UMI/ProQuest URL

 

http://80-wwwlib.umi.com/dissertations/fullcit/9952403

PUBLICATION NUMBER

 

AAT 9952403

TITLE

 

Internet distance learning and one-to-one tutoring: A reconceptualized approach for youth at-risk of dropping out

AUTHOR

 

Smith, Sabra Ronee

DEGREE

 

EdD

SCHOOL

 

FIELDING GRADUATE INSTITUTE

DATE

 

1999

PAGES

 

177

ADVISER

 

Taira, Susan

ISBN

 

 0-599-54118-0

SOURCE

 

DAI-A 60/11, p. 3892, May 2000

SUBJECT

 

EDUCATION, CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION (0727); EDUCATION, TECHNOLOGY (0710); EDUCATION, EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY (0525)

 

ABSTRACT

 

This action-oriented research study was designed to implement, observe, and document the effects of an alternative program, which coupled Internet-based Distance Learning and One-to-One tutoring, on increasing the academic achievement (through successful completion of high school courses) and self-esteem levels of bicultural students at-risk of failing or dropping out of high school. The three African American students in this study were enrolled in Cyberschool, a completely on-line high school, and the Institute of Scholar Training &amp; Academic Tutorial (STAT), a nonprofit, education-based organization that provides comprehensive academic tutoring to students. A mixed methodology of both quantitative and qualitative inquiry was utilized in data collection and analysis. The data were presented as narrative case studies with each study organized according to the following format: (a)&nbsp;traditional school grade reports, (b)&nbsp;pre-enrollment interviews, (c)&nbsp;results of pre-enrollment IOWA Standardized Exam, (d)&nbsp;results of pre- and post-Individual Protective Factors Index (IPFI): A Measure of Adolescent Resiliency (Springer &amp; Phillips, 1982), (e)&nbsp;reflective journals, (f)&nbsp;Cyberschool grade reports, and (g)&nbsp;follow-up interviews. Findings from a <italic>t</italic> test comparison, used to determine if there was any significant difference between the students' traditional mean grade point averages and their alternative mean grade point averages, resulted in a t value of &minus;5.640 (p &lt; .001) and &minus;4.91 (p &lt; .001) for two of the three students. An analysis of the data also revealed that the alternative program was successful in significantly affecting the self-esteem levels of the student participants, as a group, in all four components of the personal competence domain of the IPFI Index (t = 5.56; t = 5; t = 2; t = 3.339) for the .10 significance level test. Three broad categories were found in the qualitative analysis of the data: (1)&nbsp;School Environment, (2)&nbsp;Teachers and Methods of Instruction, and (3)&nbsp;Standards of Program Effectiveness. Each of the student participants increased in academic achievement and personal competence.