Dr. William Allan Kritsonis, PhD Dissertation Chair, Michelle Cloud's Defense Proposal

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Factors Impacting Student Success in Grades 6-8

During School of Choice Transition at Two Middle

Schools



PRAIRIE VIEW A&M UNIVERSITY

THE COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

FACTORS IMPACTING STUDENT SUCCESS IN GRADES 6-8 DURING

SCHOOL OF CHOICE TRANSITION AT TWO MIDDLE SCHOOLS

MICHELLE ANNETTE CLOUD

Chair of Advisory Committee: Dr. William Allan Kritsonis

Dr. David Herrington

Dr. Wanda Johnson

Dr. Lucian Yates, III

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

October 2008



Agenda

Part I, The Problem

1. Introduction

2. Statement of the problem

3. Purpose of the study

4. Significance of the study

5. Research questions

Part II, Literature Review

1. Conceptual framework

2. Existing studies

Part III, Methodology

1. Research design

2. Subjects of the study

3. Data analysis method



The Problem



Introduction

Educating the 21st Century student often entails

numerous and somewhat overwhelming challenges. Anever-increasing number of students enter school with

deficits stemming from socio-economic to socio-

linguistic barriers. At far too many campuses,

resources, parental support, and community support arelimited.



Background of the Problem One component of the No Child Left Behind Act

(NCLBA) is adequate yearly progress, or AYP. Any

Title I school designated in need of improvement (basedon AYP rating) must offer all students attending that

school the opportunity to attend a school in the district

that has successfully met its AYP goals (Texas

Education Agency, 2008).



Statement of the Problem

In response to the NCLBA (No Child Left Behind) Act

of 2001, administrators, counselors, teachers, studentsand parents are now strongly considering the benefits

and disadvantages of transferring students to a selected

school of choice.



Purpose of the Study

The purpose of the study is three-fold:

(1) The study will assess the academic impact on transfer

students.

(2) The study will assess the social impact on transfer

students.

(3) The study will explore the perception of counselors onthe academic and social impact of transfer students.



Significance of the Study

The significance of the study is to ensure thatchildren across the country receive the

maximum benefit from the legislation prescribed

in the NCLBA.



Research Questions to be Investigated

Quantitative research questions to be answered are as

follows:

1. What are the differences in the 2005/2006 Mathematicsand Reading Texas Assessment of Knowledge and

Skills scores and 2006/2007 Mathematics and Reading

Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills scores

between transfer and non-transfer students in

grades 6-8?





follows:

2. What are the differences in the Mathematics andLanguage Arts grade point average (G.P.A.) between

transfer and non-transfer students in grades 6-8?





follows:

3. What are the differences in the attendance rate betweentransfer and non-transfer students in grades 6-8?



Null Hypotheses

The following null hypotheses were developed from the preceding

quantitative research questions:

H01: There is no statistically significant difference between the 2005/2006

Mathematics and Reading Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills scoresand the 2006/2007 Mathematics and Reading Texas Assessment of Knowledge

and Skills scores of transfer students and non-transfer students in grades 6-8.

H02: There is no statistically significant difference in Mathematics and Language

Arts grade point average (G.P.A.) of transfer and non-transfer students in

grades 6-8.H03: There is no statistically significant difference in the attendance rate of transfer

and non-transfer students in grades 6-8.



Qualitative Research Questions

Qualitative research questions to be answered are

as follows:

4. What behaviors/habits do counselors observe

from transfer students in grades 6-8?

5. Which factors in the school of choice schools do

counselors perceive are the most helpful in

assisting transfer students in grades 6-8?



Literature Review



Diagrammatic format of the

Conceptual Framework

Factors Impacting Student Success During “School of

Choice” Transition

Students often learn a great deal

simply by observing other people

Describing the consequences of

behavior is can effectively increasethe appropriate behaviors and

decrease inappropriate ones

Modeling provides an alternative

to shaping for teaching new

behaviors

Teachers should help students set

realistic expectations for their

academic accom lishments

Students must believe that they

are capable of accomplishing

school tasks

Teachers and parents must modelappropriate behaviors and take

care that they do not model

inappropriate behaviors

Self-regulation techniques

provide an effective method for

improving student behavior

Teachers should expose students

to a variety of other models

A graph format of Omrod’s (1999) findings developed from Albert Bandura’s

Social Learning Theory

Describing the consequences of

behavior can effectively increase

appropriate behaviors and

decrease inappropriate ones



Existing Studies

•A comprehensive set of information regarding school choice has

been provided in The National Household Education Surveys

Program (NHES) (Bielick & Chapman, 2003).

