Browsing by Subject "High School"
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Item Alternative Music Courses and Student Motivation(2015-08) Rolandson, DavidAlthough music plays an important role in the lives of adolescents, the majority of high school students in the United States do not participate in the large performance ensembles traditionally offered in schools. Researchers have suggested that changes to the high school music curriculum, mainly through the inclusion of alternative music courses (e.g., popular music) and musical genres more relevant to students, would encourage more music study in schools. The purpose of this study was to determine whether students who elect alternative music courses were influenced to study music by different motivational factors than traditional large ensemble participants and whether sex influenced participation in alternative music classes. A Musical Motivation Questionnaire was distributed to all music students attending six high schools in Minnesota. Principal components analysis and reliability testing identified the presence of eight motivational factors that influenced students' choices to participate in high school music courses. Results from subsequent statistical analyses revealed that these factors influenced students enrolled in alternative music courses differently than large ensemble participants, influenced female students differently than male students, and that male students were more likely to participate in alternative music courses than female students. These findings suggest that expanding curricula to include alternative music courses may motivate a new or different population of students to engage in the music learning opportunities offered in high schools.Item Block-level, non-work accessibility data for planned transitways in the Twin Cities(2021-01-12) Carlson, Kristin; Owen, Andrew; carl4498@umn.edu; Carlson, Kristin; University of Minnesota Center for Transportation Studies, Accessibility ObservatoryAccessibility to grocery stores, primary healthcare, elementary, middle, and high schools by transit is measured for the Twin Cities. Census block-level minimum travel times to the first, second, third,...,tenth destination are calculated before and after incorporating services changes to the transit network. The transit network baseline includes the Green Line extension and Orange Line. Five planned transitways are evaluated against the baseline including the B Line and local route 21 changes, the D Line and local route 5 changes, the E Line and local route 6 changes, the Gold Line, and the Rush Line. The analysis is completed for four departure windows during the weekday. The report associated with this data aggregates across the Twin Cities metropolitan worker population and disaggregates by worker demographics.Item Difficult Histories in an urban classroom(2010-06) Sheppard, Maia G.Academic standards for history in all states require students to learn about deeply troubling events, such as war, genocide, and slavery. Drawing on research and theories related to trauma studies and history education, this ethnographic study aims to better understand what happens when teachers and students examine the pain and suffering of others in the shared social place of an urban U.S. history classroom. In order to clarify how such troubling events are co-constructed and experienced in the classroom, I first outline a framework for conceptualizing difficult histories as histories where three interrelated components are present: (a) content centered on traumatic events; (b) a sense of identification between those studying the history and those represented in history; and (c) a moral response to these events. Analysis revealed that only two of the histories addressed over the course of one semester were co-constructed by the teacher and her students as difficult histories: slavery and Westward Expansion. Yet, even though slavery and Westward Expansion shared the defining characteristics of difficult histories, there were significant differences in how difficulty was constructed in the classroom. Analysis also revealed that the diverse group of students in this study used their understandings of these difficult histories to engage in similar activities, such as finding evidence of how they belong in America, making sense of America, and morally responding to past and present events. In both slavery and Westward Expansion, students relied heavily on their own personal experiences and beliefs to make sense of these histories. Throughout this research, the power of personal beliefs and experiences, especially those related to issues of race and ethnicity, remained crucial to students' historical understanding. They were central to students' participation in co-constructing slavery and Westward Expansion as difficult histories in the classroom and in their own applications of historical knowledge. At times these personal beliefs were vehicles to better understand distant others and at other times, they were barriers.Item Engineering problem finding in high school students.