Department of Leadership and Administration
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Browsing Department of Leadership and Administration by Subject "Academic performance"
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Item Open Access Adolescents Who Are Bereft: A Qualitative Phenomenological Study(2021) Reilley, DarleneLosing a parent as a child or adolescent is difficult. The loss can have a substantial impact on the youth’s future. The problem is students who are bereft in public schools in the United States often go unidentified by educators, which can impact academic performance and behaviors. A review of the literature revealed a gap in studies focused on identification systems or programs to facilitate advocacy for students who are bereft. Students who are bereft have unique needs. A child or adolescent who receives no professional help to manage grief has the propensity to quell grief through unhealthy lifestyle choices. There is a need to identify children and adolescents who are bereft as soon as possible to provide nurturing support to avoid short- and long-term consequences of unresolved grief. The purpose of the qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the academic performance and behavior experiences of students who are bereft in grades 7-12 from a semiurban junior / senior high school in the northeastern United States through the perceptions of their educators. The theoretical framework of the study was shaped by theory of change and situational leadership theory. The research questions were centered on educators’ perceptions of how the death of a parent affects a student’s academic performance and behavior. Two data collection tools—semistructured interviews and a focus group—were used to explore the perceptions of educators from different capacities in the public school setting. Findings showed educators unanimously agreed a formal identification system would benefit parentally bereft students’ academic performance and behavior. Not knowing of a student who has lost a parent often results in an educator having a negative experience, academically or behaviorally, with a student who is bereft.Item Open Access Child Nutrition and Cognitive Development: A Content Analysis(2021-06) Arnold, RonnieNationally, approximately 6 million children are suffering from food insecurity. Children living in a food-insecure environment are at greater risk of nutritional deficiencies, which can decrease the ability to learn and lessen cognitive development in K–12 students. Data from the study addressed the gap of limited understanding of the potential thematic relationships across different situational environments and factors that influence success at school. The purpose of the qualitative content analysis (QCA) study was to analyze peer-reviewed medical journals to reveal the influence food has on a student’s cognitive ability to learn. The significance of the study was to combat the effects of food on learning by incorporating knowledge into teaching and societal practices. Understanding potential thematic relationships can add overall knowledge to the connection between nutrition and academic performance and close the gap in knowledge via concise coding of peer-reviewed medical journals. The QCA study research goals focused on the conceptualization of data to create coding schemes that analyze the issues through a data reduction system, the abstraction of categories, and the thematic analysis between undernutrition and academic achievement. Selecting the appropriate peer-reviewed literature required the use of Walker and Avant’s method, which was used to identify, refine, evaluate, and define the attributes of concepts used to answer the research questions. The major themes of the literature review that emerged were food deserts, food insecurity, nutrition and cognitive performance, nutrition and physical activity, stress, working memory, and attendance and absenteeism. The study had three limitations: sample size, time constraints, and lack of collecting representative data.Item Open Access Lived Experiences of Undocumented Latin@ Students: Phenomenological Research Study(2021-03-26) Pacheco, RicardoUndocumented Latin@ students face numerous life experiences. Economic, legal, and social difficulties are just a few examples affecting academic performance and potentially drop out of high school. The labeling as an undocumented Latin@ student increased the probability of non-participators in high school education, reducing college entry options, and societal rejection experiences. The qualitative, phenomenological research study explored the lived experiences of 20 undocumented Latin@ students. The aim was to address the connection between lived experiences of undocumented Latin@ students and the dropout rate in Lincolndale, New York. Latin@ is a term used in contemporary Latin culture to identify diverse Latinos as including gender-neutral members of the Latino community.Item Open Access Quantitative Comparison of Online Term Lengths at a Mississippi Community College(2020) Graham, ChadwickOnline education has become a major component of higher education providing flexibility to traditional and non-traditional students and a pathway for academic achievement. Online course offerings have increased over the decade and course lengths have begun to shorten. Traditional length semester courses of 15- or 16-weeks are now being offered in accelerated formats fewer than five weeks, although research is limited concerning accelerated online courses of four-weeks or fewer. The research study sought to address the gap in the research literature of online course lengths of four-weeks or fewer. Equivalency theory postulates students receive equivalent experiences in online courses. This research study compared student outcomes in traditional length and accelerated length online general psychology courses at a Mississippi community college. Using three years of archival data from a Mississippi community college, this study compared student success, retention rates, pass rates, and mastery rates in three- and four-week online courses to 15-week online courses. The objective was to share the research results with the Mississippi community college and the research community to provide students, administrators, instructors, and distance learning faculty, empirical evidence pertaining to the impact of online course lengths on student outcomes. The analysis showed a statistically significant difference in success rates, pass rates, and student mastery between accelerated online and traditional online course lengths. No statistically significant difference was found in retention rates between accelerated online and traditional online course lengths. The conclusion was accelerated online can produce equivalent outcomes as traditional length online courses.