Mix-Methods School Reform Study Exploring

¶ … mix-methods school reform study exploring critical indicators designed to assimilate the 21st century learner into the (p -- 16 / k - 20) education systems While the P-16 and K-20 systems have been implemented to bridge the gap to the P-12 system so that students can seamlessly integrate into tertiary study, little research has been undertaken to address the actual effects of the system. And indeed, a gap still appears to exist as a result of several factors.

Poor secondary preparedness, insufficient high school graduation rates, and a lack of accountability by administrators have been among the reasons cited for the problems still experienced by students transitioning from secondary to tertiary education. Indeed, Schoenfeld (2005, p.1), in reviewing work on the P-16 program, mentions the basic lack of in-depth literature and constructive dialogue on the subject of the relationship between the preparedness of the secondary school student and his or her access to higher education.

Instead, secondary education is dominated by issues of testing and meanings attached to the diploma obtained from such education, while higher education tends to be dedicated to issues of affirmative action. The popularization of such debates have somewhat ignored other pressing issues such as how to ensure that high school students are in fact ready to enter tertiary education. Another barrier to implementing an effective P-16 or K-20 program is the existing paradigms among college staff, where the rewards system often dominates such thinking.

Within a culture of "publish or perish" (Zhang, McInerney and Frechtling, 2010, p.2), such faculty staff are often more concerned with their own professional survival than forming partnerships with other entities that could lead to a more effective and student-centered tertiary education paradigm. Handel and Montoya (2009, p.24) also note the importance of partnerships among tertiary and secondary institutions in order to help the United States reach its goal of an optimal workforce.

The authors cite a report stating that the country needs to dramatically increase its production of bachelor's and associate degrees if it is to meet the growing needs of its workforce. In particular, underrepresented ethnic groups such as African-Americans, American Indians, and Hispanic-Americans need to form a substantial part of such a plan. Leskes (2003, p.34) again addresses the problem in a practical way -- current reform systems are based upon the correct ideological goals, but seldom meet these in reality.

Students need the ability not only to pass certain tests to indicate their preparedness for college, but also the ability to in fact apply their knowledge in practice to solve complex problems. This, according to the author, should be the focus of P-16 reform programs. This chapter will then be a mixed-methods study, integrating both qualitative and quantitative data in order to determine the critical indicators that will ensure the successful integration of the 21st century student into the P-16/K-20 education systems.

Problem Statement From responses by a variety of state higher education executive officers (SHEEOs), E.J. Walsh (2009, p.31) found that several shortcomings are identified in implementing P-16 policy. There is for example a gap between planning and implementation when it comes to relevant policies. SHEEO's can for example describe plans and goals for their respective states, but few indicated the presence of actual P-16 policy. The lack of clear policy affects the implementation of plans and goals.

There is a need for closer scrutiny of barriers such as historical divides between state education governance structures, as well as the cultural divide, as mentioned above. Cross-sector collaboration is also important in this regard. A second problem is that no state finance incentive is in place to promote P-16 alignment (Walsh, 2009, p.32). Indeed, paradigms like the above-mentioned rigid ideals of tenure at tertiary level often override collaboration efforts to ensure service to students and ultimately to the future of the American workforce.

Walsh (p.33) also indicates that state policy procedures could have important implications in this regard, although research in the area remains inconclusive. This is an important consideration for the present study. According to Leskes (2003, p.34), the main ideal of teaching lies not only in preparing high school students for tertiary education, but also in how teachers are trained in the first place.

The author notes that the competence of teaching graduates to lead a diverse body of students to success is a critical factor in implementing the reforms necessary to bridge the gap between high school and a successful college career. These teaching students therefore need to be exposed not only to a wide body of diverse knowledge, but also how to practically impart this knowledge to a wide variety of students in a single classroom.

The author suggests not so much a standardized curricular design to accomplish this, but rather a standardized set of outcomes against which faculty members can gauge their success. It is emphasized that, like the future student body in high schools, teaching students are as diverse as the individuality of each, and hence no two will respond the same to curricular design. This is why collaboration within university campuses is also vital in order to identify learning needs and to meet these to the best of the faculty's ability.

Integration is therefore not only necessary among teaching institutions, but also among faculties within single campuses, both at high school and tertiary level. Handel and Montoya (2008/9, p. 26) indicate that the root of the problems lies in the interaction level between secondary and tertiary education institutions. The problem is that, despite the P-16 and K-20 program attempts, there is still a relatively small proportion of high school students that 1) successfully transfer to four-year tertiary institutions, and 2) successfully complete their studies at these institutions.

It is therefore implied that the basic problem lies much deeper than a simple interaction paradigm among the institutions. In remedy, the authors suggest the building of a "transfer pipeline," wherein colleges and four-year institutions build address the needs of transferred students by environmental means. One important factor is to distinguish among the needs of diverse students. Handel and Montoya for example note that community colleges often attract students that differ from "traditional" freshmen, in that they tend to be somewhat older, support families, and study on a part-time basis.

It is therefore important to implement environmental support systems to ensure the success of such students. Orientation, tutorial, and mentoring programs are among the suggestions the authors make in this regard. In addition, academic skills such as study habits, and academic planning are also vital factors that can be promoted by means of environmental support systems. In summary, the main problem then focuses upon the ability of secondary students to integrate into tertiary programs on the basis of the skills and abilities developed during their high school careers.

In addition, there is a basic lack of support within tertiary institutions themselves to ensure the success of students that enter them. Finally, there is also a significant gap in terms of collaboration among tertiary and secondary institutions, with faculty members more often concerned with the reward of tenure than with supporting the students in their care.

