Browsing by Subject "Urban schools"
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Item Complicating choice : nuanced portrayals of parental choice decisions(2016-05) Carkhum, Rian Kelly; Holme, Jennifer Jellison; Reddick, Richard; Saenz, Victor; Gooden, Mark; Martinez, MelissaSchool choice has become a policy solution for families and children attending persistently low performing schools for the past 40 years. Since 1960, choice programs have been expanded with the principal goal of providing opportunities to families and children to attend schools that better align with the families’ educational goals. The prevalent school choice literature assumes parents to be rational actors and rigidly defines rational decision-making as parents choosing schools with higher academic outcomes, rather than remaining in their low performing neighborhood school. There are, however, parents who chose to keep their child(ren) in their low performing neighborhood school despite the availability of other options. This study sought to investigate the factors influencing parents to keep their children enrolled in low performing schools despite the availability of other school choice options. Structuration theory was used as the primary conceptual framework as it allows for consideration of individual agency and social and cultural experiences in shaping decisions. Six in-depth interviews were conducted with parents and staff members at a high school in Houston to investigate this phenomenon. Findings from the study reveal that parents were not passive bystanders in their child’s education; all four parents had made unsuccessful attempts at school choice prior to enrolling their children in the target high school (HS1) and parents kept their children enrolled at HS1 because they were satisfied with other programs at the school. There were, however, academic trade-offs that parents had to make as a result of the constrained set choices available in their community. Faced with relatively limited options as a result of their context, these parents became invested in the option they chose and then left it up to their children to succeed. School choice, therefore, requires parents to take responsibility for any failure. Since they chose a low performing school, parents and children became responsible for failed choice and the larger inequities were not interrogated by anyone. School choice, within of itself, offers little value to communities if the school choice options themselves are not meaningful.Item Elementary school administrators' perceptions of parental involvement : from espoused theory to theory-in-use within school improvement efforts(2011-05) Garcia, Maritza Fuentes; Young, Michelle D.; Olivarez, Ruben; valenzuela, Angela; Barrera, John; Guthrie, HalThis qualitative study explored the perceptions and practices of elementary school administrators regarding parental involvement in three urban elementary schools. Particular attention was given to understanding the connection between the beliefs that school leaders shared about parental involvement and its role in school improvement (i.e., their espoused theories) and to how they supported parental involvement in their school community (i.e., their theories in use). Using Argyris and Schön’s (1978) theories of action framework, face-to face interview data and school and district documents were collected and analyzed to explore how well administrators’ practices relative to parental involvement (theory-in-use) aligned with their beliefs and perceptions (espoused theory). As such, data analysis focused on understanding both what administrators believe and what they do to use parental involvement to support school improvement efforts.Item Examining the influence of principal leadership in urban, high-performing, high-poverty elementary schools(2011-05) Miranda, Angie; Olivárez, Rubén; Ovando, Martha N.; Pazey, Barbara; Gentry, Hilda; Claybon, KarenThis study considered the important role that principal leadership plays in the implementation of changes that are designed to close achievement gaps among student groups. A qualitative research approach and protocol was followed, and a multiple case study methodological approach was utilized. The data gathered consisted of interviews of three principals, three instructional coordinators, and three teacher leaders. A review of documents, artifacts, observations, field notes, and member check data were used to triangulate data. The data analysis applied the McRel Balanced Leadership conceptual framework and used three research questions to organize and guide the discussion and findings. These research questions are: (1) How did the principal implement research-based leadership responsibilities that led to the pursuit of high academic achievement for all students? (2) How did the principals implement a school-wide improvement framework that has resulted in sustained academic achievement growth for all students? (3) How did the principal implement the identified strategies that ensured high academic achievement among all student populations? Over the course of five months, data were gathered through individual interviews, observations, analysis of documents, and other artifacts. Several themes emerged as a result of data analysis. These included: (a) communicated ideals and beliefs, (b) challenged status quo, (c) culture of collaboration, (d) focus on learning, (e) data driven, (f) research based learning, (g) and curriculum alignment. The findings in the study suggest that the principals were instrumental in creating the conditions that helped the teachers build upon their collective capacity to support student success.Item The lived reality of English language learners in an urban high school : perspectives of students and staff(2007-05) Bashara, Mary Wiley, 1950-; Reyes, Pedro, 1954-English Language Learners represent a growing and academically underserved minority in US public schools. Historically, ELLs have experienced less than desired achievement goals such as timely high school graduation and well-developed English facility. Certain factors--influenced by school organizations—contribute to the overall success of these students. Among these are: quality of instructional programs, school connectedness, student self-image and self-efficacy, and ongoing progress toward academic and related goals. Educational decisions do not always reflect all knowledge regarding ELL student learning; and expectations for ELL academic achievement continue to rise. The purpose of this study is to explore the lived reality of English Language Learners in one urban high school by comparing the perceptions of ELL students with the perceptions of staff members who work with them. By comparing the students’ perceptions with the perceptions of staff, it may be possible to identify a “shared reality”--a summary of what daily life and the overall school experience are like for many ELLs in this individual school. Perceptions exclusive to students or to staff may indicate important differences between what the two groups believe, experience, and communicate