Date of Award

Spring 1990

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Program/Concentration

Urban Services - Urban Education

Committee Director

Jack E. Robinson

Committee Member

Maurice R. Berube

Committee Member

Robert Lucking

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of a dropout prevention program on at-risk high school students who returned to their home schools. The study was conducted in Newport News, Virginia at four high schools and an alternative school site, housing the dropout program. The subjects were divided into two independent treatment groups: Group One (N = 30) who participated in the program in the fall semester of 1988 and returned to their home schools in the spring semester of 1989, and Group Two (N = 21) who participated in the program in the spring semester of 1989 and returned to their home schools in the fall semester of 1989. Subjects who entered the program in the fall semester 1989 were posttested after the treatment using the School Attitude Measure. Subjects who entered the program in the spring semester were pre and posttested. Follow-up measures were taken of the first group after the spring semester in the home schools and again at the end of the first marking period the following fall semester. The second group was also re-tested at the end of the first marking period the following fall semester. Data on student attendance and achievement were obtained through school records.

Findings revealed that both groups improved in attendance, attitude and achievement following the program treatment. The pre-program absentee rate decreased by 2.4 percent at the home schools at the end of the study. Results from the attitude measure indicated that students began to feel in greater control of their learning outcomes and to assess their actual school skills more objectively. They also began to feel that teachers and administrators cared about their academic success. Grade point averages increased each subsequent marking period. Finally, a greater proportion of program participants remained in school after returning to their home schools than of those who did not participate in the program treatment.

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DOI

10.25777/epb3-zk62

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