Other Works

The Impact of a Supplemental Education Program on the Academic Performance and Attendance of Ninth-Grade Students at-risk for School Failure.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of a supplemental educational program (SEP) on the academic performance and attendance of ninth-grade students. The study is unique because the program targeted only ninth grade students. Studies reviewed targeted primarily tenth grade students, as many adolescents decide to drop out of high school before age eighteen. Two research hypotheses were developed to determine the statistical significance of differences between the mean gain scores in academic performance and the means in attendance of the control and experimental groups. A pre-test post-test design comparison group provided evidence that those students who participated in the SEP performed similarly to those students who did not participate in the SEP. The sample was a convenience sample consisting of thirty at-risk students in the experimental group and thirty-five at-risk students in the control group. Academic performance and attendance data were collected from the official school record for each student who participated in the study.  The t test was performed on the gained scores of the students in the experimental group and those of the students in the control group. The study shows that the mean differences for the two groups in relation to academic performance and attendance were not statistically significant. The results of the study demonstrate that the SEP was not particularly effective.  There is further evidence that school districts should anticipate such problems and implement intervention programs before the ninth-grade level. Parental involvement in their children’s schooling also suggests evidence of positive effects on students’ achievement. Finally, practical implications are discussed in this study for designing supplemental education programs to meet the needs of the at-risk student population.

 

Chapter One: Introduction

Kronick (1997) found the following:
                        At-risk status is the result of the inappropriateness of developmental
                        environments to meet the needs of the person, and that a focus on these
                        deficient environments may be more productive than a focus on the
characteristics of the persons. We can then define at-risk as referring to
a category of persons whose personal characteristics, conditions of life,
situational circumstances and interactions with each other make it likely
that their development and/or education will be less than optimal. (p. 5)
Statement of the Problem

According to Rhodes, Whitten, and Copeland (1997), as the 21st century begins, strong concerns remain about the effectiveness of public education in meeting the educational needs of individuals from economically and culturally diverse backgrounds. Among these concerns is the notion that the educationally at-risk, which includes up to thirty percent of children enrolled in preschool, primary, and secondary schools, is made up largely of economically disadvantaged and culturally diverse students. Davidson, Greenberg, and Gerver (1962) assert that to achieve the complex process of education with maximum human effectiveness, the education of children from economically and culturally deprived homes pose certain problems and challenges. Lower-class children, as a group, usually fall below middle-class children in academic attainment. However, some children from impoverished environments do achieve in school (Davidson et al., 1962). Rhodes et al. (1997) state that despite decades of federal legislation and various intervention programs the number of educationally at-risk children continues to grow dramatically. Far too often, economically disadvantaged and culturally deprived children do not receive the pre-schooling experiences. “As a consequence at-risk students’ are limited in their ability to fully participate and benefit from opportunities that are provided by the public school system” (Rhodes et al., 1997, p. 319). Gross, Julion, and Fogg (2001) examine the culturally disadvantaged and wrote, “integration brought to the forefront the observation that African- American children were not receiving an education equal to that of white children, and were therefore, culturally disadvantaged” (p. 14). Ethnic News Watch (1999) reveals that Hispanic children who live in poverty are negatively affected by their ability to succeed in school.

Over the past several decades, major changes in economic and social circumstances have heightened public concern about educational excellence and equity. Rapid advances in technology and the emergence of a global marketplace have steadily diminished the labor market opportunities available to young people with little education or training. America needs an educated force that will lead students into areas of scientific and technological change. At the same time, youths traditionally considered most at-risk of academic failure have comprised increasingly larger proportions of the Texas school-age population (Texas Education Agency, 2001).

In response to these challenges, Texas has moved from a public education system that focuses on rules and procedures to one that emphasizes student achievement and accountability for results (Carnoy, Loeb, & Smith, 2001). Carnoy et al. also argue that, “making schools accountable through state testing was the pre-eminent of educational reform of the 1990s” (p. 1).

