Effects of a language -mediated apprenticeship on the career maturity and academic achievement of 12th-grade minority students
Abstract
The advent of the new millennium continues to show an increase in the enrollment of African American, Hispanic, and Asian students (National Center for Educational Statistics, 1995). While these demographic patterns represent the present trend in student enrollment, the trends do not represent the teaching profession. Statistics show that within the teaching profession, the minority representation is on a continuous decline (National Center for Educational Statistics, 1993). In a more recent report, the New York State Regents Task Force on Teaching (1998), highlighted the need to expand the pool of minority teachers for all students in New York State as critical. The purpose of this study was to determine: (a) the differential effects of the Teacher Apprentice Program (TAP) and the Developmental Guidance Program (DGC) on academic achievement and career maturity of 12th-grade minority students; (b) the differential effects of high achieving students and low achieving students on academic achievement and career maturity of 12th-grade minority students; (c) any interactions between the TAP and DGC and the 12th-grade minority students academic achievement and career maturity. The study sample (N = 56) consisted of 28 participants in the TAP, and 28 participants in the DGC. The treatment materials for this study were; the Teacher Apprentice Program which was designed based upon the following theories: the principle of Vygotsky's learning theories, the instructional guidelines from Rogoff's model of apprenticeship, methods of effective teaching, the use of appropriate communication skills with young children, and a variety of tutoring/mentoring activities. The Developmental Guidance Curriculum was designed based upon the guidelines and curriculum recommended by the American Counseling Association. The measurements used in this study are: (a) The Career Maturity Inventory (Crites, 1995) and (b) the academic record of the participants which include the Grade Point Average (GPA). Academic achievement was evaluated on a post-treatment basis while the academic achievement was used prior to treatment to match subjects in each treatment group equally. The results of the study showed significance in the twelfth grade minority students who were enrolled in the TAP. Participants in TAP showed greater academic gains and career maturity than participants in the DGC. The results were statistically significant.
Subject Area
Curriculum development|Ethnic studies
Recommended Citation
Kuchar, Michael David, "Effects of a language -mediated apprenticeship on the career maturity and academic achievement of 12th-grade minority students" (1999). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI9975353.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI9975353
