Midwestern High School Research Articles

Bringing Breakfast to Our Students

The relationship between breakfast consumption and academic success has been extensively studied over the past 30 years. Despite the wide availability of school breakfast programs and the preponderance of evidence that breakfast consumption has positive effects on a student's ability to learn and function in the school setting, many students do not eat breakfast. A survey of students at a large Midwestern high school identified the main barriers to breakfast consumption as not having enough time in the morning to eat and not feeling hungry before school. A program that included extending breakfast cafeteria hours and providing a mobile cart that served a complete school breakfast during students' morning study hall classes was implemented. By the end of the school year, average daily school breakfast participation increased by more than 400%. In a student survey conducted 6 months after implementation of the program, more than a quarter of the students reported purchasing food from the cart.

Computer-mediated Communication

This paper considers evidence of the collaborative construction of texts and the use of communication strategies in asynchronous computer-mediated exchanges. A classroom model of communicative competence (Savignon, 1983, 1997) provides the theoretical framework for discussion. The data consist of two bulletin board discussions between a class of German students of English in a Gymnasium and a class of US students of German in a Midwestern high school. The discussions were analyzed for evidence of the collaborative construction of text and context (Goodwin & Goodwin, 1992) and strategies used to sustain the collaboration. The analysis illustrates the cohesion of the postings on both a micro- and a macrolevel. The texts also offer evidence of participant use of strategies to mitigate potential conflict. As an opportunity for the interactive construction of both text and context, computer-mediated communication (CMC) of the kind documented in this pilot study would appear to have potential for promoting intercultural exchange and participation in the interpretation, expression, and negotiation of meaning essential to the development of communicative competence. Analysis of such intercultural exchanges may also shed light on the process of communicative norm negotiation and stabilization.

The Making of Masculinities: Fighting the Forces of Hierarchy and Hegemony in the High School Setting

This study stems from a yearlong qualitative inquiry examining the influence that gender ideologies exercised in the lives of four young men in the high school setting. Utilizing a feminist, post-structuralist perspective (Davies, 1997, 1989; Connell, 1996, 1997, 1989; Martino, 1995), it analyzes how masculinity constructs itself through discursive practices. The study involves four adolescent boys, Michael, Peter, Aiden and Jack, all friends and classmates in a small, Midwestern high school comprised mainly of working class and farming families. This study examines each boy’s idiosyncratic positioning within dominant discourses of masculinity, specifically questioning its ability to shape, influence and possibly constrain posture and performance in the classroom setting.

A Case of High School Hazing

While collegiate fraternity and sorority hazing are well documented problems that receive prominent attention, hazing at the high school level is also a serious issue. Across the nation, media headlines offer a continual reminder that high school hazing is not a phenomenon of the past. As high school principals seek ways to discourage and eliminate incidents of high school hazing, it may be useful to examine a model that was implemented after a nationally covered, major hazing incident that occurred at a large Upper Midwestern high school. The case study analyzes the incident at the time and a follow-up study of the school several years later. A restorative justice program was designed and successfully implemented to address both the hazing incident and a school and community culture of acceptance and encouragement. A follow-up study conducted 7 years after the original incident suggested that the behaviors and the culture had changed.

Learning from the Band

Decades of research has identified a variety of positive effects of student involvement in extracurricular activities. We know little, however, about how these important positive benefits come about. This article examines the process involved in participation in high school marching band to show how students created strong connections through participation in the activity and developed interactional and affective commitment to the group that led to a high level of trust, acceptance, and self-confidence. Using both observation and in-depth interviews of members of the marching band at two Midwestern high schools—a rural school and a midsize city school—I found that members of each band developed a close-knit, socioeconomically diverse community. Within a marching band, students created a culture of trust and acceptance of individuality that provided a strong support group, which many students related to a feeling of family. The density of friendships in this activity strengthened students’ identity with the group, thereby creating a stable marching band identity for individuals. This study provides an explanation of the processes involved in developing the strong commitment to others in the group that led to marching band becoming a salient identity for many students.

