Dissertation
Young Women Enrollees in Alternative Education: Perception and Progress
Doctor of Education (EdD), Washington State University
01/2012
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/4301
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to research and examine the experiences and perceptions of successful young women who dropped out and then re-enrolled into high school. The focus was on providing information about how schools can retain these students and help them progress to graduation. The research guiding questions were: (1) what factors did the re-enrollees believe caused them to drop out of school? (2) Why did they re-enroll? (3) What do these young women believe their schools could have done better to help them succeed? And (4) why do they think they were more successful in the alternative school than in the regular high school program?
Methods included a qualitative case study of twelve young women who dropped out of their traditional high schools and chose to re-enroll into an alternative high school to obtain their diploma. An action research process was established by the research team of staff at the alternative school.
The six members of the action research team included the school's site council comprised of the academic counselor, social worker, two teachers, the school's safety officer, and the principal. In addition, the student interviewees and the entire school staff were included in reviewing and discussing the data obtained for professional growth and school implementation considerations. The study also included an analysis of documents and interviews of students with the action research team to diagnosis and creates school implications to increase academic success for future students. The discussion about the data produced information that contributed to the understanding of what factors caused these students to drop out of high school and why they re-enrolled to school. Although the majority experienced being pushed-out of school, these students demonstrated exceptionalities to succeed while possessing the desire to go to college. For them, specific characteristics of the alternative school seemed to address the very issues that had made school so problematic. It surfaced the challenges to success these students experienced while producing information about what these students needed to achieve.
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Details
- Title
- Young Women Enrollees in Alternative Education
- Creators
- David Bryan LaBounty
- Contributors
- Paul Goldman (Advisor)Gay Selby (Committee Member)Susan Finley (Committee Member)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Educational Leadership, Sport Studies, and Educational/Counseling Psychology, Department of
- Theses and Dissertations
- Doctor of Education (EdD), Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 113
- Identifiers
- 99900581855901842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Dissertation