The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of using verbal analogies in teaching ninth-grade physical science. The experiment is designed to determine if teaching by analogies is more effective than conventional methods of teaching, and to ascertain the effect of analogies on achievement for different ability levels in different subject areas of physical science.

This study was conducted to measure the effects of classroom instruction entitled Citizenship curriculum Training on high school discipline. Data for this study were collected and analyzed for fifty-eight ninth-grade students who had been referred to the principal's office three or more times the semester prior to the experimental treatment. An experimental group of twenty-nine students received citizenship curriculum instruction. The control group of twenty-nine students received only the school's traditional curriculum during second period class. Two teachers presented the citizenship curriculum training which included instructional units on beliefs, attitudes, emotions, anger, decision-making, communications, confrontation, positive attention, stress, peer pressure, authority figures, getting along in school, and the society game. Data were collected relative to grade-point average, absences, discipline referrals, and attitude toward high school as measured by the Remitters High School Attitude Scale. T-tests for correlated samples and analysis of covariance examined the effects of the Citizenship Curriculum Training on the four variables measured. The .05 level of significance was used to test the four hypotheses. The results of the study indicate that Citizenship Curriculum Training does not improve the students' gradepoint averages, absentee rate, lower the number of discipline referrals, and does not improve students' attitude as measured by the Remitters High School Attitude Scale. It is recommended that similar studies be conducted to address the problems of grade-point average, number of discipline referrals to the office, high absentee rate, and attitudes toward high school by teaching discipline students in small classes with a curriculum that aims at improving these specific problems. Future studies should collect the posttest data the first grading period following the experimental treatment to test for immediate results.

High schools in the United States are facing increased scrutiny to increase the number of students graduating with a diploma in four years. This pressure comes from many sources. First, the No Child Left Behind Act instituted graduation as a measure of a high school’s success at the federal level. States soon followed by increasing accountability in this area. Differences in how graduation rates were measured and advancements in data tracking technology led to many states measuring cohort groups of students who enter high school in the ninth grade and tracking them to see how many graduate in four years. This measure became known as an on-time graduation rate and, in many states, became a measure used to determine high schools’ accreditation. School districts responded to these changes in accountability by instituting new programs designed to increase graduation rates and decrease the number of students dropping out. One type of program that has increased in popularity across the country is the online credit recovery program. Online credit recovery programs utilize an asynchronous online learning platform that is designed for students who are repeating a course they failed in a traditional classroom setting. Features of an online credit recovery program include a one-to-one learning environment where students interact with digital curriculum that includes text, audio, video, and graphic information. Online credit recovery courses are designed so that students can demonstrate mastery of known content quickly and focus on material they did not master the first time they took the course. This instructional approach, along with the asynchronous design that allows students to work through course content at their own pace, enables students to earn a course credit in a reduced period of time. The purpose of the current study was to capture the perceptions of students who are enrolled in an online credit recovery program. The goal of the study to document what factors they believed contributed to their success. The study was driven by research questions which sought to analyze the (1) factors students attributed to their success in the online credit recovery program, (2) perceived chances of graduating from high school on-time after successfully completing the course, (3) relationship between the credit recovery course and the one-to-one laptop computing initiative supported by the school district, and (4) online learning environment of the credit recovery program, as compared to a traditional classroom setting. A qualitative, phenomenological, design was used to explore the research questions. Twenty retained ninth grade students were interviewed. Ten came from each of the two schools that first implemented the online credit recovery program in the school district. The researcher inductively coded these interviews which allowed themes to emerge through the voices of these students. These themes included a sense of control of the learning environment in the online credit recovery program that students did not feel in a regular classroom. This control was manifested by the self-paced, distraction-free, learning environment that was enhanced by the district’s one-to-one laptop computing initiative. Also, increased and varied opportunities to demonstrate mastery fostered this sense of control. Another major theme that emerged is that students believed that their chances to graduate on-time were improved because they were able to earn a credit in a course quickly that they had previously failed. The ability to recovery this credit allowed students to avoid traditional credit recovery options in which they felt they would not be successful. Students also perceived that they would continue to experience success if they were allowed to take other courses through the online credit recovery program.

