Tesi sul tema "Higher education-rural school partnership"

A significant issue facing high schools is preparing students for their transition to college. High school students who are the first in their family to attend college have more difficulties preparing for this transition. Studies have explored the transition experiences of first-generation college-going students participating in partnership programs, showing that not all program components strengthen the transition experience for this population (Domina & Ruzek, 2012; Jordan, 2006; Watt et al., 2008). Since participation in these programs may contribute to a successful transition experience, it is crucial to expand our understanding of how participation helps these students overcome the numerous challenges in the transition process (Barnett et al., 2012; Choy, 2001).

This qualitative study involving interviews of 20 first-generation students examined how a district-level high school to community college readiness partnership program facilitated a successful transition from high school to community college for first-generation college-going students. The study drew on a conceptual framework involving cultural capital (Bourdieu & Passeron, 1977) beyond the “deficit” model (Ovink & Veazey, 2011), social capital (Coleman, 1988), and ecological systems theory (Bronfenbrenner, 1977).

Participants described both partnership program components and individualized attention through human resource relationships as being pivotal contributors to their positive transition experience. Although participants stated that the partnership program addressed many barriers to support their successful transition to community college, their transition experience remained challenging at times. Participants shared that their parents’ inexperience with the college process gave them a feeling of “being on their own” during the transition from high school to community college. As a whole, however, participants stated that they had a successful high school to community college transition because the partnership program gave them the background knowledge they needed. In addition, participants shared that with guidance from the partnership program, they felt more prepared than they would have had they not participated in the partnership program.

Based on participants’ transition experiences, this study offers a deeper understanding of the aspects of the partnership program that support a successful transition experience, with implications for existing and future programs, as well as policy.

The purpose of this study was to determine how stakeholders engaged in school-university partnerships, specifically in the work preparing future school administrators, created and captured value for their own organizations. These case studies examined three partnerships that involved three school systems who all partnered with the same college, which allowed for multi-site and within site analysis. The study used the voices of key stakeholders, partnership documents, and observations of key events within the partnerships as data sources to focus on what stakeholders took away from the partnerships for their own organizations.

The review of literature included research on the role of school-university partnerships in principal preparation reform, and the impact of such reform on leadership succession in schools. In addition, the literature on collaboration provided a clear context for identifying, analyzing and interpreting the actions of stakeholders in these partnerships. The partnerships were examined using negotiated order theory as a conceptual and theoretical framework. This framework proved valuable for determining the actions stakeholders in regard to the preconditions and processes of collaboration, with specific focus on value creation and capture as outcomes.

The findings showed that value creation and capture were specific and significant for all organizations, although there was variance across the partnerships as to what and how value was created and captured. Recommendations were offered for organizations interested in creating school-university partnerships. Recommendations could also be broadly applied to many types of organizations in the social sector that are interested in partnering as a means of creating and capturing value for their own organizations.

Research on college choice decisions of high school students has increased over the past forty years but has generally centered on demographic characteristics such as race, gender, or socio-economic status of students. There has been little research on the influences on the college choice decisions of high academically achieving students from rural areas. Nationally, 27% of rural high school students attend four-year colleges, compared to 37% of students who come from urban or suburban areas. In addition, 73% of students choose to attend college within their home state. However, preliminary data from one rural school system in North Carolina showed that over a two-year period, 96.45% of students who attend high school in that county school system remained in the state of North Carolina for college. This data implies that rural high school students remain in state for college at a higher rate than students from urban and suburban areas and do not seek admission to highly prestigious colleges around the United States to which they may be attractive candidates for admission.

Seven to nine students and the faculty member or members who works most closely with students during their college search were interviewed from one rural high school each in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia to determine their perceptions of the influences on their college choice processes. Focus group sessions were held with the student participants at each of the high schools to insure the accuracy and understanding of data and to expand on themes identified during the coding of data.

This study found that rural students face a variety of barriers in their college search processes. These barriers, both real and perceived, worked to lead rural students to choose in state colleges that were in proximity to their homes. Rural students and the high school faculty who work with them often work with incomplete or inaccurate information of the opportunities available to students outside of their own states of residence.

This study investigates the effect of participation in high school-community college partnership activities on teachers’ reflective practice. It examines the responses of teachers from one suburban high school, one urban high school and one urban charter school located in the Upper Midwest of the United States, gathered via semi-structured interviews. The partnership activities took place during the 2012-13 and 2013-14 school years.

The experiences of the teacher participants can be located in the phases of the reflective practice cycle, which consists of: having a catalyzing experience, seeking additional information, reframing and challenging assumptions, and testing through action. By engaging in collaborative activities, teachers accessed feedback on the needs of students and insights regarding different pedagogical approaches. This information fed the cycle of the reflective practice by causing teachers to have catalyzing experiences, motivating them to seek additional information, helping teachers to reframe and challenge their assumptions, and providing them with opportunities to test new ideas.

Besides supporting the cycle of reflective practice, the results of this study also connect to several tenets of teacher professional development in the literature. On one hand, this study’s findings align with much of the literature regarding collegial collaboration, teacher motivation, and the execution of professional development over time. On the other hand, these results raise questions about forms of feedback that influence teacher reflection and whether experience is always a necessary precursor to teacher learning.

