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Chapter 2
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Introduction
Presented in chapter 2 is a synthesis of research that supports the evaluation of the attendance policy and attendance program of Newport News Public Schools. Included in the chapter is a historical overview of attendance, the importance of attendance, overview of Newport News Public Schools, theoretical framework, causes or predictors of student absenteeism, descriptions of related attendance policies/ programs, and a review of perceptions and attitudes about attendance policies/programs as indicated by literature review.
Historical Overview
Early homesteading laws allowed the settlers free land on which to build schools. Schooling was perceived as the key to success for individuals and to the excellence of society (Mitchell, 1993). Free and compulsory education came to England and Wales following the Elementary Education Acts of
1870 and 1876, although not always on a full time basis. The Education Act of 1918 finally abolished half time schooling, and made elementary education entirely free and compulsory until the end of the term after the child's fourteenth birthday. Nevertheless, in most parts of the United States the problem of illegal absence dates from 1876 (Galloway, 1985). In the 1850s urban schools suffered from an extremely high turnover of students. Many students were needed at home to do many of the chores, especially if they lived on a farm. Other students worked outside of the home to help support the family. Poor attendance was a problem to teachers and parents well before school attendance became compulsory (Pallister, 1969). Pallister notes that enthusiasm for education varied with the standards of the school; good schools quickly obtaining the support of parents, and similarly bad schools, least in the eyes of parents, quickly losing support. School administrators were immediately faced with new concerns considering that in 1900 only 6 percent of Americans had a diploma (Wise, 1994;Kay, 1991). It is clear that attendance rates varied little between 1904 and 1938, except in 1920 when lower average attendance followed the social upheaval of the First World War. Galloway noted that there is little evidence that attendance rates over the last ten to fifteen years (1970-1985) differ very much from those earlier in the century (Galloway, 1985). Even with the increased
contradictory ways, depending on the individual's own perspective (Galloway, 1985). The statistics related to school absenteeism are staggering. Each school day, 2,500,000 students are reported absent from school. The dropout rate is estimated at 27 percent nationally and over 45 percent in some cities. The 27 percent dropout rate equates to 65 busloads of students who leave United States schools each week and do not return. In a year's time, 700,000 students will be lost. In two years, the number will exceed one million (Person, 1990). The Virginia Department of Education has created a system for better and more accountable schools through what is now called the Outcome Accountability Project (OAP). This program establishes the criteria for how schools and school divisions will be held accountable for meeting the commitment of improving learning for all. The data from the OAP provides a framework for analyzing the school district by breaking the whole into some of its parts. The attendance data for secondary students provided by the OAP for the State of Virginia indicates that 66 percent of students in grades 9-12 during the school year '95-'96 were absent 10 days or less from school. The OAP data further lists Newport News Public Schools as having 55 percent of its grades 9-12 students absent 10 days or less from school (OAP Report, 1997). The school philosophy, in general, is one that stresses to teachers, pupils, and parents the importance of
regular school attendance. This is because it is the belief that only through regular school attendance can students progress academically at a successful rate (Jett & Platt, 1979). Attendance is part of a pupil's cumulative record. It is important that good school attendance habits be established for later years when pupils seek employment (Jett & Platt, 1979). Jett and Platt conclude that attendance and its importance should be taught to students. Basic to that philosophy is the belief that poor student attendance and truancy are some of the first signs of decay of a school and school system. Therefore, it is incumbent upon educators to do all they can to promote good school attendance habits among their pupils. Anyone who has skipped or had to repeat a grade, has been placed in or excluded from a special program, or has been denied academic credit because of absences knows the importance of local school policies. While scholarly attention has tended to focus on federal and state education policy, those who attend and work in schools realize that their lives can be affected greatly by policy made at the school and district level (Duke and Canady, 1991). Guba (1984) identifies eight distinct conceptions of policy. They include the following: Policy is an assertion of intents or goals. Policy is the accumulated standing decisions of a governing body, by which it regulates,