•The NHES data indicated that the proportionate number of students

enrolled in specifically assigned public schools decreased between

1993 and 2003 due to more students enrolling in chosen public

schools.

•The study further indicated that the proportionate number of students enrolled in private schools remained stable between 1993

and 2003 (Bielick & Chapman).



Existing Studies

•The United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) conducted a study

in December of 2004 to provide Congress with a report reviewing the first 2

years of implementation of the NCLBA school choice.

•The United States GAO considered the following factors:

(1) the number of Title I schools and students that have been affected

nationally,

(2) the experiences of selected school districts in implementing choice,

(3) the guidance and technical assistance that education provided (p.

1).



Existing Studies

•The GAO found “(a)bout 1 in 10 of the nation’s 50,000 Title I

schools were identified for school choice in each of the first 2 years

since enactment of the No Child Left Behind Act . . .” (UnitedStates Government Accountability Office, 2004, p.1).

•“The proportion of schools identified for choice varied by state”

and “(a)bout 1 percent of eligible children, or 31,000 students,

transferred in school year 2003-2004” (GAO, p. 1).



Existing Studies

•Eight hundred families were surveyed by Researchers at the Center

on Reinventing Public Education.

•The families had earnings less than $50,000 a year and were locatedin three cities, Denver, Milwaukee, and Washington, with recent or

established school choice programs (Viadero, 2007).

•Parents in lower socioeconomic categories complete the process for

selected campuses in an altogether different manner than parents inhigher income brackets even though both groups of parents report

equal satisfaction with the process (Viadero, 2007).



Existing Studies

•45% Quality of the academic program

•19% Curriculum

•11% Location of the school

• The study concluded that most families expressed satisfaction with

their choice and satisfaction increased when students were an

integral part of making the decision (Viadero, 2007).



Description of research methods

Research Methods:

Mixed Methods Study

Quantitative Data

Descriptive Statistics

Causal-Comparative

Qualitative DataInterviews




(continued)

Quantitative Data

For the quantitative portion of the study, the researcher

will use the following data:

•2005/2006 and 2006/2007 Mathematics and Reading

Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS)

scores•Mathematics and Language Arts grade point averages

•Attendance rates




(continued)

Research Design

•Independent variable

•School Choice

•transfer

•non-transfer students

• Dependent variables

•Mathematics and Reading TAKS scores

•Mathematics and Language Arts grade point averages

•Attendance rates

•Descriptive statistics will include the following information about the sample

population: gender, grade level, ethnicity, socio-economic status, educational

placement (special education, regular education, gifted and talented, English

Language Learners), at-risk status and chronological age.




(continued)

Research Design

•Descriptive Statistics for the following variables:

•gender •grade level

•race

•socio-economic status

•

educational placement (special education, regular education,gifted and talented, English Language Learners)

•at-risk status

•chronological age




(continued)

T-tests for independent means will be calculated to determine if

differences exists with:

(1)the Mathematics and Reading TAKS scores between transfer

and non-transfer students in grades 6-8

(2) the Mathematics and Language Arts grade point average

(G.P.A.) between transfer and non-transfer students in

grades 6-8

(3) the attendance rate between transfer and non-transfer students

in grades 6-8




(continued)

Population and Sample

•6th – 8th grade students from one large school district in Texas

•

Criterion Sampling – Transfer students•School A = 153 transfer students

•School B = 156 transfer students.

•Total number of transfer students = 309

•Stratified random sampling – Non-transfer students

•The number of non-transfer students will equal to the number of cases of

transfer students and will be similar in certain demographics




(continued)

Instrumentation

Extant data from the 2005/2006 and 2006/2007 Mathematics and

Reading TAKS Test will be used to determine if differences exists

between the 2005/2006 Mathematics and Reading TAKS scores and

the 2006/2007 Mathematics and Reading TAKS scores of transfer

students and non-transfer students in grades 6-8.




(continued)

Research Procedures

•A database of all transfer students will be obtained through school

records and developed using Excel. A database of students who

elected to remain at their home campus using school records will

also be created, the non-transfer students. The database will also

contain the Mathematics and Reading Texas Assessment of

Knowledge and Skills scores, Mathematics and Language Arts

G.P.A. and attendance rates of transfer and non-transfer students.




(continued)

Research Procedures

•The researcher will develop two groups: transfer students and non-

transfer students.

•Each student will receive a code to protect his or her anonymity.

•Once the spreadsheets have been developed using Excel software,

the data will be imported to SPSS 13.0 to complete descriptivestatistics and t-tests for independent means.




