Master's Thesis evaluating ARC Program effectiveness completed

Christine Hooper has completed her study of the Sagehen ARC Program. This appears to be the first thesis to emerge from Sagehen that is related to sociology & education rather than field sciences.

BRIDGING THE GAP: THE UNION OF PERSONAL AND ACADEMIC GROWTH
ARC: DELIVERING LITERACY AND PERSONAL GROWTH FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS THROUGH OUTDOOR EDUCATION

"This action research project is an evaluation of the effectiveness of experiential outdoor education, specifically the Adventure-Risk-Challenge (ARC) program, and its intent to bridge literacy and personal growth in order to support student success in the classroom. It examines the connection between personal and academic growth. The focus of this study is on eight English Language Learners (ELL’s) that participated in the ARC program during the summer of 2007. All were motivated individuals with a range of literacy gaps, including struggling with writing. This program is unique in its combination of ELL student focus, outdoor adventure and literacy instruction. Therefore, there is little or no research which directly addresses this integration of educational outcomes. The methodology of this research incorporates both quantitative and qualitative data centered on student writing improvement. The results indicate that an integrated academic and leadership curriculum improves student writing significantly."