Blazing New Trails - Connexions

202 CRITICAL ISSUES IN PROMOTING ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT
In addition, in 2008 the Early Childhood Lab was one of the first early childhood programs to
earn accreditation from the more rigorous standards established by the National Association
for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). As reported by the University Office of
Public Affairs (2008), the Early Childhood Lab conducted an extensive self-study that
measured its program and services against ten NAEYC early childhood program standards.
This lab setting was also designated as a Texas Rising Star Provider, a child care provider that
exceeded the State Minimum Licensing Standards for child care facilities (Texas Workforce
Commission, 2008). The charter school achieved the state of Texas accountability rating of
recognized (the second highest rating) in 1999, the first year in operation, and exemplary (the
highest rating) beginning the third year. The exemplary rating was maintained for all
subsequent years, 2001-2010. Since students’ academic success was well established, a study
of the organizational and instructional practices was conducted to identify the organizational
and instructional practices that influenced students’ high academic success.
METHODOLOGY
In order to discover the practices of the educational lab settings, a case study spanning
the years of 1923 to 2010 was conducted during one academic school year beginning in the
fall and ending in the spring semester. Since the researcher desired to attain a deeper
understanding of the strategies or practices implemented that fostered students’ academic
success, the case study was selected to provide “intensive descriptions and analyses of a
bounded system” (Merriam, 2009, p. 19). Purposive or convenience sampling was used to
select the participants who the researchers believed would provide the most in-depth
information (Gay, Mills, & Airasian, 2008). The participants of the study included university
administrators who had authority over the development of the lab settings and/or were the
administrators of record for the lab settings, teachers who taught in the lab settings, and
parents of children who attended the lab settings. Seventeen participants were interviewed: six
administrators, seven teachers, and four parents. The purpose of the study was to investigate
the organizational and instructional practices implemented that led to student academic
success over the history of the six lab educational settings. Particularly, the research question
was: What were the organizational and instructional practices that led to student academic
success across the six lab educational settings?
Data collection involved interviews and document review. Individuals were
questioned who had knowledge of the lab settings from the first lab setting, the demonstration
school, to the present lab setting, the early childhood laboratory associated with the
independent university charter elementary school. Artifacts were examined from the Research
Center and included Regents’ Board minutes, pictures, scrap books of pictures, newspaper
articles, College of Education accreditation documents, and records from the Elementary
Education Department, Human Sciences Department, and the College of Education. Also
studied were website historical articles, published historical accounts of the lab settings, and
minutes and documents from the charter school and the early childhood laboratory. The
researcher also gathered information informally through conversations with other individuals
who had memories of and/or involvement with the lab settings.
All interviews were taped, transcribed, and analyzed to ascertain themes. Examination
began with the first observation (Merriam, 2009). As individuals were interviewed and
documents reviewed, the researcher noted and coded emerging themes. As events and stories
were revealed through interviews, the researcher analyzed documents to support and verify
dates and events. Triangulation was achieved through analyzing interview notes, supporting