Date of Award

2004

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Educational Leadership

First Advisor

W. Keith Christy, Ed.D.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine if high school transition classes alter student attitudes toward school, their peers, teachers/administrators or level of parental involvement. A large suburban high school class was administered a Likert Scale pre and posttest at the beginning of the course and at its conclusion. In addition to the pretest/posttest survey, students were grouped into six categories depending on their entering high school grade point averages. This delineation sought to ascertain if academic achievement either exacerbated or enhanced student perceptual indices on the survey. The data analyzed used an ANCOVA technique. Students were divided into groups according to their grade point averages (GPA) and attitudes toward the transition class were measured comparing the posttest scores adjusted by the pretest scores. Findings revealed that no statistically significant difference was discernable in student attitudes as a result of taking the freshman transition course. The implications of these findings were that while quantifiable gains may result as an extension of transitional support this study could not determine that there was a difference between attitudes of the students within the various GPA groups.

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