Date of Award
2003
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Programs for Higher Education
Advisor
Fern Aefsky
Committee Member
Barbara Packer
Keywords
academic achievement, academic failure, academic success, activities, at-risk factors, at-risk students, character education, children, classroom guidance, economic disadvantages, elementary school children, illiteracy, intervention strategies, kindergarten, lesson plans, parent education, parent participation, parents, poverty, program implementation, school-wide Title I program, social concerns, social development, social disadvantages, social skills, stakeholder needs, stakeholders, student achievement, student needs, students, teacher training, teachers
Abstract
This study focused on the academic and social development of elementary school children who were at-risk for academic failure due to economic and social disadvantages. The school targeted for this study had a school-wide Title I program, which served approximately 665 students in kindergarten through second grade. The targeted school served a population that was characterized by high levels of poverty and illiteracy.
The preponderance of risk-factors reflected in the targeted population, combined with the academic and social concerns reflected in the student population, suggested attention needed to be focused on identifying intervention strategies which would meet the needs of all stakeholders.
The writer developed lesson plans, activities and strategies, which addressed the needs of teachers, students and parents and addressed both academic achievement and social development needs. Program implementation included classroom guidance components, teacher training components and parent education and participation components.
The student component of social skills development was addressed through classroom guidance lessons which were linked to the existing character education curriculum. The teacher component was composed of teacher training activities addressing the individual needs of students who were at-risk socially and academically. The parent component was designed using a parent education model, which empowered parents to enhance their children's academic achievement and social skills development.
An analysis of the data revealed a pattern of increased academic achievement and social skills development, which translated into a decrease in at-risk factors. Although the correlations were not found to be significant, the writer feels that continued implementation of program components, which incorporate all stakeholders and focus on individual student needs could lead to significant correlational relationships.