The Influence of Competitive Personality Orientation on Adolescent Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence (EI) is related to life success and everyday social interactions. The extent to which competitive personality orientation (CPO) may influence emotional intelligence among adolescents is unknown. The objective of this investigation was to determine the relationship between adolescent competitive personality orientation and emotional intelligence and if competitive personality orientation predicts emotional intelligence while controlling for demographic variables. Participants were 200 students (91 females, 109 males, M age=17.24 years) from three Midwestern high schools. An inverse relationship was discovered between competitive personality orientation and emotional intelligence. Higher competitiveness was associated with lower levels of EI and this relationship was maintained when demographic variables were statistically controlled. As well, females scored significantly higher for EI and lower for competitive orientation than males. The findings potentially have implications for youth organizations to consider the level of emphasis placed on competitive programming and for including activities whereby youth work cooperatively with each other for promoting EI development.

Why leadership matters: empowering teachers to implement formative assessment

PurposeThe focus of this research is to understand the role of the district superintendent, the building principal, and the school leadership team of classroom teachers as catalysts for innovation in instruction and classroom assessment. School characteristics and structures designed to specifically support professional learning communities are to be analyzed, and the responsibility teachers take for student learning using formative assessment is evaluated.Design/methodology/approachThe setting for the study is a small, Midwestern high school in the USA. The high school has a staff of 38 teachers, 15 of whom are on the Formative Assessment Building Leadership Team. The high school principal and district superintendent also participated in the study. The study took the form of a qualitative case study. The data sources were transcripts and artifacts from eight months of interviews, and building‐wide teacher meetings. Professional development inservices were also analyzed.FindingsThe principal served as a catalyst for building teacher knowledge and implementation of formative assessment practices. The success of the change initiative hinged on relationships between teachers and school leaders. Teachers used assessment in the service of student learning.Research limitations/implicationsBecause this is a case study, the findings themselves are not designed to be generalizable to other contexts.Practical implicationsUnderstanding the role school leadership will play in the implementation of a new State‐wide policy initiative for curriculum improvement is critical to uncovering the capacity required for formative assessment to be successfully implemented on a large scale.Social implicationsThere has been research in the field of educational measurement in the past few years on the use of formative assessments to raise standards of achievement and to lead to higher quality learning. This is an analysis of the complex dynamic between school leaders and teachers in the service of implementing assessment for learning.Originality/valueThe implementation of formative assessment on a large scale is a concern not only in the State in this research study, but in schools around the country. An exploration of the leadership capacity needed to originate and sustain this school improvement initiative is novel to the field.

Illinois Innovation Talent Project: Implications for two‐year institutions

AbstractThis chapter defines innovation, explores how companies are reorganizing work and learning to promote innovation, and examines the implications for developing innovation talent in Midwestern high schools and two‐year colleges.

EAIT editorial 17-2

Issue 2 of EAIT for 2012 continues to show the diversity of the field of computers and ICT in education with another six articles covering a wide range of topics. Laptop and other portable computers are now ubiquitous and the first article in this issue: ‘Laptop initiative: Impact on instructional technology integration and student learning’ by Jared Keengwe, Gary Schnellert and Chris Mills deals with this topic. The purpose of their study was to examine how a 1:1 laptop initiative affected student learning at a selected rural Midwestern high school in the United States. Their study suggests that integration of 1:1 laptop computing positively impacts student academic engagement and student learning and that there is thus a need for teachers to implement appropriate computing practices to enhance student learning. The next article: ‘Integrating ICT into College English: An implementation study of a national reform’ by Zhiwen Hu and Ian McGrath describes a mixed-methods case study of a national reform of College English teaching in China which called for the integration of ICT (information and communication technology) into English classroom teaching and self-access learning. Their findings indicated that the reform had represented a challenge for teachers, who were expected to adapt to technologically-enhanced teaching materials, embrace student-centred classroom teaching and guide students’ autonomous learning in ICT settings. The following article: ‘The design of a software to enhance the reading comprehension skills of deaf students: An integration of multiple theoretical perspectives’ by Magda Nikolaraizi & Ioanna Vekiri, discusses the role of visual resources, namely Greek Sign Language videos, concept maps and pictures, and their allocation in a multimedia educational software designed to enhance reading comprehension in deaf children. In the article they describe the software “See and See” and explain how relevant theory and research regarding visual displays and multimedia learning has been applied to its design. Educ Inf Technol (2012) 17:135–136 DOI 10.1007/s10639-011-9184-6

