Perspectives of Suburban Public School Teachers on the Characteristics of Students At-Risk for Dropping out of School

This study focuses on a major problem facing today’s educators: high school dropouts. Numerous studies have been conducted to identify the reasons that students drop out of school and programs that may address the needs of students at-risk for dropping out of school. Literature in this area was reviewed to identify what can be learned from these studies. Research questions addressed differences in teacher perspectives of the characteristics of elementary, middle, and high school struggling students. Differences in teachers’ perspectives based on tenure and type of teaching assignment were examined. A sequential, mixed methods approach was taken. The researchers began with a quantitative survey of 108 teachers, followed by focus groups with 12 elementary and secondary teachers. The research was conducted in two suburban school districts. The analysis indicated that characteristics of at-risk students fall into four dimensions: Family Involvement, Behavior, Achievement, and Family Background. Significant differences were found for Achievement with secondary teachers reporting higher mean scores than elementary teachers. Additionally, significant differences were identified for elementary classroom teachers in regards to Achievement. Elementary classroom teachers reported higher mean scores than elementary non-classroom teachers for this dimension. The data gained from the study can be used to inform decisions regarding the identification of at-risk students. It also provides information related to support services aimed at assisting struggling students. Determining if differences in perspectives exist among the levels of teachers can be beneficial in identifying students before they become at-risk for dropping out of school. This study benefits students, parents, teachers, school administrators, central office administrators, and school committee members as these stakeholders look to address the dropout problem that plagues high schools across the nation

Characteristics of At-Risk Students

This study focused on a major problem facing today’s educators: high school dropouts. Research questions addressed differences in teacher perspectives of the characteristics of struggling students. Differences in teachers’ perspectives based on teaching level (elementary & secondary) were examined. The researcher conducted focus groups with a total of 12 teachers. The research was conducted in two suburban districts. Focus group questions were designed following a survey administered to 108 suburban public school teachers. The survey responses reported previously identified four dimensions of characteristics of at-risk students: behavior, achievement, family involvement, and family background. The data from the focus groups can be used to inform decisions regarding the identification and support of at-risk students

Characteristics of At-Risk Students: Opinions of Elementary and Secondary School Teachers

This study focused on a major problem facing today’s educators: high school dropouts. Research questions addressed differences in teacher perspectives of the characteristics of struggling students. Differences in teachers’ perspectives based on teaching level (elementary & secondary) were examined. The researcher conducted focus groups with a total of 12 teachers. The research was conducted in two suburban districts. Focus group questions were designed following a survey administered to 108 suburban public school teachers. The survey responses reported previously identified four dimensions of characteristics of at-risk students: behavior, achievement, family involvement, and family background. The data from the focus groups can be used to inform decisions regarding the identification and support of at-risk students

Why and How Organizational Members Encourage Their Peer Coworkers to Voluntarily Exit the Organization: An Investigation of Peer-Influence Exit Tactics

Previous scholars have found that organizational members use various tactics to encourage their peer coworkers to voluntarily exit their organizations. These tactics are known as peer-influence exit tactics. What has been missing from the literature is clarity about the factors that influence organizational members' use of peer-influence exit tactics. This dissertation explored the construct of peer-influenced exit to develop greater clarity about the motives for encouraging peer coworkers to leave, the characteristics of the peer-influence exit tactic source and receiver, and the organizational influences on peer-influenced exit. Study 1 used an open-ended survey design to explore the motives, process, and means through which peer-influenced exit occurs and the success of using peer-influence exit tactics. Results indicated that organizational members use eight peer-influence exit tactics and have four overarching motives for using them. Organizational members also reported that they consciously planned their tactics and the tactics were used with some success. Study 2 used an experimental design to explore how certain tactic source and receiver characteristics and organizational characteristics affect the use of peer-influence exit tactics. Results of an exploratory factor analysis revealed that organizational members use affirmation, unprofessional, depersonalization, and professional peer-influence exit tactics. Results of the experiment indicated that organizational members use affirmation, unprofessional, depersonalization tactics more frequently with low performing peer coworkers than with high performing peer coworkers. No differences emerged regarding the use of peer-influence exit tactics based on the cohesiveness of the organizational culture. The results also revealed relationships between competitiveness, agreeableness, and self-esteem of the source and peer-influence exit tactics. Study 3 incorporated a correlational design in which working adults were surveyed about their personal experiences with peer-influenced exit. Results revealed that personal gain, altruistic, organizational enhancement, and climate improvement motives predicted the use of peer-influence exit tactics, as did the competitiveness, agreeableness, and self-esteem of the source, perceived similarity, work performance, liking, and organizational influence of the target, and the organizational climate, supervisor complicity, and coworker regard. The results provide greater insight into the antecedents and outcomes of organizational exit that are valuable for both organizational communication scholars and organizational practitioners

Perspectives of Suburban Public School Teachers on the Characteristics of At-Risk Students

This study focuses on a major problem facing today’s educators: high school dropouts. Numerous studies have been conducted to identify the reasons that students drop out of school and programs that may address the needs of students at-risk for dropping out of school. Literature in this area was reviewed to identify what can be learned from these studies. Research questions addressed differences in teacher perspectives of the characteristics of elementary, middle, and high school struggling students. Differences in teachers’ perspectives based on tenure and type of teaching assignment were examined. A sequential, mixed methods approach was taken. The researcher began with a quantitative survey, followed by focus groups. The research was conducted in two suburban school districts. To begin the data collection, teachers at each school level were surveyed regarding the characteristics of students at-risk for school failure or dropping out of school. Surveys were administered to elementary, middle, and high school teachers for a total of N = 384. Surveys were administered through an online survey service, www.zoomerang.com with a total of N = 108 valid responses. The data were analyzed to identify any significant differences among teacher perspectives. Following the survey completion, the researcher conducted focus groups at each level. Focus groups consisted of n =6 teachers at each level (elementary and secondary) for a total of N = 12. Focus group responses allowed the researcher to identify common themes among teacher responses. The data gained from the study can be used to inform decisions regarding the identification of at-risk students. It also provides information related to support services aimed at assisting struggling students. Determining if differences in perspectives exist among the levels of teachers can be beneficial in identifying students before they become at-risk for dropping out of school. This study benefits students, parents, teachers, school administrators, central office administrators, and school committee members as these stakeholders look to address the dropout problem that plagues high schools across the nation

The Relationship Between Aggressive Communication Traits and Organizational Assimilation

© The Author(s) 2015. This study used theory of independent mindedness as a framework to examine the role of aggressive communication traits in organizational assimilation. Both employee traits and their perception of supervisor traits were examined. Results indicated that employees who are indirect verbally aggressive report lower levels of familiarity with coworkers, acculturation, involvement, job competence, and role negotiation. Additionally, employees who perceive their supervisors as higher in argumentativeness, low in verbal aggressiveness, and low in indirect interpersonal aggressiveness report higher levels of familiarity with coworkers, familiarity with supervisors, acculturation, recognition, involvement, and role negotiation