These problems will be investigated and suggestions made regarding how policy and other paradigms can be used towards a remedy that will promote not only the well-being of individual students who enter tertiary programs, but also the collective workforce of the country. Research Questions and Hypotheses Questions and hypotheses will center upon the issues discussed above in order to reach the goals of the study, which is to identify the critical indicators that will allow the seamless integration of students today into tertiary study programs from their secondary school careers.

In order to accomplish this, qualitative and quantitative questions must be formulated.

The research will then aim to answer the following qualitative questions 1) What policies are in place to support the integration of students from secondary to tertiary study? 2) What support systems are in place to help students at tertiary level succeed? 3) Are any programs in place to help secondary students prepare for the academic rigors of tertiary study? 4) How do secondary and tertiary students feel about their prospects of success at college and university level? The research will aim to answer the following quantitative questions 1) How many students have successfully been integrated into tertiary programs from secondary school level? 2) What is the percentage of failure for students who enter tertiary programs directly from secondary schools? 3) What is the percentage of failure for students who enter community colleges from a disadvantaged, older demographic? Hypotheses that relate to these questions are as follows: 1) Policy today is insufficient to seamlessly integrate secondary students at tertiary level.

2) Support systems are insufficient to meet the needs of students at tertiary or indeed at secondary level. 3) it is likely that most secondary and freshman-level tertiary students would be uncertain about the future of their studies and resulting careers. 4) it is likely that a fairly low percentage of students have been successfully integrated into tertiary programs directly from secondary schools, while an even lower percentage than this has been integrated from the older, lower-income demographic. Research Methodology As mentioned above, a mixed-methods research approach is used to conduct the study.

Qualitative data will be collected from research report that concern topics such as official policy documents, institutional policy documents, research reports, as well as by means of approaching individuals and representatives of institutions by means of questionnaires and/or interviews. Schools and tertiary institutions will for example be approached to determine their approach to mitigating the transition of students from secondary to tertiary level, as well as to determine the general opinion regarding the appropriateness of current policies and procedures in this regard.

Specifically, students and teachers from various secondary and tertiary institutions will be interviewed and/or receive questionnaire with open-ended questions to collect qualitative data. The responses will then be compared to identify any similarities or significant differences among the various respondents. Quantitative data will be collected by means of official state statistics regarding a variety of secondary and tertiary institutions. Particular elements to be determined include pass rates at secondary and tertiary level, as well as fail and dropout rates for the institutions.

Demographic statistics will be used in order to determine any possible correlation between demographics and fail or pass rates. Official representatives will be approached for any data that are not publically available. Conclusions will be drawn by a method of comparison among the various elements of the qualitative and quantitative research. Comparisons will for example be made between questionnaire and interview responses from various age groups, demographics, and positions within the secondary and tertiary institutions.

These responses will be scrutinized for similarities and differences, as well as possible remedies for the problems identified. Statistics from the various institutions will be compared for similarities and differences, along with what these may indicate about concomitant strategies that are effective or less effective in determining the success of students at tertiary level. Specifically, demographic information will be collated with statistical pass and fail rates to determine any correlations and the possible need for the implementation of support programs.

Specifically, data collected will be organized in a number of tables to simplify the comparison process. Statistical data will for example be organized by means of a table that concerns pass and fail rates, as well as demographics in a single table. Separate tables will be used for data from secondary and tertiary institutions. These will then be compared with each other to determine the correlation between secondary and tertiary elements such as demographics.

Policy information on the state and institution level will be collated within a single table, while responses to questionnaires and interviews will be tabulated according to the questions asked and the demographic and position of the respondents. Finally, both qualitative and quantitative data will be correlated to determine the level of necessary remedies for the shortcomings found within the critical assimilation indicators to assimilate students within tertiary education programs. Data Collection Procedures The data collection procedure will occur in four stages.

Initially, theoretical data will be collected with the use of official policy documents on the state and institutional level to determine the current policies and programs in place specifically to support students who transition from secondary to tertiary education. Theoretical data will also be collected with regard to the general current opinion on the effectiveness of P-16 and K-20 programs in helping students to effectively transition and make a success of their tertiary careers. Secondly, official institutional statistics will be used to determine pass and fail rates, along with demographics.

Where these are not publicly available, the secondary and tertiary institutions will be approached with a request for statistical information. Thirdly, interviews and the distribution of questionnaires will be arranged with official representatives from secondary and tertiary institutions, along with secondary and tertiary educational professionals. The final stage will be interviews with students from secondary and tertiary institutions. The data collection method will incur certain ethical issues and limitations that must be taken into account when approaching the institutions in question.

Ethical Issues The research methods include using specific statistics from specific institutions, as well as interview and questionnaire responses from individuals. Approaching these individuals could result in ethical ramifications that must be addressed before conducting the interviews. When approaching official institutions, official insurance of anonymity will be provided in writing, along with an explanation of the specific use of the data for the purposes of a research project. Institutions will be designated generic titles such as Secondary Institution 1, 2, 3 etc., with the same being done for tertiary institutions.

Individual officials will be assured of anonymity by simply being referred to as representatives of institutions. Interviews will be conducted in groups with teachers and students respectively to mitigate the constraint of time. Before the beginning of the interview, the purpose of the study will be explained, while individuals will be assured of anonymity by referring to the interviews in terms of the responses rather than the individuals giving the responses.

After explaining the purpose and goals of the study, individuals will have the opportunity to leave the interview if they have any objections to taking part. Those who remain will also have the option to leave at any time they feel the need to do so. Questionnaires will be delivered to institutions manually and distributed by assigned.