The Role of Linguistic Course Concentration in Secondary English Learners’ Attainment: Intersections of School Context and Student Characteristics

In this research, we examined the student practices of high school students in different types of high schools in Turkey in the light of Bourdieu's concepts of habitus and cultural capital. While tracing the essences of student practices with a phenomenological approach, we tried to make explicit what lies at the intersections of different types of high schools in terms of these practices and how the educational trajectories of students in these high schools are shaped and reshaped. We conducted the research in six different types of high schools in Ankara. Through a phenomenological analysis of in-depth interviews with 96 high school students and a total of seven mothers, we explored student practices and the interrelationships between habitus and cultural capital in the home and school environments. As a result of this analysis, we interpreted the essences that cut across the educational trajectories of students positioned in different types of high schools as living with the illusion of school choice, declaring the position with a sense of entitlement, engagement with cultural fields through cultural consumption habits, and utilizing sports for the presentation of self. The main result of the research shows that although students are positioned in different trajectories, the essence of their student practices does not change. We believe that this result should be explained from the perspective that the existence of different types of schools or different routes for students cannot guarantee the social mobility of individuals, but continues to serve the reproduction of all the historical and social contingencies that create these students' positionality.

The main purpose of this study was to examine attitudes of students studying in different types of high schools towards physical education and sports lesson in terms of various variables. In this research, comparative survey model has been adopted. Population of the research consisted of students studying in different types of high schools and different grades in Erzurum province in 2016-2017 and its sample group consisted of total 1560 high school students selected by using stratified random sampling. Personal information form and physical education lesson attitude scale developed by Demirhan and Altay were used in order to measure students' attitudes towards physical education and sports lesson. According to the findings, there are significant difference between participant students' gender, grade, school type, mother educational level variables and levels of their attitudes towards physical education lesson according to p<,05 significance level, but there is no significant difference according to father educational level and residence place variables. As a result, all students studying in different types of high schools in Erzurum have positive attitudes towards physical education and sports lesson. According to high school type, attitudes of Anatolian İmam Hatip High School students towards physical education and sports lesson are at the most positive attitude level when compared to other high school types.

Being a student describes a multi-component reality with both individualistic and social inclusions. How this reality is established and how subjects position themselves in their current educational environments historically, culturally, and sociologically are one of the most controversial topics of educational sciences. Therefore, this study investigates what it means to be a student in different types of high schools in Turkey through students’ eyes. This study was conducted using a phenomenological design, one of the qualitative research designs. Convenience sampling was used to determine which schools and which types of schools would take part in the study. Semistructured, personal, face-to-face interviews were conducted with 96 eleventh graders from six different types of high schools (eight girls and eight boys from each type of high school: science, Anatolian, vocational and technical Anatolian, fine arts, social sciences, and Anatolian imam and preacher high schools) from the central districts of Ankara. The data was analyzed using the phenomenological analysis method in order to reach the core that turns different experiences into commonalities. The cores that were revealed as a result of the analysis were consolidated under two main themes: “who the students think they are” and “how they differ themselves from other students.”

Aim: This study aims to investigate self-efficacy and the related factors of students enrolled in two different types of high schools regarding protection from substance abuse.Materials and Methods: This study was conducted with 170 volunteer students enrolled in an Anatolian High School in city center and a Technical High School in district in the academic year 2018-2019. Data were collected using a sociodemographic characteristic form and Self-Efficacy Scale for Protection from Substance Abuse. Data were analyzed using SPSS 16.0 software, percentage, chi-square, t-test and Anova test for independent groups. Results: The mean age of the participants was 15.2±0.85. Of them, 58.8% were female and 55.3% were enrolled in Anatolian High School, 11.8% both smoked and used alcohol. There was a significant relationship between the mean score on the Self-Efficacy Scale for Protection from Substance Abuse and gender, residence, mother’s education background, income level, type of high school, alcohol and smoking habits (p<.05). Substance abuse protection self-efficacy levels of the Technical High School students were lower than that of the Anatolian High School students. Conclusion: At risk students of substance abuse were male, those with lower income, those living in districts and villages, the Technical High School students, smokers and alcohol users. The high-risk groups should be diagnosed early and be aware of the risk. Early intervention measures should be taken for high-risk groups. These high-risk groups in schools should be closely monitored and, if necessary, collaborated with the family.

