Date of Award
2005
Degree Type
Dissertation
First Advisor
Paul Bueno de Mesquita
Abstract
Personalization of our nation's high schools has been identified as an important yet often overlooked component of successful educational reform. It is a result of having lasting positive relationships with teachers leading to a feeling of connectedness to their school. Research supports the role of personalization and school belongingness through their correlation with a number of positive educational and behavioral outcomes. High sense of school belonging is associated with an increase in educational variables such as high grades and academic motivation, and a decrease in school drop out and behavior problems. This study examined the relationship between an advisory program and students' sense of school belonging in one high school with a sample of 1144 students and 112 teachers. School belonging was measured using the Psychological Sense of School Membership Scale (Goodenow, 1993) and the School Connection Scale (Brown, Leigh, & Barton, 2000). A single school quasi-experimental design with multiple regression methods was employed, which examined the relationship between the advisory structure, student perceptions of their advisory experience, and sense of school belonging. After controlling for the effects of student achievement, results indicated that when the type of advisory activities, students' perceptions of advisory, and teacher student relationship were considered, the teacher student relationship was the strongest predictor of school belonging. The opportunity for students to share their opinions also made a unique contribution to variance in school belonging for all groups and measures. Implications for education policy, professional development, and practical issues related to the implementation and maintenance of advisory programs are discussed.
Recommended Citation
Meloro, Phyllis C., "Do high school advisory programs promote personalization? Correlates of school belonging" (2005). Open Access Dissertations. Paper 2057.
https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/oa_diss/2057
Terms of Use
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