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Browsing by Subject "Achievement"

Now showing 1 - 7 of 7
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    Longitudinal look at student achievement and psychological engagement.
    (2009-11) Videen, Cheryl Ann
    This study examined relations between students' psychological engagement and academic achievement, as well as between students' psychological engagement and growth in academic achievement. The study also examined if relations between students' psychological engagement and academic growth varied by grade level (elementary school compared to middle school). In addition, the study examined whether or not engagement was a predictor of later achievement or growth in achievement. This study was conducted in a school district located in a first-ring suburb of Minneapolis. Data regarding students' psychological engagement were gathered through a district-wide student survey on two separate occasions and were linked to achievement data. The current study examined data from three groups of students. Primary interest was in a cohort of students tracked from fourth grade to seventh grade. In addition, the study compared the cohort to other groups of similarly aged students who completed the psychological engagement survey at a different point in time. Results indicated a weak relationship between psychological engagement and achievement and essentially no relationship between psychological engagement and growth in reading achievement. In addition, psychological engagement did not add to the prediction of achievement after accounting for prior achievement. However, the results indicated that, for middle school students, the addition of a Teacher-Student Relationship factor did add to the prediction of growth in reading. Finally, the relationship between psychological engagement and achievement, as well as psychological engagement and growth in achievement, did not vary by grade level (elementary compared to middle school). Implications for practice and future research are discussed.
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    The Relations between Academic Achievement and Externalizing Behavior: Separating Fact from Fiction
    (2020-06) Kulkarni, Tara
    Some of the worst long-term outcomes of children are associated with the presence of both externalizing behavior and low academic achievement. Additionally, trajectories of externalizing problem behavior have shown that when children enter kindergarten with problem behavior, it tends to persist and is often associated with low academic achievement. However, though there remains a popular belief amongst educators that academic achievement and externalizing behavior have a strong predictive and even causal relationship, evidence is mixed. Given the implications for both resource allocation and intervention design if causal associations were supported, this dissertation sought to examine the relationship between the two domains, by (a) systematically reviewing literature in an effort to reveal potential causal relations, if any, and (b) conduct an empirical study using nationally representative data (N=7,330) and latent class growth analysis to reveal relations of early academic achievement with externalizing behavior trajectories based on the findings of the review. Results from both studies indicated that there is no concrete evidence for even predictive relations between achievement and externalizing behavior. Instead, the low achievement often observed in children with high externalizing behavior likely has other underlying causes. Specifically, results suggested that malleable variables like inattention and school readiness behaviors are better predictors of both achievement and teacher reported externalizing behavior. Lastly, this dissertation also revealed that socio-demographic factors like sex and race have strong associations with teacher reported externalizing behavior. Implications for school systems as well as student level interventions are discussed.
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    School Mobility and Housing in the Dayton's Bluff Community
    (1999) Goetz, Edward; HIPA Class
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    Social emotional competence: Culturally-bound or Context-free?
    (2017-05) Westerhof, Lara
    Social emotional competence, or the intra- (e.g., emotion regulation) and interpersonal (e.g., conflict resolution) skills related to success, is currently seen as a panacea to low student achievement, the achievement gap, and school violence. Although it appears to be a promising approach to increasing academic, life, and work success, little research has examined whether social emotional skills are exhibited and valued similarly across cultures. This dissertation attempted to fill this gap in the literature by examining the potential for cultural bias in our current conceptualizations of “competence.” Secondary data, collected from over 6,000 students in the Minneapolis Public School district (MPS), were analyzed to: (a) examine the interrelations between four social emotional skills (empathy, emotional control, critical thinking, and assertiveness); (b) determine whether students’ skills were, in part, a function of their cultural background; (c) examine the relationship between these skills and educational success (i.e., academic achievement, behavioral issues); and (d) explore whether these relationships were invariant across cultures. Overall, this research found evidence suggesting that cultural background is related to social emotional competence. The intercorrelations among the four competencies varied in magnitude across genders, racial/ethnic groups, home language groups, and socioeconomic statuses. In addition, these four background/cultural variables were statistically significant predictors of social emotional competence, though effects were near zero for assertiveness and critical thinking, small for empathy, and small to moderate for emotional control. Analyses also found evidence that social emotional competence was predictive of student success, with the four competencies predicting different success outcomes. However, analyses supported overall invariance among these relations, for the pattern of relations between social emotional competence and achievement was similar across cultures. Future research may further examine these complex relationships, identifying which competencies predict which success outcomes, and ensuring interventions and assessments are culturally relevant and equitable.
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    A study on the principal’s role in the development of professional learning communities in elementary schools that “beat the odds” in reading.
    (2010-05) Reimer, Tracy Lynn
    Current federal legislation, such as No Child Left Behind and The Race to the Top, have elicited high levels of accountability for increasing student reading achievement. Professional organizations and researchers encourage educators to organize schools into professional learning communities (PLCs) to improve student learning. Despite the increasing popularity of the term PLC, actually transforming the culture of a school into a PLC continues to be a complex and challenging task. Leadership has been identified in studies as a critical element of change that leads to improvement. Research is needed to define the principal’s practices that are successful in developing and sustaining a school-wide professional learning community. This qualitative study addresses successful leadership practices of principals in four schools that are “beating the odds” in reading. These schools are at or above the district mean proficiency on the MCAII and have higher ELL and poverty levels than other elementary schools in the district.Through one-on-one interviews with principals, classroom teachers, intervention teachers, special education teachers, and coaches as well as principal observations and artifact collection, data was gathered to learn more about the daily actions and decisions of principals in these schools. Data collection was guided by five attributes of professional learning communities—shared leadership, shared values and vision, deprivatized practice, collective creativity, and supportive conditions. The major findings of the study identified the following principal actions as conducive to the establishment of professional learning communities: (a) teachers had input in curriculum, instruction, and assessment decisions; (b) school building level iv systems (committees, staff meeting norms) were involved in decision making and information dispersion; (c) schools had a reading instructional framework informed by research; (d) grade-level and cross grade-level collaboration on reading instruction included reflecting on practice, reviewing student work, common planning, studying research, and analyzing student data; (e) teaching peers provided instructional support to colleagues by mentoring, observing, and co-teaching; (f) a high commitment to quality instruction and achievement elicited collective creativity via seeking research, professional development and internet resources; and (g) extrinsic recognition of student reading achievement.
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    Using data to increase student achievement:a case study of success in a sanctioned school.
    (2011-05) Fischer, Brenda Elaine
    The No Child Left Behind Act of 2002 fundamentally changed the ways in which schools are held accountable for the academic achievement of all students. Each year, millions of tests are given to students in the United States to comply with the federal accountability mandates set forth by this unprecedented federal legislation. Since these tests are so plentiful and prevalent and so much time and energy is invested in gathering results, it seems it might be possible for this multitude of data to be used for purposes other than external accountability. Might school leaders be able to utilize the data from mandated standardized tests to strategically enable schools to move toward increased student achievement across curricular goals? This qualitative case study tells the story of how teachers and administrators at one Minnesota elementary school, that was labeled in need of improvement, used a variety of data available to them to increase student academic achievement scores. Findings from this study include discussions of the factors and combination of factors that led to increased academic success. This study also includes suggestions for teachers, principals, policy makers, and institutions of higher learning, based on information gained during interviews and from the literature, for creating the conditions under which data can be used as an essential component in the ongoing challenge to increase academic achievement for all students.