Drop_out_rates_08

EDC 529 Research Project Erin, Diana, Kathryn


 * __The Effects of After School Academic Programs on High School Drop Out Rates__**

We are interested in looking at drop out rates of inner city students in Southern New England. We want to see if participating in academic after school activities (for example: math clubs, homework clubs, one on one tutoring programs) in middle school will increase or decrease the chance of those students dropping out of school when they reach high school. **__Research Question:__**  Is there a statistically significant difference in the likelihood of dropping out of high school as measured by the Demos D Scale, between Southern New England middle school students in inner city schools who attend academic after school programs and those in the inner city schools who do not attend those programs?
 * __Introduction:__**
 * Independent variable:** T he academic after school programs
 * Dependent variable:** Drop out rates

**Null Hypothesis:** There will be no significant difference in the drop out rates of the students who participate in the academic after school programs and those who do not participate. **Directional Hypothesis:** The students who participate in the academic after school programs will have a significantly lower drop out rate than the students who do not participate in these programs.
 * __Hypotheses:__**

  Nationally the high school graduation rate rests at about 68-71%. Therefore, one third of all high school students fail to graduate including Black, Hispanic, and Native American students who make up 50% (Azzam, 2007). There are multiple academic, social, economic, and sociocultural factors that contribute to students dropping out early in their high school careers. Dropping out has been linked to negative self-perceptions and self-esteem, being bored or alienated at school, poor academic achievement and attendance, and repeating one or more grade levels. In addition, students who come from low income families or families that do not speak English proficiently have a higher risk of dropping out of school (Shannon & Bylsma, 2006). Consequently, this makes urban communities the primary setting for increased dropout rates. Low-income communities and schools may have fewer activities after school available and the students in these situations are less likely to participate, which might be another reason for the drop-outs as well (Simpkins and Huston 2005).
 * Non-Directional Hypothesis:** There will be a significant difference between the students who participate in the academic after school programs and those that do not participate.
 * __Literature Review: __**

A major problem with students dropping out of high school is that they are more likely to become unemployed, more likely to use drugs, and more likely to become incarcerated (Aloise-Young & Chavez 2002). The data from their research showed that gender was also a factor along with the ethnicity of the students who drop out of high school. To promote dropout prevention, many schools and communities are trying to implement academic programs for at risk students in hopes of increasing self-efficacy, motivation, and independent learning. Somers and Piliawsky (2004) setup a pilot study within an urban Midwest city where ninth grade students voluntarily attended an after school dropout prevention program. The program required students to stay after school two hours a day, twice a week for the entire school year. The program gave students trained tutors from a local university to work with them one on one, help them with their homework, and provide them with learning strategies that they could implement on class assignments. In addition, the program offered students “enrichment programs” once a month to help enhance students’ self-efficacy, motivation, and career option education. At the conclusion of the program there was no significant increase in individual student GPA’s however, the students who participated in the program reduced the dropout rate for the following year by half (7.7%).

Hock et al (2001) also found that after school tutoring programs help to create independent and proficient learners. They describe the “Strategic Tutoring” model to be the most beneficial for struggling students and students with learning disabilities. In this model tutors provide both instructional and assignment based tutoring. They assist students in completing school homework assignments by teaching students learning strategies to successfully complete their assignments. They also, teach these strategies to students so that they can use them independently in class or at home when encountering similar problems or assignments. Other after school programs could include activities such as academic enrichment and tutoring, school-age care, youth development, mentoring, arts and music, technology, conflict resolution, community service, recreation/sports, substance abuse prevention, and literacy (Myint et al 2004).

Another after school group that was formed in a study done by W.S. Grolnick et al (2007) was the “Investigator’s Club” which was a science club that met after school for 3 times a week for 15 weeks. The Investigator’s Club used Self Determination Theory, a motivational approach, as the students participated in after school science activities. There were some students who did not complete the entire 15 weeks that the club ran. The teachers of the non-completers noted that those students were less engaged in their classes than the students who completed the club.

After school programs not only provide at risk students with the academic assistance and motivation they need to stay in school, but also provide students with an adult figure that can become a positive influence and role model. Belshaw (2007) found that at risk students who have a relationship with a mentor are less likely to participate in criminal behaviors, use drugs, and drop out of school. Having a mentor gives these students someone that they can have a close bond with and develop a relationship based on trust. This is important to students especially those who may not have an adult figure in their life or family. This also allows them to have an adult to confide in when they need someone to talk to. Only 56 percent of students feel that they can go to a teacher or staff person when they need help with a school problem (Azzam, 2007). 

