Date of Award

Summer 2014

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Curriculum, Instruction, and Leadership

First Advisor

Lawrence Leonard

Abstract

Traditional educational environments have been documented as being potential barriers to improving student achievement. Consequently, reform models, such as the New Tech High School (NTHS), were created to enable educators to fundamentally rethink teaching and learning. The purpose of this study was to ascertain whether the NTHS, as a reform model, is an effective vehicle to increase student achievement. The study examined the relationship between NTHS models and desired outcomes of the New Tech Network (NTN) as indicated by: state proficiency exams, End of Course (EOC) exams; a college and career readiness exam, the American College Test (ACT); and, School Performance Scores (SPS). An attempt was made to determine if the participating NTHS schools have been accomplishing the intended outcomes of the NTN and if this reform model has the potential to successfully transform educational practices. Analysis and conclusions were based on results from the application of a chi-square distribution test, comparisons of calculated z scores with percentile ranks, and a Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient. The data sets used in the study were constructed from reported student achievement and principal/teacher perceptions at three NTHS schools located in northern Louisiana.

The study found that there is an association between NTHS model configuration and student achievement scores on state proficiency exams. This study also determined that the participating NTHS schools reported lower student achievement scores on the college readiness indicator exam, the ACT, when compared to the Louisiana state average composite score. Likewise, the researcher found that the NTHS model configurations of Whole School Conversion (WSC) and Autonomous School (AS) both reported a SPS lower than the average Louisiana School Site SPS while the entire school of the Small Learning Community (SLC) configuration reported a higher SPS than the state average Louisiana School Site SPS. Finally, a positive correlation was found in NTHS principal/teacher perceptions of implementation of the NTN goals instructional approaches and principal/teacher perceptions of meeting the NTN desired student outcomes based upon the NTN School Success Rubric (SSR). Implications of the findings and recommendations for further research are provided.

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