sources can be identified. Pizzo further states that policies are derived from Congress, the Department of Education, the courts, state legislatures, intermediate agencies, school boards, and school-based personnel. To understand educational policy in the United States, it is necessary to understand each of these policymaking entities and the relationships among them. Duke and Canady (1991) identify three reasons to study policy. First, many of the education policies likely to have a direct effect on the lives of students, parents, and teachers are local school policies. A state legislature may pass legislation concerning the allocation of resources for education, but the legislation does not become meaningful for clients, patrons, and employees until local policy decisions determine how the available resources will be utilized. Second, schools serving similar groups of students can differ greatly in areas such as student achievement, attendance, dropped rate, teacher morale, and school climate. The third reason to study school policies according to Duke and Canady (1991) is the fact that the number of locally developed policies is likely to increase in the future. Interest in shared decision making, teacher empowerment, school-site management, and the restructuring of schools suggests that the locus of educational policymaking may be shifting. Duke and Canady point out that ample justification exists for the systematic study of local school policy. Such
study promises to shed light on school effectiveness, the process of school improvement, and local control of education. In addition, Duke and Canady state as interest in at-risk students grows, questions need to be raised regarding the extent to which local school policies enhance or impede these youngsters’ chances for success. So frequent and so complicated have problems related to student attendance become that many school systems consider them to be separate from other discipline problems. This fact may be explained, in part, by the relationship between school attendance and state aid to education and the link between attendance and a student’s constitutional right to an education. Attendance rules include those pertaining to unexcused absence from school and class, tardiness, and leaving school without permission. Since, by law, students must attend school up to the state-mandated school-leaving age, attendance-related issues for local policymakers do not concern rules so much as the consequences for absenteeism and attendance practices (Duke and Canady, 1991). In recent years, school policymakers concerned about the relationship between the time spent in school and student learning have begun to condone denying course credit and awarding failing grades for chronic absenteeism. The number of absences resulting in denial of credit or a failing grade usually ranges from 10 to 24 in a semester (Sedlak et al, 1986). According to Eastwold (1989), the truant is likely to be
absent than whites. School success – students with higher grades and/or IQs have better attendance. Program – students in college preparatory programs are present more often than those in vocational, general, or business programs. Family setting – students from a one-parent family have poorer attendance rates than those from the more traditional family. School involvement – participants in a variety of co-curricular activities will generally be in attendance more often than will non-participants. Eastwold (1989) indicates that some researchers believe that truancy problems can be blamed on ineffective school attendance policies. In some cases the costs in time and energy to enforce compulsory education statutes seem to outweigh the benefits. As a result schools will develop policies that devote the most energy to those students expected to have the best chance of success. Eastwold (1989) indicates that the burden of reducing truancy rates rests primarily with schools, and a message that can be drawn from the research is that schools can affect truancy rate whenever they give high priority to effective attendance policies. Eastwold identified the most effective policies as those that have the following elements:
Expectations and outcomes are clear and well publicized Policies are followed consistently by everyone Students are held responsible for their actions. Parents are involved. If revision of the district/building attendance policy seems a necessary part of the solution, there is no dearth of literature dealing with the subject. School authorities generally utilize one of these types of policies: Policies that attempt to provide incentives for good attendance. Policies that dispense punitive, administrative consequences, such as detentions or suspensions. Restrictive and punitive policies that penalize students academically by withholding credit or lowering grades when a number of predetermined absences is reached (Rood, 1989).
