Virginia Tech
    • Log in
    View Item 
    •   VTechWorks Home
    • ETDs: Virginia Tech Electronic Theses and Dissertations
    • Doctoral Dissertations
    • View Item
    •   VTechWorks Home
    • ETDs: Virginia Tech Electronic Theses and Dissertations
    • Doctoral Dissertations
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Teacher and Administrator Perspectives on a Good Middle School: A Cross-Case Study

    Thumbnail
    View/Open
    Mercer_LS_T_2015.pdf (5.701Mb)
    Downloads: 1045
    Date
    2015-12-04
    Author
    Mercer, Lisa Skaggs
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Abstract
    Education for adolescents in middle-level schools is a topic of great interest for many educators. Reaching a consensus on what constitutes an effective education for middle-level learners has been a challenge. The purpose of this study was to contribute to this discussion. Although the study was designed to report on effective middle schools, the respondents reported their perspectives on good middle schools. The findings of this study about good middle schools may be beneficial to middle-level educators that are interested in improving educational environments and outcomes for the adolescent learner. A cross-case study methodology was used to investigate the perspectives on a good middle school of teachers and administrators in two middle schools in a school system in a southeastern state. Seventeen face-to-face interviews were conducted with a researcher-developed protocol, and document analyses were conducted. Data were analyzed with the constant comparative method. The perspectives of the participants were organized into ten categories of what they believed constitutes a good middle school: culture, personnel, the needs of diverse adolescent learners, organizational structures, transitions, instructional practices, parental involvement, curricular aspects, physical environment, and progress. The teacher and administrator perspectives on a good middle school were analyzed in three ways: (a) a descriptive analysis of the characteristics of a good middle school as viewed by the teachers and administrators of Dorchester Middle School and J. K. Walters Middle School; (b) a comparison of the characteristics of a good middle school as viewed by teachers and administrators of the two schools and the characteristics of a good middle school as identified by the National Association of Secondary School Principals Council on Middle Level Education in 1985, the Association for Middle Level Education in 2010, and the Carnegie Corporations Council on Adolescent Development in 1989; and (c) a comparison of the characteristics of a good middle school identified by the teachers and administrators of Dorchester Middle School and the characteristics of a good middle school identified by the teachers and administrators of J. K. Walters Middle School (pseudonyms). Middle school educators have struggled with the nature of an appropriate education for middle-level learners for decades. When combined with other studies of the perspectives on middle-level schooling of practicing teachers and administrators, those who work with middle-level learners every day, the data in this study may help in efforts to reach a consensus on the elements that should be a part of a good middle school.
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/10919/64293
    Collections
    • Doctoral Dissertations [14901]

    Related items

    Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.

    • Thumbnail

      The perceptions of public school principals from schools of different levels of quality about the influence that desegregation, supplementary financial assistance, magnet school thematic activities, and increased educational opportunities have on the quality of education in schools 

      Lerch, David K. (Virginia Tech, 1994-11-15)
      This case study determined whether there was a difference in perceptions among principals from different quality schools about the influence desegregation, supplemental financial assistance, magnet thematic activities, and ...
    • Thumbnail

      School Integration: A Case Study of the 1971-1972 School Year at Indian River High School 

      Fowler, Lee V. (Virginia Tech, 1997-07-31)
      This dissertation is a case study of the initial year of integration at a predominantly white southern high school. The school's racial configuration changed from approximately 10% black to approximately 35% black in ...
    • Thumbnail

      Examining the Use of Federal School Improvement Grant Funds and Academic Outcomes in Schools Denied Accreditation and Priority Schools within the Commonwealth of Virginia 

      Bassett, Stephanie Diane (Virginia Tech, 2015-04-21)
      The purpose of this study was to examine how federal School Improvement Grant (SIG) funds were allocated and what differences existed between allocation patterns and overall student achievement outcomes as measured by ...

    If you believe that any material in VTechWorks should be removed, please see our policy and procedure for Requesting that Material be Amended or Removed. All takedown requests will be promptly acknowledged and investigated.

    Virginia Tech | University Libraries | Contact Us
     

     

    VTechWorks

    AboutPoliciesHelp

    Browse

    All of VTechWorksCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjects

    My Account

    Log inRegister

    Statistics

    View Usage Statistics

    If you believe that any material in VTechWorks should be removed, please see our policy and procedure for Requesting that Material be Amended or Removed. All takedown requests will be promptly acknowledged and investigated.

    Virginia Tech | University Libraries | Contact Us