This will be a quantitative study: ROXO ROCO  R=Random Sampling O = Demos D Scale (Measurement) <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">X= Students who attended afterschool academic program (Treatment) <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">C= Students who did not attend after school academic program (Control Group) <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'"> <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">The participants in our study will consist of a random sample of seventh and eighth grade students from middle schools who choose to participate in this study and are located in the following recognized urban areas of Southern New England: Hartford, Providence, and Boston. From each city 400 participants will be selected (200 seventh graders and 200 eighth graders). 100 participants from each grade will be randomly selected and assigned to either an experimental or control group.
 * __Experimental Design:__**
 * __Sample:__**

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">All of the participants in the experimental groups will be expected to attend an academic after school program at their school for two hours a day, three days a week, for the entire academic school year. The programs will provide participants with structured academic assistance within various subject areas by trained professionals in the field of education (educators, teachers, college students). All of the after school programs will be synonymous with one another across all three locations. The participants in the control groups will not be required to attend any of the after school programs.

<span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">The instrument we will use in this study is the Demos D Scale which is an attitude scale for the identification of ** potential **dropouts. This instrument measures five attitudes: toward teachers, toward education, influences by peers or parents, school behavior, totals. It’s a selective response survey consisting of 29 statements in which students respond: nearly always, most of the time, sometimes, very few times, nearly never. This survey will be administered to all participants at the beginning of the school year in September before the afterschool programs begin, and at the end of the school year in June when they have concluded. The scale of the survey will measure whether or not the attitude of students changed over the course of the school year and if they are more or less likely to drop out of school when they reach high school.
 * __Data Collection:__**

__**Data Analysis:**__ <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">To analyze our data we will calculate the mean and standard deviations of the Demos D scores from both the experimental and control groups from all three cities. Then, we will take those calculations and compare them to one another using the analysis of variance test, ANOVA, with the level of risk set at 5% (p <  <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">.05). This test will tell us whether or not there will be a statistically significant difference in the Demos D scores from students in both the experimental groups and control groups within each individual city: Hartford, Providence, and Boston. In addition, it will also compare the experimental and control groups from each city against one another to see if there were any significant differences not just within each individual city, but also in-between each location. This will determine if academic after school programs have an effect on high school drop out rates.

<span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> This study will attempt to create a valid and reliable examination of the effects of After School Programs on drop out rates in inner city High Schools of Southern New England. This study is specific, both in region (Boston, Hartford, Providence) and demographics, and is not designed for generalization to middle schools or high schools outside of Massachussetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island who may have diverse student populations. This research team will conduct a quantitative study utilizing one group of seventh graders and a group of 8th graders for each city organized into an experimental group (200 seventh grade students + 200 eigth grade students involved in an academic after school program) and control group, (200 seventh grade students + 200 eigth grade students not involved in an academic after school program). There exist some potential threats to the internal validity of this experimental design that should be addressed. First, the history of each participant is unknown, and the extent to which each participant is already academically or non/academically motivated could present as a cofounding variable to our study. Participants who have a lack of motivation due to socio-economics, abuse, neglect, etc. Just to name a few. This threat is minimized by using a control group which has the same opportunities to improve their attitudes towards dropping out of high school. Also, the motivation and training of academic after school teachers that are preparing a pilot program may differ significantly between and among traditional classrooms. This threat has been minimized by attempting to compare as similar as possible inner city schools in location and student demographics. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> In this study we found an external threat to validity, in particular it could possibly be a sampling error. Our sample size is relatively small when considering the number of middle schools in each city and the significant demographic differences that exist among the different schools in Southern New England. There are limited number of middle schools with the budget to put in place preventive after school programs. Therefore, our results may not be generalized to all drop out rates in high schools throughout the Southen New England area. Our research team has attempted to minimize the threat by broadning our original sample from Rhode Island to two other main cities (Boston and Hartford). <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: Times; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"> A third threat to validity of our study is one that may go beyond the scope of the proposed research study, however the fact that the maturation of the students unrelated to the treatment poses a potential threat to our study. Furthermore, there has been much educational literature that discusses the other factors on why young adolescents drop out of high school regardless of having been involved in academic after school programs during middle school. Other factors that may have a negative impact on participants and cause them to drop out later in high school are teen pregnancy, drug abuse/dealing, deliquency, etc. One way that a further study could remediate this threat is by having a control group that mirrors the experimental group.
 * __Threats to Validity:__**
 * You will need to keep track of the threat of mortality - do students leave the study because they drop out, or for other reasons? **

