Text

theses

Since its implementation in 2002, NCLB, through its expectations and sanctions, has created a state of urgency among school leaders and instructional staff in most urban public high schools. While there is significant literature on urban school reform promoting the academic performance of urban high school students, the perspectives of students—those most directly affected by NCLB state-mandated assessments— remain unexplored. The purpose of this study was to explore the perspectives of students in an urban public high school on their level of awareness of their school’s status as ‘in need of improvement’, the impact of teaching and learning on students’ academic performance, and their suggestions for corrective practices. The study employed a qualitative case study design in order to generate a thick, in-depth description of the perspectives of twelve purposely selected students. Data collected and analyzed from documentary evidence, focus group and one-to-one interviews, as well as informal observations were triangulated to enhance credibility and transferability of the findings. The study’s findings that students were inadequately informed about their school’s overall academic status, that disruptive classroom behavior was the primary factor contributing to students’ poor academic performance, and that students desired more student-based, project-based, interactive instructional practices underscored the usefulness of student voice in the school reform process. The study argues for a meaningful involvement of students in their education and the creation, in urban public high schools, of classroom environments that are productive in terms of student learning.

ETD_4749

Ed.D.

Includes bibliographical references

by Patrick Pepan Giple Sr.

http://hdl.rutgers.edu/1782.1/rucore10001500001.ETD.000068519

doi:10.7282/T34F1PCD

ETD doctoral

The author owns the copyright to this work.