Character Education: The Impact of a Teen Leadership Program on Student Connectedness

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Character Education The Impact of a Teen
Leadership Program on Student Connectedness

• A Dissertation Defense by
• Anita Danaher

2
Defense Format

• Purpose of Study
• Research Questions / Findings
• Implications
• Recommendations

3
Purpose of the Study

• The purpose of the study is to examine the impact
  of the Teen Leadership program on students
  perception of school connectedness, student
  behavior in terms of
  making smart choices,
  and student
  confidence.

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Significance of the Study

• Provide research on implementation of a character
  education program.
• Provide quantitative data regarding current
  practices in educating ninth grade students.
• Determine methods to enhance the perception of
  school connectedness and student confidence
  thereby lowering the failure rate and subsequent
  retention of ninth grade students.
• Determine ways to positively impact student
  behavior by enhancing their ability to make good
  choices so as to lower the disciplinary referral
  and dropout rate among ninth grade students.

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Research Design Mixed-Method

• Quantitative
• Comparative
• Repeated-Measures Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)
• Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA)
• Qualitative
• Open-ended questions for teachers and students

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Population

• Quantitative data
• 150 eighth grade students (control group)
• 150 ninth grade students (intervention group)
• Qualitative data
• 5 high school Teen Leadership teachers
• 5 high school Teen Leadership students

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Study Participants

• ? 287
• Age range 13 to 17
• 13 (20)
• 14 (51)
• 15 (25)
• 16 (4)
• 17 (.3)
• African American 3
• Hispanic 44
• White - 52
• Other 1
• Male 46 Female 54
• Free and reduced price lunch 38
• Extracurricular activity participation 75

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What is the impact of the Teen Leadership program
on the students perception of school
connectedness?

• Ho1 For the intervention group, there is no
  significant difference between the pretest and
  posttest scores on student connectedness.
• Repeated-Measures ANOVA
• IV Test (Pretest and Posttest)
• DV Computed score for student connectedness
• Wilkss ? .912, F(1, 145) 13.98, p .000,
  multivariate ?² .09.
• There was significant growth in student
  connectedness between the pretest and posttest as
  a result of participation in the Teen Leadership
  class.

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What is the impact of the Teen Leadership program
on the students perception of school
connectedness?

• Ho2 For the non-intervention group, there is no
  significant difference between the pretest and
  posttest scores on student connectedness.
• Repeated-Measures ANOVA
• IV Test (Pretest and Posttest)
• DV Computed score for student connectedness
• Wilkss ? .983, F(1, 140) 2.47, p .118,
  multivariate ?² .02.
• There was no statistically significant difference
  in student connectedness between the pretest and
  posttest for the non-intervention group.

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Repeated-Measures ANOVA
One-Way Repeated-Measures Analysis of Variance
Summary of Within-Subjects Factors on Student
Connectedness
p lt .05. p lt .01
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What is the impact of the Teen Leadership program
on the students perception of school
connectedness?

• Ho3 There is no significant difference between
  the student connectedness scores for the
  intervention and non-intervention groups when
  controlling for preexisting differences.
• Fixed Factor Grade (8th grade and 9th grade)
• DV Posttest connectedness scale scores
• Covariate Pretest connectedness scale scores
• The ANCOVA was significant. The F test was
  significant at the .05 level and there was a
  significant difference in the adjusted means,
  F(1, 284) 20.83, p .000
• Partial ?2 .07
• There was a significant difference between the
  student connectedness scores for the intervention
  and non-intervention groups when controlling for
  preexisting differences.

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ANCOVA
One-Way Analysis of Covariance Summary for
Connectedness
p lt .01
13
What is the impact of the Teen Leadership program
on student behavior in terms of making smart
choices?

• Ho4 For the intervention group, there is no
  significant difference between the pretest and
  posttest scores on student behavior in terms of
  making smart choices.
• Repeated-Measures ANOVA
• IV Test (Pretest and Posttest)
• DV Computed score for student behavior
• Wilks ? .932, F(1, 145) 10.61, p .001 ,
  multivariate ?² .07.
• There was significant growth in student behavior
  in terms of making smart choices between the
  pretest and posttest as a result of participation
  in the Teen Leadership class.

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What is the impact of the Teen Leadership program
on student behavior in terms of making smart
choices?

• Ho5 For the non-intervention group, there is no
  significant difference between the pretest and
  posttest scores on student behavior in terms of
  making smart choices.
• Repeated-Measures ANOVA
• IV Test (Pretest and Posttest)
• DV Computed score for student behavior
• Wilks ? .978, F(1, 140) 3.19, p .076,
  multivariate ?² .02.
• There was no statistically significant difference
  in student behavior in terms of making smart
  choices between the pretest and posttest for the
  non-intervention group.

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Repeated-Measures ANOVA
One-Way Repeated-Measures Analysis of Variance
Summary of Within-Subjects Factors on Student
Behavior in Terms of Making Smart Choices
p lt .05. p lt .01
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What is the impact of the Teen Leadership program
on student behavior in terms of making smart
choices?

• Ho6 There is no significant difference between
  student behavior and ability to make smart
  choices scores for the intervention and
  non- intervention groups when controlling for
  preexisting differences.
• Fixed Factor Grade (8th grade and 9th grade)
• DV Posttest behavior scale scores
• Covariate Pretest behavior scale scores
• The ANCOVA was significant. The F test was
  significant at the .05 level and there was a
  significant difference in the adjusted means,
  F(1, 284) 12.14, p .001 Partial ?2 .04
• There was a significant difference between
  student behavior and ability to make smart
  choices scores for the intervention and
  non-intervention groups when controlling for
  preexisting differences.

