Full metadata
Title
Factors contributing to successful high school completion for resettled refugee students in Arizona: student and mentor perspectives
Description
Given the surge of immigrant and resettled refugee student enrollment in public schools, a strong understanding of the transition process for these students and their families and facilitating the creation of effective schooling contexts are major educational priorities. It is critical to determine how to best support and assist resettled refugee students in academic and other endeavors. This study seeks to better understand the perspectives of resettled refugee students who are recent high school graduates and their mentors in order to contribute practical insights into resettled refugee education and to give voice to these students. Informed by sociocultural theories as reflected in the works of Daniels, Cole and Wertsch, (2007) and others, twelve resettled refugees from Bhutan, Iraq and Burma (aka Myanmar) and ten mentors participated in individual interview sessions and focus group discussions. The study took place in Arizona. The participants' responses were audio-recorded, transcribed, interpreted, coded, and categorized into themes. Study findings suggested that: resettled refugee students struggled with adjusting to their new school system. They were marginalized and faced discrimination and suffered low teacher expectations. They were placed in English language classes that they felt were not beneficial to them; and almost all attended inner city urban schools in areas with a high poverty concentration characterized by gang and drug activities that further adversely affected their performances. Against the odds, with the help of their mentors, striving for a better life, commitment to family, and resilience, the study participants were able to not only complete their high school education on time but earned impressive grade point averages of between 3.5 to 4.2 that helped five of them win scholarships to four-year colleges.
Date Created
2012
Contributors
- Yarrow, Eman Ibrahim (Author)
- Swadener, Beth B (Thesis advisor)
- Klimek, Barbara (Committee member)
- Warriner, Doris (Committee member)
- Arizona State University (Publisher)
Topical Subject
- Education Policy
- Educational leadership
- Refugee Children Education in U.S.A.
- Refugee children--Education (Secondary)--Arizona.
- Refugee children
- Refugee children--Arizona--Social conditions.
- Refugee children
- Refugee children--Social networks--Arizona.
- Refugee children
- Mentoring in education--Arizona.
- Mentoring in education
- Discrimination--Arizona.
- Discrimination
- Marginality, Social--Arizona.
- Marginality, Social
Resource Type
Extent
xi, 207 p
Language
eng
Copyright Statement
In Copyright
Primary Member of
Peer-reviewed
No
Open Access
No
Handle
https://hdl.handle.net/2286/R.I.15000
Statement of Responsibility
by Eman Ibrahim Yarrow
Description Source
Viewed on September 24, 2012
Level of coding
full
Note
thesis
Partial requirement for: Ph. D., Arizona State University, 2012
bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (p. 171-185)
Field of study: Educational leadership and policy studies
System Created
- 2012-08-24 06:27:49
System Modified
- 2021-08-30 01:46:10
- 3 years 2 months ago
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