Purpose of Study

This research is intended to contribute to the body of knowledge on collaborative work about high school students in an effort to improve students’ performance. This study attempts to evaluate a supplemental education program designed to enhance students’ academic skills in social studies. Further, this study will add depth to the body of knowledge regarding supplemental education programs in Texas schools. It will also add to the literature on students’ completion or non-completion of high school as it relates to collaborative efforts among parents and students, schools, and community-based organizations. The importance of parents in the school improvement process, then, cannot be underestimated. Christenson and Sheridan (2001) share similar opinions by stating that families play a meaningful role in children’s educational success, and the interfacing of family and school is an element that must be accounted for when examining children’s school performance.  “Recent studies document the positive relationship between parent involvement and overall school progress, school attendance, student attitudes, student behavior, and academic achievement” (Norwood, Atkinson & Tellez, 1997, p. 414). Additionally, this study will serve as a basis for comparison with school programs nationally and around the state of Texas. The result of the study is expected to provide information concerning effective methods of providing intervention services to similar groups of students. Finally, this study will provide administrators with the opportunity to examine various instructional approaches available for improving student achievement.

The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to find out whether at-risk students’ participation in a supplemental education program has an impact on their academic performance and attendance. The data were gathered for sixty-four at-risk students in a public high school. There were thirty-four participants from a control group and thirty participants from an experimental group. This study compares the academic performance and attendance of at-risk ninth grade students in the experimental and control groups. The researcher attempts to determine if participation in a supplemental education program impacts academic performance and attendance of students identified as being at-risk for school failure.

Rationale for the Study

The objective of this study is to prepare students to improve on their test taking skills and to advance these students from the remediation path into the mainstream. In spite of extensive research and experimentation that focus on school failure, student attrition rates in secondary school programs have increased.

Gross et al. (2001), note that poor participation and high attrition rates are apparent in low-income families of color. According to Johnson (2000), Hispanic students and Black students have had considerably higher attrition rates than White students.

Hispanic students are lost from enrollment at higher rates than either White students or Black students (p. 1). Johnson further states that the latest attrition study by IDRA shows that in Texas, 52 percent of Hispanic students and 47 percent of Black students were lost from public school enrollment (compared to 28 percent of White students) between 1996-1997 and 1999-2000.

This present study hopes to further this line of inquiry. Evidence does show that school failure among secondary school students may be affected by the lack of parental involvement. Thompson (2000), states that parent involvement has a positive impact on student academic performance. Norwood et al. (1997) describe a collaborative teaching and service project effort to develop culturally responsive education involvement programs that also improve student achievement. The result supports previous works by Clark (1987), Comer (1980), and Ovando and Abrego (1996), who indicate that when parents are involved in their child’s education, the student’s achievement improves. Schargel (2003) contributes to the notion of parental involvement by stating “parents are the first and initially the most important teachers” (p. 3).

Research Questions

  1. How much does participation in a supplemental education program impact academic performance of ninth grade students identified as being at-risk for school failure?
  2. How much does participation in a supplemental education program impact attendance of ninth grade students identified as being at-risk for school failure?

The questions concerning performance in a supplemental education program in an urban school call for profound examination. The outgrowth of these questions adds to recent educational research in inner city schools that address the inequality that pervades minority schools. The growing consensus is that supplemental education programs are needed to serve children at all ages. In an attempt to present a comprehensive review of the literature of supplemental education programs which is aimed at improving the academic performance and attendance of under achieving students, one must look at educational inequality in secondary school programs. Most of these programs were not implemented until the NAACP won the Brown v. Board of Education case calling for school desegregation in 1954. That decision generated conversations and political activities around the issue of educational equality, mainly addressing the issue of Blacks and Latinos being confined to segregated systems that were designed to maintain their inferior status in society. 

