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Description
School safety is a wicked problem due to shifting needs and available information, the diverse actors affected and involved, fluctuating budgetary demands and ramifications, and relations to broader social and political issues. School safety challenges encompass a range of factors, including threats of violence and fears related to school shootings,

School safety is a wicked problem due to shifting needs and available information, the diverse actors affected and involved, fluctuating budgetary demands and ramifications, and relations to broader social and political issues. School safety challenges encompass a range of factors, including threats of violence and fears related to school shootings, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on student mental health and well-being, and research and rhetoric on punitive discipline practices and the school-to-prison nexus, especially regarding the use of School Resource Officers (SROs). Following the murder of George Floyd by police in the Summer of 2020 and the subsequent civil unrest, several school districts across the United States began to reconsider the use of police on campuses, with some choosing not to renew contracts with police departments for SROs. In most cases, school district leaders (e.g., governing boards or superintendency) unilaterally made this decision without authentic school community input or participation in inclusive processes and shared decision-making opportunities. Phoenix Union High School District (PXU), a diverse, urban high school-only district that serves 25,000 students, was one of those districts that did not renew its contract with the local police department for SROs. Instead, PXU undertook efforts to reimagine school safety through two parallel participatory processes: School Participatory Budgeting (PB) and a Safety Committee. Drawing from the literature on school safety, participatory governance, and student voice, I explore school safety's historical and current landscape, specifically the use of SROs and punitive discipline measures, alongside methods of participatory governance within K-12 educational institutions and the benefits, challenges, and implications of student voice in shared decision-making processes. I then chronicle the two processes implemented in PXU using the Empowered Deliberative Democracy (EDD) conceptual framework and a case study methodology. I analyze and discuss the tensions and the transformative potential of participatory processes that include student and school community voices in finding solutions to difficult challenges. In conclusion, I summarize the case study and raise recommendations for using participatory processes to address wicked problems in K-12 educational institutions.
ContributorsBartlett, Tara Lynn (Author) / Schugurensky, Daniel, 1958- (Thesis advisor) / Fischman, Gustavo (Committee member) / Pivovarova, Margarita (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
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Description
This study examined the influence of perceived transfer of learning on student engagement, completion rates, and attendance hours of high school equivalency (HSE) students within a Wicked Problems Framework. Local research had shown that over 30% of HSE students stopped attending HSE classes prior to completing 40 instructional hours, and

This study examined the influence of perceived transfer of learning on student engagement, completion rates, and attendance hours of high school equivalency (HSE) students within a Wicked Problems Framework. Local research had shown that over 30% of HSE students stopped attending HSE classes prior to completing 40 instructional hours, and many students cited a lack of relevant, “real-world” application, and the need to pursue employment as the two most common reasons that they stopped attending.

To address this issue, an innovation was developed and deployed for one semester at the Rio Salado College Avondale location. The innovation identified the individual career interests of each student in a treatment group, then worked with industry experts in those career fields to develop PowerPoint slides explaining how each HSE math lesson would directly transfer to the student’s career of interest. In addition, hiring managers from each career field that the students expressed interest in visited the class to discuss the need for HSE math skills and to answer any questions about their career and the transferability of what the students were learning.

The treatment groups’ attendance hours, completion rates, and self-reported engagement were examined and compared all other HSE math classes at Rio Salado College that took place during the same semester, as well as compared to the instructor of the innovation’s previous math classes. The results showed that students who participated in the innovation had, on average, over 38 more attendance hours than students who did not receive the innovation during the same semester and over 44 more attendance hours than the instructor’s previous classes at the same location. In addition, students who participated in the innovation reported higher engagement and enjoyment in the class than in similar HSE classes that they had previously taken.
ContributorsPereira, Greg (Author) / Henriksen, Danah (Thesis advisor) / Gee, Betty (Committee member) / Joyce-Kennedy, Rosary (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018