This study investigated the educational practices and learning outcomes in rural and urban lower secondary school science classrooms of Kalimantan Selatan, Indonesia. Guided by six research questions, this study focused on curriculum implementation and its association with the existing working and learning environment, learning process and learning outcomes. The investigations were conducted in two stages and used two research methods. The classroom learning environment and school level environment were investigated at the first stage using the questionnaire survey as a research method. The questionnaires were developed and validated with a sample of 1188 Year 9 students and their teachers in 16 schools. Validation of the questionnaire confirmed that the Indonesian version of the modified WMIC is a valid and reliable instrument to measure the classroom learning environment in the Indonesian educational context. The results regarding the status of the classroom learning environment are summarised in four assertions. First, students tended to prefer a more favourable classroom learning environment than the one they actually experienced. Second, female students generally held slightly more positive perceptions of both actual and preferred learning environments. Third, students in rural schools experienced a less positive learning environment than did their counterparts in urban areas. Fourth, teachers’ perceptions were more favourable than their students on both the actual and preferred learning environment for all seven scales, except on Task Orientation in which their perceptions were matched. This study also confirmed that the Indonesian version of SLEQ, administered to relatively small number of respondents, has gained in merit as a good instrument. / Each scale of the Indonesian SLEQ has acceptable internal consistency reliability and was able to differentiate between the perceptions of teachers in different schools. Further analysis indicated differences between perceptions of school environments of biology and physics teachers and of rural and urban school teachers, particularly on Resources Adequacy. This study also indicated the differences between teachers’ views of the actual and preferred school environments in which the differences are not only statistically but also practically significant. It is suggested that research for improving school environments, by matching teachers’ actual and preferred perceptions, is noteworthy and more research needs to be conducted. The second stage of this study explored the existing science curriculum documents, teachers’ perceptions of the science curriculum, the implementation of science curriculum in the classrooms, and the students’ outcomes in school science. In lower secondary school, science is compulsory for all students of all Year levels, and is aimed to introduce the students to the basic concepts of scientific knowledge and to emphasize the use of tools and equipment during laboratory observations. Science in the lower secondary school consists of physics and biology subjects that were taught separately, but were given the same amount of classroom periods per week. The content was organized into themes or topics. Despite the content to be taught, the development of students’ process skills and students’ attitudes towards science and the environment were also emphasized. / The suggested teaching approaches included the conceptual approach, the problem-solving approach, the inductive-deductive approach and the environmental approach, whereas the suggested teaching methods in science classroom are the experimental method, the demonstration method, the discussion method, the excursion method and the lecturing method. The evaluation and assessment sections of the curriculum documents expected science teachers to systematically and continuously assess the students. Three techniques were suggested to conduct evaluation in the science classroom, which included paper and pencil tests, verbal evaluations, and practical tests. Science teachers and superintendents possessed different perceptions of the science curriculum as expressed in their preferences towards curriculum metaphors. The metaphor ‘Curriculum as Content or as Subject Matter’ was a view perceived by three teachers. ‘Curriculum as intended learning outcome’ was the second metaphor preferred by two teachers, who hold this view for different reasons. In contrast, two superintendents expressed their most preference on the metaphors ‘Curriculum as discrete task and concepts’ and ‘Curriculum as programme planned activity’, respectively. Investigation of the implementation of the science curriculum in the classrooms confirmed that science-teaching practices in urban lower secondary schools was in agreement with those suggested in the curriculum documents. / Science teachers in urban schools tended to use a variety of teaching methods, employed good questioning techniques, provided clear explanations and had high outcomes expectation, and maintained effective classroom management. On the other hand, to some extend science teaching practice in the rural lower secondary schools was not as expected in the curriculum document. Mostly, teachers in rural schools tended to use traditional chalk-and-talk teaching methods, employed a limited questioning techniques, had relatively unclear outcomes expectation, and performed less effective classroom management skills. With regard to students’ outcomes, this study showed less favourable results. Students’ attitudinal outcomes, which were measured by the Indonesian version of adapted TOSRA, were not maximised, and students’ cognitive outcomes are disappointing. The mean scores on the national wide examination, which is 5.46 out of possible maximum score of 10.00, indicated the poor performance of students in learning School Science. No statistically significantly differences were found on attitudinal outcomes between rural and urban and between male and female students’ perceptions. However, the study identified that students’ cognitive scores were statistically significantly different between rural and urban schools. Students in urban schools scored higher in the examination than did their counterparts in rural schools. The study found association between students’ outcomes and the status of classroom learning environments. Both simple analysis and multiple regression analysis procedures showed that all scales of the Indonesian WMIC were statistically significantly associated with two scales of the Indonesian adapted TOSRA and students’ cognitive scores.

