A set of ten students from an urban high school were interviewed regarding experiences in Advanced Placement (AP) and non-Advanced Placement courses in high school. Those participants who took an AP Calculus course described opportunities during high school where cultural capital and social capital lead to a successful experience in college. Those…

Background: The match between students' perceptions of a learning environment and their preferences about its design influences students' learning behaviour and by consequence the effectiveness of education. Therefore, the students' perspective deserves a more prominent place in the educational design process. Having an adequate picture of the…

This study had two purposes. The first purpose of the study was to describe the perceptions of first-time in college high school students, specifically early college students, in regards to factors that enabled them to be successful. Secondly, the perceptions of first-time in college high school students, specifically early college students, were…

This investigation uncovered the conditions of learning, both positive and negative, that students in an alternative school experienced both in and out of the classroom setting. Eleven students at an alternative high school in a large suburban school district in the Pacific Northwest were interviewed using methods of narrative inquiry and…

The school lives of black middle-class males are often overlooked and understudied. An exploration at the intersection of race, class and gender for black middle-class males provides opportunity for a more nuanced understanding of the black male schooling experience. Drawing upon student resistance theories as analytical tools and employing…

This paper explores how sexually marginalised black high-school students from conservative schooling contexts in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, experience schooling. It draws on queer theories through life narratives in presenting findings from a small-scale interventionist project designed by the author. The project involved 14 participants…

Sexual harassment has long been an unfortunate part of the climate in middle and high schools in the United States. Often considered a kind of bullying, sexual harassment by definition involves sex and gender and therefore warrants separate attention. The legal definition of sexual harassment also differentiates it from bullying. Based on a…

This article reports on the experiences of Spanish-speaking English language learners in high school chemistry courses, focusing largely on experiences in learning the English language, experiences learning chemistry, and experiences learning chemistry in the English language. The findings illustrate the cognitive processes the students undertake…

This paper considers the views of young people aged 14-16 about their future education, training and occupation. It is based on a study of around 3000 year 11 pupils in 45 educational settings in England during 2007/2008, supplemented by documentary analysis, official statistics, and interviews and surveys with staff and parents. Pupil-reported…

Learning-disabled students face ongoing challenges in higher education. Despite efforts to promote recruitment and retention of students with learning disabilities to trade schools, colleges, and universities, barriers to enrollment and academic achievement persist. Barriers for learning-disabled students are not fully understood and might be…

This study explored the significance of African American students' trust of teachers and its impact on student engagement in school. It also focused on the potential impact of teachers' race on student-teacher trust relationships. Research for this study used a cross-sectional approach. Interviews were conducted with 22 students of…

"A Longitudinal Study of the South Carolina Personal Pathways to Success Initiative" (see Hammond, Drew, et al., 2011) follows the implementation of a statewide mandated career-focused school reform policy in one U.S. state. The research focuses on eight diverse high schools in the state, personnel at those schools, and approximately…

Using observations and interviews, the researchers explore the experiences and perspectives of students, teachers, and administrators at six specialized high schools with a focus on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) as they pertain to the practices and structures affecting student outcomes. Four themes were found to be…

This paper examines how disadvantage affects educational outcomes, in this instance, Year 12 completion. While previous studies have found a strong link between parental education or occupational status and Year 12 completion, this research was able to capture a broader set of cultural, material and resource aspects of disadvantage. It did this by…

This study draws upon social cognitive career theory and higher education literature to propose and test a conceptual framework for understanding the selection of postsecondary STEM fields of study by recent high school graduates who attend four-year institutions. Results suggest that high school math achievement, exposure to math and science…