Date of Award
2002
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
EdD Program for Educational Leaders
Keywords
Catholic, classroom lessons, college preparatory schools, community connection, cross-age peer mentoring, emotional learning, faculty surveys, God, Grade 7, Grade 8, Grade 9, Grade 10, Grade 11, high school students, intervention programs, junior-senior high schools, parent questionnaires, peer mentoring, prayer, religion classes, school community, social and emotional learning, spiritual education, student belonging, student surveys, teacher questionnaires, trust, voluntary prayer
Abstract
This report describes an intervention in a Catholic, college preparatory junior-senior high school of 700 students designed to help students connect with other members of the school community and with God.
A survey of the 553 students in Grades 7 through 11 was administered in May 2000 to determine whether students were experiencing a lack of connection to the school community and to God that would warrant intervention. Participating in the student survey were the following groups: (a) 110 Grade 7 students, (b) 121 Grade 8 students, (c) 119 Grade 9 students, (d) 126 Grade 10 students, and (e) 77 Grade 11 students. The survey was also given to 28 members of the faculty. Results of the survey indicated that, beginning in Grade 8 and continuing throughout Grades 9, 10 and 11, approximately half of the students trusted members of the school community, felt that they belonged, and prayed voluntarily at school only some of the time, not very often, or never. Since evidence of this problem first appeared in Grade 8, these students were targeted for a strategic intervention to increase their feelings of connection to the school community and to God.
Intervention strategies included the following: (a) a nine-month series of classroom lessons incorporating social and emotional learning and spiritual education that were presented to eighth grade program participants in their religion classes once a month, and (b) a program of cross-age peer mentoring in which Grade 11 students served as mentors for students in Grade 8.
This project was conducted in the 2000-2001 school year. The project increased eighth grade students' feelings of connection to the school community and God as demonstrated by (a) pre-and post-intervention survey results for participants in Grade 8, (b) post-intervention questionnaires completed by eighth grade participants, and (c) post-intervention questionnaires completed by peer mentoring coordinators, parents of eighth grade participants, and eighth grade teachers.