Background
I am personally connected to the research by being a high school English teacher at the alternative school. I am also a library science student that has a passion for knowledge. I feel that all students should be offered that resource.
I feel that the alternative schools get left behind. The budget is a mere fraction of that of a traditional school. The regular education teachers and administration often feel that this is a dumping ground for students that they don’t want. I want to show the community and schools officials that these students do matter, and they should have the same opportunities as other students. I hope this research helps us gain a library.
I want to know if the achievement levels of students would increase if there was an accessible media center on campus for the students and teachers to use. They are not able to get a hold of books, reference materials, or computers for research and/or pleasure.
Question
How does the lack of a media center in an alternative environment affect reading levels (scores/abilities) of students?
Site of Research
~96 students out of 120 available slots attend the Alternative School.
~Slots are available to the 4 middle and the 4 high schools only (8,836 students)
~Slots are available to school based on school population.
~87% of school free and reduced lunch
~70% of school population are Black; 28% White, 2% Hispanic
~16,473 students in CCS.
~Population of Shelby is just shy of 100,000 people. (2006 census - 98,373 people)
~Rural setting
~72% of population has high school diploma.
~13% of population has bachelor’s degree or higher.
Sample and sample selection
My first period classroom consists of five English 9 students. I don’t know these students well. I have only had them for 5 days. I will continue to gather information about them. Student A is a white male. He is 16 and involved with the court system. He has missed 2 days to attend court. Student B is a 17-year-old black male that can be very confrontational. However, he has been very polite to me. Student C is a 16-year-old female. She was sent to the alternative school because of skipping class at her home school. Her reading ability is low. Student D is another black male. He is 17 and was in my class the previous semester. He dropped out after only attending three days and has returned for another go. Student D is also a black male. He, too, is 16. He has missed three days this semester due to suspension. I chose this class over the others because they are more involved in their class work than the other classes. They will complete their assignments without me asking them over and over. They are also pretty responsive to talking to me about what is going on in their lives.
Please give feedback on anything above. Any suggestions? Is the question too broad?
Heather Greene
Comments (9)
Heather,
I am still pulled to your study because I can't imagine a school, no matter what size, not having a library, or some sort of availability. I am just trying to grasp this sample of students. They are there for various reasons, but are all of their reading levels low? Do you have various reading levels? Maybe in your sample you could talk more about their reading levels. By what you have so far, I am assuming all of them are low, but every once in a while you might have a high student at these alternative schools. Good luck, and I am looking forward to your study.
Posted by Jill Mann | January 31, 2009 9:29 AM
Posted on January 31, 2009 09:29
Heather;
I am very interested in your study, as I also teach English and have taught in an alternative school setting very similar to yours. Is the class size typical? How much can you expect it to change? (Obviously, you may not have answers to these questions, but I am curious.)
One student was sent for skipping class? I'd bet many schools would wish that was the worst problem they had.
Posted by Conrad Martin | January 31, 2009 7:22 PM
Posted on January 31, 2009 19:22
Heather,
I don't think that your question is too broad, I find it very direct. I cannot imagine a school that has zero access to resources available in a media center. These students are in this alternative school as almost a final straw (the final straw being drop school altogether and get a GED) so it seems like these kids would need the help so much. Any chance they can get access to a high school media center at all? Do they have school during the day? My county had just started an alternative school of sorts my senior year of high school for high risk dropouts and pregnant teens (that was when teen pregnancy was more rare than it is now). They however still met in my high school but during the evenings. I think they still had access to the media center, I'm not sure. What about checking into the possibility of meeting in a public library once a week or two?
Posted by Sherry Fender | January 31, 2009 8:50 PM
Posted on January 31, 2009 20:50
Heather-
This sounds like a wonderful project. It will be very interesting to see your results. However, I am a little unclear about the questions you stated above. Are you trying to increase the about of media available to the students in this class?? I am also curious on how you are leveling these students? Are you using a standardized system or is it something else?? How are you going to monitor their achievement level or gain?? It sounds like you have a great plan in place for a much needed area but I am just unclear about somethings. But I also may be jumping the gun on something you would tell us later. :)
Nikki
Posted by Erin Jaynes (Nikki) | February 1, 2009 10:56 PM
Posted on February 1, 2009 22:56
I'm with those who can't imagine having a school that doesn't have a media center. Particularly if you want those students to learn to read, and more importantly enjoy reading. I wonder how the students feel about not having access to resources through the media center when their "normal" school peers do?
Posted by Heather | February 2, 2009 9:56 PM
Posted on February 2, 2009 21:56
Ok - last post was by me - not Heather! I was addressing it to Heather!
"I'm with those who can't imagine..."
Posted by Amanda | February 2, 2009 9:57 PM
Posted on February 2, 2009 21:57
Heather,
Your research question, as it is worded, is going to be too hard to study. There is only a theoretical connection between the two, and I can't really think of a research design that would help you to "prove" that connection.
I think what you really want to know is the reverse. However, you're not going to be able to measure achievement in a 4-week study. What you really want to do is try to understand, as Stringer says, the life-worlds of your participants in order to advocate for them.
So your research question might be:
"How do students in an alternative perceive their need for a library?"
If you ask that research question, you get at what the students have to say about it, and then you can have data to incorporate in your plan to gain a library. You can also interview other stakeholders in the school.
A caveat: Former students who have worked in alternative schools have struggled with their participants being present enough to study. You might want to choose those who have good attendance (or as good as it can get) and build in a couple of back-up participants.
Overall, though, this is an important topic, and rather difficult to study for many reasons, but I have confidence that you can do it! :)
Posted by Alecia Jackson | February 4, 2009 1:23 PM
Posted on February 4, 2009 13:23
The word "school" should be after the word "alternative" in my suggested research question.
Posted by Alecia Jackson | February 4, 2009 1:24 PM
Posted on February 4, 2009 13:24
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Posted by Freddie Piedrahita | October 13, 2011 11:32 AM
Posted on October 13, 2011 11:32