Counseling, Higher Education & Special Education Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2757
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Item EDUCATIONAL PLANS BEYOND HIGH SCHOOL: NARRATIVES OF BLACK MALES' POSTSECONDARY DECISION-MAKING PROCESSES(2008) Lee, Zakiya Shani Smith; McEwen, Marylu K; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The enrollment gap between Black male and female undergraduates began in 1960 and has grown significantly over the years. Although a gender gap exists for all racial/ethnic groups, more attention should be paid to one subgroup of men who are in the worst situation - African American men. The purpose of this study was to understand the influences on and processes by which Black males make decisions about pursuing a college education and searching for a college after high school graduation. Utilizing narrative inquiry methodology, data were collected through interviews, school records, and demographic questionnaires. Participants for this study were 10 12th grade and 1 11th grade Black males attending school in a Mid-Atlantic state. Data were analyzed using initial and focused coding, and the results were considered in relation to three theoretical frameworks, Hossler and Gallagher's (1987) Three Phase Model of College Choice, K. Freeman's (2005) model of African Americans in predisposition, and critical race theory (Delgado & Stefancic, 2001). Participants planned to attend college for financial advancement, career development, and personal growth. Findings suggest that parental encouragement is more influential than parental expectations, as participants whose parents were involved throughout their child's schooling had the clearest college plans. Although most participants did not identify finances as influential to their college decision making, all participants made cost-conscious decisions such as applying for scholarships and financial aid and staying close to home. The effect of low grades was strong and resulted in challenging search processes but did not affect predisposition. Social capital was influential in helping participants learn about college from those knowledgeable about college. Participants also indicated that the presence of career plans, long-term goals, patience, increased motivation and information, and the influence of family may increase the number of Black males enrolled in college. Implications address participants' late start on the college choice process and suggest a default college preparatory curriculum, more informed school personnel, and the standardization of college and career information sessions that will produce knowledgeable Black males who have postsecondary educational options that are not hindered by poor academic performance or lack of information.Item Addressing the Hispanic Dropout Crisis: Predicting the Educational Persistence of Mexican-Descent Students Using Demographic and Process Variables(2008-12-18) DiPaula, John Joseph; Lucas, Margaretha S; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)ABSTRACT While there has been a concerted effort to close the achievement gap and decrease school dropout rates for more than 30 years, Hispanic students are still dropping out of school at two and a half times the rate of black students, four times the rate of white students and almost eight times the rate of Asian students (Kaufman, Alt & Chapman, 2002). The Hispanic dropout crisis has been recognized as a national problem and was addressed by the federal government through the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, through its focus on closing the racial gap in graduation rates. Regrettably, data continues to suggest that this situation is not improving (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000). A more thorough understanding of the relationship between race/ethnicity and educational persistence is necessary to help create policies and practices to increase Hispanic graduation rates and close the graduation gap. Investigating deeper into this issue of Hispanics drop out, census data disaggregated by national origin, reveal that there are strong differences between nationalities and that Mexicans have the lowest rate of educational attainment among all Hispanic groups (U.S. Census Bureau, 2004). Due to the disparity in performance within the larger Hispanic population, this study will focus on the sub-group with the lowest educational attainment and highest drop out rate, Mexican youth. The purpose of this study is to investigate those input and process variables that may be influenced by school personnel in order to help increase Mexican-descent students' ability to persist in school toward graduation. The current study, in essence, will contribute to a better understanding of students' social support from adults at school (social capital) and the effect this has on students' educational expectations, attendance and persistence. The current study utilizes the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002/2004 (ELS:2002/2004) dataset sponsored by NCES.Item Measures of Writing Skills as Predictors of High Stakes Assessments for Secondary Students(2008-01-24) Jones, Karen Anne; Rosenfield, Sylvia; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This study examined the potential utility of written expression scoring measures, developed in the curriculum-based measurement research, to monitor student progress and predict performance on a high stakes state mandated assessment for high school students. In response to a teacher generated prompt, 10th-grade students completed 3 brief constructed response (BCR) and 2 extended constructed response (ECR) writing samples throughout the academic year. Writing samples were scored for total words written (TWW), words spelled correctly (WSC), correct writing sequences (CWS), correct minus incorrect writing sequences (CMIWS), percentage of words spelled correctly (%WSC), percentage of correct writing sequences (%CWS), production dependent index, and production independent index. The average time to score a BCR for TWW, WSC, CWS, and CMIWS was over 7 minutes, and the average time to score an ECR was over 16 minutes. Alternate form reliability correlation coefficients between scoring measures were only in the weak to moderate range. Results revealed that girls wrote more words, spelled more words correctly, produced more correct writing sequences, and produced more correct minus incorrect writing sequences. Across writing samples, statistically significant but small increases were found on scoring measures. Results of multiple regression and logistic regression analyses failed to provide a model that accurately predicted student outcomes.