China’s radical social transformation, brought about by its rapid economic growth, has placed more of its youth at risk. There has been an increase in juvenile delinquency, internet addiction, school bullying, and gang involvement. Research on this subject in China has attributed the problem to lower socioeconomic status of students’ families, faulty parenting style, academic failure, and aggressive personality. However, the dominant discourse virtually ignores the lives of young people within their context and fails to examine what a deviant lifestyle means to them. This research addresses this limitation by examining the process through which unprivileged students navigate through the problems they face in secondary schooling and construct a deviant subculture. This was accomplished through an intensive fieldwork in an urban secondary school in southeast China with participant observation and interview methods to collect data on a range of students, their parents and teachers over an eight-month period. The results of the data analysis reveal that school plays a critical role in the formation of students’ deviant identities. Its preoccupation with academic performance and bureaucratic management pushes students who bear with cumulative disadvantages inherited from their families and community to a more marginalized position. Deviancy develops from a label to a response. The key manifestation of this is the creation and development of a ‘muddling’ subculture as their strategy to survive schooling. Although the ‘muddling through’ strategy may not provide them with better chance of employment for them to jump out of working-class, nor give much hope for access to the cultural mainstream of society, it still has some positive aspects. The subculture not only offers an alternative way to safeguard their psychological well-being and hone their interpersonal skill, but also facilitates them to gain more social space and resource in the subordinate situation. This finding coincides with selected sociological studies of deviant students in the West but also aligns with the special context of contemporary China. First, the Chinese society is evolving even faster after the establishment of Deng’s economic model. It is a broadly accepted fact and a roaring public concern that the gap between the poor and rich in China is heading towards a new class structure. In this context, schooling doubtlessly plays a role in the social reproduction. This study claims that lower class students’ deviant subculture is not simply an oppositional culture to the value of school education as argued in Western literature; rather, it is a strategic negotiation with the social structure in order to ‘muddle through’ their lives. Second, the nature of this ‘muddling’ subculture has strong links with a pragmatic social ethos that glorifies monetary success. When “whatever works to become rich” is the dominant “Chinese dream”, other forms of social recognition, value and well-being attached to formal school education can appear as overwhelmingly irrelevant to the eyes of those students who inherited a social class they did not choose and an educational system that tells them little. / published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

This study examines the mathematics education of youth at-risk in South Africa. It explores how two learners at the margin understand and perform in mathematics in two radically different educational environments. It also examines what provisions, if any, are incorporated into the mathematics curriculum to accommodate these pupils. One of the research participants attended Thuthukani, a residential school for youth at-risk and the other was based at Sanville Secondary, a mainstream school. The differences between the two contexts were in the scarcity of resources, limited space and class sizes. The qualitative case study, which was the preferred method of choice, was carried out in two stages. Observation of learners at the residential school was stage one. Stage two was the observation of a learner at the margin in a mainstream school. Observations were captured through audio and visual recordings and photographs. Pupils' written reflections and workbooks, combined with the information acquired through interviews, informal discussions and a research diary, supplemented the instruments to produce a rich data for analysis. The analysis suggests that each of the components of this study, namely: the educational environment (context), the mathematics curriculum, the teacher and the learner at the margin influence the teaching and learning in the classroom. The study concludes with the researcher's recommendations on the mathematics education of learners at the margin. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of Durban-Westville, 2003.

The success of small schools in maintaining higher graduation rates has been well documented (Schneider, 2002; Cotton, 1996; Raywid, 1996). This researcher investigated the effectiveness of a small school strategy implemented in a large school setting through the school-within-a school model for reducing the dropout rate, specifically as investigated through an Indiana high school's freshman academy for at-risk students, as an effective intervention for reducing the dropout rate. Data from Goshen High Schools' graduation rates of selected cohorts from the classes 2006 and 2007 were obtained for evaluating the school-within-a-school model as an effective intervention for reducing the dropout rate.Quasi-experimental research was completed with a comparison group of at-risk students and an intervention group of at-risk students who had the advantage of the freshman academy intervention. Five hypotheses were proposed. T-tests were completed on the at-risk indicators of student attendance, credits earned in ninth grade, and disciplinary referrals. Chi-square tests were conducted comparing cohort data on the graduation rate and the pass rate for the Graduation Qualifying Exam. Findings from a t-test indicated the school-within-school model of freshman academy was statistically significant in increased credits earned.The literature review compiled research on the high school dropout problem, problems in gathering accurate data figures on dropouts or graduation rate, the role of NoChild Left Behind (NCLB) on graduation rate accountability, factors identifying students at-risk for dropout intervention (attendance, disciplinary referrals, and grade retention), and research on the school-within-school structural reform.The sample for this study was selected from two cohorts of students based on eighth grade failure on the Indiana Standards Test of Educational Progress. Seventy-five students from the future classes of 2006 and 2007 were identified as students at-risk of academic failure.Student data collected from these cohorts indicated positive trends on absence, disciplinary referrals, and graduation rate. There was a statistically significant difference in the number of credits earned. Recommendations for continuing the school-within school intervention with a distinct identity were discussed. A call for future research on the school-within-school model included ideas for qualitative study, research on a larger scale or over several years of graduating cohorts. / Department of Educational Leadership