The 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic led many jurisdictions to close in-person school instruction. We collected data about COVID-19 cases associated with New York City (NYC) public schools from polymerase chain reaction testing performed in each school on a sample of asymptomatic students and staff and from routine reporting. We compared prevalence from testing done in schools to community prevalence estimates from statistical models. We compared cumulative incidence for school-associated cases to all cases reported to the city. School-based contacts were monitored to estimate the secondary attack rate and possible direction of transmission. To assess prevalence, we analyzed data from 234 132 persons tested for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection in 1594 NYC public schools during October 9 to December 18, 2020; 986 (0.4%) tested positive. COVID-19 prevalence in schools was similar to or less than estimates of prevalence in the community for all weeks. To assess cumulative incidence, we analyzed data for 2231 COVID-19 cases that occurred in students and staff compared with the 86 576 persons in NYC diagnosed with COVID-19 during the same period; the overall incidence was lower for persons in public schools compared with the general community. Of 36 423 school-based close contacts, 191 (0.5%) subsequently tested positive for COVID-19; the likely index case was an adult for 78.0% of secondary cases. We found that in-person learning in NYC public schools was not associated with increased prevalence or incidence overall of COVID-19 infection compared with the general community.

This study examines some of the economic consequences associated with the public school reforms introduced in New York City (NYC) by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, including their impact on housing values. The reforms focused primarily on increasing the autonomy and accountability of a school’s principal and teachers, and expanding school choice and charter schools. We found that those reforms have been followed by substantial improvements in a number of key measures of student performance, including Math and English test scores, high school graduation rates, and college enrollment rates. From 2006 to 2009, for example, the four-year graduation rate of NYC high school students increased from 49.1 percent to 60.4 percent, improvements driven mainly by the progress of African-American and Hispanic students. We estimate that from 2008 to 2012, 41,000 more NYC public high school students earned diplomas than would have occurred assuming the graduation rates for NYC students in 2006; and the net present value of the additional income that these additional high school graduates should earn over their lifetimes is $8.9 billion. Similarly, from 2008 to 2012, 30,900 more NYC public high school students enrolled in institutions of higher learning than would have occurred assuming the college enrollment rates of NYC students in 2006; and the net present value of the additional income that these additional NYC college attendees should earn over their lifetimes is $6.4 billion. Our analysis further found that rising high school graduation rates increase housing demand in the neighborhoods where those graduation rates rose, which in turn has led to increased residential property values. We estimate that increasing NYC graduation rates by 1 percentage point in a zip code leads to an increase in residential property prices of 0.54 percent in that zip code. On this basis, we estimate that NYC’s rising graduation rates added as much as $37.1 billion to NYC residential housing prices or values. Finally, the number of NYC charter schools climbed from 14 in 2001 to 183 in 2013, an average increase of 0.96 charter schools per zip code. We found that adding one new NYC charter school in a zip code increased residential property prices there by an estimated 3.69 percent. On this basis, the expansion of charter schools in NYC may have added as much as $22.45 billion to NYC residential property prices or values.

The main purpose of this study is to describe the cultural capital possessed by graduates of different types of high schools and how that capital shapes educational processes. Accordingly, the study focuses on the cultural capital of graduates of public and private high schools and the strategies they have implemented throughout their educational processes. The research problem of this study is the elucidation of the inequalities created by cultural capital between private and public high school graduates. The study was conducted with a multiple case design due to the qualitative methodology adopted. The sample of the study was selected using maximum variation sampling in accordance with the chosen qualitative method. A semi-structured interview form was administered to 45 participants, 23 of whom had studied in private high schools and 22 of whom had studied in public high schools. MAXQDA 2022 software was used to analyze the data. As a result, it was concluded that private high school graduates and their parents had more institutional cultural capital than public high school graduates. In terms of educational processes, it was observed that participants with higher levels of familial institutional cultural capital preferred schools providing high-quality education rather than schools located closer to home for enrollment. Therefore, it is recommended that state policies be established to remedy the deficiencies of students with low levels of familial cultural capital.