Affecting Disproportional Outcomes by Ethnicity and Grade Level: Using Discipline Data to Guide Practice in High School

Teachers report that the behaviors that they are forced to deal with on a daily basis are not typically violent or intense but are frequent and usurp great amounts of instructional time. Office discipline referrals provide a well-established method of tracking student behavior problems across the school, allowing for deeper analysis of contextual predictors of problem behavior. In this case study, an average-size Midwestern high school created and implemented a referral system that identified disproportional referral rates for freshmen and minority students. This article describes the process by which faculty members identified contextual predictors and agreed on simple rules, routines, and physical arrangements across the school. The authors used continuous data analysis to refine prevention measures and resulting data showed steady and consistent decreases among freshmen and minority students. Implications for considering disproportionality in the context of future research are discussed.

The Effects of Coping Skills Training Among Teens With Asthma

This pilot study used a pretest and posttest design to examine the effect of a school-based intervention, Coping Skills Training, among teens with asthma (N = 39) aged 14 to 18 years randomly assigned to treatment and control groups from three midwestern high schools. Variables included asthma self-efficacy, social support, asthma-related quality of life, peak expiratory flow rate, asthma diary symptoms, and rescue medication usage. The treatment group scored significantly higher on self-efficacy (p < .001), activity-related quality of life (p = .05), and social support (p < .001) compared with the control group after using ANCOVA to adjust for baseline scores. Significant improvements were also noted from pre- to posttest in the treatment group for self-efficacy (p < .001) and quality of life (p = .02). This study indicates that Coping Skills Training is an important intervention for further study with teens with asthma.

Migrant Hispanic Students Speak Up: Linguistic and Cultural Perspectives on Low Academic Attainment

The Hispanic population and their high school dropout rates in the United States have greatly increased over the last several decades. This study investigates linguistic and cultural issues that may have an association with high school abandonment among migrant Hispanic students. Open-ended interview questions were posed to a bilingual education administrator and four migrant Hispanic students in a small Midwestern high school in the United States. Participants reported that migrant Hispanic students are not prepared to live linguistically in the academic setting but merely to survive in it. From a cultural perspective, the data suggested that migrant Hispanic students can either allow social and cultural pressures within the school and community to negatively affect their educational engagement or they can acculturate with the dominant culture to minimize their “differentness.”

Laptop initiative: Impact on instructional technology integration and student learning

The purpose of this study was to examine how 1:1 laptop initiative affected student learning at a selected rural Midwestern high school. A total of 105 high school students enrolled in 10th---12th grades during the 2008---2009 school year participated in the study. A survey instrument created by the Mitchell Institute was modified and used to collect data on student perceptions and faculty perceptions of the impact of 1:1 laptop computing on student learning and instructional integration of technology in education. Study findings suggest that integration of 1:1 laptop computing positively impacts student academic engagement and student learning. Therefore, there is need for teachers to implement appropriate computing practices to enhance student learning. Additionally, teachers need to collaborate with their students to learn and understand various instructional technology applications beyond basic Internet browsing and word processing.

Older Adults’ Preferences for Independent or Delegated End-of-Life Medical Decision Making

This study assesses the proportions of participants who prefer independent or delegated medical decision making at the end of life and examines the relationships of personal beliefs, affiliative beliefs, and end-of-life planning behaviors to decision-making preference. Data are drawn from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study, a sample of nearly 4,500 healthy White Midwestern high school graduates in their mid-60s. Four fifths of participants wanted to make decisions independently. Valuing independence, being less avoidant of thoughts of death, and valuing quality of life over length of life had strong associations with a preference for independent decision making. Those concerned about burdening a caregiver wanted to make independent decisions. Persons who both executed a living will and appointed a durable power of attorney for health care preferred independent decision making. Older adults cite personal and affiliative beliefs, not lack of autonomy, as reasons for their choice to decide independently or delegate.

