This dissertation is a qualitative investigation of influences of school tracking on the Black identity development of high school students. This dissertation begins with a Critical Race Theory analysis of school tracking processes. After exploring how tracking was designed, and how it continues to obstruct the potential for optimal Black student…

Learning standards across the United States have increasingly called for history students to engage in aspects of "historical thinking," a term used to describe the complex disciplinary processes that historians use to make sense of the past. Although students are expected to learn these complex processes, little is known about how to…

Recent research reveals consistent lags in American students' science achievement scores. Not only are the scores lower in the United States compared to other developed nations, but even within the United States, too many students are well below science proficiency scores for their grade levels. The current research addresses this problem by…

On the writing component of the most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress, 12th grade high school students' scores on argumentative tasks were lower than on tasks that required them to explain or to convey an experience ("National Assessment of Educational Progress," 2011). Similarly, 11th and 12th graders at the research…

This qualitative phenomenological study examined parents of first generation college-bound student's beliefs about roles and responsibilities to guide their child who aspires to a postsecondary education. Interviews were conducted with 23 parents of high school tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grade students. In the sample, parents represented…

This qualitative study describes and analyzes the perspectives of students with challenging behaviors regarding what they believe contributes to student teacher relationship quality. The conceptual framework guiding this study was informed by research in the following areas: transactional theory, self-efficacy theory, and teacher-student power…

Thirteen percent of the 2008-2009 senior class in one southeastern state did not pass the science portion of the state's high school graduation test. Another 5% failed to pass the math portion of the graduation test, leaving these students unable to obtain a high school diploma. The purpose of this nonexperimental quantitative research study was…

As of 2008, approximately 40% of eighth grade students in the United States enroll in Algebra I (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 2008). Although research has shown that students have more opportunities to take advanced mathematics courses by taking eighth grade Algebra I, in the United States, approximately only one-third to one-half…

The problem of financial illiteracy at the high school level is becoming a growing pandemic in America. The current financial curriculum may not be preparing high school students against reported financial pitfalls. At the study site, high school students graduate without financial skills that may impact their future financial status. The purpose…

A large proportion of American students are not psychologically connected or engaged to what is occurring in their classes; in addition, they fail to take school seriously, have lost interest in school, and do not value or seek out success (Steinberg, Brown, & Dornbusch, 1996). In addition, the relationship in a mathematics classroom between…

The relationship between the philosophical orientation of a high school citizenship education program and the kinds of competencies that students exhibit on a nationally administered civics knowledge assessment was investigated. The researcher imposed a philosophical paradigm of political perfectionism on the citizenship education curriculum in…