Date Awarded
2024
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)
Department
Education
Advisor
Steven Staples
Committee Member
Christopher Gareis
Committee Member
Steven Constantino
Abstract
Middle school offers an entryway onto the path of college readiness. However, many practitioners and researchers have focused their efforts on high school students. Remaining is a population of potential college-going students, whose opportunities to prepare for college at an earlier stage are overlooked because middle school is not viewed as the appropriate time for students to begin exploring postsecondary options. Admittedly, not every student will pursue a college degree, nor will every student take advanced math classes. This action research study evaluated the college-going self-efficacy perspectives of 90 sixth-grade students, at one middle school, who were placed in three different levels of math—Regular, Honors, and Advanced. Albert Bandura’s Self-Efficacy of Motivation (1997) and Social Cognitive Theory (1986) serve as a theoretical framework. A pre-experimental study, this research aimed to evaluate sixth graders’ college-going self-efficacy before and after the intervention. The College-Going Self-Efficacy Scale (CGSES; Gibbons, 2005) was designed specifically for middle school students and is used as both the pretest and the posttest. Two focus groups were facilitated to illuminate the quantitative data. A repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) along with descriptive analysis were completed. The data collected suggests that math placement is not the only influential factor; students’ preconceived beliefs, notions and experiences seemed to have a noteworthy impact. There are other factors outside of mathematics that contribute to how students view themselves as potential college-going individuals. This study offered some policy and college-going initiatives to pursue in future cycles of action research. For diverse and underserved students, gaining access to college degree attainment through overlooked on ramps, can be crucial to their success. The results can be generational.
DOI
https://dx.doi.org/10.25774/w4-myd4-tc13
Rights
© The Author
Recommended Citation
Scott, J, "Middle School Students' Pathways To College: An Investigation Of Middle School Math Placement And College-Going Self-Efficacy" (2024). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. William & Mary. Paper 1717521771.
https://dx.doi.org/10.25774/w4-myd4-tc13
