Thesis statement
The concept of the freshman academy has been implemented in several parishes as part of a statewide initiative in Louisiana. Data has already been collected on the teacher’s attitudes as per the implementation of this initiative. In a literature review, it indicates little data exists nationally on the attitudes and the perceptions of the teachers who are said to be involved in similar programs. It is said that the teacher’s attitudes on these programs have an impact on the overall student performance and their attitudes also. So, investigating the teacher’s attitudes on these programs will have an impact on the performance of the program and also as an essential step in building a successful program. Data which will be collected as part of this study will provide administrators of programs in Louisiana, as well as nationwide insights in to the attitudes of the faculty involved in Freshman Academy-type programs. Through this paper, am going to look in to details the literature review on the teacher’s attitudes towards the perception of the Freshman Academy program in Louisiana.
Introduction
The Freshman Academy is a program in Louisiana and it is offered in other states in high schools. It is the teacher’s attitude that this program is meant to prepare students for the higher class levels. It is one of the programs which are designed to separate 9th graders from upper classmen. The reason is that they will learn better and do well in high school if they are in their own small learning community. This is because if the students are at their own learning communities, then these students can do better than when learning in other communities which is different from theirs. (Bergeron, and Philip, 1992).
Literature review
The Freshman Academy at Birmingham high school will be welcoming all the new comers to 9th grade learners and this is said to help students make adjustments to the high school and also this academy is said to help these students achieve their goals and a supportive learning environment. The teacher’s attitude towards this program is then that, this program is said to provide a structured and a learning environment for these students by ensuring that there is a successful matriculation from the 9th grade to the 10th grade for these students. So, it’s the teacher’s attitude that the academy as per the set plan of action will help the students do well in their studies at the lower levels and also do better at their higher levels. The program is to translate the greater sense of this community among the 9th grade students in to a higher academic achievement. The programs will also facilitate these students to the eventual transition in to the other learning small learning communities as well. (Bergeron, and Philip, 1992).
The teachers attitudes towards the small learning community is that the program will help the 9th grade students successfully succeed to the 10th grade and also increase their chances of competing the high school. It is through this that the students will also be in a position to get their high school diplomas hence enabling the students to get the right jobs they wish to have in future This is because in most cases, students performance at the higher levels depends on their performance at the lower levels. So, if students do well at the lower level, it is then automatic that this student will also do well at the higher levels. This can be reflected by the number of students since the implementation of the freshman academy in 2003 whereby the total number of students who did no succeed to the 10th grade from the 9th grade was drastically deceasing. It shows that the academy is actually providing these students with greater chances of succeeding in to the higher grade levels. So, it is the teacher’s attitudes that the program is a good program since it helps students to be in a position to do well in the higher class levels. (Bergeron, and Philip, 1992).
It is the teacher’s attitudes that through the many programs which are offered by the SLCs team that is said to help the students to advance in their career goals. A good example in this case is in the world of business and technologies and it is in this field that students are supposed to develop their career choices. It is the teacher’s attitudes that through the technological education, the students will be in a position to succeed in their many fields of choices. The teacher’s attitudes will examine a wide variety of a college and also technical training opportunities during this program. As a result, you will find that these learners will be prepared fully for their post graduate education in their higher institutes of education. So, it is the teacher’s believe that the program will help these students with the necessary knowledge which is said to help the students to further their education in the higher institutes of learning. (Cox, 2000).
Since we are living in a world of technology, it is through the Freshman Academy and SLCs that the students will be in a position to change and also at the same time adapt for these rapidly evolving careers and opportunities. This is because at the Freshman academy, we offer a wide range of technology programs and hence it is through these programs that the students will be in a position compete with the coming careers which require higher levels of technology. (Klonsky, 2000).
Conclusion
The Freshman Academy and SLCs is a program which is provided in Louisiana. It is a good program which is said to help students at the lower grades to do well at their higher grade levels say at their 10th grade levels. So, it is through this initiative that students are said to benefit since they are in a position to even do well at their 10th grade levels and also at the higher institutes of education. The students are also said to develop their career goals through this initiative. So, it is the teacher’s attitudes that the students at this academy will do well even at their higher grade levels.
Reference
Cotton, K. (2000): Summary of findings from research on the school size. Washington, D.C.
Klonsky, M. (2000): Small schools. Chicago, 111. University of Chicago.
Gaff, J. (1999): The General education: The changing agenda. Washington. Association Of American colleges and universities.
Schneider, C. (1998): Contemporary understandings of education. Washington. Association of American colleges and universities.
Cox, R. (2000): Are technological works discovered? The Journal of Aesthetic and art Criticism.
Bergeron, K and Philip, V. (1992): Teachers attitudes to education. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.