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MA/PhD Theses Abstracts of Current Students & Alumni |
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Lee, Mark (MA). Improvement in a migrant school: An ethnographic inquiry (Borman). 2004.
This thesis is based on research done in the fall of 1997 at Dover Elementary School in Dover, Florida. Dover is a small, rural community whose primary economic outputs are berry and citrus crops. The seasonal demand for labor inherent in these industries lures a large number of migratory agricultural workers. The children of these workers face substantial barriers when attempting to achieve academically at a high level, including high mobility, social isolation, poor health and nutritional habits, language barriers, lack of self-esteem, economic marginality, and others. However, Dover Elementary has found a way to succeed with these children. In the 1996-97 school year, 47% of the school population was Hispanic, nearly all of whom were classified as currently or formerly migrant. Yet Dover had the highest average daily attendance in the Hillsborough County school district and its standardized test scores eclipsed the county medians. This was not a one-time occurrence. Through the 1990's, Dover has been the leader in average daily attendance three times, and its test scores have risen consistently. This was not always the case. In the mid-1970's, Dover was a very low performing school. In 1976, it ranked 73m of 76 elementary schools in the Hillsborough County School District in academic achievement. Its attendance was the second lowest in the district. This study focused on two questions: First, how did Dover restructure itself to become a higher achieving school? Second, how does Dover currently work to break down barriers to effective academic achievement for migrant students? Data were gathered through participant observation, interviews, and archival research. Findings suggest that, although a sizable funding increase brought on by a change to Title I Schoolwide status helped significantly, a change in the culture of the school may have been the strongest factor in the improvement of the school's performance. Additional factors include the development of collaborative relationships with the surrounding community and more intensive practices focused on the migrant students and their families.
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