Post dissertation

It has been a year since I walked the stage to become Dr. Roth.

I'm still exhausted. I learned much... Now what can I do about that- 

Academic Momentum

So I have been busy since my last update. I scheduled a meeting with Dr. Korach and shared the latest update.

She shared with me an exciting dissertation by Danielle Sulick. Her research led her to study the development of Academic Momentum in nontraditional undergraduate female students. Her definition utilized the formula for momentum in physics.

This meeting got me thinking about how my interest in personal mastery was connected. I decided to decrease the emphasis on personal mastery for several reasons. First- I think the response I got from Senge's camp was not helpful. The empirical work around his writing has not been established well- for example... there were no instruments developed to measure personal mastery. I found a few surveys- but they were not standardized. In addition, the term did not fit well with my interest. So I moved towards the term of Academic Hope based on Segiovanni and Andrade-Duncan's work.

Academic Hope- is a construct that has some research history to it. The components of Agency, Goal Orientation, and Pathways Thinking are measurable. Here is why I believe the concepts of Academic Hope development will contribute to the development of the theory of Academic Momentum.

In physics, there are forces that increase velocity. My argument is that the components of Agency, Pathways thinking, and Goal Orientation will increase Academic Momentum.

My physics teacher at Stonington High School was Pierre Luciere. He was tough. He had all of us scared- sarcastic, mean, and he allowed no sloppy work in his class. I remember having to label everything in there. My first quarter grades were low. But by the 4th quarter I had it down! His high expectations led me to a better place. I say all that to say that over 20 years of life have swept away my concepts of velocity and momentum. So I spent time this morning reading up on vector mathematics and velocity.

So Momentum is Mass times Velocity.

Velocity is a vector variable meaning it has magnitude and direction.

Mass has to do with what we are made of- and the resistance an object has to changes in velocity or motion. If an object has greater mass it will have greater resistance to motion and therefore need greater force to make positive work happen (all physics terms I learned from the Virtual Nerd website ).

Velocity is distance measured over time. Using the Cartesian Coordinates we have x and y axis measures. You then can use all that trigonometry we learned in high school (I need to brush up there too). Unless of course you go three dimensional and add the z coordinate.

All this to say- there is room in this mathematical formula for variables like agency, pathways thinking, and goal orientation. As students from African-American families hit schools they face barriers that I might not have- these barriers in physics would be called friction. So developing enough momentum to overcome this friction is key to success.

This excites me today- as the mathematics in physics are guiding my direction. Something in this old math/science coach feels comfort in these laws of physics. Wish me luck as I dig in some more...

FLOW & Research Questions

Today Akash brought me an article by Csikszentmihalyi concerning Flow in Schools. This is a promising article as he has a conceptual framework that can inform my work a little. Image found on http://www.cs.nyu.edu/courses/spring03/G22.2280-001/Flow_Diagram.jpg

Yesterday I was reading Pedro Noguera who said, "There is a need to consult with young people on how the structure and culture of schools contribute to low academic achievement and to enlist their input when interventions to improve student performance are being designed and implemented." p.71 in Educating African-American Males.



And Three of us (Megan, Akash and I) have been wrestling with research questions. We are trying to focus this research to fit the parameters of a dissertation rather than a Magnum Opus. So here is the latest:


What do successful African-American Male students say about developing academic personal mastery?

• What themes emerge?



• What impact does Baldrige have on Academic Personal Mastery?



• What impact do the 7 Habits have on Academic Personal Mastery?



• How does the concept of FLOW fit into all of this?

We have two days left until school is out- I have so much enjoyed working with these two 8th graders... I will miss them and hope they keep in touch.

what is Happening...

Latest thinking:

Life is really crazy but I am working on some thinking right now...

I want to discover if Personal Mastery is all that Senge says it is... I want to see if this construct will help destroy this achievement gap. So I will keep you posted but momentum is swelling. I am gearing up to have my first three chapters done for my proposal this summer. then I can gather research in the fall- analyze things in the winter then defend in the spring in order to graduate next summer...

Akash

As an assistant principal I have had a full plate of things to do. Often I get home and am quite tired. This dissertation is tough to focus on- so I am going to work on it this weekend. However I am going to share something that happened this week that brought some energy to my work.

About 4 months ago I went into the highest math class in our school to test my theory out. I was taking a social construct and attempting to convert it into a mathematical equation. The work was not strong enough for my professors to allow in my dissertation- however the attempt taught me much.

One of the students in that class began to suggest ways we could use the equation to discover other/deeper meanings. He moved variables around and such- it was fascinating.
Four months later and this 8th grader caught me making rounds in the cafeteria to ask if he could meet me at lunch to talk about my dissertation. He said, "I have been thinking about your work on motivation and would like to share some thoughts with you."

I froze- warmly accepted the invitation and continued my rounds. But my thoughts were not on the kid who was playing bowling alley with his milk bottles- it was on the fact that this young man was thinking about my work. I was humbled. I was inspired to pick up the trail where I left off and make some progress.

Akash met me and talked about motivation in the light of peer pressure- and motivation in the light of family expectations. Both topics are very relevant to my work. Both factors are typically not in the favor of African-American boys. I shared that these do typically act against the students I am interested in learning about however, schools can do things to support these kids.

All I can say is how grateful I am to this 8th grader for having the initiative to talk to me.

A Tweak that Brings Hope

I have had some good conversations around my dissertation. My sister Stephanie helped me think through getting logistically clear- what is the end game. Jeff is Texas helped me think about a possible methodology that is more congruent with the end game I am interested in learning about.

So I am thinking about the impact personal mastery has had in the success of African-American boys. Which means I will need to interview and survey successful students in the light of personal mastery and discover if the construct has had any influence on their journey.

This is congruent with the Seek First to Understand principle. It is also congruent with my passion around personal mastery.

I am still figuring out what instrument to use and how to involve Project Voyce. I will keep you posted.

Rough Waters

OK- so today I began working on a new place to work... the basement will now become a dissertation room...

I also looked through my materials from the beginning of the DU journey. It was refreshing to see my dissertation idea consistently popping up.

I am in rough waters right now- do not know how to move the paper along. I am still crafting the right research questions.

The latest attempt: What is Covey's impact on a student's personal mastery, enthusiasm, and ownership?

I do not know of any instruments available to measure this...