dc.contributor.author	Finch, James Marshall
dc.coverage.spatial	Central and North America -- United States -- Georgia	en_US
dc.coverage.temporal	2014	en_US
dc.date.accessioned	2016-01-12T14:10:52Z
dc.date.available	2016-01-12T14:10:52Z
dc.date.issued	2015-12
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10428/2029
dc.description.abstract	The research on smaller learning communities like freshmen academies is plentiful in the literature about its impact on the social and academic adjustments students must make when transitioning from middle school to high school. Past studies have shown where schools that set apart freshmen have seen positive results in student achievement. With accountability scoring the performance of ninth graders, schools are exploring setting apart freshmen in sections of the school building or on another campus in hopes of them achieving at higher levels. As a result, the purpose of this study was to examine student achievement of freshmen in three distinct school settings: high schools using a freshman wing, high schools using a freshman campus, and high schools using no facility to transition ninth graders. A mixed methods design was employed to fully investigate the reasons schools were choosing to set apart students in their first year of high school. A sample of 125 schools from the three groups was purposefully selected from a population of 349 public high schools in Georgia. The quantitative portion examined 2014 Ninth Grade Literature End of Course performances, credit accrual for freshmen, scores on the College and Career Readiness Index, and graduation rates of schools. The qualitative aspect of this study examined responses from 15 principal interviews about the effectiveness of the freshman facility design employed in their high school. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to determine if a significant difference existed among the three groups in the first research question. An analysis of themes in the responses to seven interview questions helped determine the results to the second and third research question. Results indicated a significant difference in only one category of the quantitative section of this study: credits earned in the freshmen year by students with a disability. Students with disabilities in high schools using a freshman campus earned significantly more credit than their counterparts in high schools using neither a wing or campus to transition freshmen. There was no significant difference in Ninth Grade Literature performance, credit accrual for all students, CCRPI scores, or graduation rates. Further results from the interviews with principals indicated high schools with freshmen campuses often originated from the combination of overcrowding in the schools and a surplus of facilities that could be repurposed into a freshman campus. Other results showed transition strategies used to help students adjust to high school were employed by schools in all three groups.	en_US
dc.description.tableofcontents	Chapter I: INTRODUCTION 1 \| Conceptual Framework 2 \| Statement of the Problem 9 \| Purpose of the Study 10 \| Research Questions 11 \| Significance of the Study 13 \| Methodology 14 \| Definitions of Terms 15 \| Organization of the study 16 \| Chapter II: REVIEW OF LITERATURE 17 \| The Facility Arrangement of the Ninth Grade Experience 17 \| High School Transitions 21 \| Smaller Learning Communities 25 \| Freshman Academies 29 \| Ninth Grade Achievement and Post High School Readiness 34 \| Summary 36 \| Chapter III: METHODOLOGY 38 \| Research Design 38 \| Population, Sample, and Sampling Procedure 40 \| Instrumentation 42 \| Data Collection 50 \| Data Analysis 51 \| Summary 54 \| Chapter IV: RESULTS 55 \| Demographic Characteristics of Schools 57 \| Quantitative Results 59 \| Qualitative Results 77 \| Participants 77 \| Demographics of the Interviewees 78 \| Summary 105 \| Chapter V: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 106 \| Literature Review 107 \| Methodology 115 \| Quantitative Findings 116 \| Qualitative Findings 123 \| Limitations and Assumptions 132 \| Suggestions for Future Research 133 \| Conclusions 123 \| REFERENCE LIST 138 \| APPENDICES \| Appendix A: Expert Panel Review Interview Questions for Principals of High \| Schools Using Certain Freshman Facility Designs 152 \| Appendix B: Sample Correspondence to Superintendent 156\|	en_US
dc.language.iso	en_US	en_US
dc.subject	Ninth Grade Academy	en_US
dc.subject	Freshman Campus	en_US
dc.subject	Educational Leadership	en_US
dc.title	The Effect of the Self-Contained Ninth Grade Campus on Student Achievement Indicators	en_US
dc.type	Dissertation	en_US
dc.contributor.department	Department of Curriculum, Leadership, and Technology of the Dewar College of Education and Human Services	en_US
dc.description.advisor	Pate, James L.
dc.description.committee	Brockmeier, Lantry L.
dc.description.committee	Bockhenko, Michael J.
dc.description.committee	Dees, Elizabeth C.
dc.description.degree	Ed.D.	en_US
dc.description.major	Educational Leadership	en_US