<p> Pressure has been put on educators to increase the achievement of all students, yet the primary emphasis has been put on moving low-performing students toward base proficiency instead of improving the proficiency of all student groups (Baum, Renzulli & Hebert, 1995; Colangelo, Assouline & Gross, 2004; DeBray & Blankenship, 2013; Xiang, Dahlin, Cronin, Theaker & Durant, 2011). Additionally, educational leaders are increasing the push for students to be engaged in rigorous academic courses, oftentimes without appropriate support for either the students or staff (Cleaver, 2011; Plucker, Giancola, Healy, Arndt & Wang, 2015; Schaps, 2005; Smarick, 2013; VanderArk, 2014; Walton & Spencer, 2009). </p><p> The goal of this study was to examine the support systems provided for students in advanced academic programs and their level of academic success. By examining not only student populations, but also the educators that may be providing support, a unique opportunity is created to compare and determine the outcome through multiple lenses. In order to explore this topic, surveys were created containing both open and closed-ended questions on the views of academic, emotional and social support provisions as well as future planning and effectiveness of all support areas. Surveys and semi-structured follow-up interviews were conducted with three participant groups; alumni, administrative personnel, and teachers. Triangulation of information was accomplished with the use of additional statistical tests which were performed to determine the relationship between support and student success. </p><p> Quantitative results determined that there was no correlation between any of the four support areas and student success. However, qualitative results disagreed with the statistical results and provided rich information on not only the view of support that was provided, but also the areas of concern and frustration for all three participant groups.</p><p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:10828917 |
| Date | 16 August 2018 |
| Creators | Knudsen, Sondra Lynna |
| Publisher | Concordia University Irvine |
| Source Sets | ProQuest.com |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
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