Statement of Hypotheses

Based upon the aforementioned research questions, the following null hypotheses
are generated:
      Ho1:      There is no statistically significant difference between the mean gain scores in academic performance of at-risk ninth grade students who participate in a supplemental education program and the mean gain scores of at-risk ninth grade students who did not participate in a supplemental education program.
      H02:     There is no statistically significant difference between the mean in the attendance of at-risk ninth grade students who participate in a supplemental education program and the mean in the attendance of at-risk ninth grade students who did not participate in a supplemental education program.
Given these null hypotheses, the following non-directional alternative research hypotheses were tested:

Research Hypothesis One: There is a statistically significant difference between the mean gain scores in academic performance of at-risk ninth grade students who participate in a supplemental education program and the mean gain scores of at-risk ninth grade students who did not participate in a supplemental education program.

Research Hypothesis Two:  There is a statistically significant difference between the mean in the attendance of at-risk ninth grade students who participate in a supplemental education program and the mean in the attendance of at-risk ninth grade students who did not participate in a supplemental education program.

 

Chapter Two: Literature Review

According to Kronick and Hargis (1998), dropping out is a problem not confined to a handful of minority students who could not learn. Dropping out cuts across many strata of American people and the agencies that deal with them, including welfare, mental health, corrections, and education. The researchers note that, “if education could effectively deal with these students, welfare, mental health, and correctional systems would not have to” (p. 65). Appropriate intervention at the school level must include research that clearly defines the dropout, determines the path that the dropout follows in leaving school and establishes an intervention that is based on these assumptions (Kronick & Hargis, 1998). Garnier, Stein, and Jacob (1997) observe that the national concern about high school dropout rates has increased in the last decade, most notably during the last few years. Garnier et al. (1997) also note that in 1993, about 3.4 million persons out of 30.8 million, aged 16 to 24, had not completed high school and were not enrolled in school.
School attendance has been found to be a good predictor of the likelihood of a student dropping out. Non-attendance in elementary school shows a moderate correlation with non-attendance in high school and eventually dropping out. A child who regularly attended elementary school but who begins to miss in high school is a very different person from the child who was absent in the elementary school before entering high school (Kronick & Hargis, 1998).

 

Chapter Three: Methods

Introduction
              The purpose of this study is an attempt to find out whether at-risk students’ participation in a supplemental education program has an impact on their academic performance and attendance. The analysis procedures used in this study address the following research questions:
1. How much does participation in a supplemental education program impact academic
 performance of ninth-grade students identified as being at-risk for school failure?
2. How much does participation in a supplemental education program impact attendance of ninth-grade students identified as being at-risk for school failure?
Null Hypotheses
The research questions stated above were the basis for the following null hypotheses:
Ho1 There is no statistically significant difference between the mean gain scores in academic performance of at-risk ninth grade students who participate in a supplemental education program and the mean gain scores of at-risk ninth grade students who do not participate in a supplemental education program.
Ho2 There is no statistically significant difference between the mean in the attendance of at-risk ninth grade students who participated in a supplemental education program and the mean in the attendance of at-risk ninth grade students who did not participate in a supplemental education program.
This study tested the following non-directional alternative research hypotheses:
Non-Directional Research Hypothesis One: There is a statistically significant difference between the mean gain scores in academic performance of at-risk ninth grade students who participated in
a supplemental education program and the mean gain scores of at-risk ninth grade students who did not participate in a supplemental education program.
Non- Directional Hypothesis Two: There is a statistically significant difference between the mean in the attendance of at-risk ninth grade students who participated in a supplemental education program and the mean in the attendance of at-risk ninth grade students who did not participate in a supplemental education program.
According to Hinkle, Wiersma, and Jurs (2003), when the null hypothesis is tested against a non-directional alternative hypothesis, the procedure is called a two-tailed, or non-directional, test of the null hypothesis. This chapter also describes the methods that were used to conduct this study. Specifically, this section describes the research design, participants, procedure, instrumentation, data collection procedures, and data analysis procedures that were used in conducting the study.

Research design
This study used a design mentioned by Creswell (2003) which is a quasi-experimental design that apply nonequivalent treatment and non-treatment groups, with pre-test and post-test to assess change. A causal comparative research design was used to examine the hypotheses in this study. Gall, Borg, and Gall (2003), state that an experimental study is the most powerful research method for establishing cause and effect relationships between two or more variables.