(2009-06) Franske, Benjamin JamesThe purpose of this study was to explore the engineering problem finding ability of high school students at three high schools in Minnesota. Students at each of the three schools had differing backgrounds including pre-engineering coursework, traditional technology education coursework and advanced science coursework. Students were asked to find problems in two different engineering scenarios which were presented to them on a paper and pencil instrument. Responses were scored by a panel of judges based on measures of creativity (flexibility, fluency, originality and elaborateness) and analyzed based on demographic data including gender, prior coursework and school. In addition student responses were categorized and evaluated qualitatively based on school and gender of respondent. Quantitative results indicate that the most consistent predictor of creativity in engineering problem finding scenarios was the number of advanced science classes. Specific measures of creativity included other significant predictors but advanced science coursework was the most consistent across all measures and scenarios. The qualitative results showed striking differences in the responses from students at different schools. Students from schools with a pre-engineering and advanced science emphasis found similar categories of problems and had a similar view of the purview of engineers while students with a technology education background focused on a rather different set of problems and had a much narrower view of engineering. Results show clear differences in the types of problems found by students at these three high schools as well as their understanding of the scope of engineering problems. Educators need to become more aware of the importance of problem finding in engineering and better encourage the development of problem finding skills among their students. Specifically, technology education teachers may need supplemental professional development related to the scope of engineering and engineering problem finding as well as how these concepts might be infused into their curriculum and encouraged among their students.Item Entwined in the Complex Tapestry of Schooling: The Experience of Being Somali Newcomer Students in Outstate Minnesota High Schools(2015-06) Moriarty, SheilaAbstract The lives of Somali born high school students are complicated by intersections with both race and religion. They often carry refugee histories of trauma and displacement that are further exacerbated during the resettlement process. Schools are struggling to make the kinds of accommodations that will honor the Somali Muslim identity. This study uses hermeneutic and post-intentional phenomenology to look deeply at the lives of these young people. Bachelard's reverie is used to place the researcher critically within the analysis in an attempt to create a transparent and meaningful look at understanding the complexity of their experiences. Educators are called upon to recognize the hegemonic forces that marginalize these students as well as recognize how these forces are traumatic in their lives. Educators are also encouraged to adopt critical pedagogies that open themselves up to the life experiences of their Somali born students. Keywords: Somali, high school, refugee, critical pedagogy, adolescent trauma, cultural humility, intersectionality, hermeneutic phenomenology, post-intentional phenomenology, Bachelard's phenomenology of the imaginationItem Evaluating Tier II reading instruction with high school sophomores in a response to intervention framework.(2011-05) Bemboom, Christina MarieThe purpose of this study was to compare the effects of peer-mediated versus teacher-directed reading interventions on the reading performance of high school sophomores in a pretest/posttest randomized group design with a non-equivalent control. Participants (N=57) identified as being in the lowest 25th percentile of their class based on reading fluency and comprehension measures, including maze selection, oral reading fluency, and standardized test scores were assigned randomly to either peer-mediated or teacher-directed intervention. Fifteen to sixteen 25-minute intervention sessions occurred over 12 weeks and included listening passage preview, retelling, and main idea questioning. Linear regression was used to determine main effects for pre-test scores, treatment group, and minutes of intervention for all measures. Both groups performed significantly better than a non-equivalent control group who did not receive either intervention, with effect sizes of .69-1.00. Students in the peer-mediated group performed at least as well as those in the teacher-directed group, with the peer-mediated intervention being less resource intensive. Peer-mediated intervention participants had the most passing scores on the Minnesota state assessment, as well as the highest percentage of students ending with maze selection scores above the median. Findings support the use of standard protocol, Tier 2 intervention to improve reading outcomes for struggling secondary-level readers.Item Hennepin County High School Graduation Rates: The View From The Ground(Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs, 2013-12-05) Burke, Anna; Jorenby, Kristin; Maki, ToddIn 2012, the four-year high school graduation rate in Hennepin County, Minnesota, was 68%. According to data from the Minnesota Department of Education further compiled by Hennepin County’s graduation initiative A-GRAD, when schools were broken out into traditional schools (mainstream, public high schools) and non-traditional schools (alternative learning centers/programs and charter high schools), the difference between the modified rates was staggering. The four-year graduation rate for traditional schools was 83% while the rate for non-traditional schools was significantly less at 23%. The factors surrounding which students graduate and which do not are numerous. The purpose of this study is to explore both traditional and non-traditional school policies, practices, and climates to uncover what role they may have in supporting or hindering students to graduate in their four-year cohorts, especially as it relates to “dropout” and “unknown” rates. Through a series of in-person interviews with school administrators from across the county, it became clear that the difference between the two rates is not a problem in and of itself. Administrators from the alternative learning centers and several charter schools voiced concern over the weight given to the four-year rate due to the demographic characteristics of their student populations in terms of age, special education status, and past credits earned at arrival, among others. The overarching themes drawn from the interviews suggest that the