The intent of this study was to explore the perceptions of Black middle and upper class preservice teachers as they relate to teaching and learning in high poverty urban schools. Participants included 11 senior early childhood education preservice teachers at a historically Black college in the southeast region of the United States. The study was conducted using qualitative inquiry. Background questionnaires, individual interviews, and a group interview served as the data sources. While there is an extensive body of knowledge focused on the increasing number of White preservice teachers who lack experience with students in diverse communities, there are limited studies pertaining to the perceptions of Black middle and upper class preservice teachers who may lack experience with students in high poverty urban schools. In the Black community, color and social class have been inexorably linked for generations. Social class is conceivably one of the most significant sources of inequality in schools and was one of the first factors, after intelligence, researched by scholars as a source of difference in achievement. The study answered the following questions: (1) What are the perceptions of Black middle and upper class preservice teachers regarding teaching and learning in high poverty urban schools? (2) To what extent do Black middle and upper class preservice teachers believe they can be successful teachers in high poverty urban schools? The data demonstrated that Black middle and upper class preservice teachers (a) prefer to teach in communities similar to their own school experiences; (b) believe students from high poverty urban schools can achieve at the same level as students in middle and upper class schools, but are uncertain of the value their informal knowledge brings to the classroom; (c) recognize effective teaching strategies and best practices in classroom instruction; and (d) have mixed feelings regarding their ability to connect with students and parents in high poverty urban schools. Implications from the study include expanding the scope of field experiences for Black middle and upper class preservice teachers in high poverty urban schools and recognizing Black middle and upper class preservice teachers in teacher education research.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2009. / Title from PDF title page (viewed Feb. 1, 2010). Additional advisors: Martha S. Barber, Lois M. Christensen, Dave Dagley, Tondra Loder-Jackson, Boyd Rogan. Includes bibliographical references (p. 100-110).

Thesis (Ed.D.)--University of West Florida, 2009. / Submitted to the Dept. of Professional and Community Leadership. Title from title page of source document. Document formatted into pages; contains 149 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

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This study considered the important role that principal leadership plays in the implementation of changes that are designed to close achievement gaps among student groups. A qualitative research approach and protocol was followed, and a multiple case study methodological approach was utilized. The data gathered consisted of interviews of three principals, three instructional coordinators, and three teacher leaders. A review of documents, artifacts, observations, field notes, and member check data were used to triangulate data. The data analysis applied the McRel Balanced Leadership conceptual framework and used three research questions to organize and guide the discussion and findings. These research questions are: (1) How did the principal implement research-based leadership responsibilities that led to the pursuit of high academic achievement for all students? (2) How did the principals implement a school-wide improvement framework that has resulted in sustained academic achievement growth for all students? (3) How did the principal implement the identified strategies that ensured high academic achievement among all student populations? Over the course of five months, data were gathered through individual interviews, observations, analysis of documents, and other artifacts. Several themes emerged as a result of data analysis. These included: (a) communicated ideals and beliefs, (b) challenged status quo, (c) culture of collaboration, (d) focus on learning, (e) data driven, (f) research based learning, (g) and curriculum alignment. The findings in the study suggest that the principals were instrumental in creating the conditions that helped the teachers build upon their collective capacity to support student success. / text

This qualitative study explored the perceptions and practices of elementary school administrators regarding parental involvement in three urban elementary schools. Particular attention was given to understanding the connection between the beliefs that school leaders shared about parental involvement and its role in school improvement (i.e., their espoused theories) and to how they supported parental involvement in their school community (i.e., their theories in use). Using Argyris and Schön’s (1978) theories of action framework, face-to face interview data and school and district documents were collected and analyzed to explore how well administrators’ practices relative to parental involvement (theory-in-use) aligned with their beliefs and perceptions (espoused theory). As such, data analysis focused on understanding both what administrators believe and what they do to use parental involvement to support school improvement efforts. / text

