Abstract This study studies the relationship of corporal punishment and the academicperformance of students in grades 1 - 9 in Taiwan. There are many research studies examining corporal punishments in the K-12 setting worldwide, but only a few studies have specifically examined the relationship between corporal punishment and academicperformance. This study aims to better understand the relationships between the frequency of corporal punishment, the attribution by the students towards the reasons of the punishments, and the actual academicperformance of the students.
Contents:
Abstract
Chapter 1:
Introduction
Corporal Punishment of Students in the United States
Corporal Punishment of Students in the Far East
Limitation, delimitations, assumptions
Chapter 2:
Literature Review
Chapter 3:
Methodology
Research Questions
Data Source
Sampling and Population Method
Strength and Limitation of Sampling Method
Data Analysis
From the Paper "These cases of corporal punishment (or CP) on children demonstrates the gravity of the issue. These studies raise questions concerning the relationship between corporal punishment of children and adverse outcomes, such as anti-social behavior, as well as other issues (Magrid 1990; Strauss, 2001; Gaffney, 1997; Hicnchey, 2003).
Western educational experts argue that the long-term costs of corporal punishment outweigh any short-term benefit that might be gained by its application. The effects of corporal punishment may last for years, and the family, the local community, and society at large pay the price for teachers' actions. Beatings and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatments potentially affect both the physical well-being and the psyche of those who are punished (Gaffney 1997, Andero 2002)."
Abstract This paper discusses how the explanatory style is a cognitive personality variable that reflects the habitual manner in which people explain the causes of bad events that befall them. According to the paper, researchers believe that attributional style can help provide a better understanding of behaviors and consequences that affect one's performance and actions. The paper further discusses how tests of this relationship have spanned a wide variety of achievement settings including academic, health, athletic, and work settings, and how some of the problems and stresses affect performance, focusing primarily on academics.
Contents:
Chapter One
Performance Statement of the Problem
Purpose of the Study
Significance of the Study
Research Hypothesis
Scope and Limitation of the Study
Definition of Terms
Overview of the Study
Chapter Two
Review of Related Literature
Chapter Three
Methodology
Identification of Subjects
Implementing the Study
Gathering and Analyzing Data
Chapter Four
Data Analysis
Chapter Five
Summary, Recommendations, and Conclusions
From the Paper "For African Americans, ethnic identity and cultural racism significantly predict life satisfaction (Utsey et al, 2002). The study conducted by Utsey et al (2002) dealt with how African Americans felt about the culture and ethnicity that they belonged to, whether they felt they had been the victims of racism during their lifetimes, and also looked at how satisfied they were with their lives. Those that were less comfortable with their ethnicity and those that had been victimized by racism had lower quality of life scores than those that were comfortable and did not feel as though they had been victims. The higher the victimization score, the lower the quality of life score for these individuals.
Phinney, Cantu, and Kurtz (1997) state that having a poorly developed racial identity can lead to depression, a lack of comfort with oneself, and many other emotional problems that can be avoided when racial identity development theory is more clearly understood. On the other hand, having a racial identity that is well developed and that one is very comfortable with produces the opposite effects. While this is not an overly surprising insight, it is important that the correlation be noticed and recognized as something that should be studied and understood more clearly. This understanding of the link between racial identity and well-being has its roots in counseling psychology. By understanding the process of the development of racial identity, counselors felt they could begin to better understand pathology among black patients. Similarly, in investigating life satisfaction among African Americans, researchers (Utsey et al, 2002; Phinney et al, 1997) theorized that they must be attuned to cultural differences. There are significant potential dangers when researchers are unable to incorporate culture as a variable. Without a good understanding of cultural differences, it is possible for behavior to be misunderstood and even pathologized."
Abstract In this article the writer notes that explanatory style is a cognitive personality variable that reflects the habitual manner in which people explain the causes of bad events that befall them. The writer further points out that researchers believe that attributional style can help provide a better understanding of behaviors and consequences that affect one's performance and actions. This research aims to use this theory together with other variables and correlate this with students' GPAs, to see what factors interact or are able to predict academicperformance. The writer highlights that before this takes place, however, it is important to understand the students and some of the problems and stresses that they face, so that their academicperformance and how they react to certain issues can be better understood.
