Date of Award

Fall 2020

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Committee Chair

Mary Roth

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the perceptions of educators regarding the effectiveness of an academic success program for ninth- and 10th-grade students who are at-risk males. The term at risk has often been utilized to describe students who have low academic performance as well as social and emotional concerns observed during the transitioning process from middle to high school. The foundation of this study centered on past and current educational initiatives, achievement gaps, and pedagogical and cultural awareness for at-risk minority students as they entered high school. I used a 2-phase process that included the implementation of a questionnaire and one-on-one interviews to collect the perceptions of educators. This methodology allowed educators to provide their perspectives on the effect of a high school academic success program on the academic, social, and behavioral performance of at-risk male students for the past 2 school years. The three key indicators of “making sure that students were on the right track,” “empower students,” and “creating a positive culture” evolved linking into the themes of academic success, building a student support system, teacher effectiveness, student preparation, and building relationships. As a result, positive implications and significances were established from the perspective of the participating stakeholders of the Freshman/Success Academy.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License

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