Sociology
Permanent URI for this communityhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2273
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Item The Effects of Critical Thinking Pedagogy During the Ninth Grade on High School Dropout(2005-03-01) Boccanfuso, Christopher Michael; Martin, Steven P; Sociology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This paper tests existing educational theory regarding the effectiveness of interactive pedagogy in order to determine the predictive ability of interactive pedagogy during ninth grade math and English classes towards graduation. This is done using a mixed methods approach which examines correlations between student teacher interaction and dropout through logistic regression models using data from the Philadelphia Educational Longitudinal Study (PELS), and qualitatively links interactive methods examined in the quantitative section (and some not examined) to pedagogy the sample of Philadelphia ninth-grade students find effective. Quantitative results provide strong evidence that low student-teacher interaction predicts a higher probability of dropout, as well as make suggestive connections between interactive methods and graduation. The qualitative results link both the non-interactive methods as part of the "pedagogy of poverty" and in-class discussion to pedagogy which students find effective in creating attachment to school, confirming the quantitative findings. Implications for educational theory are discussed.Item Teacher and Guidance Counselor Perceptions of Classroom Diversity: Are Institutional Barriers Discouraging Classroom Diversity in Advanced Courses?(2004-12-06) Eworo-Enfumo, Karolyn; Dance, Lory J; Milkie, Melissa A; Sociology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Since the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas decision in 1954, and the implementation of city-wide and nation-wide initiatives toward re-integration of schools that followed in subsequent decades, school populations across the country have diversified considerably. However, segregation continues to exist within schools. For example, minority students in accelerated (Advanced Placement or Honors) classes continue to be underrepresented. Theorists and educators alike often employ cultural models of minority underachievement in education to explain the near absence of students of color in many of our nation's accelerated public high school classes. Yet institutional barriers may be critical components of the exclusion of minority students from these classes. This study examined the case of a large public High School in Virginia where white students make up 25% of the total school population, but 58% of advanced courses, black students make up 43% of the total school population, but only 24% of advanced courses, and Hispanic students make up 25% of the school student body, but only 9% of advanced courses. The study found institutional barriers in the form of inconsistently implemented policy, and subjective decision making by school faculty in policy enforcement, as possible explanations for the persistence of the lack of diversity in advanced courses.