supervisors' attitudes by geographical district. There were some significant differences in supervisors' attitudes toward family involvement by gender. These findings might be related to traditional culture that affects women in Arabic societies, including the Kuwaiti community. Frequency distributions were calculated to determine the participants' responses to the subsequent research questions. The results indicated that administrators and families were perceived as more responsible for initiating family involvement than supervisors, teachers, and students. All six types of family involvement in Epstein's model (1996c) were important to the supervisors. Lack of time was a serious barrier to family involvement for both teachers and parents and the perceived problem of parent-adolescent conflict during later childhood was an additional barrier. Providing a home environment that supported learning, regular communication with teachers and administrators, and assisting students at home were considered to be highly important. / Ph. D.

The primary purpose of this study was to compare academic achievement and behavioral characteristics of students enrolled in the Career Exploratory Middle School (CEMS), an alternative middle school, with the academic achievement and behavioral characteristics of students in a project called Building and Supplementing Instruction in the Core Skills (BASICS), a dropout prevention program within traditional middle schools. The independent· variable was CEMS. The dependent variables were SRA composite scores, absences, days tardy, grade point average and office referrals. Project BASICS was used as a comparison group. Another purpose of this study was to determine whether or not CEMS and Project BASICS had any effect on selected academic and behavioral criteria. A total of 120 subjects were analyzed from two groups. Each group consisted of 60 randomly selected students. An ex post facto research design was used. Descriptive analyses included mean, media, mode, range, variance and standard deviations. Analysis of covariance was used to determine significant relationships. T-tests were used to compare the performance within both comparison groups. A p<.05 level of significance was used. Based on the Pearson Correlation Coefficient there appears to be a highly positive relationship between student performance in 1986-87 and in 1987-88 for all behavioral variables. The t-test for Grade Point Average (GPA) indicated that the sample means were almost identical within each individual group. All other variables indicated significant within-group improvement. The results suggested that there were no significant differences between the Career Exploratory Middle Schools (CEMS) and project BASICS with regard to Science Research Association (SRA) composite scores, absences, days tardy, GPA and office referrals. This study is designed to compare the effectiveness of two strategies used to reduce the number of dropout-prone middle school students. / Ed. D.

Staff development of teachers has been a major topic in the literature over the past decade. The literature has pointed out the shortcomings of traditional staff development while suggesting that school-based staff development can better meet teachers’ needs in the future. Three suburban public intermediate schools entered into a collaborative approach to staff development in order to bring about a more school-based staff development program. The collaborative approach included a team of teachers and a principal from each school participating in a graduate level course together. One outcome of the course was long-range staff development plans developed by each team based on the needs of each individual school. The purpose of this study was to examine the efficacy of the collaborative school-based staff development approach in terms of the process, comparison to other intermediate schools, and the product (staff development plans). Seven research questions were answered in this study from the data generated by structured interviews of principals and teachers from the three collaborative schools and three similar noncollaborative intermediate schools as well as the staff development plans from the three collaborative schools. Findings from the study indicated that the process of the collaborative approach to school-based staff development was generally perceived as having much potential and favored over the traditional approach to staff development. Nevertheless, there was considerable dissatisfaction about the design and delivery of the course. Many recommendations for improvement of the collaborative approach were made by course organizers, principals, and teachers. There were both similarities and differences in the staff development programs in the collaborative schools as compared to noncollaborative intermediate schools as reported by both principals and teachers. Teachers reported similarities in staff development activities, communication, and strengths. Differences in perceptions included needs assessment, decision-making, and improvements needed. Principals reported the same similarities as teachers except strengths which were viewed differently. The nature of the staff development plans and their initial implementation varied from school to school. Case A focused on communication within the school and student organization. The plan was perceived as making a positive difference in both areas. Case B focused on orientation of new teachers to the building. Due to a boundary change, no new teachers were added to the staff and the staff development plan was not implemented. Case C focused on improving school climate with three specific emphases over three years: instructional technology, characteristics of the middle school student, and higher level thinking skills in under-achievers. The plan was perceived as making a positive difference in the school. / Ed. D.

The transition from elementary to middle school has been characterized as one of many “normative life crises" that involves both an increased opportunity for psychological growth and a heightened vulnerability to psychological disturbance. Principles from life stress/transition literature and prevention research have been applied to the development of programs designed to help students adapt to the various changes they encounter in the transition from elementary to middle school. In the present study, students evincing a poor academic transition to middle school were identified following the second grading period of the sixth grade, and placed into one of two 16-week treatment conditions. The "full treatment" condition consisted of group support (including training in problem—solving and social skills, goal-setting, self-monitoring, and incentives), parental support, and increased teacher support; the "partial treatment" condition consisted only of teacher support. A group of good academic transition students was included in the study for comparative purposes. Measures of depression, anxiety, stress, and self-esteem were administered to students at pre-treatment, post-treatment, and followup, and behavior problem checklists were completed by teachers at the same points in time. At pre-treatment, important differences were found between treatment and comparison students, most notably along the behavioral dimension. The full treatment group showed a significant improvement in grade-point average (GPA) and depression scores over time, whereas the partial treatment group did not. However, improvement in academic performance was not as marked as predicted for either treatment group. The results of the present study were discussed relative to the findings of other prevention researchers, and directions for future research were considered. / Ph. D.