The study calls for a comparison of two groups of ninth grade students who were different with regards to a critical variable-participation or non-participation in the supplemental education program-but who were otherwise comparable.

Thus, the independent variable was participation or non–participation in the supplemental education program. The experimental group was composed of at-risk ninth grade students who participated in the supplemental education program, while the comparison group was composed of at-risk ninth grade students who did not participate in the supplemental education program. The dependent variables were academic performance and attendance. Academic performance is operationalized by the gains between the post-test and pre-test in academic performance. Attendance is determined by the means before and after the SEP. The means in students’ attendance are the difference in the attendance before and after their participation in the supplemental education program.

A comparative research design identifies the most probable cause of differences that exist between participants(Carroll, 2004). The following diagram represents this type of research design used by Creswell, (2003).

Figure 1. Pre-test post-test control-group design
Group A          O1__________X_________O2    
  ……………………………
Group B          O1_________ ___________O2                          

 

Chapter Four: Results and Conclusion

In this chapter, the researcher reviewed the results of the data analysis along with concluding statements and interpretations of the major findings. Data for sixty four students were analyzed to determine if participation in a supplemental education program had an impact on student participation or non-participation in a supplemental education program. The results of this study indicate that the effectiveness of the supplemental education program (SEP) was unsubstantiated by the data. Possible explanations for this may be related to cultural and socioeconomic factors, and intervening variables, which prevented the supplemental education program from producing the desired results.

The focus of this program was to increase academic performance and attendance of participants in the program. However, the results of this study suggest that students who participated in the supplemental education program (SEP) did not perform better than those students who did not participate in the supplemental education program. Thus, more research needs to be conducted to enable schools to implement more rigorous teaching methods and strategies to address the dire needs of the ninth grade population.

Other factors may have contributed to the poor academic performance and attendance of at-risk ninth grade students. One of these factors is poor previous school experiences that prevent students from completing high school. The implication of the study is that supplemental education programs would likely not change the performance of students who are at risk of academic failure. Perhaps these programs would likely have a greater impact if they were enriched with activities that would cause students to have a deep desire to attend school. Incentives and rewards could be used to change the student’s disposition towards learning and performing while at school, and might make them more receptive to participating in supplemental education programs.


KORESH: The Waco Holocaust  

Koresh: The Waco Holocaust, narrates the eventful episodes leading to the mass killing of David
Koresh and hundreds of his followers. How can anyone forget the February 28,
1993 raid on the Seventh Day Adventist Branch Davidians in Waco Texas, and again the raid on
April, 1993? It seems a priori, that the Bureau of Investigation and the Attorney General Office are the sole guilty parties in this tragedy. A disturbing question then comes to mind: should similar circumstances arise in the future, are we to assume that another holocaust will take place. The Branch Davidians were a Biblical-Apocalyptic sect led by a charismatic, lifelong religious enthusiast who called himself David Koresh. Biblical-Apocalyptic sects are ardent students of the Bible, interpreting it primarily in   terms of an apocalyptic vision derived from the Revelation of John, the Book of Daniel, and other similar materials in the Bible. The “apocalyptic” literature deals in highly symbolic, sometimes bizarre imagery about the cosmic battles between the forces of good and the forces of evil. Apocalyptic sects feel that they are significant players in the cosmic battle, and that they are participating in the very exciting events of the last days-the end of this present age and the beginning of the “Messianic age.
     Vernon Howell (Koresh’s real name) considered him-self a Messsianic figure (one anointed by God for a very important task). Contrary to repeated assertion by ill informed and careless members of the media, Vernon did not claim to be “the” Messiah, and certainly never claim to be Jesus Christ. He fancied himself to be a “a” Messiah (a sinful Messiah in contrast to Jesus ).

