Date of Award
2004
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Fischler Graduate School of Education and Human Services
Advisor
James Ann Lynch
Committee Member
Michael Griffin
Committee Member
Barbara Packer
Keywords
academic achievement, at risk persons, attitudes toward school, classroom observations, constructivism, constructivist model, educational technology, Georgia, Henderson Middle School, instructional strategies, Jackson, mathematics, middle school students, quantitative research, school failure, STAR Math test, student achievement, summer school, surveys, technology-assisted instruction
Abstract
During the fall semester of 2002, 30% of the students at Henderson Middle School (HMS) in Jackson, Georgia were identified as being at risk of school failure. This identification was made based on the fact that these 270 students had failed 2 or more subjects. Also, 82% of these students had failed math. HMS leaders and educators, despite years of HMS being reported as a low-performing school on the Georgia Public Report Card, had failed to give adequate attention to the development of instructional strategies that promoted academic success for at-risk students.
In April 2003, 20 6th-grade students were selected to participate in this project. Their selection was based on their having failed math and at least 1 other academic subject; therefore, they were required to attend summer school. In an effort to improve these identified at-risk students’ math scores by 1.5 grade equivalency on the STAR Math test, to improve their academic averages in math, and to promote positive attitudes toward school, these students participated in a program utilizing a technology-assisted constructivist model for math instruction.
Both quantitative and qualitative data were gathered during this study employing the following instruments: pre- and post attitudinal surveys completed by the at-risk students, pre- and post interviews with the project teachers, classroom observations completed by the 3 school administrators, and the comparison of the participating students’ scores on the STAR Math test taken prior to interventions in June and after interventions in October.
At the conclusion of the study in October 2003, 79% of the project’s students scored a passing grade of 70 or above in math, and 79% increased 1.5 grade equivalency or higher on the STAR Math test. Also, 84% of the students believed school was preparing them for the future, and 79% stated that that had a more positive attitude toward school.