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Description
This mixed methods action research study examined the effectiveness of an Education and Career Action Plan (ECAP) Advisory Program on students’ formation of postsecondary education and employment plans.
The study took place at a public high school in northern Arizona. Participants included thirty-three 11th-Grade Advisory students, four 11th-grade advisors, and me, the action researcher. One quantitative data instrument and three qualitative data instruments were used for data collection. Each of the four data collection instruments provided insight about one of the study’s research questions.
The quantitative data from this study addressed whether the intervention had an impact on the ECAP Advisory Program’s ability to enhance students’ postsecondary knowledge. Results from the quantitative data demonstrated significant positive change, indicating that, through their participation in an ECAP Advisory Program, students developed their postsecondary education and employment knowledge.
The qualitative data from this study addressed how the participants experienced the intervention by providing a deeper understanding of their experiences with their ECAP Advisor and the ECAP Advisory Program. Results from the qualitative data indicated that students’ perceptions of postsecondary education and employment planning changed substantially during their participation in the ECAP Advisory Program. As the study progressed, student participants reported they could more appropriately visualize the postsecondary education and employment environments that aligned with their interests. Furthermore, because of the time allocated for lessons and activities in the ECAP Advisory Program, students participants also reported feeling more prepared to pursue postsecondary education and employment opportunities as the ECAP Advisory Program progressed. And perhaps most importantly, student participants reported that their advisor positively impacted their postsecondary education and employment planning.
Overall, in association with their participation in the ECAP Advisory Program and relationship with their ECAP Advisor, students expanded their postsecondary education and employment knowledge levels, developed and modified their education and employment goals, and felt more prepared to pursue postsecondary education and employment opportunities.
The study took place at a public high school in northern Arizona. Participants included thirty-three 11th-Grade Advisory students, four 11th-grade advisors, and me, the action researcher. One quantitative data instrument and three qualitative data instruments were used for data collection. Each of the four data collection instruments provided insight about one of the study’s research questions.
The quantitative data from this study addressed whether the intervention had an impact on the ECAP Advisory Program’s ability to enhance students’ postsecondary knowledge. Results from the quantitative data demonstrated significant positive change, indicating that, through their participation in an ECAP Advisory Program, students developed their postsecondary education and employment knowledge.
The qualitative data from this study addressed how the participants experienced the intervention by providing a deeper understanding of their experiences with their ECAP Advisor and the ECAP Advisory Program. Results from the qualitative data indicated that students’ perceptions of postsecondary education and employment planning changed substantially during their participation in the ECAP Advisory Program. As the study progressed, student participants reported they could more appropriately visualize the postsecondary education and employment environments that aligned with their interests. Furthermore, because of the time allocated for lessons and activities in the ECAP Advisory Program, students participants also reported feeling more prepared to pursue postsecondary education and employment opportunities as the ECAP Advisory Program progressed. And perhaps most importantly, student participants reported that their advisor positively impacted their postsecondary education and employment planning.
Overall, in association with their participation in the ECAP Advisory Program and relationship with their ECAP Advisor, students expanded their postsecondary education and employment knowledge levels, developed and modified their education and employment goals, and felt more prepared to pursue postsecondary education and employment opportunities.
ContributorsDonner, William James (Author) / Hermanns, Carl (Thesis advisor) / Zucker, Stanley (Committee member) / Erwin-Mahlios, Erin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
Compared to their urban and suburban counterparts, rural students have lower college enrollment rates. Despite many school and community benefits including small class sizes, close student-teacher relationships, and strong connections among community members, many rural high school students’ post-secondary educational opportunities are constrained by factors such as: fewer college preparatory courses, narrow school curriculums, geographic isolation, high poverty rates, and limited access to college and career counseling. This action research study was conducted to examine how and to what extent underserved rural high school students constructed college-going capital through their participation in an English class designed to supplement their school’s limited college-access services. The study took place over a 19-week semester at Seligman High School, a small rural school comprised of approximately 55 students. To support their construction of college-going capital, students’ junior- and senior-level English class curriculums blended traditional college preparation activities with college-level reading and writing assignments focused on the U.S. educational system and its college-access inequities. The theoretical perspectives that framed this study included: social cognitive career theory, sociocultural theory, and critical literacy. Further, research on perceived post-secondary educational barriers and supports, dialogic discourse, and college access informed the study. By using a concurrent, transformative mixed methods research design, both qualitative and quantitative data were collected simultaneously. Then, while maintaining an advocacy stance, the data were analyzed separately and brought together to determine convergences and divergences. Drawing data from student surveys, student and researcher journal entries, student and college coach interviews, dialogic discussion transcripts, and an image elicitation process, this study showed that, through their participation in an English language arts college-going class, students developed college-going skills, knowledge, self-efficacy, and critical literacy. The study also revealed the following: students acquired varying levels of critical consciousness; students benefited from adult mentors coaching them about college-going; and students did not experience significant changes in their perceptions of barriers to and supports for college-going during their participation in the course.
ContributorsMorrison, Carissa (Author) / Buss, Ray R (Thesis advisor) / Zucker, Stanley (Committee member) / Boreen, Jean (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015