Date of Award

3-27-2009

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Educational Leadership

First Advisor

Sherryl Houdek

Abstract

Increased accountability, due to No Child Left Behind Act (2001), has brought a sharp focus on America's schools. Through school initiatives, yearly progress reports, and testing, public schools continue to identify potential areas of improvement. The study's purpose was to identify the perceptions of high school students and teachers regarding student and teacher relationships effecting the personalization of learning at West Fargo High School. The West Fargo High School teachers and students (grades 9-12) completed parallel on-line surveys in the winter of 2006. All of the students completed the survey on-line with anonymous accounts. The teacher's survey was administered through an email containing a link to the survey. A MANOVA was used to determine significant differences between the two groups. A significant difference was found between the teacher and student perceptions on 20 of the 22 items in the survey. The results indicated that the teachers' perception of personalization and their relationship with students to be much more positive than the students' perceptions. Significant differences occurred on approximately half of the survey items when the groups were compared based on grade levels. These results varied with different grade levels perceiving aspects of the school environment as more positive than other grades. Significant differences between groups on the basis of grade point average occurred on 15 of the 22 items. Post hoc analysis revealed the students "who get good grades" perceive school as a much more personalized environment when compared to their classmates. When comparing the groups based on their involvement in extracurricular activities, there were significant differences between the groups on half of the survey items. The students who were more involved in extracurricular activities perceived the school environment to be more personalized. Significant differences between the groups of teachers were limited. The results indicated only three significant differences on the 22 item survey when the teachers were grouped by their years of experience, only one significant difference when the teachers were grouped by level of education, and only two significant differences when the teachers were grouped by core and elective areas.

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