Matching Items (2)
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- All Subjects: Policymaking
- Creators: Powers, Jeanne
Description
Inner city high schools today are struggling to create and maintain connections between students' values and schools requirements. Schools attempt to develop ways to help students become a vital part of the school community and provide them with resources to be successful both socially and academically. This study examined how an urban high school in the southwest implemented an academic advisory program to build and maintain the student/school relationship along with hoping to provide the resources to help increase student achievement in core academic programs. Research has identified the importance relationships have on academic achievement and the strong bonds that need to be developed with students and those there to support them. Previous attempts to provide students with the academic support through traditional tutoring in after-school programs have not proven to be successful in providing support students need. These after school tutoring programs have multiple challenges including being voluntary and students having other commitments they are involved with. Incorporating academic advisory programs during the school day is an attempt to overcome these challenges that are experienced with other programs. Using math and English course letter grade distribution comparisons were made to determine if changes in academic achievement occurred after implementation of academic advisory, whether participation in the program for more than one year made a difference on student academic achievement, and finally if academic advisory had any different effect on students that are high, middle, or low achieving. This study could not identify and specific correlation between the academic advisory program and academic achievement. When looking at letter grade distribution data from before implementation and after implementation similar growths and declines are seen with no identifiable trends during the program implementation. Consideration needs to be taken for the limitations identified and the school may want to conduct further review by addressing the limitations.
ContributorsGard, Michael (Author) / McCoy, Kathleen (Thesis advisor) / Powers, Jeanne (Committee member) / Scribner, Kent (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
This dissertation identified ideas and prototypes framing the notion of “preschool” in two types of influential public discourses in Arizona during the 1987-2014: a) editorials, op-editorials, and opinion letters appearing in the Arizona Republic and Arizona Daily Star and b) political documents, including Senate and House Committee Meeting Notes and Comments, Gubernatorial Speeches, Executive Orders, Comments, Proclamations, Memos, and Press Releases. Seventy seven newspaper articles and 43 political documents that substantively addressed debates about preschool in Arizona were identified from an initial pool of 631 documents, of which, 568 were newspaper articles and 63 were political documents.
This dissertation argues little progress can be made in education policy by ignoring the unconscious and automatic levels of thinking, which are not easily dissuaded with rational and factual arguments. Haas and Fischman’s (2010) model for identifying prototypes provided an analytical method to capture the richness and diversity of the educational policy debate about preschool in Arizona. Prototypes captured the values, ideologies and attitudes behind the discourse of “preschool.” Prototypes provide a window into the unconscious thoughts of the authors of the editorials, op-editorials, opinion letters and political documents. This research identified five newspaper prototypes: “Last Resort,” “Community and Family,” “Evidence-Based for At-Risk Children,” “New Knowledge Community,” and “Learner of 21st Century.” It also identified four political political prototypes: ,three of them (“Community and Family,” “Evidence-Based for At-Risk Children,” “Learner of 21st Century”) were aligned with the newspaper prototypes. The fourth prototype was “Arizona Citizen.”
This research concluded that: (1) Multiple “truths” of the concept of “preschool in the newspaper and political documents existed between 1987 and 2014, (2) An inter-relational cross-over existed between the newspaper and political documents effecting the policy debate of preschool, and (3) In less than 30 years, the newspaper and political prototypes narrowed to one. Movement away from the rational policy model, and a broader use of prototypes and discourse analysis in education policymaking, is advocated.
This dissertation argues little progress can be made in education policy by ignoring the unconscious and automatic levels of thinking, which are not easily dissuaded with rational and factual arguments. Haas and Fischman’s (2010) model for identifying prototypes provided an analytical method to capture the richness and diversity of the educational policy debate about preschool in Arizona. Prototypes captured the values, ideologies and attitudes behind the discourse of “preschool.” Prototypes provide a window into the unconscious thoughts of the authors of the editorials, op-editorials, opinion letters and political documents. This research identified five newspaper prototypes: “Last Resort,” “Community and Family,” “Evidence-Based for At-Risk Children,” “New Knowledge Community,” and “Learner of 21st Century.” It also identified four political political prototypes: ,three of them (“Community and Family,” “Evidence-Based for At-Risk Children,” “Learner of 21st Century”) were aligned with the newspaper prototypes. The fourth prototype was “Arizona Citizen.”
This research concluded that: (1) Multiple “truths” of the concept of “preschool in the newspaper and political documents existed between 1987 and 2014, (2) An inter-relational cross-over existed between the newspaper and political documents effecting the policy debate of preschool, and (3) In less than 30 years, the newspaper and political prototypes narrowed to one. Movement away from the rational policy model, and a broader use of prototypes and discourse analysis in education policymaking, is advocated.
ContributorsShonteff, Alexia Christian (Author) / Fischman, Gustavo (Thesis advisor) / Schugurensky, Daniel, 1958- (Committee member) / Powers, Jeanne (Committee member) / Berliner, David (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015