The main streghts of our research design are the use of a control group and random sampling. The control group helps reduce the threats to our validity, (e.g. history). It reduces these kinds of threats because it provides us with data from a control group encountering similar life and educational situations as the student data from the experimental group. Random sampling provides us with an unbiased sample of participants for both the control and experimental groups. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">Another strenght of our research design is that we are looking at various schools from three different major cities of one region. This allows us to see if the academic after school programs are having an impact in the drop out attitudes in three different inner school cities. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> The main weakness with our design is the specific location, including the three cities in our study within the Southern New England area, in which is known for its socio-diversity it is hard to generalize our data and findings to other regional areas in the United States in regards to middle school student attitudes to drop out of school. A qualitative study based on open ended interviews of students and staff might gives us a better view of the individual and understanding on how the academic after school programs could better serve them and inspire middle school students to stay in school. Some suggestions for further qualitative research include: Does academic improvements change attitudes in drop out rates? How are after school teachers motivating students to stay in school?
 * __Strengths and Limitations:__**

<span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> <span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"> 1. Azzam, Amy (2007).Why Students Drop Out?. //Educational Leadership//. //64//, 91-93.  <span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"> 2. Belshaw, Scott, & Kritsonis, W (2007). National Implications In Juvenile Research: The Influence of Juvenile Mentoring Programs on at Risk Youth. //Lamar University Electronic Journal of Student Research//. 3. Aloise-Young, Patricia A., C havez, Ernest L. (2002). Not All High School Dropouts are the Same. //Psychology in Schools//, 539. <span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"> 4. Hock, Michael, Pulvers, Kim, Deshler, Donald, & Shumaker, Jean (2001). The Effects of an After-School Tutoring Program on the Academic Performance of At-Risk Students and Students with LD. //Remedial and Special Education//, //22//, 172-186 <span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> 5. Lever, N., Sander, M. A., Lombardo, S., Randall, C., Axelrod, J., & Rubenstein, M. (2004). A drop out prevention program for high risk inner city youth. //Behavior Modification//. // 28 // <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">, 513-527. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> 6. Myint, Athi, O'Donnell, Lydia, Osher, David, Petrosino, Anthony, & Stueve, Ann. (March 2008). Piloting a Searchable Database of Dropout Prevention Programs in Nine Low-income Urban School Districts in the Northeast and Islands Region. //Issues and Answers: IES.// US Department of Education.
 * __References:__**

7. Rumberger, R. W. (1995). Dropping out of middle school: A multilevel analysis of students and schools. // American Educational Research Association // <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">. //32//, 583-625. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">8. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">Shannon, Sue, & Bylsma, Pete (2006). //Helping Students Finish School:Why Students Drop Out and How to Help Them Graduate//.Olympia: Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">9. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 110%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">Simpkins, S., Ripke, M., Huston, A., & Eccles, J. (2005, January 1). //Predicting Participation and Outcomes in Out-of-School Activities: Similarities and Differences across Social Ecologies.// New Directions for Youth Development, 2005(105), 51. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. EJ790693) Retrieved June 11, 2008, from ERIC database. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 110%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">10. Somers, Cheryl, & Piliawsky, Monte (2004). Drop-Out Prevention Among Urban, African American Adolescents: Program Evaluation and Practical Implications. //Preventing School Failure//. //48//, 17-22  <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">.
 * Well done - This would be a pretty big undertaking give the siz and geographic spread of what you are proposing. Obviously, though, it is well worth studying. 25/25 **

<span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">**__Distribution of Work:__** Erin:1/3 of literature review, sampling, data collection, data analysis Diana: 1/3 of the literature review, threats to validity and strengths and limitations Kathryn: 1/3 of literature review, introduction, research question, and hypotheses **EDC 529 - Summer 2008**