From the Paper "Stress is generally a good thing as all individuals must have some stress to survive. However, when students have too much stress in their lives or the stress is perceived as being a negative event then psychological and physical impairments can sometimes be seen. There are ways that students can reduce stress in school but they have to work at what they are doing and learn how to get enough social support, enough time for leisure and enjoyment, and manage their time correctly. If students are not able to meet any type of personal need through different leisure activities or hobbies they may feel as though the stress that they must deal with in classes and during exams is actually much stronger than what it really is."
Abstract One of the most heated point of contention within school districts currently is the variable effects of school size, school funding and student performance. There are costs and benefits associated with school size and especially class size and those issues affect school funding, as it is largely accepted that less schools, therefore larger schools equals less cost overall. Yet, the concern in any district is the trade off associated with increasing the size of the student body and therefore almost assuredly increasing the class size and the student to teacher ratio. Mississippi schools are not alone in their quest to find an answer to this growing dilemma. A review of current literature assists educators in a greater understanding of the inherent problems and solutions offered for both increasing school size and decreasing or maintaining current status. This analysis assesses the current state of information on the interrelated issues of student body size, school costs and academicperformance. A short summary of the conclusive evidence within the literature, shows that there is a growing trend to determine just what the best size is for secondary schools. The overwhelming evidence is in favor of smaller schools that incorporate the use of many interdisciplinary tools and use careful coordination to ensure that diversity remains within the school curriculum. Researchers from all over the spectrum are searching for ways to determine the best possible results for all students within the compulsory education system and the focal point could just be the very question this paper asks: How much does school size affect cost and student success?
From the Paper "Not only does Roellke suggest that smaller schools are just as effective as larger schools on the issue of curriculum and that there are possibilities that can be offered only by smaller schools, he also contends that smaller schools are the best trying ground for curricular improvement efforts. ?Lower enrollments allow for such engaging and meaningful instructional practices, suggesting that small schools are ideal sites for curriculum reform efforts.? (Roellke 1996) Roellke also stresses that some of the ways in which smaller high schools offer greater curricular diversity than they might have in the past, is through the implementation of greater collaborative efforts and also the use of technological advances. Roellke is one of many researchers making the connection between school size and curricular diversity a less important factor through further investigation."
Abstract The paper is a research proposal discussing the anecdotal evidence that parental involvement in the academic lives of their children is associated with higher academicperformance. Specifically, the study proposed examines the apparent relative significance of parental academic involvement as a predictor of academicperformance and as a predictor of the ultimate academic level achieved.
Outline:
Abstract
Brief Literature Review
Sampling Methodology, Instrumentation, and Data Analysis
Possible Outcomes and Conclusions
From the Paper "Children whose parents are strong positive influences in their lives tend to behave better in general (Melhuish, Sylva, et al 2001), and tend to develop better social and professional relationships (Allen & Daly 2002), as well as to perform better in academic settings than children whose parents are negative influences or absent altogether. Inclusive, supportive family relationships seem to correspond to better academic performance across the board, irrespective of wealth, social standing, or education level of the parents (Flouri & Buchanan 2004). Among the "better" parents, those who are also involved in their children's academic lives apparently benefit subsequent academic performance even more".
Abstract This paper discusses the influence of parents' educational attainment on pre-adolescent academicperformance and development. It analyzes how a parent can be the primary factor that determines whether their child develops certain behaviors which are often a mix of both expected and desirable, and unexpected and undesirable. The paper also discusses the effects of parental demographic factors, occupation and financial status on a child's academicperformance.
Table of Contents:
Review of Literature
Conclusion
From the Paper "Pre-adolescents are at a crossroads of biological and psychosocial change. One of the specific "barometers" of this change is academic performance as determined by parental educational attainment. Parental educational attainment, as a component of socioeconomic status, although independently demonstrated to have profound effects on a child's cognitive development and academic performance can be difficult to isolate from the effects of other components such as parental demographic factors, occupation and financial status. In spite of this, not only does a higher educational attainment of parents influence academic performance both directly and indirectly regardless of income, but is also directly influenced by learning opportunities available to the child from birth."
Abstract Although there is little doubt that divorce has a negative impact on the academic achievement of children, the underlying causes of diminished performance are not clearly understood. The following literature review examines a number of recent research studies to help understand potential underlying causes of poor academicperformance in children of divorced parents.
