167
Low socioeconomic status student demographic. This theme emerged as the primary
response to interview question two with 13 instances (23%) of being directly or indirectly mentioned by the research participants. This theme’s relationship to research question one indicates that the best practices and strategies employed by a high school principal for students’ higher education and future career preparation require addressing the education of traditionally underrepresented student populations of low socio-economic status in higher education. Within the United States public education system, the number of students accepted into the Food and Nutrition Service School Lunch program (United States Department of Agriculture, n.d) is a determinant of low socioeconomic status based on paying a reduced price for lunch or receiving a free lunch on the public school campus. All research participants reported members of their student population as receiving a free/reduced lunch. The majority reported low socioeconomic rates above 50% on their campus sites.
English language learner student demographic. This theme emerged as another
response to interview question one with 13 instances (23%) of being directly or indirectly mentioned by the research participants. This theme’s relationship to research question one, also, indicate that the best practices and strategies employed by a high school principal for students’ higher education and future career preparation require addressing the educational needs of
students who are English language learners as traditionally underrepresented in higher education. Each research participant reported having English language learners (ELL) of various levels. The majority of students designated as ELL’s were of Latino heritage. A qualifying score on the California English Language Development Test (CEDLT) is an indication of student’s academic English level competence for reclassification as fluent English Proficient (California Department of Education, n.d.). P1 reported, “It’s not even a student that struggles with English as a
168
primary language; that particular student is a straight-A student” (P1, personal communication, January 24, 2017), having one student identified as EL, on a campus of 400, based on enrollment paperwork. Research participants report high numbers of reclassified fluent English proficient (RFEP) on campus: P10 reported 75-76% students classified as RFEP. Other research
participants reported student populations of ELL students on campus from 6% to 20%.
Latino/Latina student demographic. Another important theme that emerged in
response to interview question one with 13 instances (23%) of being directly or indirectly mentioned by the research participants the attention given to the educational needs of student populations of Latin ancestry, especially of the male gender, traditionally underrepresented in higher education. The location of the majority of research participant schools was in
communities that had a large number of residents of Latin heritage. Every school reported a student population from Latin ancestry; P5 stated a Latino population of 93-94%. P8 stated a Latino population of 98%. P10 reported, 96%, and P13, 99%. Latinos are one of the groups of underrepresented student populations in higher education. P12 mentioned how their instructional program focuses on this population in their preparation for higher education commenting, “We always look at the disparity in the achievement scores of Hispanic students and African-
American students, especially in the area of Math.” (P12, personal communication, March 2, 2017)
First generation demographic. Another theme emerged in response to interview
question one with 12 instances (21%) of being directly or indirectly mentioned by the research participants. The best practices and strategies employed by a high school principal for students’ higher education and future career preparation consists of meeting the educational needs of students who are the first in their families to attend college as first-generation college students.
169
All research participants answered the interview question that the first generation college students are present on their campuses. Research participants provided a range of answers that reflected a minimal difference in the occurrence of responses for the interview question. P1 indicated, “We’re not targeting a specific population. We don’t have a GPA cut-off that we don’t take. We don’t have a quota that we are filling” (P1, personal communication, January 24, 2017) P4 indicates, “The greatest percentage of our kids are first generation, at least, 60%, if not more. I think that’s important. That’s something we’ve maintained on purpose. That’s where our passion is” (P4, personal communication, February 1, 2017)
African American demographic. This theme emerged as the primary response to
interview question one with six instances (10%) of being directly or indirectly mentioned by the research participants. This theme’s relationship to research question one indicates that the best practices and strategies employed by a high school principal for students’ higher education and future career preparation requires leadership that focuses attention on African American students, especially of the male gender, traditionally underrepresented in higher education. As reflected in the data of interview question one responses, very few research participants’ school sites have a significant number of African Americans in their student population. Research results reflect community demographics. The student population of P5 was 500 of which 6-7% are African Americans The student population of P11 was 600 of which 5-10% were African Americans
Interview question 2b: Do you have students in foster care, special education or homeless students on your campus? Data analysis of responses to this interview question
developed characteristics from which the following four themes emerged as presented here in alphabetical order: (a) foster care, (b) homeless, (c) special education: general education curriculum, and d) special education: modified curriculum (see Figure 11).
170
Figure 11. Do you have students in foster care, special education or homeless students on your
campus?
Note. This figure demonstrates the four themes that emerged from responses that answered the stated interview question, presented here in decreasing order of frequency. The numbers above each theme indicate the number of times a direct or indirect statement made by an interview participant fell into the respective theme category.
Special education-general education curriculum. This theme emerged as the primary
response to interview question one with 13 instances (38%) of being directly or indirectly mentioned by the research participants. This theme’s relationship to research question one indicates that the best practices and strategies employed by a high school principal for students’ higher education and future career preparation require attention to addressing the educational needs of students receiving special education services. When stated, research participants indicated that students with special education services are members of the student population, on their school sites, which range from 270 – 600 students. The percentage of students with special education services ranges from 7% to 15%. The special services designation for these students
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 SPECIAL EDUCATION: GENERAL EDUCATION CURRICULUM
HOMELESS YOUTH FOSTER YOUTH SPECIAL EDUCATION:
MODIFIED CURRICULUM 13 10 9 2 F re q u en cy
Unidentified Underrepresented Student Demographics