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evaluation of student and teacher perceptions of the Teen Leadership program at Somerville High School
The literature indicates an absence of research based
character education programs at the secondary level. In
times of increased substance abuse, teenage pregnancy, gang
involvement, negative peer pressure, and violence among
adolescents in this country, schools are struggling to find
answers in dealing with these problems. Society expects
schools to deal with these problems. Teen Leadership is a
course which develops business, leadership, and professional
skills in adolescents. Teen Leadership teaches adolescents
the importance of living a principle centered life; how to
handle peer pressure; how to build meaningful relationships;
how to communicate effectively; the importance of values,
standards and beliefs; creative problem solving; personal
responsibility for one's thoughts, attitudes, and actions;
the importance of life goals and visions; and how to make
responsible decisions. Teen Leadership was introduced into
Somerville High School during the Spring semester of 1994, in
an effort to change perceived problems with the moral
environment of the school. The research questions in this
study were: (1) How do students and teachers perceive the
environment of Somerville High School during the different
stages of the implementation of Teen Leadership?; (2) How do
teachers at Somerville High School perceive and respond to
the Teen Leadership process?; (3) How do students at
Somerville High School perceive and respond to the Teen
Leadership process?; (4) How may the differences in the
teachers' perceptions about the Teen Leadership process be
described? This research used the naturalistic inquiry
process described by Eriandson, (et all, 1993) in Doing
Naturalistic Inquity. Purposive sampling was used to
maximize information from 203 students and 20 faculty
members. Structured and unstructured interviews were
administered by the researcher, a participant-observer. The
information collected from the interviews, along with
critical incidents, was unitized and transferred to index
cards. These cards were categorized to reflect the emergent
themes. From these themes, the final report was developed.
This research approach provided a rich description of the
perceptions of the students and teachers of Somerville High
School concerning the introduction of Teen Leadership as a
"Major Subject: Educational Administration".
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