Home Page 1

Reference URL

Comment

Save to favorites

To link to the entire object, paste this link in email, IM or document

To embed the entire object, paste this HTML in website

To link to this page, paste this link in email, IM or document

To embed this page, paste this HTML in website

A study of an outperforming urban high school and the factors which contribute to its increased academic achievement with attention to the contribution of student achievement

Page 1

Save page

1 of 203

View Description

View PDF & Text

Download

small (250x250 max)

medium (500x500 max)

large ( > 500x500)

Full Resolution

All (PDF)

This page

All

Subset

PDF
Text

Text Search...

Object Description

Title	A study of an outperforming urban high school and the factors which contribute to its increased academic achievement with attention to the contribution of student achievement
Author	Ett, Juliette Avery
Author email	ett@usc.edu
Degree	Doctor of Education
Document type	Dissertation
Degree program	Education
School	Rossier School of Education
Date defended/completed	2008-03-17
Date submitted	2008
Restricted until	Unrestricted
Date published	2008-04-02
Advisor (committee chair)	Gothold, Stuart
Advisor (committee member)	Hocevar, Dennis Stowe, Kathy
Abstract	The American educational system, once a bastion of excellence, has lost the reputation for excellence. The modern high school, created with the hopes of educating millions to excel in a global workforce, fails one-third of its students. With a high school completion rate which ranks tenth in the world, the United States once again looks for reform to answer these staggering statistics. The passage of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) in 2002, made reform a reality as school districts across the country scrambled to enact changes to meet the stringent accountability requirements imposed by NCLB. In 2003-2004 almost 5% of students enrolled in high schools left without completing a program. Of these students, the dropout rate was four times higher for those from low income families. Race and ethnicity were also contributing factors with Hispanics dropping out at 8.9%, African Americans 5.7% and White students at 3.7%. This represents an emerging pattern as minority students from low income homes are major contributors to the high school dropout rate.; While high school has remained remarkably unchanged for the past fifty years, the students today in no way resemble students from years past. They are more socially and intellectually sophisticated, and keeping them engaged in school is difficult. Students participating in a national survey responded that high school could be improved, while one-third of those planning to graduate felt high school was 'easy.' These students also stated they would work harder if the courses were more challenging and interesting.; It would appear that educators, armed with student responses such as those described in the national survey, would initiate reform to help the modern high school achieve success for all of its students. There remains, however, a percentage of students attending urban high schools which are not vibrant, multicultural learning havens. These schools have a responsibility to help all students achieve their full potential, but this vision has not become a national reality.; While students in urban high schools have underperformed academically in comparison to their suburban counterparts, there are some high schools that have achieved significant academic gains when compared to schools of similar demographics. It was unclear what contributed to high performance in these schools, so a study of high performing urban schools was conducted to identify the factors that contribute to student achievement and academic success. In addition to identifying factors present in high performing urban high schools, it was important to determine if a link existed between student engagement and achievement in these schools.; A case study, in conjunction with a University of Southern California thematic research group, studied successful high schools in southern California to identify urban factors and to discover the elements which make these schools high performing. Using the research questions of student engagement and identifying other factors of success, a conceptual model was created to serve as the rubric to guide data collection. The secondary data supplied by the Indiana University instrument, the High School Survey of Student Engagement (HSSSE) helped define the parameters of engagement. The focus of the study was on urban schools because while the HSSSE provided information about students in high schools across America, there was a dearth of relevant information about the students in urban high schools. It was necessary to study this population to ascertain if all high performing high schools, suburban and urban, contribute part of their success to student engagement.
Keyword	urban; high school; achievement
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-m1080
Rights	Ett, Juliette Avery
Repository name	Libraries, University of Southern California
Repository address	Los Angeles, California
Repository email	http://www.usc.edu/isd/libraries/services/ask_a_librarian/email/
Filename	etd-Ett-20080402
Archival file	uscthesesreloadpub_Volume23/etd-Ett-20080402.pdf