High schools have undertaken numerous approaches to reduce the number of first-time 9th grade students who do not move to 10th grade with their cohort. The purpose of this study was to determine if a summer program successfully transitioned 9th grade students from middle school to high school environments. Guided by the stage-environment fit conceptual framework, this study explored the effectiveness of a summer transition program at acclimating first time 9th grade students to physical, social, and academic environments. A mixed-method design was used in the study. A t test was used with a sample of approximately 400 archival 9th grader student responses to the Delaware School Climate Survey-Student. Statistical differences in familiarity with physical environments and perceptions of school climate were found between attendees and nonattendees, with attendees reporting better acclimation. A chi-square revealed greater course success for first-time 9th graders in the first marking period and lower 9th grader retention rate for attendees. Acclimation of 9th grade students as perceived by a sample of 10 teachers was explored through individual interviews and analyzed using the constant comparative method. Narratives from teacher interviews suggested acclimation to physical and social environments was greater for attendees. Study results led to development of a 1-day transition program aimed at utilizing effective transition program strategies with the entire upcoming 9th grade cohort. Long-term data collection and disaggregation is recommended to determine lasting effects of the program. Effective 9th grade transition programs may result in social change through increased promotion rates and higher graduation rates.

The following study is an attempt to comprehend the impact that the Canadian-United States border along the forty-ninth parallel had on the Plains Metis between 1869 and 1885, and how members of this community continued to manipulate the border to meet their own objectives. From the 1860s to 1880s, state definitions of Metis status, as well as government recognition and non-recognition of Metis identity, had a profound impact on the Plains Metis. Imposed state classifications and statuses limited the choices of many to enter treaty, be recognised as a citizen, or reside in a partiuclar country. The implementation of these status definitions began after 1875 when the enforcement of the international boundary began in earnest, and it was this endforcement that represented the beginnings of the colonisation of the Plains Metis. / History

This thesis explores the experiences and practices of disaster relief volunteers. This thesis is based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted over a period of fifty-three days in the summer of 2007 at the post-hurricane Katrina Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, Louisiana. Through innovative practices and a commitment to the principle of “solidarity not charity” volunteers produce not just material aid, but an ideology of social justice. This thesis is also an exercise in engaged scholarship in that the author directly participated in the disaster relief effort as a volunteer.

In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated the city of New Orleans with widespread flooding and infrastructural damage. The Lower Ninth Ward has since experienced a slow recovery from the catastrophic flooding it endured. Among the various physical, social, and economic challenges still facing the neighbourhood, this thesis identifies the community’s subsequent social disintegration following Katrina, and its continuing challenged access to nutritious food as primary arguments for a food hub co-operative in the center of the neighbourhood. The power of the co-operative lies in the collectivization of social, physical, and financial assets of the currently fractured community. The food “hub” then becomes the heart of the neighborhood, facilitating social ownership, renewed purpose and responsibility, and financial empowerment. At an urban scale the centrally located food hub anchors an expansive food network, enabling a city ward currently devoid of collective means to get back on its feet.

This thesis considers the potential of the suburban periphery to become an ecologically, socially and culturally productive site which supports local and regional public programs. It explores ways of creating connectivity across the hard boundaries of a suburban development, an expressway and an agricultural area in order to stimulate biological and cultural diversity in this typically neglected, “leftover” environment. The site is the Ninth Line Corridor at the suburban edge of Mississauga, Ontario. The investigation of boundary occurs at the urban, building and experiential scales, and considers how the intersection of landscape, ecology, architecture and program can generate activities and events which foster engagement with the site and within a community.

No description available.

Thesis (M.Arch)--Kent State University, 2007. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Nov. 14, 2007). Advisor: Charles L. Harker. Keywords: transfer of development rights, Lower Ninth neighborhood, Central City neighborhood. Includes bibliographical references (p. 45).