Browsing by Subject "Achievement gaps"
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Item Closing the achievement gap : a case study examining the role of the superintendent executive team in improving African American and Hispanic student performance in a Texas school district(2015-05) López, Ricardo, Ed. D.; Sharpe, Edwin Reese; Olivárez, Rubén; Palmer, Deborah; Ovando, Martha N; Zolkoski, MichaelThe challenge of district-wide reform to accelerate the reduction of achievement gaps is a point of emphasis in the American public school system. Today’s superintendents are expected to focus on enhancing district-wide instruction at both national and state levels, in order to close achievement gaps, particularly for African American and Hispanic students. Superintendent success in creating and sustaining effective instructional frameworks has been the subject of few studies since high stakes testing was introduced in the 1990s. Similarly, research has also focused on district efforts to close achievement gaps (O’Doherty, 2007) and others have examined the role of the superintendent in reducing achievement gaps (Harris, 2014) illustrate the challenges of district-wide reform and introduction of systems, strategies, and tactics these teams use to further narrow achievement disparities with African American and Hispanic students. However, those studies primarily focused on the role and responsibilities of the superintendent’s instructional team and the superintendent’s successful efforts in reducing achievement gaps with diverse youth. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the specific role of the superintendent and this leader’s instructional leadership systems, strategies, and tactics, which might have contributed to the reducing of achievement gaps with African American and Hispanic students. Findings of the study suggest that the superintendent plays a critical role as instructional leader, along with the district leadership team. Findings indicate that the superintendent creates a program evaluation and a student centered belief system, in addition to strategically build relationships and plan and set goals. Finally, the study suggests that the superintendent employs specific tactics such as being visible and accessible, building trust, sharing accountability, and sustaining a culture of high expectations with the intent of ensuring academic success for all students.Item Engaging underprepared community college students : practices leading to increased outcomes(2011-05) Glaser, Erika; Roueche, John E.; Bumphus, Walter G.; Cantú, Norma; McClenney, Kay; Saenz, VictorIn order to close the achievement gaps between traditionally underserved groups and their peers, institutions of higher education must make developmental education a priority by implementing college-wide strategies inside and outside the classroom to help underprepared students succeed. Since community colleges offer educational opportunities to anyone seeking to further their education, and hence serve the majority of underprepared college students, it is difficult to overstate the importance of assessing and strengthening the quality of educational practices for developmental students at these institutions. Assessing the extent to which underprepared college students are actively engaged in meaningful educational experiences, and the relationship between engagement and student outcomes, will help college leaders and policymakers implement research proven engagement strategies to help a population of students that has been historically underserved attain academic success and reap the societal and economic benefits of higher education. Relationships between engagement and three critical outcomes for underprepared college students were investigated: developmental sequence completion, subsequent college-level course performance, and attainment. Similar to studies conducted on the four-year sector, the present study found similar effects of engagement on developmental students attending community colleges. While generally having a positive effect on outcomes, engagement has been proven to have compensatory effects for students which have been typically underserved including minority, nontraditional age, and first-generation students. The present study found that the impact of engagement varies according to student characteristics and level of developmental course need and subject area. Further, the study suggests that certain types of engagement can have greater influence on students which characteristically are least likely to earn a college degree.Item Equality of educational opportunity between low-income and well-off students : school and family inputs in two national cohorts of high school students(2015-08) Holas, Igor; Gershoff, Elizabeth T.; von Hippel, Paul T.; Huston, Aletha C; Crosnoe, Robert; Benner, Aprile DWhy do low-income students achieve lower test scores and attain less education than their better off peers? Can we close these gaps through redistribution of school funds? Fifty years ago the Coleman Report (Coleman et al., 1966) suggested that school resources had surprisingly little to do with these achievement gaps, and that school segregation, along with family background, were the primary drivers. In this dissertation I present two studies on two nationally representative cohorts of high school students (high school class of 1992 and 2004). In Study 1, I describe the differences between low- income and well-off students’ families (income, structure, home-language, and parental education), school resources (class size and teacher salary), student body characteristics, school and family interpersonal processes, and finally educational outcomes (test scores and attainment). In Study 2, I pursue a structural model to determine whether school resources or family characteristics relate more strongly to students’ outcomes, and to identify the mechanisms of influence. In both studies I explore changes in these relations for the two cohorts. Results from Study 1 indicate that low-income students differ from well off students on their family characteristics, characteristics of peers in school, and outcomes, but differences are slight on school funding or resources. Findings from Study 2 indicate that family background and school segregation relate the strongest to students’ outcomes with school funding and resources showing only weak relations.