Browsing by Subject "High school"

Now showing 1 - 8 of 8
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    An entirely new interest has been taken by the school:" meanings, logistics, values, and evaluation in the American high school extracurriculum, 1905-1935
    (2014-06) Opsal, Christen Lynn
    This study uses educational writings from 1905-1935 (including sources discovered and analyzed using new digital technologies, such as HathiTrust digitization and full-text search) to describe the evolution of the terminology used to label the American high school extracurriculum during the early 20th century and the logistical arrangements under which it was carried out, elucidate the existence of the extracurricular values claimed by educators at the time, add contextual detail about the meaning and intentions behind those values, describe attempts to limit students' participation in these activities, and discuss contemporary concerns about the extent to which the desired values of extracurricular participation had been or could be attained.
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    Examining the Effects of an Attribution Retraining Intervention on the Attributions and Engagement of Alternative School Students
    (2015-07) Cooper, Maureen
    The purpose of the present study was to examine the effectiveness of an intervention designed to increase effortful attributions in high school students enrolled in an alternative high school at risk for failure to graduate. Pre-test and post-test self-report surveys on student attributions and engagement were collected and analyzed prior to and after the administration of an attribution retraining intervention for a treatment and control group. An additional 5-question survey on educational background was collected to better describe and understand the educational experience of the sample of students. The attribution and engagement surveys suggested that there were no significant effects of the attribution retraining intervention on student attributions or engagement. A significant relationship existed between perceived family support for learning, and students' history of consistent attendance in school. Limitations and implications for future research are discussed.
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    Integration of Engineering education by high school teachers to meet standards in the physics classroom
    (2013-08) Kersten, Jennifer Anna
    In recent years there has been increasing interest in engineering education at the K-12 level, which has resulted in states adopting engineering standards as a part of their academic science standards. From a national perspective, the basis for research into engineering education at the K-12 level is the belief that it is of benefit to student learning, including to "improve student learning and achievement in science and mathematics; increase awareness of engineering and the work of engineers; boost youth interest in pursuing engineering as a career; and increase the technological literacy of all students" (National Research Council, 2009a, p. 1). The above has led to a need to understand how teachers are currently implementing engineering education in their classrooms. High school physics teachers have a history of implementing engineering design projects in their classrooms, thus providing an appropriate setting to look for evidence of quality engineering education at the high school level. Understanding the characteristics of quality engineering integration can inform curricular and professional development efforts for teachers asked to implement engineering in their classrooms. Thus, the question that guided this study is: How, and to what extent, do physics teachers represent quality engineering in a physics unit focused on engineering? A case study research design was implemented for this project. Three high school physics teachers were participants in this study focused on the integration of engineering education into the physics classroom. The data collected included observations, interviews, and classroom documents that were analyzed using the Framework for Quality K-12 Engineering Education (Moore, Glancy et al., 2013). The results provided information about the areas of the K-12 engineering framework addressed during these engineering design projects, and detailed the quality of these lesson components. The results indicate that all of the design projects contained components of the indicators central to engineering education, although with varied degrees of success. In addition, each design project contained aspects important to the development of students' understanding of engineering and that promote important professional skills used by engineers. The implications of this work are discussed at the teacher, school, professional development, and policy levels.
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    Mathematics placement decisions for high school students with high incidence disabilities: a collective case study
    (2013-04) Murzyn, Amy Lee
    The purpose of this multiple case study is to describe the experiences of case managers making mathematics placement decisions of high school students with high incidence disabilities. There is much information about what should be happening when making mathematics placement decisions of high school students with high incidence disabilities, but there is little research to describe what is happening. Participants include: three parents of high school students with a high incidence disability, three high school students with a high incidence disability, three case managers of a high school student with a high incidence disability, three high school mathematics teachers and three high school administrators from three different high schools in three different geographic areas: rural, suburban and urban. Four major findings emerged: 1. The placement process is a team decision. 2. Course options, the master schedule and graduation requirements are influential in the placement process. 3. A range of special education services are available, but not all needs are being met. 4. Data provides a jumping off point. Three recommendations for further research emerged: 1. Based on the limitations of the current study in regards to generalizabililty, a survey of a large sample of case managers should be conducted across the state of Minnesota and/or the country, to evaluate the degree to which the same or similar findings may be uncovered regarding the placement process and the factors surrounding placement decisions. 2. Because perceived lack of meaningful participation among parents was common among all sites, a mixed methods study could be utilized to determine how meaningful participation could be improved. 3. During this study, student needs and the perception that student needs were not being met was a common theme across cases and participants. A similar follow-up study should be undertaken to determine a definition of “needs” and how best to meet those needs.
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    The Personal Readiness Evaluation for Postsecondary (PREP): a development and validation study
    (2012-09) Pohl, Angie J.
