Developing a student's sense of self: A constructivist evaluation of the first four years of the International School of the Americas

The purpose of this study was twofold: to determine stakeholders' perceptions of what occurred during the first four years at the International School of the Americas (ISA), and to determine stakeholders' perceptions regarding the strengths and weaknesses of what occurred. The school began in 1994 with only ninth grade and added a new grade level each year. Having completed the first cycle of seniors, an evaluation of ISA was necessary to make recommendations for its future.; This inquiry utilized two panels to collect data: a twenty-six member school panel comprised of students and teachers from ISA, and a fifteen member business and university panel comprised of business and university professionals. The ISA sample consisted of junior and senior students and the ISA faculty. These two groups and the business and university panel had to use electronic mail (e-mail) more than three times a week to be included in the study, which limited the ISA population due to the inaccessibility of e-mail at school. These groups dialogued with the researcher through e-mail. The school panel discussed what occurred at ISA and evaluated it. The business and university panel's role was to identify challenges facing public education that were then used by the researcher to determine what, if any, of these challenges impacted the phenomenon at ISA.; The researcher used constructivist epistemologies to collect and to analyze the data. The data indicated that ISA's focus was to "develop a student's sense of self" as achieved through "developing a student's social aspects" and "developing a student's academic aspects." The school adhered to the visions that its creator, Thomas Sergiovanni, developed. However, ISA's lack of technology made Sergiovanni's curriculum goals for technology virtually impossible. Developing relationships between students and between students and teachers was seen as a key to ISA's community or "family" atmosphere, facilitated by the school's size. ISA's paradigm of student empowerment needed a power structure balance for all stakeholders involved.; The researcher made the following recommendations: (1) ISA must find a way to balance the power structure concerns between students and teachers. (2) Continue offering choice and opportunities for students, which are the strongest elements in "developing a student's sense of self."...