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ANCOVA
One-Way Analysis of Covariance Summary for
Behavior
p lt .01
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What is the impact of the Teen Leadership program
on the students perception of school confidence?

• Ho7 For the intervention group, there is no
  significant difference between the pretest and
  posttest scores on student confidence.
• Repeated-Measures ANOVA
• IV Test (Pretest and Posttest)
• DV Computed score for student confidence
• Wilks ? .999, F(1, 145) .087, p .768 ,
  multivariate ?² .001.
• There was no significant growth in student
  confidence between the pretest and posttest as a
  result of participation in the Teen Leadership
  class.

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What is the impact of the Teen Leadership program
on the students perception of school confidence?

• Ho8 For the non-intervention group, there is no
  significant difference between the pretest and
  posttest scores on student confidence.
• Repeated-Measures ANOVA
• IV Test (Pretest and Posttest)
• DV Computed score for student confidence
• Wilks ? .928, F(1, 140) .10.91, p .001
  multivariate ?² .07.
• There was a statistically significant difference
  in student confidence between the pretest and
  posttest for the non-intervention group.

20
Repeated-Measures ANOVA
One-Way Repeated-Measures Analysis of Variance
Summary of Within-Subjects Factors on Student
Confidence
p lt .05. p lt .01
21
What is the impact of the Teen Leadership program
on the students perception of school confidence?

• Ho9 There is no significant difference between
  the student confidence scores for the
  intervention and non-intervention groups when
  controlling for preexisting differences.
• Fixed Factor Grade (8th grade and 9th grade)
• DV Posttest confidence scale scores
• Covariate Pretest confidence scale scores
• The ANCOVA was not significant. The F test was
  not significant at the .05 level and there was no
  significant difference in the adjusted means,
  F(1, 284) 3.69, p .648.
• Partial ?2 .001
• There was a no significant difference between the
  student confidence scores for the intervention
  and non-intervention groups when controlling for
  preexisting differences.

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ANCOVA
One-Way Analysis of Covariance Summary for
Confidence
p lt .01
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Qualitative Research

• Personal interviews
• Naturalistic inquiry
• Coding of data
• Data was read, described, and classified
• Three themes emerged
• Classroom environment
• Interactions
• Connectivity

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Qualitative Research Questions

• What is the overall impact of the program from
  the perspective of the Teen Leadership teachers?
• What is the overall impact of the program from
  the perspective of the Teen Leadership students?

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Qualitative Findings

• Teen Leadership students and teachers shared many
  commonalities in their responses to the
  open-ended questions.
• The Teen Leadership class is perceived by both
  students and teachers to be beneficial.
• Classroom environment
• Positives associated with meet and greet,
  handshake, Good News, and student-directed
  lessons
• Interactions between the teacher and students as
  well as student-to-student also are perceived to
  be enhanced by the Teen Leadership class.
• Connectivity appears to be greatly increased
  according to the perceptions of the Teen
  Leadership teachers and students.

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Conclusions

• Students who participated in the semester long
  Teen Leadership class were significantly more
  connected to their teachers than students in the
  control group.
• Students who participated in the Teen Leadership
  class made significantly smarter choices and were
  therefore better behaved at the end of the
  semester than students in the control group.
• Students who participated in the Teen Leadership
  class became somewhat more self-confident during
  the duration of the study.
• Teachers and students who participated in the
  Teen Leadership class perceived the class to
  enhance their feelings of connectivity with each
  other. Additionally, both teachers and students
  perceived that the Teen Leadership class
  heightened the classroom environment and
  teacher-to-student as well as student-to-student
  interactions.

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Recommendations

• The topic of character education should be
  researched as it relates to the overall
  curriculum. All teachers should be made aware of
  the virtues taught in the Teen Leadership program
  and encouraged to incorporate and reinforce those
  values as time and subject matter permits.
• A service learning component would provide
  students a chance to practice the character
  traits they have discussed in class. A formal
  plan to require community service should be
  further studied at the high school.
• Develop a plan to provide ongoing, specialized
  professional development in the development of
  student connectedness with support through
  classroom follow-up and mentoring.

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Recommendations for Further Study

• Future studies may include the implementation and
  study of the effectiveness of the Teen Leadership
  course at the seventh grade in addition to the
  ninth grade level. The strategies acquired in
  the Teen Leadership class may be amplified as the
  initiative broadens across two campuses as well
  as two grade levels since it will involve a
  greater number of stakeholders with varying
  degrees and types of needs, perceptions, and
  levels of understanding.
• Future studies should be conducted on a
  longitudinal basis to determine if the perception
  of school connectedness is maintained after
  completing the Teen Leadership course in the
  freshman year.

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Recommendations for Further Study (cont.)

• Future research should also examine the
  individual characteristics of students with the
  highest levels of school connectedness.
  Identifying those characteristics may help
  educators develop programs that will instill
  these characteristics in all students.
• What is the relationship between student
  connectedness and the dropout rate?
• Does student connectedness impact the students
  attendance rate?
• What support is needed to aid teachers in
  promoting and sustaining a perception of student
  connectedness?

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Quote by Former Secretary of Education Rod Paige

• I have long believed that in educating our young
  people we must not simply teach children how to
  count. We must also teach them WHAT counts. To
  those who say that schools should not be in the
  business of teaching children about character, I
  sayto the contrary. It's time for school to get
  back into the business of teaching children that
  character, honesty and integrity are important.

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Character Education The Impact of a Teen
Leadership Program on Student Connectedness

• A Dissertation Defense by
• Anita Danaher