The purpose of this study is to determine the attitudes of students studying at different types of high schools towards mathematics classes, and to test whether or not there is a meaningful difference between the demographic properties of the students and their attitudes. The data used in this study were obtained from 1,801 students studying at different types of high schools. The data obtained in the study showed that the attitudes of the students towards mathematics are at medium level, and that there is a meaningful difference between the attitudes of the students towards mathematics classes and the education levels of their fathers and the students’ high school types. On the other hand, it has been determined that there is no meaningful difference between the gender of the students, the gender of the mathematics teachers, attending to an extra course, receiving private lessons for mathematics, their perceived success status, educational levels of their mothers, the income level of their families, the number of siblings, the order of the student in the family as a sibling, fathers’ and mothers’ profession, and the attitudes of the students. According to the Multi Linear Regression Analysis which was performed with the purpose of determining the factors affecting the attitudes of the students in the study group, the Gender of the Mathematics Teacher ( = -.073), the Profession of the Mother ( = - .069) and the Educational Level of the Father ( = .049) have effects in determining the attitudes of the students towards mathematics classes.

Metacognitive awareness is said to be reflected by self-confidence scores, and there exists a mutual relationship between them. This study was conducted to examine the role of self-confidence in predicting metacognitive awareness in high school students and to examine whether gender, grade point average, type of high school and father’s education level played a role in this relationship. The data were obtained from 390 high school students studying at two different types of high school (general and vocational) using two different scales. Research data were analyzed through hierarchical regression analysis method to determine the predictiveness. Results showed (i) the metacognitive awareness scores were moderately and highly correlated with the self-confidence level total score and sub-dimension scores; (ii) participants’ self-confidence scores explained 46% of the change in metacognitive awareness scores; (iii) the type of high school and grade point average had 9% effect on metacognitive awareness scores. It is recommended to examine the relationships of metacognitive awareness and self-confidence with different variables and to conduct experimental studies. The co-development of metacognitive awareness and self-confidence in students should be emphasized by families and educators. It is thought that the current study will be useful in relation to its results for understanding the importance of self-confidence and metacognitive awareness of high school and of those at other levels.

This study aimed to investigate the reasons for school absenteeism among students studying at different types of high schools, and school counsellors’ practices and proposed solutions for reducing school absenteeism. This was a qualitative research conducted with a phenomenological design. The study group was formed using criterion sampling, one of the purposive sampling methods. The research was conducted in Turkey during the 2018–2019 academic year with 21 school counsellors working at different types of high schools and having at least 5 years of experience. The school counsellors were asked four questions on school absenteeism using a semistructured interview form. Each interview took 30–45 minutes and interview notes were taken synchronously. According to the research findings, poor academic outcomes, parental involvement, school management and school schedules, as well as health issues and a lack of social activities are the main factors influencing school absenteeism. Potential solutions that can be offered by school counsellors include increasing family involvement, improving the school climate, addressing health issues, planning new social activities and offering flexible syllabus options for students.

In the United States, the population of minority students in 2005 increased to 42 percent of public school enrollment (Echevarria & Short, 2010). English learners (ELs) are the fastest growing population of students enrolled in public school across the United States. California alone has 1.5 million ELs attending public schools (Echevarria, 2008). During the 2007-2008 academic year, only 11 states met their accountability goals for ELs under the No Child Left Behind Act (August, and Shanahan, 2006, Zehr, 2011). If an EL speaks English with difficulty, 82 percent will not graduate from high school. A recent Texas study reported that 80 percent of ELs did not graduate from high school (Echevarria, Vogt, and Short, 2008). The gap in academic achievement between Caucasian students and those from culturally and linguistically diverse groups has widened primarily because many middle and secondary classroom teachers are under prepared to make content comprehensible for ELs or to teach content-area literacy to a forgotten population of middle and secondary ELs (Echevarria and Short, 2010). The result is that ELs enrolled in middle and high schools have become long term ELs, who's specific learning needs for success in school are largely, ignored thus creating a large EL underachieving group (Olsen, 2010). Many middle and secondary schools engage in the common practice of segregating students in what some educators have called the “EL ghetto.” The ELs middle and secondary school curriculum typically consists of a sequence of courses that keep them together over multiple years in classes that do not enable them to complete prerequisites for higher tracks of college (Darling-Hammond, 2010). The overarching question addressed in this presentation is; what do teachers need to know and be able to do to provide ELs with systematic language development, academic literacy skills, successful experiences in mainstream classes, meet content standards, and pass standardized assessments in their second language?

