The purpose of this dissertation was to determine if the foundational constructs (student engagement and ethical care) were experienced by the 8th grade students that participated in a morning tutoring program: Future Problem Solvers. A mixed methods design was adopted for the purpose of this study including raw data, survey data, informal observations, and face-to-face interviews. The goal was to determine if the 28 participants (male and female) demonstrated academic success on the Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test (Science). The study was also conducted in order to explore the level of student engagement and the development of reciprocating relationships based ethical care between the teacher and the students. The findings from the quantitative analysis using the Mann Whitney U indicated that the FSP participants did make academic gains on the FCAT (Science) test to a higher degree than non-participants: Non-Participants (Mean Rank = 182.37) and Participants (Mean Rank = 332.96). The significance was established where p = .00. The quantitative analysis using frequency data also revealed that the majority of the participants reported that they were engaged in learning and made strong efforts when doing and completing their schoolwork. They also participated in class, as well as school based activities. Furthermore, they reported that they felt a sense of belonging and were supported by the staff. The findings from the qualitative analysis indicated that the teacher did model care to the students. He engaged them in dialogue about caring relationships and confirmed and encouraged the best in them. The responses on the interviews completed by the teacher and the principal, as well as the students give evidence that strong relationships developed between the students and the teacher. Moreover, that these reciprocating relationships were built on trust and care. The discussion and interpretations emphasizes the need for professional development, and the need for policy that strives to support student engagement and ethical care above high stakes testing.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ucf.edu/oai:stars.library.ucf.edu:etd-5766 |
| Date | 01 January 2014 |
| Creators | Anderson, Marguerite |
| Publisher | STARS |
| Source Sets | University of Central Florida |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Electronic Theses and Dissertations |
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