<p> In pursuance of analyzing attendance at Midwest High School (a pseudonym), the researcher examined the attendance program&rsquo;s effect on the junior class. The goal of the researched attendance program was to find what worked in the program, what needed to be changed, and how effective was the program. In order to evaluate the program, the researcher used a software system, Pulse, to collect all quantitative data. The data system gave all numerical information covering attendance from the 2015&ndash;2016 school year. Qualitative data was used to analyze the students&rsquo; reactions and responses to the then-current attendance program. Students who were juniors in the 2015&ndash;2016 school year were asked to take a voluntary survey about the attendance program. This data was coded and used to make recommendations regarding changes to be made and essentials already within the program. A focus group was also held and led by a student at Midwest High School. The focus group&rsquo;s answers were used to elaborate upon the program&rsquo;s faults and positives. The researcher analyzed both the quantitative and qualitative data and compared answers of the students to find out what were the most popular and least popular aspects of the attendance program, along with how the students perceived the program. Additionally, the rate of attendance was measured and analyzed to validate if the program was working by examining the percentage of students attending school. The data showed the program as working, and many of the students in the survey and focus group liked pieces of the program. Overall, a theme emerged that the program worked, but changes needed to be made. The researcher suggests that incentives be added to the program and contact with parents shift from weekly to a modified grouping of students who are in need of reminders and on a bi-weekly basis.</p>

<p> The researcher conducted a mixed study to determine whether or not a Talent Search program in a metropolitan area in North Texas was successful in enrolling students in post secondary education during 2011 to 2014. The <i> Program Evaluation Model 9-Step Process,</i> design was used to evaluate and guide the study. Additionally, the researcher designed a conceptual framework <i> College Enrollment Evaluation Steps</i> which was used to help analyze Talent Search performance. The researcher collected and analyzed data for the quantitative component of the study. The researcher conducted interviews to collect information for the qualitative component of the study. Three main themes emerged from coding the interviews. </p><p> The quantitative component of the study answered the study&rsquo;s subresearch questions directly and provided evidence to show Talent Search achieved all of its college enrollment objectives and goals from 2011 to 2014. The quantitative component also answered the study&rsquo;s Subresearch Questions 6 to 8 directly and provided evidence to show Talent Search had a higher rate of college enrollment than the Talent Search target independent school district, Texas, and the United States from 2011 to 2014. </p><p> Three main themes emerged from the qualitative component of the study; College Enrollment Barriers, Talent Search Intervention and Areas in Need of Improvement. The qualitative component of the study showed that Talent Search intervention was instrumental in helping seniors overcome college enrollment barriers (especially barriers pertaining to financial aid) that would have otherwise prevented the students from enrolling in post secondary education. </p><p> Furthermore, the quantitative and qualitative components of the study synthesized together to emphasize that the financial aid application completion step was the most challenging college enrollment step for students. The quantitative component showed the financial aid completion rate for 2011 to 2014 was lower than all the other college enrollment steps completion rates. Likewise, lack of knowledge on the financial aid application emerged as the greatest college enrollment barrier in the qualitative component. The results of the study provided evidence to conclude Talent Search was successful in helping students enroll in postsecondary education from 2011 to 2014.</p>

<p> In this study, a high school teacher&rsquo;s applied various pedagogical, critical thinking, and reading strategies within a high school classroom. As students prepare to become productive members of a democratic society in the 21st century, some students need focused literacy instruction to meet the increasing literacy demands; students who lag behind in critical thinking have a disadvantage. This teacher&rsquo;s action research study with struggling high school readers investigated whether implementing the pedagogical Gradual Release of Responsibility model (GRR) while engaging students with intertextual texts (juxtaposing two or more texts) within a reading community increased their critical thinking skills.</p><p> The participants included 35 ninth and tenth grade struggling readers in reading classes. The researcher used Reading Plus (2014) online silent reading comprehension, fluency, and vocabulary assessment; Fountas and Pinnell (2014) oral reading and silent reading comprehension assessment; the Weltzer-Ward, Baltes and Lynn&rsquo;s (2008) Critical Thinking Assessment Framework (TAF); high school students&rsquo; self-reflections with teacher-made prompts; and the researcher&rsquo;s action research journal to determine and monitor high school students&rsquo; reading and critical thinking progress. Teacher-made rubric tools measured critical thinking with 10 high school student blogs in response to high school teacher-made prompts reflecting the state&rsquo;s spring standardized assessment. Within the reading class structure, the researcher created a university partnership that consisted of one education class containing students from various disciplines who communicated and offered insights and feedback throughout the high school students&rsquo; 10 blogs. The researcher offered strategies and designed the high school reading course to encourage student choice and autonomy and made teaching modifications based on students&rsquo; behavioral needs, academic progress, and struggles.</p><p> Data analysis revealed 35 ninth and tenth grade students increased their critical thinking skills over the 2014-2015 school year; however, time constraint challenges and multiple reading program components negated drawing a clear picture of which aspect held the highest value. The researcher&rsquo;s journal noted that parent communication, student conferences, flexible due dates, individualized instructional scaffolding, and the online reading program contributed to students&rsquo; critical thinking. The journal revealed a consistent teacher expectation for students to engage in the critical thinking progress.</p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to identify the learning styles of international college students and instructional styles of their teachers in specific content areas to determine if relationships existed between the two. In addition, this study examined whether relationships existed between academic achievement, learning style, and teaching style, as well as between demographic factors, learning style, and teaching style. (Abstract shortened by ProQuest.) </p>