Opinions of Secondary School Students about Socio-cultural Change and Education in Turkey: Findings from a Survey in May-June 2011

English, as an international language of communication, plays a crucial role in the development of global economic exchanges. In China, where English serves as a second language, the improvement of college students' English language speaking proficiency faces numerous challenges due to the lack of authentic English communication environments. However, there has been a lack of in-depth research on the relationship between Chinese college students' English language speaking proficiency and factors such as school background. This study utilized multiple linear regression to analyze data from the 2021 China General Social Survey. It aimed to investigate the relationship between college students' English language speaking proficiency and various factors, including different types of high school experiences, parental educational backgrounds, gender differences, and age disparities. The findings revealed that college students who attended provincial-level and municipal-level key high schools demonstrated higher English language speaking proficiency. Additionally, paternal educational background had a more significant impact on the English language speaking proficiency of offspring compared to maternal educational background. Furthermore, female students exhibited higher English speaking proficiency levels than male students. Moreover, English speaking proficiency showed an inverted "U"-shaped trend with age, peaking at 22.5 years old. Based on the research results, recommendations were proposed to balance the educational resources of different types of high schools and to reform English teaching in universities. These suggestions aim to provide robust evidence for the formulation of educational policies to meet the growing demand for English learning in China.

Background: In schools accredited as “IB World Schools ” by the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), teachers use IB curriculum and pedagogy to teach a range of courses that are intended to prepare IB-enrolled students for college. Over the past 18 years, the number of U.S. schools that implement IB programs has increased nearly tenfold, from 133 in 1994 to 1,390 in 2013. Despite the IB program’s rapid expansion, little is known about whether IB enrollment causally improves students’ academic outcomes, including their high school academic achievement, probability of high school graduation and/or subsequent probability of college enrollment. Purpose: This study examines whether enrollment in the IB Diploma Program increases students’ academic achievement as measured by their composite ACT college admissions examination scores, probability of high school graduation, and probability of college enrollment, and whether the estimates differ by gender. Setting, Population, & Data: This study uses data on the demographic characteristics, IB enrollment status, ACT scores, high school graduation status and college enrollment status of 20,422 students attending 13 Chicago Public Schools (CPS) high schools from 2002-2008. Data sources include the CPS and the National Student Clearinghouse. Research Design: The analytic strategy is to first assume students are selected into the IB Diploma Program based on their observed characteristics, and then to use a propensity score approach to estimate the impact of IB enrollment on three measures of students’ academic success. The second step, following Rosenbaum (2002), is to test the sensitivity of the estimates to different levels of selection bias. Results: This study shows that IB enrollment increases students’ academic achievement, probability of high school graduation and probability of college enrollment. Though selection bias may contribute to overstating the propensity score estimates, the conclusion from the sensitivity analyses is that it is unlikely that this internal-validity challenge negates the principal finding. All estimates are greater for boys than for girls. Calculations demonstrate that the IB Diploma Program is a cost-effective way to increase high school graduation rates. Conclusions: The results are valuable for three reasons. First, they provide valuable information with which to make decisions about future investments in IB. Second, they contribute to knowledge of the means through which to improve high school education for disadvantaged urban youth. Finally, the results suggest that IB enrollment is especially beneficial for boys, for whom the probability of graduating from high school and enrolling in college—in CPS and at the national level—is substantially less than for girls.

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between self-regulation, free time management, and self-esteem variables among high school students. The research sample consisted of 193 girls and 276 boys, totaling 469 students studying in different types of high schools. The Personal Information Form, the Adolescent Self-Regulatory Inventory, the Free Time Management Scale, and the Two-Dimensional Self-Esteem Scale were used to collect data. Independent samples t-test analysis was conducted to compare the self-regulation, free time management, and self-esteem scores of the students in terms of gender and status of doing sports. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to compare the scores based on grade level, type of high school, and types of leisure time activities. In addition, correlation analysis was conducted to test whether there is a relationship between self-regulation, free time management, and self-esteem scores of the students. The results of the analyses indicated that there was a significant difference in self-regulation scores among the students based on gender, while no significant difference was found in free time management and self-esteem scores. However, significant differences were found in self-regulation, free time management, and self-esteem scores based on the status of doing sports. There was a significant difference in self-regulation scores according to grade level, while no significant differences were found in free time management and self-esteem scores. A significant difference was found in self-regulation and free time management scores based on the type of high school, but no significant difference was found in self-esteem scores. When examined in terms of leisure time activity type, significant differences were found in self-regulation, free time management, and self-esteem scores. The grade point averages of the students showed a negative correlation with their daily average free time, yet a positive correlation with their self-regulation scores. Self-regulation scores were found to be positively related to free time management and self-esteem scores. In conclusion, it is believed that the exploration of the relationships between high school students' grade point averages, free time, self-regulation skills, free time management, and self-esteem scores may play a significant role in helping high school students achieve positive outcomes.