Producing success: the culture of personal advancement in an American high school

Middle- and upper-middle-class students continue to outpace those from less privileged backgrounds. Most attempts to redress this inequality focus on the issue of access to financial resources, but, as Producing Success makes clear, the problem goes beyond mere economics. In this eye-opening study, Peter Demerath examines a typical suburban American high school to explain how some students get ahead. Demerath undertook four years of research at a midwestern high school to examine the mercilessly competitive culture that drives students to advance. Producing Success reveals the many ways the community's ideology of achievement plays out: students hone their work ethic and employ various strategies to succeed, from negotiating with teachers to cheating; parents relentlessly push their children while manipulating school policies to help them get ahead; and, administrators aid high performers in myriad ways, even naming over forty students 'valedictorians'. Yet, as Demerath shows, this unswerving commitment to individual advancement takes its toll, leading to student stress and fatigue, incivility and vandalism, and the alienation of the less successful. Insightful and candid, Producing Success is an often troubling account of the educationally and morally questionable results of the American culture of success.

“So What.” “Who Cares?” “Whatever.” Changing Adolescents’Attitudes in the Art Classroom

AbstractWhile teaching art in a small midwestern high school, I began an investigation to better understand my students’ learning experiences. As my students engaged in a visual culture—oriented art curriculum, I investigated their responses to curricular activities, their interactions, and my teaching practice. Student journal entries, survey responses, teacher observations and reflections, transcriptions of classroom discourse, and student artwork were among data collected for analysis. Although the activities the students encountered during the curriculum were noteworthy, the relationships and interactions occurring in response to curricular activities were of most significance in influencing students’ actions. This essay further describes my observations and findings from this study, and offers suggestions for the teaching of adolescents in the art classroom.

"So What." "Who Cares?" "Whatever.": Changing Adolescents' Attitudes in the Art Classroom

While teaching art in a small midwestern high school, I began an investigation to better understand my students' learning experiences. As my students engaged in a visual culture-oriented art curriculum, I investigated their responses to curricular activities, their interactions, and my teaching practice. Student journal entries, survey responses, teacher observations and reflections, transcriptions of classroom discourse, and student artwork were among data collected for analysis. Although the activities the students encountered during the curriculum were noteworthy, the relationships and interactions occurring in response to curricular activities were of most significance in influencing students' actions. This essay further describes my observations and findings from this study, and offers suggestions for the teaching of adolescents in the art classroom.

Show and prove: investigating differences in the self-beliefs of Black and White honor students

While there is great deal of research that tracks self-regulatory academic beliefs and behaviors of students, relatively few efforts examine the specific self-beliefs of high achieving African American students. This study compared the intelligence-related beliefs, efficacy beliefs and academic goal orientations of 257 African American (N = 196) and White (N = 61) sophomore and senior students from among honors-level language arts classes in three large midwestern high schools. The results of this study suggest that while African American students and their White peers do not significantly differ with respect to efficacy beliefs or goal orientation, African American students expressed more strongly-held beliefs that were consistent with an entity view of intelligence than did White students. The implications of these results are discussed, as well as a practical means of application for academic settings.

Homophily Among Peer Groups Members’ Perceived Self-Regulated Learning

The present study is one of the first examining whether peer group members hold similar levels of self-regulated learning. The study specifically addresses the potential homophily among group members’ regulative abilities (metacognition, environment regulation, effort regulation, peer learning, and help seeking) and whether group members’ regulative abilities predict affiliates’ academic performance. The study surveyed 9th-grade students from a Midwestern high school about their regulative abilities for mathematics. Results suggest that peer groups members’ effort regulation is similar among peer affiliates but not other regulative abilities. In addition, peer group members’ regulative abilities do not predict each others’ academic performance.

What does it mean when an ethnographer intervenes?

This paper explores what it means to engage as an ethical researcher in the conduct of critical ethnography. During the years in which this critical ethnography of new language learners in a midwestern high school, the ethnographer actively participated in the life of the site. This paper poses the question of what such active involvement means for research ethics. Much of the literature on research ethics deals with Internal Review Boards standards, but this paper takes a reflective, ethnographic look at the researcher's own ethical practices in order to articulate and examine the underlying principles entailed in the decisions to intervene or not in the ongoing life of the site.