Date of Award
7-1-1989
Document Type
Practicum
Degree Name
Education Specialist
Department
Center for the Advancement of Education
Advisor
Dr. Joan Horn
Keywords
academic achievement, academic aspiration, appendices, bilingual education, demos dropout scale, ethnic groups, haitians, high school students, minority groups, piers-harris self-concept inventory, potential dropouts, pretest, posttest, self-actualization, self-concept, self-esteem, secondary education, student achievement, teacher questionnaire
Abstract
A self-esteem building program was developed and implemented to reduce the failure and potential dropout rate of limited English proficient ninth grade Haitian students who were failing two or more academic classes. Self-esteem building exercises and counseling sessions were employed over a 10-week development period. Instruments for measuring self-esteem, The Piers-Harris Self-Concept Inventory (Piers, and Harris, 1977) and The Demos Dropout Scale (Demos, 1970) were used. The results indicated increased levels of achievement for the target group when comparing their pretest and posttest. It was concluded that building positive self-esteem improves academic achievement. (Appendices include the Piers-Harris Self-Concept Inventory, student questionnaire, teacher questionnaire, activities, and The Demos Dropout Scale.)