Download or read book Effect of a Smaller Learning Community on Students in a Large High School written by Herbert Carleton Cox and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 94 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study is an investigation into the impact that Smaller Learning Communities might have on students in a large high school. It is a single site study that occurred over the course of three years. Three separate groups of students were involved in this study: Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) students, randomly selected students who had never taken a Pre-Advanced Placement or Advanced Placement course, and randomly selected students who had taken Pre-Advanced Placement or Advanced Placement courses. The Smaller Learning Community that had been applied at this high school was the Advancement Via Individual Determination or AVID program. The three different groups of students were compared in six separate categories: achievement scores on the state mandated Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills on the Math test as well as on the English Language Arts test, attendance rates, the number of disciplinary incidents received, class rankings, and grade point averages (GPAs). These categories were then assessed with a statistical analysis of simple or one way analysis using the ANOVA tool for comparison. Statistical significance was found to be present in five of the six categories studied. The AVID program was begun in California in the mid-1980s, and coupled with the recent emphasis on Smaller Learning Communities by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, programs like AVID have come to the forefront of educational solutions. The high school involved in this study was a large 5-A high school located in central Texas. Their enrollment was just over 2,300 students at the time of the completion of this study. According to the research, any student body of larger than +/-1,000 students is in danger of "losing" kids due to feelings of disconnection with theirschools. Applying treatments such as the AVID program to these large high schools is an attempt on the part of educators to provide for all students within the walls of their schools, in an earnest attempt to "leave no child behind."

Download or read book The Impact of Smaller Learning Communities in High School on Student Performance written by Joseph Ruiz and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Students continue to fail in large, traditional American high schools (Wood, 1992; Raywid, 1995). The transition from small elementary/intermediate settings to large, impersonal secondary environments forces students to face many difficult challenges. A review of the literature has provided support that the implementation of Small Learning Communities has revealed that students who attend small high schools have better attendance and are more successful academically verses students that attend large high schools (Howley, Strange, & Bickel, 2000). The purpose of this research study was to determine if statistical significant differences exist in students' attendance and academic achievement as measured by TAKS subject scores for grades nine, ten, and eleventh in ELA, Math, Science, and Social Studies between traditional high schools and a high school implementing a Small Learning Communities model. The five campuses that were used for this study came from the forty campus comparison groups report provided by the Texas Education Agency that compares the yearly performance of campuses that share similar characteristics. This study's research design utilized a Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) test to measure for statistical significant differences. Out of the forty-one separate pieces of data reviewed for the three research questions for this study, only three areas of statistical significance were found. The researcher could not substantiate that the SLC model was the sole determining factor that contributed to the three significant results. Based on the quantity of significance found, there is not enough statistical data over the three year period that supports the hypothesis that the implementation of Small Learning Communities impacts student/student groups' overall academic performance on TAKS testing. Thus no correlation between SLC's and overall student academic performance on TAKS scores and attendance were found. Further research is needed to determine whether there is a correlation between the SLC model and the performance of student/student groups' academic performance and attendance in large high schools.

Download or read book The Impact of Small Learning Communities on the Achievement of Low Socioeconomic Status Students in Large High Schools written by Travis Leon Schrimsher and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Effect of Small Learning Communities on Academic Success written by Tina Ruggeiro and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 80 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book A Case Study on the Effect of Small Learning Community School Setting on Student Achievement in an Urban Comprehensive High School written by Matthew J. Jacobs and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page 141 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The purpose of this mixed method study is to investigate the effectiveness of the implementation of a small learning community and its impact on teaching pedagogy, student learning and as well as developing student self-esteem. Nested within the Constructivist Theory, Bandura's Social Learning Theory and Tinto's Theory for Institutional Departure informed the interpretations of the findings and the literature review provides context for the study with what is documented around small learning theories and making the large, complex high school more student-centered and focused. A mixed method approach was utilized in one of the largest urban high schools in Southeastern Connecticut that implemented such a program to increase student achievement. Through the research process, it was found that students, when given the tools to succeed, are more likely to accept accountability for improvement with the support and assistance of the teachers. Through the smaller learning community implementation, while quantitatively showing little significant improvement on student grade, qualitatively students had a better perception on school and how to complete assignments which, in turn, effected their perceptions of school. The findings of this study are presented to inform school administrators, guidance counselors and teachers on the many ways that effective student engagement can impact student perception and performance as well as scheduling reform in the comprehensive secondary school"--Author's abstract.

Download or read book Transforming the High School Experience written by Alan P. Blanchard and published by Trafford on Demand Pub. This book was released on 2006-01 with total page 154 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The essential guidebook for educators seeking a practical and effective method for transforming the large comprehensive high school into a successful system of small learning communities.