This dissertation breaks new ground in qualitative educational research by looking closely at the community and curricula of a well-resourced seven-year-old public high school in a New York City borough, which I call the Legal Studies Academy (LSA). This school created its own nonprofit organization in order to accrue private donations. Its most important “funder and founder” is an elite Manhattan law firm. The relationship between the firm and the school is emblematic of the direction that many urban public schools in the United States are moving: toward increased dependence on private funds to secure the resources deemed necessary for quality twenty-first century education (Anyon 1997; Lipman 2004; 2005). My project explores how the privatization of public institutions affects definitions of social justice and good education in the United States. I document the ways that students and teachers in the LSA community both reproduce and contest school norms. My methods in this two-year study included: teacher-research, participant observation of teachers and students, extensive interviews with teachers, students and parents, conduct of a summer book club / cultural circle, and analysis of data from a schoolwide student questionnaire. I also examine materials the school uses to solicit donations from its funders in relation to cultural constructions of urban students and their teachers in literature and the media. I explore what students’ and teachers’ daily practices of resistance or conformity to these cultural constructions might reveal about the place of democracy, humanization, character education, and critical pedagogy in U.S. public schools that depend on private or corporate philanthropists for resources. This ethnography nuances the often polarized debate around issues of achievement in education in the context of the demands of a global economy by documenting how the daily practices of students, families and teachers reflect on a social structure of education and achievement that, in the United States, ever more unequivocally aligns one’s identity and success with marketability. On a larger scale, it inspires critical questions about the place of democracy and citizenship as juxtaposed with inequities furthered by global racial capitalism. / text

The primary intent of this thesis is to demonstrate how the schoolyard, through physical diversification focusing on a three-fold paradigmatic framework, can become a significant educational environment able to support the physical, cognitive and developmental skills in children. Research is used as a tool to inform and support the designs. Discussed in the first two sections are the history and evolution of school grounds, play and the environment, the effects of place-identity on self-identity, as well as the power of place in pedagogy. The design framework is supported by precedent studies, intending to reflect the design principles, programs, ideas and values of the ecological, curriculum-based and narrative landscape design layers. The final master plan design is an amalgamation of these three layers, representing an educational setting that will foster a dynamic interchange between children and their milieu.

This dissertation explores parent-gentrifiers’ lived experiences of the school-selection process, including the social networking and the influence of those social networks in their selection of schools. School choice and parent involvement are forms of social capital, and such social capital represents the results of social networking and parental agency. The unknown is how this scenario manifests itself in gentrifying parents’ school-selection process in Atlanta’s Kirkwood and Grant Park neighborhoods. Gentrifying children’s absence in urban public schools is of interest as residential areas integrate, while schools (re)segregate. The research paradigm is interpretivist as it investigates the qualitatively different ways in which people experience or think about a phenomenon (Marton, 1986). Purposive snowball sampling is used to reach 30 eligible participants in two neighborhoods. The methodological approach is qualitative phenomenographic interviews. The research found five options considered by parent-gentrifiers in the school-selection process that are consistent with the previous literature: public school, charter school, private school, homeschool and undecided/not yet. The forms of communication utilized in the social networking were face-to-face, phone, e-mail, social networking sites, and texting. Participants varied by work schedule, neighborhood communication infrastructure, and level of social network in their forms of communication. Parent-gentrifiers’ approaches to school selection included: activating agency, social networking, operating in social spaces, their social agenda with regard to diversity, and their educational agenda with regard to curriculum, instruction, and school characteristics. The results show that while parents espouse racial and socioeconomic diversity, their choices in the option-demand system in Grant Park resulted in racial segregation among the schools. In contrast, the lack of formal options in Kirkwood resulted in racial integration in the public elementary school. The actions interpreted and ideas constructed in the process of selecting schools as a parent-gentrifier are of practical value to district efforts to understand the urban middle-class school-selection process. In light of increasing school segregation and student attrition, continued urban revitalization efforts and the sustainability of those efforts for many major cities in the United States is highly dependent on their ability to regenerate and maintain quality schools that attract the middle-class.