<p> Many research studies exist regarding high school master schedules. However, not one study could identify which schedule was &ldquo;best&rdquo; for high schools to implement. The researcher reviewed a variety of schedule types&mdash;traditional, drop 1, trimester, 4x4 block, A/B block, and modified block. The researcher also investigated interventions at the high school level. She also researched change and innovation. Lastly, she researched teacher collaboration. This study investigated changes a high-achieving high school made. The focus was on a master schedule change, interventions scheduled during the school day, and teacher collaboration scheduled during the school day. The purpose of this study was to determine whether a schedule change, interventions, and imbedded teacher collaboration created a cultural shift in a high-achieving school, making it a school that successfully supported all learners. This mixed-methods action research study surveyed students and teachers twice throughout the school year. Also, the researcher analyzed secondary data&mdash;tardies, absences, grades, behavior, and Reading Plus data. In this school, approximately 10-15% of students were struggling in various areas but particularly with reading as demonstrated by grades and Scholastic Reading Inventory (SRI) scores. It was important to explore the cultural shift that occurred because of this change. While some students expressed dissatisfaction with the new schedule, data supported that the change resulted in improved grades and a decrease in behavioral referrals. Making a significant change to the master schedule created an opportunity for teachers to review and revise their lesson delivery. While this was ultimately a benefit, it created increased stress, especially for those who were veteran teachers and accustomed to the previous schedule; however, in reviewing and analyzing the data, it was evident that feedback was overall positive and that the school&rsquo;s culture started to shift to become even more positive.</p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to elicit the perceptions of high school principals regarding state education standards and whether or not increasing education standards has a positive impact on student achievement. Missouri adopted a new set of standards which placed academic focus on fewer topics per subject and required teachers to create lessons that increased critical thinking within the classroom (Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education [MODESE], 2013b). To identify how the new standards might affect student achievement, four research questions were asked as part of this study. As a result of these questions, findings showed perceptions of the Missouri Learning Standards were more favorable than those associated with Common Core. It was believed among participants of this study that school districts have to develop professional development programs which provide information relevant to instruction and are organized around district goals. Data collected exposed student achievement is more likely to increase if new standards cause school districts to focus on specific goals and if teachers fully understand how to teach the new standards. By failing to adequately prepare teachers, school districts will struggle to properly prepare students for life after high school. Through a renewed focus on teacher comprehension of education standards, school districts can increase student achievement deficiencies and increase the number of students who graduate college- and career-ready.</p>

<p> All students should leave high school equipped with the academic and technical skills necessary to pursue higher education and/or a career. In a changing world, this now means that workforce readiness now demands the same high level of knowledge and skills needed for those who plan to pursue a post-secondary education. While Career and Technical Education (CTE) plays a critical role in accomplishing this goal, it is not always included in the college and career ready conversation. The purpose of this study was to determine what educational outcomes influence student placement in college, career, or both at 12 and 24 months after graduation and what can be learned by examining patterns of those outcomes that will advance current knowledge relative to placement in college or career.</p><p> The research study used ex post facto data in a quantitative non-experimental correlational research design to retrospectively examine placement at 12 and 24 months after high school graduation to determine which educational variables (independent variables) most significantly influenced placement (dependent) in college and career or both. The sample included 6,145 graduates from a Maryland school system. Data analysis included Chi-Square with Cramer&rsquo;s V and Chi-Square Automatic Interaction Detection (CHAID).</p><p> The key finding indicated that participation in Advanced Placement (AP) college level courses while in high school, was the most significant predictor of placement at 12 and 24 months after graduation indicating that continued exposure to college level courses throughout a student&rsquo;s high school experience can overcome performance on standardized tests intended to determine college and career readiness. The study also confirmed that a significant number of students who selected traditional career pathways also pursued college. This speaks to the importance of preparation for both college and career no matter what industry the student intends to pursue.</p>

