The purpose of this study was to define success at a Waldorf Public Community Charter School (WPCS) in Colorado and analyze how success plays out in the classroom. The difference between how WPCS defines success and how traditional Public School defines success was also analyzed. A review of literature was conducted to determine how traditional Public School and Waldorf Schools define success. Two questionnaires were administered through surveys given to the WPCS community. The first survey, created on Qualtrics©, was administered on the computer to the adult community members and focused on defining success at WPCS. In general, the responses regarding WPCS specifically were positive. The second survey – the Colorado Education Initiative Student Perception Survey – was administered on paper to students in grades 3-7. After the surveys were collected and the data was entered into a spreadsheet, themes were coded and conclusions were made. A WPCS community definition of success was written. The WPCS definition of success was based on 8 themes that were common throughout responses – passion/engagement, well rounded, joy, good citizen/mindful, determination, meet individualized goals, confidence/self-efficacy, and growth. Results from the Student Perception survey were analyzed to determine strengths and weaknesses in classroom experiences. Recommendations were given to support the Public Waldorf school movement. One recommendation was to make clearer the WPCS valued outcomes so that teachers do not end up stuck trying to figure out which outcomes they should be striving for.
Previous studies have attempted to draw conclusions on the impact athletic success has on annual giving. There has yet to be conclusive data on this topic. This study will attempt to build on previous research by including more athletic success variables in the model. This study includes data for football, men’s and women’s basketball at Division I and Division III institutions. A separate ordinary least squares regression model was used for each form of annual giving, which included alumni giving, board giving and athletic giving, to identify the determinants of each. The results found for each variable differs depending on the form of giving. Women’s athletic success had an influence on annual donations whereas men’s sports did not and this was the only consistent result across all models. Overall, the results indicate that athletic success does not seem to have a significant impact on annual donations.