Introduction
Literature Review
Conclusion
Bibliography
From the Paper "The divorce rate in the United States is rising at an alarming rate. Just after the Civil War, approximately 5% of marriages in the United States ended in divorce. The divorce rate increased to approximately 10% by the 1920s and approximately 35% by the mid 1960's. By 1990, the divorce rate in the United States had risen to 50%. In a span of 125 years, the divorce rate in the United States increased by 900%. These rising divorce rates have undoubtedly had a profound effect on children. In 1988, 15% of all children lived with a divorced or separated parent. Presently, more than one million children per year experience a parental divorce. In the 1960's, almost 90% of children lived in homes with two biological parents. By 1995, approximately 18.9 million children under the age of 18 lived with one."
Abstract This paper examines personality types and their relation to academicperformance. The author looks at Jung's theory of personality, and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test research. The paper also discusses student assessment tests, how different personality types excel at different subjects, and methods used to improve student performance.
From the Paper "All academic achievements are related to the personality characteristic of the students. Yet, schools usually take into account only the academic achievement on basis of exam scores such as GRE, MCAT and SAT. Why do some students achieve success while others drop out? Some subjects are a piece of cake while others are difficult to tackle. All these questions are dependent upon the personality type and the motivation for the academic subject that the student has. There is a voluminous amount of research into how personality type affects learning and teaching styles in general. Most of the research in this area used the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, MBTI, to evaluate a person's personality preferences. In fact, the MBTI is used in the majority of studies that evaluate the effect of personality type on educational outcomes. It also has the advantage of being a measure that indicates personality type based on a person's preferences rather than on a clinical diagnosis and so is easy to administer."
Abstract Government at all levels, as well as the American public, has a right to know how well children are performing in the public education systems. This paper provides a review of the peer-reviewed and scholarly literature to identify methods to achieve academic improvement in the nation's schools. A summary of the research and salient findings are presented in the conclusion.
From the Paper "Since the passing of the No Child Left Behind legislation in 2001, colleges of education in the U.S. have made it a requirement that candidates take and pass either a state-sanctioned standardized examination or a national standardized exam called the Praxis Series, which is comprised of three levels of assessment (Lucas & Robinson, 2002). Further, it is certainly a measurement responsibility to engage these issues with users in order to understand and evaluate such implications of test design on teaching candidates (Cole & Willingham, 1997). A careful examination of the fairness issues in the design of The Praxis Series: Professional Assessments for Beginning Teachers, is a good example of this principle (Dwyer & Ramsey, 1995)."
Abstract This paper analyzes whether physical fitness improves academic success. The paper specifically focuses on the relationship between physical activity and physical fitness with academicperformance among children in elementary schools in the United States. It analyzes previous research done in this area and attempts to reach conclusions based on their results. It also briefly looks at the issues of obesity in children in the United States.
Table of Contents:
Objective
Discussion of General Background Literature
Summary of Pertinent Research
Conclusions of the Literature Review
From the Paper "Obesity among school children has been noted as being a problem in many U.S. states in recent years with schools attempting to address these problems. One major factor that is only making obesity a further problem and is as well perpetuating diminishing grades for students is the stringent standards set out for testing by the "No Child Left Behind Act" which is referred to as 'every child left behind' by many teachers in the United States. The focus on testing has resulted in physical education classes being reduced in terms of the time and importance allotted to these classes and that time being instead diverted to core curriculum in the attempt to raise scores on the Standardized Achievement Tests (SAT) of students."
Abstract This paper discusses how literature shows that adolescents who remain in school and are not frequently truant are less likely than their absent and truant peers to become involved with all kinds of criminal activities. It evaluates the theory that programs designed to reduce truancy behaviors will have the added benefit of reducing juvenile crime or at least reducing the risk that certain young people will become delinquent. It examines the most popular causes of truancy and looks at the factors which may well place a juvenile at risk for delinquency such as poverty, dysfunctional or one-parent families, high neighborhood crime rates and a tacit acceptance of certain forms of deviance, increased peer pressure to join gangs and poor academicperformance. It evaluates how although school-based responses may not have the capacity to directly change family behaviors and/or attitudes, they can make a difference in the lives of at-risk students.