This study examines relationships of African-American high school equivalency (HSE) students' sense of belonging to their peers, faculty, and community college environment. A sense of belonging is an important factor in understanding students’ internal and external motivations, perceptions, desires, and academic successes. For many African-American HSE students, community colleges are the pathways chosen to enhance their skills for a better education, potential income increase, and possible advancement in the workforce. A sense of belonging, socioeconomic desires, and cultural influences can promote adult learners’ return to the classroom in pursuit of a high school diploma. The purpose of this study was to examine and gain in-sight on a sense of belonging, educational attainment, and gender gaps of African-American high school equivalency female and male students’ experiences in quest of a higher education. This mixed-method research study recorded students’ shared experiences and insight in regards to a sense of belonging; as a result, the findings from this study have implications to change policy, curriculum, and program structure. The significance of this study was to make a contribution to the knowledge on African-American students’ sense of belonging with peers, faculty, and the community college environment.

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to examine home-school partnerships practices between the high school community and English Language Learner (ELL) parents. More specifically, this study examined the experiences and benefits, if any, of ELL parents who participated in 1 or more of the following four ELL parent engagement practices implemented at 1 high school in Southern California during the 2009-2012 school years: 1. ELAC Parent education meetings; 2. ELL Parent Handbook; 3. ELL Parent Orientation Day; 4. ELL Guidance Counselor.

The convergent parallel mixed methods design allowed for qualitative data of parent interviews and quantitative data of student performance scores to be used in parallel, analyzed separately, and then summarized separately, looking for contradictions or relationships between the 2 data sets. A total of 7 parents participated in the interview process. The parent interview responses were coded to highlight key words and statements, forming them into emerging themes in regard to the 4 implemented parent engagement practices. The quantitative data of student performance scores on the California English Language Development Test (CELDT), Math California Standards Test (CST), and English language arts CST were compared among the students whose parents participated in 1 or more of the engagement practices to the total population of identified ELL students at this one school site during the 2009-2012 school years. The quantitative data also compared ELL student performance scores from the year prior to the implementation of the parent engagement practices.

The findings of this study support the following conclusions. Existing ELL parent engagement practices are viewed by ELL parents as valuable; however, new means need to be explored to benefit a larger number of parents. ELL parents benefit from and place higher value on practices that provide opportunities for 2-way communication. ELL parents value sharing their personal experiences with other ELL parents in support of student learning. Specifically designed ELL parent engagement practices prompted parents to communicate with their children. Lastly, parent participation in 1 or more of the 4 implemented practices may have contributed to greater student success.

The purpose of this exploratory case study is to focus a lens on lead teachers of California Partnership Academies (CPAs), who are responsible for overseeing the operation and coordinating the components of a complex, contra-normative secondary reform model. This study examines the stresses experienced by four CPA lead teachers at two different sites in a district committed to placing the Linked Learning model in the center of its secondary school reform strategy. Previous research has identified stressors inherent in the lead teacher role, and in the career academy reform studied here. This research assess the impact of those stressors, strategies lead teachers employ and conditions that facilitate lead teachers' work by looking at the dynamics of their role, the context in which they work, and patterns of leadership distribution through three key relationships, each focused on a particular routine.

This study found that the primary role-related stressor these CPA lead teachers experienced was overload, which may have implications for the sustainability of the model, particularly as it is scaled up. The contra-normative nature of this reform was evident in the conflicts that arose for lead teachers in each of the three relationships examined. In their relationships with administrators focused on the master schedule, traditional patterns of student placement into AP and non-AP tracks conflicted with the effort to create pathways for all students to access both college and career. Teachers struggled to create strategies for addressing this issue. In lead teachers' work with their peers on interdisciplinary curriculum, the collaborative and interdisciplinary nature of the reform conflicted with the autonomous, individualistic and subject-oriented nature of teacher culture. Where collective co-performance defined school-wide patterns of leadership distribution, lead teachers were better able to influence collaborative teacher norms. Lead teachers' relationships to community and industry partners facilitated integration of work-based learning into the CPA instructional program, accessed new resources and challenged the traditional segregation of academic and vocational education. This work was greatly facilitated by district support but limited by the capacity of site administrators who were often unaware of these partnerships, and were not developing systemic ways to include them in the school's vision or program.

During this study, the challenges and best practices of youth participation in problem identification, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of programmes were investigated and the effect of project outcomes on the youth and its implications for community development observed. The use of the qualitative research methodology to examine the extent to which the youth are involved in the decision-making processes was employed. In addition, a literature review that pertained to youth development and participatory community development was conducted. In particular, the participatory concept, and its relation to the inclusion of the youth at the decision-making table, was examined. By providing evidence from the empirical data, an argument is 
presented that there are internal rigidities that are a hindrance to the youth in expressing their voice in the decision-making platform. However, the conclusion can be drawn that in order to understand the process of participatory development, it is crucial for the youth, community development practitioners and other stakeholders to understand the socio-economic conditions surrounding the youth as these will ensure positive programme outcomes as well as subsequent sustainable youth development.