four-year graduation rate is neither an adequate nor equitable way to evaluate school success across all settings.Item Identity In Mathematics Spaces For Middle And High School Students: A Case Study Approach To The Revealing Of Identities In Formal And Informal Mathematics Spaces(2020-05) Gullickson, ElenaIt is acceptable and commonplace in society to proclaim a discomfort and dislike for mathematics. However, mathematics continues to be a gatekeeper for participation in westernized academic spaces (Moses and Cobb, 2002). When looking at the normative structures that exist in schooling systems, much can be learned from the voices and behaviors of students. This research provides critical information for effectively inviting students to participate in mathematical settings such that they choose to reveal their authentic identities. As defined in this research, identity is socially constructed, fluid, and multi-dimensional (Barton, Tan, & Rivet, 2008; Bishop, 2012; Nasir, 2002). Using the theoretical frameworks of funds of identity (Esteban-Guitart & Moll, 2014), mathematics identity (Bishop, 2012; Gutiérrez, 2013; Martin, 2013) and power, agency, and resistance (Chambers et al., 2014, Emirbayer & Mische, 1998; Foucalt, 1982), this research interrogates the ways that middle and high school students reveal their identities in mathematics spaces. This research investigated the identity emergings of two eighth grade students and three eleventh grade students using case study methodology drawing from critical ethnographic practices. Data for this study came from observing students in both formal and informal mathematics settings and from semi-structured interviews. The findings from this study revealed six themes and four implications that contribute to the body of literature on student identity and reframe mathematical pedagogies and practices to be more appealing to all students.Item The influence of high school extracurricular Coaches and activities advisors on sudent social capital(2014-03) Ward, John M.Extracurricular activities have long been an integral part of the K-12 educational experience in the United States, yet little is known about how the athletic coaches and activity advisors of these activities contribute to student development. There is a widely held belief that coaches are the prime contributors to the development of self-discipline, character and leadership skills among student participants. Social capital theory suggests that athletic coaches or activity advisors might be valuable contributors to student development by reinforcing positive social norms, fostering trust, and opening access to other information sources that would otherwise not exist. This study attempts to provide information regarding that claim. It focuses on students who have participated in varsity athletics, fine arts or school sponsored clubs in high school. It examines whether athletic coaches and advisors in these activities develop social capital in students. The study is a multiple case study replication design. It consists of an exploratory case study design of 24 separate cases. Twelve of these cases represent the impressions of student participants; twelve represent the impressions of coaches and activities advisors.Item ¿Realidades (in)alterables? Prácticas lingüísticas de tres hablantes bilingües en su temprana adultez en una escuela secundaria del medio oeste(2012-10) Pinilla-Herrera, AngelaIn an effort to better understand the linguistic behavior of second generation Spanish heritage speakers, this study investigates the uses of English and Spanish among three bilingual young adults in their last year of high school. Through sociolinguistic interviews, videotaped ethnographic observations, and a fusion of quantitative and qualitative analyses, the study examines how and to what extent linguistic behavior among bilinguals in the school context is shaped by contextual and situational factors, including family composition and relationships, attitudes towards Spanish and English, the nature of relationships established at school, the type of interlocutor, and the settings in which the participants find themselves inside the school, whether in the cafeteria, the hallways, or the classroom itself. The composition, strength and multiplicity of ties, and Spanish use index of these young Latinos' social networks and their impact on their linguistic behavior are specifically examined. Additionally, the assumption that contact between the more established generations of Latinos and the new arrivals has resulted in a process of Spanish language "revitalization," (a notion that derives from previous research with methodological design limitations) is addressed. With respect to language use tendencies, the data revealed that the all three participants used mostly English in school contexts, even in a school environment that supported the use of Spanish. In addition, the primary factor that best predicted the uses of English, Spanish and code switching was the proficiency of the interlocutor. Although the study sought to determine whether contact occurred between first and second generation students, it was not possible to determine an overall index of contact because the amount of school interactions between second generation Latinos and newly arrived immigrants was subject to multiple contextual factors. Additionally, the composition of the social networks and the presence of strong ties with monolingual Spanish speaking members were highly influential in the maintenance of Spanish or the switch to English. Finally, the findings lend support to proposals that human and social capital (and their implications in terms of financial stability, access to technology that facilitates communication across international borders, and ability to travel to the Hispanic country of origin, among others) play a crucial role in the maintenance of Spanish as a minority language in the United States.