Freshman Program Evaluation Report

Author : Michelle E. Nicklas
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 508 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (897 download)

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Download or read book The Freshman Academy Program Evaluation written by Michelle E. Nicklas and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 508 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The study performed a program evaluation of the Freshmen Academy at a northeastern suburban high school. Using the Logic Model, this program evaluation determined goals, processes for applying measures for those goals, and a plan to report results to stakeholders. As such, the study addressed five research questions: see APA p. 64 for how to present elements in a series (a) How are Freshmen Academy teachers impacting students? (b) What are student perceptions of Freshmen Academy? (c) What are parent perceptions of Freshmen Academy? (d) How have the academic, behavioral, and retention profiles of students in the Freshmen Academy changed over time? (e) Is grit a character trait of students who experience success in and beyond Freshmen Academy? The study involved interviewing and surveying four interdisciplinary teachers, the overseeing administrator, counselors, parents, past program students, and current students (N = 54) to ascertain levels of program effectiveness and satisfaction. The findings indicate that teacher investments in relationships with both students and parents serve to reverse negative perceptions of school and the school environment. As such, students are more willing to take risks, try harder, and notice their own growth in skills that improve their executive functioning. In addition, parents appreciate being academic and social/emotional partners of a highly communicative team. Furthermore, the data revealed that teachers and the reading specialist have positively impacted academic, behavioral, and retention profiles by closing learning gaps, teaching students executive functioning skills, and improving consistency with work completion. By capitalizing on positive experiences, teachers increased student motivation and intellectual curiosity. By connecting instruction to student interests and present choices to future opportunities, program leaders have made school relevant. To offset challenges at home, teachers and counselors trained students with a growth mindset and increased intrinsic motivation. Program leaders have been able to close vocabulary gaps, offer perspective for social/emotional issues, and improve behavioral issues by increasing student self-confidence. Grit, or resilience, scores tracked to student GPAs as found in Duckworth et al. (2007). The findings underscore the importance of partnering with parents, even with older adolescents. The current study has implications for extending the program's philosophies and practices to the school and district.