Author: Bill R. Owens Publisher: ISBN: Category : Dropout behavior, Prediction of Languages : en Pages : 212
Book Description
The purpose of this study was to provide a predictive model for profiling potential high school dropouts during the middle school years using data available to teachers, counselors, and administrators. The subjects for the study were 377 students (175 dropouts and 202 persisters) in grades 9 through 12 that attended the Okeechobee County Schools between the 1992-93 and 1995-96 school years. The null hypothesis stated that a model consisting of a subset of the 23-predictor variables would not discriminate between students who drop out of school and those who persist. Data were collected from archival sources within the school district and analyzed through discriminant analysis using an SPSS program. Cross validation was performed using a FORTRAN program developed by Morris and Meshbane (1995). Numerous models were identified that discriminated between dropouts and persisters; therefore, the null hypothesis was rejected. The model that had the highest hit rates contained the following variables: (a) age in the eighth grade, (b) suspensions in the eighth grade, (c) attendance in the seventh grade, (d) attendance in the eighth grade, (e) membership in a dropout prevention program, (f) free or reduced-price lunch status, (g) limited-English proficiency status, (h) retention status, and (i) athletic status. The variable that appeared most often in the models that had the highest hit rates for the dropout group was retention status. Other variables that appeared in models included the number of Ds and Fs in the seventh grade, the number of Ds and Fs in the eighth grade, and suspensions in the seventh grade. Variables that were not found to be as significant based on F-ratios included (a) gender, (b) membership in an exceptional education program, and (c) certain achievement test scores. A large amount of missing data relative to the achievement test scores may have contributed to the lack of significance. Hispanic students dropped out in disproportion to the representation in the sample. In addition, most of the dropouts in the sample were not in dropout prevention programs, and most of the dropouts that were in a dropout prevention program dropped out despite the intervention. A profile of the high school dropout based on this study includes: (1) being retained more often, (2) being overage, (3) receiving more Ds and Fs, having poorer attendance, and being suspended more often in the seventh and eighth grades, and (4) receiving a free or reduced-price lunch.
Author: National Research Council Publisher: National Academies Press ISBN: 0309170583 Category : Education Languages : en Pages : 66
Book Description
The role played by testing in the nation's public school system has been increasing steadily-and growing more complicated-for more than 20 years. The Committee on Educational Excellence and Testing Equity (CEETE) was formed to monitor the effects of education reform, particularly testing, on students at risk for academic failure because of poverty, lack of proficiency in English, disability, or membership in population subgroups that have been educationally disadvantaged. The committee recognizes the important potential benefits of standards-based reforms and of test results in revealing the impact of reform efforts on these students. The committee also recognizes the valuable role graduation tests can potentially play in making requirements concrete, in increasing the value of a diploma, and in motivating students and educators alike to work to higher standards. At the same time, educational testing is a complicated endeavor, that reality can fall far short of the model, and that testing cannot by itself provide the desired benefits. If testing is improperly used, it can have negative effects, such as encouraging school leaving, that can hit disadvantaged students hardest. The committee was concerned that the recent proliferation of high school exit examinations could have the unintended effect of increasing dropout rates among students whose rates are already far higher than the average, and has taken a close look at what is known about influences on dropout behavior and at the available data on dropouts and school completion.
Author: Joyce L. Epstein Publisher: Corwin Press ISBN: 1483320014 Category : Education Languages : en Pages : 508
Book Description
Strengthen programs of family and community engagement to promote equity and increase student success! When schools, families, and communities collaborate and share responsibility for students′ education, more students succeed in school. Based on 30 years of research and fieldwork, the fourth edition of the bestseller School, Family, and Community Partnerships: Your Handbook for Action, presents tools and guidelines to help develop more effective and more equitable programs of family and community engagement. Written by a team of well-known experts, it provides a theory and framework of six types of involvement for action; up-to-date research on school, family, and community collaboration; and new materials for professional development and on-going technical assistance. Readers also will find: Examples of best practices on the six types of involvement from preschools, and elementary, middle, and high schools Checklists, templates, and evaluations to plan goal-linked partnership programs and assess progress CD-ROM with slides and notes for two presentations: A new awareness session to orient colleagues on the major components of a research-based partnership program, and a full One-Day Team Training Workshop to prepare school teams to develop their partnership programs. As a foundational text, this handbook demonstrates a proven approach to implement and sustain inclusive, goal-linked programs of partnership. It shows how a good partnership program is an essential component of good school organization and school improvement for student success. This book will help every district and all schools strengthen and continually improve their programs of family and community engagement.
Author: Bill R. Owens
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Author: David L. Bolton
Author: National Research Council
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Author: Franklin William Markus
Author: Shane Richard Jimerson
Author: Joyce L. Epstein