School uniform policies have been enforced in many schools over the past few decades. These policies are enforced based on school administrators beliefs that students are ready to learn when they arrive dressed for success (Adams, 2007). However, school uniform policies have become controversial in relation to their potential benefits and impact on student achievement. On one hand, school uniforms are said to impact school safety and academic success through establishing a positive, beneficial learning environment. On the other hand, student achievement is viewed as a construct influenced by various factors including behavioral issues and class attendance/participation rather than how a student dresses. While school uniform policies have become relatively controversial in the recent past, many schools have established dress codes that guide acceptable and unacceptable dress attires in the learning environment. This study examines the benefits of school uniforms on student learning and whether establishing such policies would lessen discrimination and enhance learning among the student body.
Educational Problem
School uniforms have become mandatory in many school districts across the nation as administrators consider them to be critical in the learning process. The US Department of Education reports that wearing school uniforms is linked to decreased risks of violence and theft, instills discipline, and help school administrators identify any intruders who come to the school (DeMitchell, 2015; Ordway, 2018). Many school administrators opine that school uniforms help improve discipline among students and in turn contribute to better student outcomes and academic achievements. Moreover, many administrators believe that establishing dress codes help to ensure students are ready to learn when they arrive at the school and are dressed for success. Given these believes many schools have already established policies to guide approved and disapproved dress codes.
However, the idea that school uniforms have positive impacts on the learning process and student outcomes/achievements has generated numerous concerns among policymakers, parents and the public. It is believed that student outcomes and achievements is a by-product of many factors that go beyond how the student is dressed. Some of these factors include individual discipline, behavioral issues, the nature of the learning environment, and the student’s learning style and abilities (Adams, 2007). Therefore, the role school uniforms play in influencing student outcomes and achievement is very minimal. School uniform policies have also generated legal issues since they are considered unconstitutional as they infringe on First Amendment rights to freedom of expression.
In light of these controversies and arguments, it is increasingly critical to establish whether school uniforms policies benefit student learning and lessen discrimination. The purpose of this study is to examine the benefits of school uniforms to learning and whether such policies lessen discrimination and improve the overall learning process. This study seeks to address the existing gap in...…questions will be rated on a scale of 1 to 5. The two data collection instruments are suitable for the study since they will help generate qualitative and quantitative data that can be analyzed to draw relevant conclusions on the issue.
Proposed Data Analysis Method
The proposed data analysis techniques for this study are triangulation and statistical analyses. Triangulation will be carried out on qualitative data to generate qualitative codes based on emerging themes and patterns. The codes will then be entered into a statistical analysis software alongside quantitative data to generate a single comprehensive dataset. The integrated data will be analyzed using statistical software SPSS version 2.0 to generate findings and relevant conclusions on the phenomenon being studied.
In conclusion, the benefits and impact of school uniform policies on the learning process has remained a controversial issue that has attracted diverse opinions within and outside the education sector. This study seeks to examine this issue to determine the effectiveness of these policies in the learning environment in relation to student achievement. Mixed methods research design will be utilized for this study since it will help collect rich data and generate credible research findings. A survey of existing students’ disciplinary and academic records and a questionnaire will be used to obtain both qualitative and quantitative data in a school that recently implemented school uniform policy.
References
Adams, B.J. (2007,…
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