<p> Human trafficking is a crime involving the exploitation of people for sex or labor through &ldquo;force, fraud, or coercion.&rdquo; My research consists of an evaluation of three prevention and awareness-raising human trafficking presentations on a Southern California university campus for students&rsquo; retention and use of information. Using surveys, interviews, and participant-observation, I found that following the presentations, students had a more prescribed definition and identification of human trafficking. Additionally, students are likely to identify the most visible warning signs of human trafficking. Their understanding of human trafficking may have some correlation with choice of major (i.e., science-oriented majors are less likely to understand human trafficking in depth than are students with majors in business and the humanities). I recommend providing &ldquo;tangible takeaways&rdquo; to aid with recall of resources. Working more with students, especially those with science-related majors, to identify less visible warning signs of human trafficking is also recommended. </p>

<p> The purpose of this mixed method case study, on the continued implementation of common assessments developed within Professional Learning Communities (PLCs), was to investigate possible relationships between teacher collaboration, common assessments and End of Course (EOC) assessments. The researcher investigated the perceptions of teachers and administrators in a Midwest secondary setting on common assessment development and utilization on the culture of teaching and data-driven decision making. </p><p> The information from this study will provide the researched school district as well as others with insights into their implementation of PLCs and specifically the development and utilization of common assessments. In order to evaluate student learning in a classroom setting, the state of Missouri piloted SLOs in public schools in the 2016-2017 school year. Common assessments are a staple of the SLO process to foster collaborative use of assessment results and data-informed instruction to address student learning outcomes. Data collection included each of the EOC assessed academic departments, the researcher surveyed teachers and interviewed supervising principals and participating teachers. In order to evaluate common assessments, the researcher collected student achievement data through SLO pre-assessments EOC scores during the 2015-2016 school year. The study utilized the Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient to conduct analysis of the two data points to determine the strength of the relationship. </p><p> Through evaluating common assessment utilization, this study intended to address potential modifications needed in common assessment and accompanying practices in the school&rsquo;s PLC setting. By completing quantitative analysis of common assessment scores and qualitative data from surveys and interviews the researcher ascertained: Government and English PLC revealed a relationship between their instruction and corresponding assessments; Algebra had a modest relationship while Biology failed to connect classroom to assessments. Through qualitative data analysis, the researcher determined a need for continual professional development around assessment and data literacy to better support teachers with increased accountability of SLO implementation in future school years. Further, implications of the study could serve to assist schools in the implementation of SLOs and ancillary areas of assessment, teacher collaboration, and data use for school advancement and impacting student outcomes.</p>

<p> Since No Child Left Behind was introduced, kindergarten through 12th-grade educators have seen a dramatic increase in accountability, rigor of standards, and responsibilities in the classroom (New America Foundation, 2015). In order to meet the increased demands of federal education regulations in second through fourth grades, many administrators are looking for alternative methods to ensure student success (Gewertz, 2014). Departmentalization is one of the alternative methods being used (Jacobs, 2014). Educators believe departmentalization results in many benefits (Chan &amp; Jarman, 2004); however, historical research has contradicted this view (American Association of School Administrators, 1965). With the demands of today&rsquo;s standards for education, the connection, if any, between student success and departmentalization must be determined. This study was designed to determine if there is a statistically significant difference in student success metrics between students in second through fourth grades in traditional classrooms versus students in departmentalized classrooms. In this study, student success metrics included raw scores on norm-referenced tests, percentile scores on norm-referenced tests, and grade-level averages on norm-referenced tests. These student success metrics are used in Arkansas to determine federal and state funding eligibility (New America Foundation, 2015). The statistical tests used in this study yielded inconsistent results as to a statistical difference between traditional classroom environments and departmentalized classroom environments in second through fourth grades. Factors other than classroom environment, such as teacher training, principal leadership, technology, and parent involvement, may have had an effect on student achievement (Buabeng-Andoh, 2012; Sebastian &amp; Allensworth, 2012). </p>