Download or read book The American High School written by Victoria J. Maslow and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Where is the Learning in Smaller Learning Communities written by Christopher Michael Fischer and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Investigation of the Impact of Implementing Smaller Learning Communities on Student Performance in an Urban High School in Texas written by Thomas J. Dilworth and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 824 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Abstract The trend of the last 40 years to build fewer, but larger high schools has resulted in dollar savings to taxpayers, but at the cost of higher rates of absenteeism, weaker academic environments, and poorer student engagement in learning. External pressures in the way of educational reforms such as the federally mandated No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) have also had a negative impact on some large schools in urban school districts. Why is the United States undergoing such a broad national reform in education? The United States has a long history of educational reform. With every new generation comes a call for educational reform. Once education became compulsory in Texas in 1915 (Judd, 1918), so did calls to change it. Promises of changes to NCLB in the last year suggest that now we have left the "No Child Left Behind" reform movement (Duncan, 2009) and are moving toward a more culturally-centered approach to education where we acknowledge that societal problems affect the ability of students to get a quality education, we are able to provide constructive alternatives beyond the non-productive mantra that "if we just had better teachers and administrators, Johnny could learn." Arne Duncan (2009a), United States Secretary of Education, when interviewed on the television show The Colbert Report, said, "When schools are really the centers of the neighborhood and the heart of the community, our students are going to do very, very well." Indeed. Creating schools-within-schools (SWS) can serve to create neighborhoods -- academic neighborhoods -- that can serve students as the center of their educational community. The current national reform movement under President Obama as expressed by his Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, (2009b) requires states seeking funds to implement four core-interconnected reforms: · to reverse the pervasive dumbing-down of academic standards and assessments by states. Race to the top winners need to work toward adopting common, internationally benchmarked K-12 standards that prepare students for success in college and careers, · to close the data gap, which now handcuffs districts from tracking growth in student learning and improving classroom instruction, states will need to monitor advances in student achievement and identify effective instructional practices, · to boost the quality of teachers and principals, especially in high-poverty schools and hard-to-staff subjects, states and districts should be able to identify effective teachers and principals and have strategies for rewarding and retaining more top-notch teachers and improving or replacing ones who are not up to the job, and finally, · to turn around the lowest-performing schools, states and districts must be ready to institute far-reaching reforms, from replacing staff and leadership to changing the school culture (p. 2). While this may seem to be more of the finger pointing found in NCLB, and does not seem to coincide with Duncan's previously cited comments, that "schools are really the centers of the neighborhood and the heart of the community," it does embrace the need for "far-reaching reforms." SWS\SLC can be one of those reforms. This study explores critically and carefully the extent to which a smaller learning community within a large urban high school affected student academic achievement, attendance, graduation, and dropout rates as well as student readiness for careers and post-secondary education. This study uses a qualitative case study methodology to describe an experiment in which the researcher, rather than creating the treatment, examines the effects of a naturally occurring treatment after that treatment has taken place (Lord, 1973). While a Smaller Learning Community (SLC) in and of itself is not a panacea for student improvement, SLCs may create conditions for improved student performance. Cotton (2004) reports, that among other benefits, students achieve at higher levels than do students in larger schools on both standardized achievement tests and other measures. The results of this study suggest that SLCs can provide an improved learning environment students have better relationships with teachers, and teachers with administration and parents. Because of limitations inherent in the data base, however this study is inconclusive in its findings regarding SLC effectiveness with regards to enhanced or diminished performance of students academically. While TAKS test scores were not markedly improved in comparison to the state average and a comparable group of high schools, college readiness indicators improved significantly. This suggests that other variables are at work in this research site and should be explored. Due to the aforementioned data issues, the reader should avoid drawing conclusions from the results that may reflect poorly on Texas High School's administrators, teachers, and students. A number of contextual and methodological limitations outlined in the study may have restricted the researcher's ability to investigate sufficiently the impact from SLC implementation on these performance indicators. The researcher provides recommendations for further evaluation of SLC implementation in light of these limitations.

Download or read book School Size Effects Revisited written by Hans Luyten and published by Springer. This book was released on 2014-06-26 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides a thorough review of the research literature on the effect of school size in primary and secondary education on three types of outcomes: student achievement, non-cognitive outcomes and costs per student. Based on 84 scientific publications and several prior reviews, the book discusses four main areas: the impact of school size on cognitive learning outcomes and non-cognitive outcomes; the "state of the art" of empirical research on economies of size; the direct and indirect impact of school size, conditioned by other school context variables on student performance and the specific position of the Netherlands in an international perspective. The book presents summaries of the results and main conclusions found and discusses these with respect to their relevance for educational policy in general and for the Netherlands in particular. The book concludes with suggestions for future research on school size.