From the Paper "How effective are truancy programs in reducing risk of delinquency? In Charleston, South Carolina, Police Department Chief Reuben Greenberg, who came to the City in 1982, has implemented a truancy program that puts four uniformed officers on the street, every day, at the beck and call of school administrators reporting a truant student. The truancy patrol, which also involves juveniles themselves, picks up kids age 6 to 17 and then returns them to school. In its first four years, the program was associated with a 27 percent reduction in local juvenile crime - by keeping kids off the streets, and in school, Greenberg stated, crime rates decreased. Most significantly, juvenile-against-juvenile crime during typical school hours also plummeted. Between 1990 and 1994, not a single school-age student was shot, stabbed, beaten up or killed on a city street (Bennett, et al, 1996)."
Abstract This paper is a research proposal to look at the effects of school uniforms on academicperformance and learning in schools. The paper reviews some of the existing literature and explains the reasons why further study is needed and what the research should look like. The proposal is for a four-year study of a school system of 1-5,000 students before and after the implementation of school uniforms.
From the Paper "There have been many proposed solutions to the problems in American Education in recent years, and one option that has been considered and implemented by many schools is the adoption of school uniform policies, especially since Bill Clinton's 1996 and 1997 State of the Union Addresses urging their use. This solution has not been accepted by many people, parents, teachers and students, and there have been great debates over whether or not to have uniforms and whether or not they will solve any of the problems facing American schools, such as drugs, violence, inattention, high dropout rates, poor discipline, and others ("Manual on School Uniforms," 1996). This paper seeks to examine whether or not school uniforms have any impact on the education system and if so, if it is a positive one, helping to resolve any of the school's problems."
Abstract The paper researches the correlation between primary language and academic results. The paper performs the research on groups of students, using interviews, as well as other methods. This study examines whether students perform better academically when involved in activities in the cultural setting of both the primary and the secondary language; and if the use of both languages on a consistent basis increases the academicperformance of the students.
Outline:
Chapter I:
Objective
Hypothesis
Research Questions
Methodology
Importance of the Study
Organization of the Remaining Chapters
Chapter II:
Literature Review
Students Experience Loss Of L1 In The Learning Of L2
Overview Of Second Language Acquisition Theory - Five Stages Of Development
Chapter III:
Review Of Literature Reviewed In This Study
Chapter IV:
Findings
Recommendations
Bibliography
From the Paper "Hakuta, Ferman, and Diaz (1986) argued that the research on bilingualism that was conducted earlier had "failed to distinguish between the different levels of bilingualism." (Garcia-Vazquez, 1997) Current research has as its' focus the cognitive development of languages among all children." (Garcia-Vazquez, 1997) Recent research has found evidence for positive relation between bilingualism and reasoning abilities among children. Such reasoning abilities are inclusive of "nonverbal problem solving skills, divergent thinking skills, and field independence." (Cummings, 1976; as cited by Garcia-Vazquez, 1997) The research of Bialystock, 1986a and 1986b indicates that additive-bilingual children out-perform monolingual counterparts on tasks requiring high levels of cognitive control." (Garcia-Vazquez, 1997)"
Abstract Proposes a study to determine whether family structure can explain poor academicperformance. Impact of traditional & non-traditional families on variations of academicperformance. Discusses theoretical context & theories of human development (Piaget & Vygotsky); prior conflicting studies on the topic. Stanford 9 Achievement Test. Methodology, research design, data collection. Table of Contents.
From the Paper The Impact of Family Structure
on Student Achievement
Abstract This paper examines current research regarding labels in schools and discusses the effects of those labels on the academicperformance of students. The paper debates the high incidence of uses of disability labels, such as learning disability, behavioral disorders, or attention deficit disorder. The paper presents critics of labeling who argue that the labels themselves have a negative impact on the academicperformance of children with those labels. The paper also explores the views of proponents of labeling, noting that the labels are necessary to provide all children with the educational assistance they need.
From the Paper "Those narrow groups do not identify specific abilities or disabilities, according to the researchers, but instead suggest specific treatment and intervention that is broad in topic. The result, they note, is often groups of children falling through the cracks in education, due to a failure to identify and assist in the areas the student truly needs. They continue to propose that, instead of broad labels, students? educations are tailored to fit their specific needs. In this way, the disabling effect of labels can be minimized, and students can do better, even when labeled (Levine & Swartz, 1995). Brody and Mills (1997) also found that expectations of teachers and peers in regards to disabled students played an important role in the development of those student's abilities. Their study focused on those disabled students who are also gifted. The researchers noted that many children with special needs are rarely identified and are often not given the tools they need, either in their low-ability areas or in their high ability areas (Brody & Mills, 1997)."
