Most low-achieving students continue to perform poorly throughout school. However, not all students remain on this achievement trajectory; a subset of initially low-achieving students appear to break this achievement pattern. This phenomenon is called academic resilience, a student’s capacity to overcome prior academic difficulty. The proposed study investigates low-income, low performing sixth-grade students, who will be classified into three groups based on their academic improvement in eighth grade: resilient (large improvement), buoyant (moderate improvement), and nonresilient (little or no improvement). The purpose of this study is to examine the differences among resilience groups on Bandura’s (1997) sources of self-efficacy as a function of sex and ethnicity, using a 3x3x2 MANOVA. The implications for the proposed study suggested the development of an intervention to cultivate the four sources of self-efficacy for low-performing students in order to increase academic resilience. This report also includes an evaluation plan, which outlines the essential components from a theoretical intervention program, a logic model for this program, and the proposed method to measure the reported outcomes. / text

Public school systems in America continue to show unequal learning outcomes for African American students. This investigation seeks to understand salient factors that are critical and essential to the process of increasing the probability of academic resilience (success) among African American students. Academic resilience is defined as "the process of an individual who has been academically successful, despite the presence of risk factors (i.e., single parent family, low future aspirations, and low teacher expectation) that normally lead to low academic performance" (Morales & Trotman, 2011, p.1). Using the baseline data from the Educational Longitudinal Study (ELS: 2002), a multilevel logistic model was developed that aimed to identify individual and collective characteristics of African American students who were academically resilient. The multilevel logistic model revealed five statistically significant student-level variables. When comparing two African American high school students one unit apart in SES, for the student with the lower family SES, one unit increase in their academic expectation would make the student 3.21 times more likely to be academically resilient; whereas for the student with the higher SES, one unit increase in their academic expectation would make the student 2.48 times more likely to be academically resilient. Consider two African American high school students one unit apart in terms of teacher expectation, the one with higher teacher expectation was 1.67 times more likely to be academically resilient than the one with lower teacher expectation. Spending one more hour in homework per week was 1.12 times more likely to make an African American high school student academically resilient. Lastly, when comparing two African American high school students one activity apart in terms of school involvement (e.g., band, chorus, sports, or academic clubs), the student with the higher number of school involvement activities was 1.67 times more likely to be academically resilient than the student with the lower school involvement activities. The multilevel logistic model also revealed two statistically significant school-level factors. Specifically, when comparing two high schools one unit apart in school academic climate, African American students in the high school with higher academic climate were 7.44 times more likely to be academically resilient than African American students in the high school with lower academic climate. When comparing two high schools one unit apart in school remedial efforts, African American students in the high school with lower school remediation efforts were 4.54 times more likely to be academically resilient than African American students in the high school with higher school remediation efforts.

In this study, the researcher explored high school English language learners’ perceptions of risk factors and protective factors present in their academic and social lives. The researcher also explored how these students negotiated risk factors and used protective factors to be academically resilient. Therefore, the study was designed to examine academic resilience from the students’ perspectives, allowing them to share their story about their success in high school. The following research questions guided this study: (1) What risk factors are present in high school English language learners’ academic and social lives? and (2) Which protective factors do high school English language learners use to be academically resilient? The researcher collected and analyzed qualitative data using key characteristics of focus group analysis. Nine students voluntarily participated in three different semi-structured focus group meetings. The findings revealed that risk factors such as lack of English language ability, low expectations of teachers, inability to form new relationships, stress, and inattentiveness prevented students from being successful. In addition, the students discussed how several protective factors like learning English, establishing and maintaining positive relationships, establishing and implementing good study habits, and possessing certain inner qualities helped them be academically resilient. Two themes that emerged were students (1) choosing to be academically resilient and (2) actively seeking sources of help. Based on this study, suggestions for educators are as follows: (1) consider providing more language support for newcomers; (2) include and build upon parent-school and teacher-student relationships; (3) encourage and provide ways for students to form relationships with others through school-based programs; (4) foster and continue to support the growth of the students’ academic skills; (5) find ways for students to become more involved with community-based services and programs; and (6) stress the importance of holding all students to high standards, regardless of students’ English language proficiency levels.