Download or read book The Impact of Small Learning Communities on High School Students written by Joaquin L.. Martinez and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 124 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Effects of Small Learning Communities on Academic Achievement and Comportment of High School Students written by Kimberly Cloud and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 66 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since 1983 when Nation at Risk was released, two major reforms (No Child Left Behind, Race to the Top) were established to improve student academic achievement; yet, the number of high school dropouts continues to rise. The concept of Small Learning Communities (SLC) has been making its way into the traditional school setting since 2000 to help ninth graders make a successful transition to high school and graduate in four years. This study provided an opportunity to examine whether Small Learning Communities improve high school GPA, attendance, and reduce in-house suspensions. The control group consisted of 50 students who did not participate in an SLC and the experimental group consisted of 55 students who did participate in an SLC. The control group and experimental group attended two separate high schools within the same district in Central California. A complete list of all students who participated in an SLC was placed in alphabetical order. A complete list of all students who did not participate in an SLC was placed in alphabetical order. The participants were randomly selected by taking every 10th student for the experimental group and every 12th student for the control group who were alphabetically placed on two separate lists. The data were collected from the 2013-2014 school year and analyzed by using an independent t-test for all hypotheses. The results indicate that there was no significant difference in GPA and suspensions between the two groups but a significant difference in attendance between the two groups. The SLC group experienced a higher attendance rate.

Download or read book High Schools as Communities written by Thomas B. Gregory and published by . This book was released on 1987 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Urging new directions for American high school education, this book outlines problems with contemporary high schools and describes the experience of small high schools (those having approximately 200 students), designed in the past 15 years, that have developed excellent and diverse alternative programs within the constraints of existing district policies and funding formulas. Chapter 1 reviews educational criticism since the 1950s. Chapter 2 contrasts two high schools--one traditional, one nontraditional--in one community, focusing on the influence of school size and school culture. Chapter 3 outlines the benefits of small high schools for students and teachers. Chapter 4 discusses strategies for change at the technical, managerial, and cultural levels, noting that change at the cultural level is the most difficult to achieve and has the greatest effect. Chapter 6 describes "Mountain Open" High School, a model small high school program in Colorado. Topics include educational philosophy, individualized learning, student characteristics, teaching conditions, and curriculum. Discussion of curriculum covers the use of trips, community learning, community service, and the Walkabout--the culminating project in which students prove they can use their skills in real-world settings. Chapter 7 presents change strategies, emphasizing the need to address the problems of school size, structure, and culture. (JHZ)

Download or read book The Effects of a Smaller Learning Community Program on Student Academic Performance in Math and Student Engagement in High School written by Tamara Ilene Hall and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 350 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Effect of Small Learning Communities on the High School Experience for At risk Students written by Chelsea Springer and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 57 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The most vulnerable population at any high school are the at-risk students. This paper specifically focuses on the impact SLCs [small learning communities]have on these at-risk students and their learning experience during their first and second years of high school. This research is to articulate the benefit of SLCs for at-risk students by presenting relevant literature and then data from a high school in the San Francisco Bay Area in order to evaluate a program in action."--Page 6.

Download or read book Sustaining and Improving Learning Communities written by Jodi Levine Laufgraben and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2004-06-28 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sustaining and Improving Learning Communities is the long awaited follow-up to the groundbreaking book Creating Learning Communities. The authors continue their exploration of the concept of learning communities as an innovation in undergraduate curricular instruction that allow students to actively participate in their own education, and deepen and diversify their college experience. Jodi Levine Laufgraben and Nancy S. Shapiro address a wide range of topics such as campus culture for sustaining learning communities, learning communities and the curriculum, pedagogies, and faculty development.

Download or read book How High School Size Configuration Affects Student Achievement in the State of Florida written by Donald Matthew Morrison and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 96 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The study was conducted to determine if there were any statistically significant differences in student achievement as measured by the 10th-grade Reading and Mathematics Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) at the school level between the configurations of high schools, controlling for the percentage of minority population and SES. A total of 259 large public high schools within Florida were used in the study; 149 traditional schools and 110 large schools using small learning communities. Because prior researchers have indicated that the number of low SES students and the percentage of minority students can have an effect on student achievement, these covariates were controlled for in this study. There was a significant difference in the FCAT Mathematics scores of students based on school configuration. Those students who attended traditional high schools scored higher than those in the smaller learning communities. There was a similar finding in the FCAT Reading scores, but it was only marginally significant. The interaction between the percentage of the minority population and low SES population was also evaluated, but no significant interaction was found. A qualitative survey was also sent to administrators at schools who were involved in the study. In direct contradiction to the quantitative study results, the vast majority of respondents thought that the use of a small learning community would increase student achievement. With the advent of Common Core in Mathematics and Language Arts, this research lends itself to be expanded on a national level to determine if a larger sample size would yield the same or differing results.