A Survey of ChalleNGe Program Teachers: Their Characteristics and Pedagogical Approaches

Abstract

This study examines how teachers qualifications and pedagogical approaches differ across the 35 National Guard Youth Challenge Program (ChalleNGe) sites. ChalleNGe serves high school dropouts with both academic and noncognitive components, including a postresidential mentoring phase. We developed and fielded an online teacher survey. Using the survey data and information from the programs annual reports, we investigate whether different teacher qualifications or pedagogical approaches are correlated with programs average cadet outcomes (e.g., graduation rates, postresidential placement). We also attempt to identify classroom methods that may be effective with disadvantaged youth, who typically perform below grade-level (the ChalleNGe student body). Of the numerous factors we considered, only a few were found to be significantly correlated with cadet outcomes namely, the prevalence of postgraduate degrees among teaching staff, consistency in the gender makeup of classes, a greater emphasis on small-group instruction, emphasis on advanced math and math life skills, and a focus on critiquing and evaluating texts and writing to summarize.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Aug 01, 2015
Accession Number
ADA621640

Entities

People

  • Jennifer R. Atkin
  • Lauren D. Malone

Organizations

  • Center for Naval Analyses

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Consistency
  • Education
  • Instructions
  • Instructors
  • Mentoring
  • National Guard
  • Qualifications
  • Schools
  • Students

Fields of Study

  • Education

Readers

  • Psychometric Testing or Psychological Assessment.
  • STEM Education
  • Systems Analysis and Design