regarding school. From this study, schools who serve ELLs may gain a deeper understanding of how to enhance the lived experience and the overall success of ELL students—who individually and collectively struggle to thrive and succeed in school, despite considerable obstacles and unfavorable odds.Item The lived reality of English language learners in an urban high school: perspectives of students and staff(2007) Bashara, Mary Wiley; Reyes, Pedro, 1954-English Language Learners represent a growing and academically underserved minority in US public schools. Historically, ELLs have experienced less than desired achievement goals such as timely high school graduation and well-developed English facility. Certain factors--influenced by school organizations—contribute to the overall success of these students. Among these are: quality of instructional programs, school connectedness, student self-image and self-efficacy, and ongoing progress toward academic and related goals. Educational decisions do not always reflect all knowledge regarding ELL student learning; and expectations for ELL academic achievement continue to rise. The purpose of this study is to explore the lived reality of English Language Learners in one urban high school by comparing the perceptions of ELL students with the perceptions of staff members who work with them. By comparing the students’ perceptions with the perceptions of staff, it may be possible to identify a “shared reality”--a summary of what daily life and the overall school experience are like for many ELLs in this individual school. Perceptions exclusive to students or to staff may indicate important differences between what the two groups believe, experience, and communicate regarding school. From this study, schools who serve ELLs may gain a deeper understanding of how to enhance the lived experience and the overall success of ELL students—who individually and collectively struggle to thrive and succeed in school, despite considerable obstacles and unfavorable odds.Item Organizational development strategies in an urban school system: a design to measure changes in climate(Texas Tech University, 1981-12) McDonald, Linda LNot availableItem Strings attached : performance and privatization in an urban public school(2011-05) Brown, Amy Elizabeth, 1979-; Foley, Douglas E.; Gordon, Edmund T.; Costa Vargas, Joao H.; Brown, Keffrelyn; Bryce, NadineThis dissertation breaks new ground in qualitative educational research by looking closely at the community and curricula of a well-resourced seven-year-old public high school in a New York City borough, which I call the Legal Studies Academy (LSA). This school created its own nonprofit organization in order to accrue private donations. Its most important “funder and founder” is an elite Manhattan law firm. The relationship between the firm and the school is emblematic of the direction that many urban public schools in the United States are moving: toward increased dependence on private funds to secure the resources deemed necessary for quality twenty-first century education (Anyon 1997; Lipman 2004; 2005). My project explores how the privatization of public institutions affects definitions of social justice and good education in the United States. I document the ways that students and teachers in the LSA community both reproduce and contest school norms. My methods in this two-year study included: teacher-research, participant observation of teachers and students, extensive interviews with teachers, students and parents, conduct of a summer book club / cultural circle, and analysis of data from a schoolwide student questionnaire. I also examine materials the school uses to solicit donations from its funders in relation to cultural constructions of urban students and their teachers in literature and the media. I explore what students’ and teachers’ daily practices of resistance or conformity to these cultural constructions might reveal about the place of democracy, humanization, character education, and critical pedagogy in U.S. public schools that depend on private or corporate philanthropists for resources. This ethnography nuances the often polarized debate around issues of achievement in education in the context of the demands of a global economy by documenting how the daily practices of students, families and teachers reflect on a social structure of education and achievement that, in the United States, ever more unequivocally aligns one’s identity and success with marketability. On a larger scale, it inspires critical questions about the place of democracy and citizenship as juxtaposed with inequities furthered by global racial capitalism.Item Sustaining hope : a teacher's stories of teaching reading for 46 years in one urban school(2012-05) Hampton, Angela Joy; Worthy, Jo; Bomer, Randy; Maloch, Beth; Schallert, Diane; Hoffman, JimThis dissertation examines the life stories of Marsha Ethridge (all names are pseudonyms), a teacher who has taught for 46 years in one urban elementary school. The stories Marsha tells about her life are used as lenses to consider the following: (1) What influences most shaped Marsha’s practices and stories to live by as a teacher? (2) What has it been like for Marsha teaching reading in an urban elementary school for 46 years? and (3) What is the nature of caring in Marsha’s stories? The study draws on life story and portraiture methods. Data were collected over a period of three years and includes life story interviews, one focus group interview, observations, and artifacts. Through the process of constant comparative method, three themes emerged: literacy and accountability, teacher development and identity, and caring and connecting. The most salient theme was caring and connecting throughout Marsha’s stories, and it served as a unifying thread to pull her stories together. This study found that in Marsha’s first years of teaching there were few forms of accountability. She felt that this was the primary reason many of her sixth graders had made it through school without learning to read. In the following years she used a variety of measures for accountability, including high-stakes accountability, which caused her to experience increasing professional dissonance. The form of accountability she believed improved her teaching practices the most was accountability situated in the context of caring relationships and it led to hope for future success. Marsha experienced this face-to-face accountability in the teacher-initiated group she had been meeting with for 27 years. Research implications from this study include the need to further explore discourse in teacher-initiated groups over time and in different contexts, as well as consider how the relational dynamics and accountability within collaborative teacher groups contribute to teacher growth. Additionally, the analysis of Marsha’s life stories indicate a need for teachers, parents, researchers, and policy makers to lay aside discourse of blaming and shaming to create opportunities for extended conversations about alternatives to high-stakes accountability.