 

Synopsis
Koresh:
The Waco Holocaust
                Just like some oriental tapestries which keep their subtle meanings secret, Koresh: The Waco Holocaust narrates the eventful episodes leading to the mass killing of David Koresh and some one hundred of his followers. How can anyone forget the February 28, 1993 raid on the Seventh Day Adventist Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas, and again the raid on April 19, 1993?  It seems a priori, that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Attorney General’s Office are the sole guilty parties in this tragedy. A disturbing question then comes to mind: should similar circumstances arise in the future, are we to assume that another holocaust will take place?
                It appears – based on data collected by Mr. Felix in this book – that the destruction of the Waco compound and the death of many cult members could have easily been avoided during the fifty-one- day standoff. In this human equation dealing with life and death, is it possible that thirst for heroism was what primarily took precedence over the thirst for resolution and reconciliation?
                In a simple and fluid style, Mr. Felix depicts the incredible human drama which took place, the tragic destiny of an ill-fated cult, and the difficult and sometimes sensitive demarcation between state and religion.

Preface
                There still remains a great deal of confusion about what really occurred in and around the Mt. Carmel Center near Waco, Texas in the Spring of 1993, when agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms orchestrated a dramatic raid on the living compound of a then obscure religious sect known as the Branch Davidians. The raid, ostensibly for the purpose of executing a search warrant, resulted in a fatal exchange of gunfire.
                The Branch Davidians were a Biblical-Apocalyptic sect led by a charismatic, lifelong religious enthusiast who called himself David Koresh. Biblical –Apocalyptic sects are ardent students of the Bible, interpreting it primarily in terms of an apocalyptic vision derived from the Revelation of John, the Book of Daniel, and other similar materials in the Bible. The “apocalyptic” literature deals in highly symbolic, sometimes bizarre imagery about the cosmic battle between the forces of good and the forces of evil. Apocalyptic sects feel that they are significant players in this cosmic battle, and that they are participating in the very exciting events of the last days – the end of this present age and the beginning of the “Messiantic” age. 
                Vernon Howell (Koresh’s real name) considered himself a Messiantic figure (one anointed by God for a very important task). Contrary to repeated assertions by ill informed and careless members of the media, Vernon did not claim to be “the” Messiah, and certainly never claimed to be Jesus Christ. He fancied himself to be “a” Messiah (a “sinful Messiah” in contrast to Jesus) who was raised to lead in the confrontational events of the last days. These events would include intense conflict with the “heathen” authorities.
                                “Why do the heathen rage and the peoples imagine vain things?
                                The kings of the earth set themselves in array and the rulers were
                                Gathered together against the Lord and against His anointed
                                (Messiah)”
                                Psalm 2:1-2 and Acts 4: 25b -26

                The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms officials were operating under the assumption that they were merely serving a legal search warrant in a highly dramatic fashion. From the perspective of the Branch Davidians, however, the BATF (and later the FBI) were walking onto the stage of an eschatological event in which they (as unwitting minions of the heathen rulers) were arraying themselves against God and His anointed one.
                There was still plenty of time and opportunity to avert further tragedy following the initial shoot-out. But the initial ignorance of the officials regarding what they were dealing with, and the continuing misinterpretations of the statements, beliefs and motivation of Koresh and his followers led ultimately to the kind of tragedy such confusion and misunderstanding often produces.
                Officially, that confusion may remain unresolved. But surely some insight can be brought out of the Waco events if they are analyzed dispassionately and empathetically by those who more accurately understand the religious and psychological mindsets of these minority groups. There are hundreds of Biblical-Apocalyptic sects remaining in the United States. Some are more bizarre than others. But none should have to suffer the fate of the Branch Davidians if law enforcement officials give serious attention to the preparation needed to deal with these people when they must, and to leave them alone when they should.
                In the light of the Waco events, how can there remain any doubt that in an increasingly secularized society political and law enforcement officials need to know a great deal more about religion than they do? It is only fair to the citizens they serve.
                Edwin Felix has amassed a considerable amount of material consisting of background in formation, media and official reports, and analytical-interpretive suggestions. His works makes a valuable contribution to the ongoing debate about the meaning of the series of event that still can be identified simply by the term “Waco.”

Lynn E. Mitchell, Jr. Ph.D.
Resident Scholar in Religion
Coordinator of Religious Studies
University of Houston