(continued)

Data Analysis

•Descriptive statistics will include demographic information about

the transfer and non-transfer students.

•Descriptive statistics will be analyzed and frequencies and

percentages will be presented in table format.




(continued)

Data Analysis

•T-tests for independent means will be used to

compare means to answer the research questionsfor the quantitative portion of the study.

•Apply the standard alpha level: 0.05.

•

The rejection rule will be applied.




(continued)

Qualitative

The qualitative data will consist of responses from participants. Counselors will be interviewed and asked

questions that correlate with the theoretical framework,

which is taken from Albert Bandura’s Social Learning

Theory.




(continued)

Research Design

•For the qualitative portion of the study, the independent variables

will be the transfer students.

• The dependent variables will be the counselors’ perception. • Demographic information from school counselors from two

schools, School A and School B, will be collected using

structured interviews.

•

Counselor participants will be interviewed using structured andsemistructured interviews during telephone survey or personal

sessions.

•Each counselor participant will be asked feeling and sensory

questions.




(continued)

Instrumentation

Extant data from the 2005/2006 and 2006/2007

Mathematics and Reading Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills Test will be used to determine if

differences exists between the 2005/2006 Mathematics

and Reading Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills

scores and the 2006/2007 Mathematics and ReadingTexas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills scores of

transfer students and non-transfer students in grades 6-8.




(continued)

Pilot Study

•

The researcher will pilot the structured andsemistructured interview questions to determine if the

interview questions are clearly worded with a panel of

experts.




(continued)

Population and Sample

•Counselors that had the opportunity to observe and

interact directly with transfer students.

•This sample population is a criterion case and will consist

of six participants. Each participant must be a certified

counselor.




(continued)

Instrumentation

•Interview questions will be structured and

semistructured.

•The panel of experts will consist of counselors that

have been confirmed and certified according to the

standards established by the Texas State Board of Education for Certification.




(continued)

Research Procedures

•Eligible counselor participants will be called to schedule an

appointment.

•After confirmation of the appointment, the researcher will

conduct a face-to face or telephone survey with counselor participant.

•Upon completion of the interview session, counselor participants

will be mailed a thank you letter for their willingness to participate

in the study.•Each returned consent form would be assigned an identification

number to be used in a coding system for management of data

collection.




(continued)

Data Collection and Recording •Structured demographic questions will be asked of each counselor

participant who agreed to take part in the research.

•The demographic questions will address the following: gender,

age, education level, and years of experience in education and total

years of counseling experience.

•Semistructured interview questions




(continued)

Data Analysis

•Qualitative data will be coded according to related themes and

analyzed for recurring and emergent themes correlating with thetheoretical framework.

•Emergent category designation, cross-case analysis, peer

debriefing and triangulation will be used to support the statisticaldata gathered from the quantitative portion of the study.



References

Bandura, A. (1993). Perceived self-efficacy in cognitive development and functioning.

Educational Psychologist, 28, 117-148.

Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: W.H. Freeman.

Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Bielick, S, & Chapman, C. (2003). Trends in the use of school choice: 1993-1999 (NCES

2003-031). U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC: National Center for

Education Statistics.

Fraenkel, J., & Wallen, N. (2006). How to design and evaluate research in

education. 6th ed. New York: McGraw Hill.

Isaac, S. & Michael, W. (1997). Handbook in Research and Evaluation

for Education and the Behavioral Sciences (3rd ed.) San Diego, CA:

EdiTs/Educational and Industrial Testing Services.



References

Ormrod, J. E. (1999). Human learning (3rd ed) Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Public Agenda, 1999).

Schneider, M., Teske, P., Marschall, M., Mintrom, M., & Roch, C. (1997). Institutional

Arrangements and the Creation of Social Capital: The Effects of Public School

Choice. The American Political Science Review, 91(1), 82-93.

Sirkin, R. (2006). Statistics for the social sciences. 3rd ed. Thousand

Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. 45

Texas Education Agency (2008). Retrieved June 14, 2008, from

http://www.tea.state.tx.us/data.html

United States Government Accountability Office. (2004). No child left behind act:

Education needs to provide additional technical assistance and conduct

Implementation studies for school choice provision. (Highlights of GAO-05-7, a

report to the Secretary of Education).





References

Viadero, D. (2007, January). Researchers Examine School Choice Picks. Education

Week, 26 (19), 9. Retrieved July 21, 2008, from Research Library database.

(Document ID: 1197232011).

Documents

Dr. William Allan Kritsonis, PhD Dissertation Chair, Michelle Cloud's Defense Proposal