This study sought to examine how schools influenced and promoted student resilience through the lens of persistence, leading to high school completion. The focus of this study was significant because there are few studies that focus on student resiliency as it relates to high school completion through the lens of persistence. Previous studies have generally identified at-risk factors for non-high school completion and either qualify or quantify the results. They have not taken into account the social and economic contexts of school and the communities and their influence on student resiliency. This study utilized a phenomenological methodology that identified the lived experiences of twenty-six 11th - grade students of color at an urban high school in Southern California that manifested resilience and persistence. Semi-structured interviews of participants drawn from a stratified variation sampling were utilized. A CRT framework was applied to examine the role of high school as a protective factor, the interactions of faculty and staff, and the perceptions of participants as it relates to school culture and climate. External factors such as supportive relationships in the familial and community context were also examined and discussed. The results of this study highlighted school climate that promotes belonging along with a collective focus on the study of student success, the role of teacher-student and counselor relationships as being pivotal to the development of resilience in students of color. The findings from this study provide examples for schools to develop supportive climates that focus on promoting and developing academic, social, and emotional resiliency in students of color with specific next step recommendations.

A review of the literature indicates that Latinos lag behind Whites and Blacks in college degree attainment. This educational disparity is of concern because Latinos are currently the largest minority group in the United States, and the Latino population is expected to increase exponentially in the future. College degree attainment for Latinos is imperative because statistics show an undeniable relationship between degree attainment and income level. In order to ensure the economic wellbeing of Latinos, it is important that Latinos persist through college degree programs. This is especially true for Puerto Ricans because they are the second largest Latino subgroup. The majority of college persistence and departure literature applies to students in general and some of the studies focus on Latino College students. However, fewer studies explore the perspectives of Latinos with the process of graduate or doctoral degree attainment. This is especially true of Latinos of specific ethnic backgrounds such as Cuban, Mexican, or Puerto Rican. I conducted this study in order to address this gap in the literature. This study described and explained the perspectives of a purposive sample of Puerto Rican doctoral graduates on their education by exploring those social and cultural factors that influenced their perceptions, and served as educational facilitators or barriers to their doctoral attainment. The questions that guided the study were: 1.What are the components of their perspectives? and; 2. What social-cultural variables influenced their perspectives?  In order to answer the research questions, I interviewed eight Puerto Ricans with doctorates who were affiliated with the GOTHAM educational system in the state of New York. In order to collect the data, I went to New York in February and March 2010 and conducted face to face interviews with the participants, which were recorded. After I recorded the interviews, I transcribed the data, which I analyzed using a software program called Atlas.ti. I analyzed the data by coding the excerpts, which I identified as the subthemes or variables of this study. The subthemes were coalesced into major themes, which were validated by peer review, several iterations of member check, and data triangulation. After coming to a consensus at all levels of validation, I determined that the emergent themes were in fact evidence of the components of the perceptions of the participants‟ experiences with doctoral attainment. Those components are Personal Factors, Social Role Factors, Cultural Factors, and Social Factors. Based on the analysis of the data, the most profound influence to the perception of the participants‟ lived doctoral experiences was that of the interaction of being a doctoral student, or Adult Learner, with at least one other social role. The most commonly reported negative interaction was being an Adult Learner and a Worker at the same time. Having a lack of Finances, No Latino Role Models, experiencing Negative Events by Ethnicity, and struggling with Self-Efficacy served as barriers to most of the participants. Having Peer Networks and Faculty Support served as facilitators to most of the participants. In order to add to the usefulness of this study, I asked the participants for their advice to future or current doctoral students, and for suggestions to faculty and administrators of higher education. I included their responses as part of this study.

The purpose of the present study is to assess the potential individual characteristics and environmental protective factors that promote academic resilience among impoverished eighth grade elementary school students in Turkey. The sample consisted of 872 (439 girls, 433 boys) students enrolled in 6 low SES inner-city public elementary schools in Ankara. Five instruments, Demographic Data Form, Resilience and Youth Development Module (RYDM), Scholastic Competence Scale (SCS), Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS), and Nowicki-Strickland Locus of Control Scale (N-SLCS) were used in the present study. Grade point averages (6th, 7th and 8th grades) of students were used as the measure of Academic Achievement. Exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were used to analyze the data. The results of the present study revealed that home high expectations, school caring relationships and high expectations, along with the peer caring relationships were the prominent external protective factors that predicted academic resilience for the adolescents in poverty. Considering the internal protective factors, having positive self-perceptions about one&rsquo / s academic abilities, high educational aspirations, having empathic understanding, internal locus of control and being hopeful for the future were positively linked with the academic resilience of adolescents in poverty. Conversely, the external factors of home caring relationships, community caring relationships and high expectations, and peer high expectations, and internal factor of problem solving ability were negatively linked with academic resilience. These factors seem to be vulnerability factors for impoverished Turkish adolescents although they are generally accepted as the protective ones.

