Education

Identify /discuss the study 's strength and weaknesses

The study was focused on policies , perceptions , and practices relating to the transition of students from secondary to higher education . The strengths of this study are that it is the first multicenter study of education reform in USA . This project examined the relationships between K-12 and postsecondary education as they relate to student transitions from secondary to postsecondary education , and high school student parent , and educator understandings of policies at the high school graduation and college entrance levels . There are strong regional issues

at play here . For example , the greater Sacramento , California metropolitan region - a site where this research was conducted - is very different from an urban area like Los Angeles or a rural area such as the Central Valley . Likewise , Northern Illinois is very different from downstate . This is an issue in every state included in this project Also , since this project included more schools that are categorized , as middle-to-higher achieving than it did very low achieving , chances are that these problems are worse elsewhere

The design of the study includes interviewing 165 people in state education agencies , state-level K-16 committees or councils , twelve universities , and six community colleges . The project included one region per state and two universities per region . One more selective and one less-selective institution were included per region . Authors provided comprehensive literature review also (44 references . In addition , RAND researchers conducted content analyses of high school exit-level and college entrance-level assessments in each state

The weakness of study is its limitation for only six states . Sampling design was not developed properly . In three states , Georgia , Illinois and Oregon , the majority of students in the samples fall into the middle SES category . The samples in California and , especially , Maryland , have a majority of high SES students . Racially , the California sample is quite diverse Maryland 's is primarily African American and White non-Latino Texas ' is primarily Latino and White , non-Latino and the remaining cases are predominately White , non-Latino (though there is some diversity within that category for example , in Oregon , there are a lot of Eastern European immigrant and first-generation students . Texas was the pilot state and , consequently , the field research in the schools was substantially different . It was smaller in scope , more qualitative and included middle schools and high schools . Lastly , the Illinois case is unique because data collection was spread out over two school years in which 9th and 11th graders were surveyed in May of one year and 10th and 12th graders were surveyed in September of the next (to keep the cohorts together . So , data heterogenity was very high in this study and that fact can influence on validity

Explain the research hypothesis in relation to the problem

The research hypothesis is presence of disjunctures between secondary and postsecondary education in the United States . Authors focused on the problem of inadequate readiness and preparation for college

Explain the theory on which the studies were based

The studies were based on signaling theory . Signaling theory suggests that streamlined and aligned high-quality and appropriate content messages have a positive impact on students ' learning and achievement and that mixed signals (the current state of affairs ) have the opposite effect . In research agenda they view admissions and placement standards and institutional arrangements as policies that communicate signals meaning , and expected behavior to students and secondary schools . By defining admissions and placement policies as policies that send signals to students , it is our intention to examine both existing policy structures and proposed reforms within the same analytical framework - specifically , the interaction that occurs within a state and region Authors used this conceptual framework to examine the relationship between high school graduation , college admission , and college placement requirements at the state level

Sources

Michael Kirst , Andrea Venezia and Anthonio L . Antonio Betraying the College Dream : How Disconnected K-12 and Postsecondary Education Systems Undermine Student Aspirations . Stanford 2003

(at HYPERLINK "http /www .stanford .edu /group /bridgeproject /betrayingthecollegedream .pd f http /www .stanford .edu /group /bridgeproject /betrayingthecollegedream .pdf br

Michael W . Kirst (Ed , Andrea Venezia (Ed ) From High School to College : Improving Opportunities for Success in Postsecondary Education Jossey-Bass 2004 448

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