We know that education can be an arduous process. Countries use different approaches based on societal acceptances, but effective education always requires enormous efforts. Whether success is achieved, depends on the development of a rigorous and progressive curriculum, while at the same time providing all students the opportunity to learn” (Ravitch, 2010, p. 225). The purpose of this study was to analyze the success at which web-based curriculum is being utilized to meet the needs of at-risk students by providing them with the opportunity to recover lost credit as a means to keep them on the path to high school graduation. The institutions studied were select institutions that are identified by the Indiana Department of Education as recognized alternative education providers as well as select known public school corporations, in East Central Indiana, who are using web-based curriculum credit recovery programs. This researcher investigated the effectiveness of this credit recovery strategy as a tool to improve academic achievement and ultimately high school graduation. Additional information was sought on the challenges experienced in terms of support from the key stakeholders in breaking way from a traditional school setting when addressing the needs of students who are in jeopardy of failing to graduate. Data was obtained from the Indiana Department of Education and looked at graduation rates, dropout rates, as well as End of Course Assessment results. A survey was distributed to the survey population in an effort to gather a deeper understanding of the successes and failures schools were experiencing in an effort to break away from the status quo, leverage the advances of modern technology in an effort to provide students with multiple opportunities to realize academic success. The literature review compiled research on the current opinions for the utilization of web-based curriculum programs, the national attention being directed at public education as a key element in the economic slump of the American economy, and the economic impact on local and national economies for students who do not complete high school. Student achievement data collected from the survey population revealed positive trends on graduation rates, dropout rates, and performance on the Algebra I and English 10 End of Course Assessment. Recommendations for positive implementation of web-based credit recovery programming were discussed. Future research on this subject was recommended and ideas included a possible longitudinal study on a select group of at-risk students to identify strengths and weaknesses of this type of program. / Department of Educational Leadership

The social and environmental challenges of the coming decades will require that individuals possess environmental literacy: the understanding of natural systems combined with a sense of care for the earth, and the confidence and competency to act on its behalf. At the same time, disengaged youth need education environments that foster belonging and promote affective outcomes. The youth conservation corps model provides a natural context for engaging academically at-risk youth in environmental science education, while fostering connection to nature and student self-efficacy in ways that are experiential, relevant, and relationship-based. The focus of this study was a conservation corps program that integrates habitat restoration fieldwork and environmental science curriculum. The participants of this study were eight high school seniors who participated in the program for credit toward their high school diplomas. Data were collected through both quantitative and qualitative measures. Students completed a pre-test to assess their understanding and application of conceptual knowledge in ecosystem relationships and biodiversity. Upon completion of a six-week curriculum, they completed a post-test assessing knowledge in the same areas, two retrospective pre-post surveys measuring connection to nature and self-efficacy, and a post-evaluation measuring affective outcomes. Individual interviews were conducted in order to provide further insights and to identify elements of the program that contributed to positive outcomes. Results showed statistically significant increases in all outcome areas as well as positive student evaluation of affective outcomes. The outdoor and experiential components of the program were found to contribute most significantly to the positive outcomes.

This study investigates the experiences of at-risk secondary school students in the Chitungwiza District, Zimbabwe. At-riskiness is defined as a condition in which students are likely to produce poor academic achievement, irregular school attendance, grade retention or dropout due to various individual and social factors. At-riskiness has increased in Zimbabwe’s school population since the adoption and subsequent failure of the Economic Structural Adjustment Programme (ESAP) which has contributed to poverty and concomitant poor social conditions. A literature study explored at-riskiness in the light of socio-cultural perspectives on at-riskiness and also discussed contextual factors in the Zimbabwean schooling system which influence students’ vulnerability to at-riskiness. A qualitative inquiry using a narrative approach explored at-riskiness in the life stories of three male and three female secondary school students attending two selected schools in Chitungwiza, an economically deprived area close to Harare. Selection of schools was based on high levels of absenteeism and sustained poor performance in the national school leaving examinations. Purposeful participant selection was based on school records on grade repetition, absenteeism and poor behaviour. Semi-structured Interviews with participants, based on the Dan MacAdams framework for life story research, were used to gather rich data. Ethical compliance included written parental consent and participant assent and the assurance of anonymity, confidentiality and the right to refuse information. Findings were categorized under family related factors, school related factors and resource limitations. At-riskiness was exacerbated by parental unemployment, poor socio-economic conditions at home and a lack of cultural capital. Participants were compelled to undertake casual work to supplement household income in addition to the fulfillment of academic responsibilities. Poor school conditions comprising poor discipline and unprofessional teacher conduct increased at-riskiness especially among female participants. Resource limitations included poor nutrition, lack of basic necessities required for personal hygiene, in adequate parenting and the absence of psycho-social support mechanisms. Based on the literature study and empirical inquiry, recommendations were made for a more inclusive educational model, poverty alleviation and special support for disadvantaged students to reduce at-riskiness among students in Zimbabwe. / Educational Foundations / D. Ed. (Socio-Education)