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EFFECTIVE FACTORS OF HIGH PERFORMING URBAN
HIGH SCHOOLS: A CASE STUDY
by
Stephania Loan Vu
______________________________________________________________
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION
May 2008
Copyright 2008 Stephania Loan Vu
Object Description
| Title | Effective factors of high performing urban high schools: a case study |
| Author | Vu, Stephania Loan |
| Author email | stephanv@usc.edu |
| Degree | Doctor of Education |
| Document type | Dissertation |
| Degree program | Education (Leadership) |
| School | Rossier School of Education |
| Date defended/completed | 2008-03-19 |
| Date submitted | 2008 |
| Restricted until | Unrestricted |
| Date published | 2008-04-01 |
| Advisor (committee chair) | Gothold, Stuart E. |
| Advisor (committee member) |
Hocevar, Dennis J. Stowe, Kathy Huisong |
| Abstract | There is much alarm over the condition of public schools in the United States. More and more students are dropping out of school, never earning a high school diploma. There has been some research done on failing high schools, which is where many students drop out, and most of these students are students of color living and attending schools in urban neighborhoods. Given the long track record of failing schools, federal mandates which have been enacted such as the No Child Left Behind Act expect schools to make progress every single year. Although urban high schools have made little progress as a whole, there are some that are defying the odds and outperforming according to the federal mandates.; The purpose of this case study is to identify a high performing high school that is located in an urban area to see what factors contributed to its academic success. More specifically, this case study will investigate if student engagement is one of the factors that contributed to the school's academic achievement. From this study, themes emerged that led to recommendations to improve student achievement in all schools, not just urban ones.; Two research questions were developed to guide this study by the thematic dissertation group comprised of 10 doctoral students from the University of Southern California. Data was collected in the form of documents review, interviews, surveys, and observations. Triangulation using Marzano's (2003) five effective school-wide factors were utilized to compile and organize findings.; A summary of the findings in response to the two research questions reveal that the factors that contribute to the academic achievement at High Performing High School include: Finding #1: Clear District goals and Expected School-wide Learning Results. Finding #2: High-level classes and higher expectations equate to higher academic achievement. Finding #3: Commonality between units, assessments, and strategies lead to equity between classrooms and throughout the school. Finding #4: Professional Development Opportunities are plentiful and meaningful. Finding #5: School-wide Programs target student's needs.; In addition, there were many examples throughout the school that demonstrated Marzano's (2003) five school-level factors of what works in schools including a guaranteed and viable curriculum, challenging goals and effective feedback, parent and community involvement, a safe and orderly environment, and collegiality and professionalism. Lastly, the findings suggest that a strong relationship between student engagement and student achievement does not exist at this particular high performing high school. |
| Keyword | urban high schools; effective factors; high performing |
| Geographic subject (state) | California |
| Geographic subject (country) | USA |
| Language | English |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m1077 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Rights | Vu, Stephania Loan |
| Repository name | Libraries, University of Southern California |
| Repository address | Los Angeles, California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Filename | etd-Vu-20080401 |
| Archival file | uscthesesreloadpub_Volume14/etd-Vu-20080401.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 1 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | EFFECTIVE FACTORS OF HIGH PERFORMING URBAN HIGH SCHOOLS: A CASE STUDY by Stephania Loan Vu ______________________________________________________________ A Dissertation Presented to the FACULTY OF THE ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF EDUCATION May 2008 Copyright 2008 Stephania Loan Vu |