Purpose . The purpose of this study was to examine student perceptions of the impact of grade-level retention on students who experienced retention the first time during 7 th or 8 th grade and who continued with their education into their 10 th -grade, 11 th -grade, or 12 th -grade year. Procedure . Ten high school students in grades ten, eleven, or twelve participated in this phenomenological study. Each of the participants experienced grade-level retention for the first time during their seventh or eighth grade year. At the time of the interviews, each student was earning the necessary credits to be on target to graduate from high school. Qualitative methods were employed to allow an in-depth exploration of each participant's experience. Tape-recorded interviews were conducted. Interview questions addressed five general areas: (a) student reflections regarding middle school; (b) student reflections on their high school experience; (c) student perceptions on the impact of their grade level retention; (d) student perceptions of the effectiveness of grade-level retention, especially at the middle school level; and (e) factors that contributed to each student's academic resilience. Standardized open-ended interview questions minimized variation in the questions posed to participants. Follow-up and probing questions allowed further exploration into each participant's descriptions and reflections. Findings . Participants in this study perceived that their academic success in high school stemmed from their grade-level retention experience. Students recognized a lack of maturity, poor attendance, and an inability to focus their attention on academics, rather than the social aspects of school, as factors that contributed to their retention. Evidence presented in this study suggests that students can experience academic resilience after experiencing grade retention. Self-determination was the single most obvious theme dominating student perceptions of factors that contributed to their academic resilience. Students perceived that they had some degree of control over their academic destiny; each student reflected that a lack of commitment to school, or laziness contributed to their failure. Thus, each student perceived an ability to overcome failure through a commitment to complete work, focus on school, and improved attendance.

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The purpose of the study was to identify the internal and external protective factors found in family, school and community as perceived by rural elementary students who experienced poverty and demonstrated academic resilience in a Virginia school division. By identifying the common protective factors among the academically resilient elementary students, school leaders and educators can implement practices that foster a learning climate that cultivates and supports resilience in students who are at risk of academic failure. A qualitative approach was used to analyze a purposefully selected group of academically resilient elementary school students living in rural poverty. The research questions were: 1. For students purposefully selected as meeting the criteria for academic resilience, what are their self-identified protective factors regarding academic achievement? 2. What are the similarities and differences in protective factors among these purposefully selected students? Ten fifth grade elementary students, a boy and girl from each of the elementary schools in the rural school division meeting the definition of academic resilience and living in poverty were eligible to participate in the study. Phenomenological interviews were conducted with twenty-one questions related to family, community and school environments. The results of the study indicated that the support of extended family, specifically grandparents of the participants was perceived to have had the greatest impact on the academic success of the academically resilient students living in rural poverty. Other protective factors revealed were lack of mobility in the rural community, peer influences and relationships with school staff. The academically resilient elementary school participants, in the study, all possessed close relationships with their family to include extended family members and had at least one desired content area taught in school. / Ed. D.

There is a lack of research on the academic resilience of minority, first-generation, online doctoral students (MFOD) who experienced poverty and parental substance abuse (PSA). The purpose of this study was to explore how MFOD who overcame poverty and PSA developed academic resilience. Resilience theory and Kember's model of attrition in online programs provided a conceptual framework for this study. The research questions guiding this qualitative study concerned how MFOD perceive and interpret their academic resilience and protective factors. A purposeful sample of 6 students participated in semistructured interviews. An interpretative phenomenological analysis was conducted, which included a case by case analysis, and a cross-case analysis. Results indicate that academic resilience is perceived as (a) determination, (b) evolving realization of the value of education, (c) paving the way for others, and (d) leveraging strengths to succeed in an online doctoral program. Protective factors are perceived as (a) resilience in adversity, (b) mindset about school, (c) identity resilience, and (d) transformational experiences. The results of this study reveal that the participants learned to see themselves beyond the context of their immediate environments. Positive social change implications include improving existing social policy to aggressively target high-poverty school districts and communities with PSA. More specifically, at-risk minority students would benefit from targeted interventions focused on family engagement in education and school retention.