    The purpose of this study was to develop and establish validity evidence for the Personal Readiness Evaluation for Postsecondary (PREP), a tool designed to measure personal readiness for college of high school students early enough in the students' journey to college that the information can be used to inform interventions that can in turn increase the students' readiness for success in postsecondary education. Personal readiness for college was defined as the dimension of college readiness pertaining to students' self-regulated learning ability including their self-efficacy and their ability to engage in academic behaviors such as planning, setting learning goals, managing their time, using study skills, putting forth effort, and persisting in the face of challenges. This study was conducted in three phases: Phase I - instrument development, Phase II - pilot study and instrument refinement, and Phase III - testing of the refined instrument. The study consisted of one sample of 7th-12th graders (n = 451) and three separate samples of 9-12th grade students (sample 1: n = 1643, sample 2: n = 497, and sample 3 n = 385), all in a Midwestern state. Analyses utilized included confirmatory factor analysis, correlation analysis, reliability analysis, and chi-square tests. Validity evidence gathered included evidence based on theory, content, internal structure, and relations to other variables. Findings from the study suggest that the PREP can be used appropriately with high school students to measure their self-efficacy and expectations, effort and persistence, and self-regulated learning (aspects of personal readiness for college), and that information obtained through students' completion of the PREP can provide students, parents, and teachers with an indicator of whether or not the students are in need of extra support in developing personal readiness for college.
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    The right to be multilingual: How two trilingual students construct their linguistic legitimacy in a German classroom
    (2014-06) Ennser-Kananen, Johanna Ennse
    In order to maintain multiple languages within the US school system, multilingual students need to feel legitimate as speakers of their languages. While prior research has investigated the "right to speak" of individual second language (L2) learners (Norton, 2000) as well as the overt and covert policies around "legitimate languages" at schools (Heller, 2006), no research exists that examines the negotiation of linguistic legitimacy of multilingual students. The purpose of this case study is to fill this gap. It describes the legitimacy discourses in one German foreign language (FL) classroom in a US high school and how two trilingual students, "Jana" and "Karina", construct their legitimacy as speakers of Latvian (L1), English (L2), and German (L3) in this environment. Overall, this study thus aims to promote multilingualism in education.Qualitative methods were employed to gain insights into the legitimacy discourses and negotiations in one German classroom. More precisely, the data were gathered through participant observation of classes and breaks (about 145 hours), semi-structured interviews with two focal students, 30 peers, and the German teacher, and video recordings of 38 lessons. These data were transcribed and analyzed according to principles of thematic analysis. Findings illustrate the focal students' struggle to see themselves as legitimate L1 users because of the societal racialization of monolingualism, which associates their whiteness with speaking only English. In addition, while their peers performed German in the classroom for entertainment in order to balance different investments, this option was not available for Jana and Karina, who derived most of their legitimacy as German speakers from orienting towards the German teacher's discourses, that is by focusing on task fulfillment and correctness. Rare occasion of resistance against these discourses are described and analyzed. Further, Jana's and Karina's legitimacy as English speakers appeared to be unstable despite having been exited from the ESL (English as second language) program. Insights from this study expand Van Leeuwen's (2008) model of legitimation by conceptualizing legitimation as interactive and dynamic process. They further inform practitioners and teacher educators by describing how classroom discourses of correctness and an overemphasis on production and entertainment can inhibit multilingual legitimacy.
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    Student perceptions of formative assessment in the chemistry classroom.
    (2012-06) Haroldson, Rachelle Ann
    Research on formative assessment has focused on the ways teachers implement and use formative assessment to check student understanding in order to guide their instruction. This study shifted emphasis away from teachers to look at how students use and perceive formative assessment in the science classroom. Four key strategies of formative assessment were implemented: feedback, questioning, self-assessment, and formative use of summative tests. Over the course of 15 weeks students experienced all of these strategies in three major chemistry units. During the class and at the end of the trimester interviews were conducted with students to look at their views regarding formative assessment and their learning. An inductive, emergent design was used to analyze students' responses in interviews and “truth box” vignettes. Common and unique themes emerged for each strategy of formative assessment. Overall students found formative assessment to be beneficial to their learning because it provided clear expectations, prepared them for assessments, individualized the learning and informing them of their learning. Other benefits and uses that students reported included: being able to socialize, breaking large amounts of information into manageable pieces, having a second chance to learning, feeling good during the learning process, knowing what was wrong, developing a deeper understanding, focusing more, and having time for questions. Teachers and teacher educators need to be aware of how formative assessment strategies are perceived by students and recognize that the effectiveness of the strategies de-mystifies the learning experience, allows for a growth mindset in learning, makes learning accessible to all students, and shows students how to close the gap in their learning.
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    Teachers learning together to enact culturally relevant pedagogy for English learners: a call to reclaim PLCs
    (MinneTESOL - Minnesota Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, 2014) Benegas, Michelle