Overview of Newport News Public Schools
Based upon the attendance reports of Newport News Public Schools, student daily attendance has averaged 92 percent over the past 10 years. Newport News Public Schools attendance data for 1995-1996 reveal secondary student attendance 11 percent below the state average of 66 percent. The 1995-1996 dropout rate for the school division was 1
that could be given to the school board for possible consideration. The assistant superintendent of administrative and alternative services formulated an attendance committee to assist his staff in writing a draft attendance policy that could be brought before the school board for consideration. The attendance committee consisted of school board members, central office administrators, principals, teachers, parents, and community leaders. The attendance committee members were given the charge of exploring a policy that would hold students accountable for missing classes or school. The charge was approved by the superintendent and the assistant superintendent of administrative and alternative services. The attendance committee submitted a draft attendance policy and attendance program to the school board for their consideration. The school board discussed the draft attendance policy and program many times during school board work sessions before adopting the proposed attendance policy. The attendance policy and program were adopted by the board in 1996 for full implementation during the 1996-1997 school year. After the school board approved the proposed attendance policy, funding the attendance program became a priority issue. During the budget process, the overall attendance budget was reduced to assist the superintendent with the task given to him by the city manager to lower the
school division budget. With reduced funding for the attendance program, the assistant superintendent of administrative and alternative services submitted a recommendation to the superintendent to reallocate available attendance resources to the high school. The superintendent accepted the recommendation. The recommendation was submitted by the superintendent to the school board for board approval. The school board approved the reallocation of attendance resources for the 1996-97 school year. The assistant superintendent of administrative and alternative services reallocated seven attendance officers to the high schools from the elementary and middle schools. Each high school was allocated an attendance clerk with the responsibility of managing the attendance program data collection. During the summer of 1996 the appointed school board members’ term of office ended. The appointed school board members were replaced by elected school board members. Later during the summer months, the superintendent of Newport News Public Schools decided to accept a position in another school division. The elected school board appointed an interim superintendent who later was appointed as superintendent of schools. The school board wanted to know if the new attendance policy and attendance program made a difference in the
policy and attendance program was needed to provide data for utilization by the school division(See Appendix C).
Theoretical Framework
Previous research studies by De Leonibus (1978) suggest that student absenteeism and lack of motivation are intertwined. Educators have begun to investigate the theories of motivation in order to apply them to create policies in an attempt to reduce the problem of student absenteeism (De Leonibus, 1978). Motivation is usually considered as being related to human needs, which in turn motivates behavior. The classical management view of motivation is based on the belief that people need money, so if the employer pays them well, they will be motivated to work hard. Conversely, those who are lazy are penalized by receiving a lower pay rate. The premise behind this theory is that a carrot (incentive of extra pay) and stick (penalty of lower pay) will motivate the worker to do the job well (Owens, 1987). As further explained by Owens (1987), once the lowest order of needs on the hierarchy is met, a higher order need appears and the individual has a desire to satisfy that need. The hierarchy of needs as used in Maslow's theory of motivation are as follows: basic physiological needs (food, water, shelter); security and safety; social affiliation;
esteem; and self-actualization (Owens, 1987). Ames (1990) views motivation as a process aimed at creating motivational thought patterns that contribute to self-regulating action. Students are motivated for different reasons. Motivation isn't synonymous with achievement, but a positive feeling of self-worth that is a strong motivational construct. Ames defines self-worth as an expectation or belief that one is capable of performing a specific task, organizing and carrying out required behaviors in a situation. Glasser (1990) in his work on what he deems to be the quality school has created what he refers to as the control theory. This theory is based on the belief that no one can make anyone do anything--it is the job of the manager (teacher) to make it easy for the workers (students) to see a strong connection between what they are asked to do and what they believe to be worth doing. Glasser makes an industrial analogy between school and the workplace, stating that school should be made relevant and interesting because bored workers won't produce high quality work. According to Glasser (1990), there are two different management styles; boss-management and lead-management. Boss-management style is based on coercion and lead- management on cooperative action. Effective teachers manage students without coercion. Coercion begets coercion, which turns the students into adversaries thus reducing the
Causes or Predictors of Student Absenteeism
According to Woog (1992), three theoretical categories identify the causes or predictors of student attendance specifically are: those which identify the cause of the absenteeism with the student or his/her family characteristics, those which identify the student's social or economic environment as the causal factor, and those which examine the effect of various school characteristics as influential in the absentee rate of students. The 1977 Educational Research Service report identifies age, IQ, achievement, religion, and co-curricular activities as associated with various rates of absenteeism. Older students, students living with one parent, students with lower IQ scores, students with lower grades, students who did not participate in school activities, and non-Jewish students all were noted to have higher absentee rates than did their counterparts. Galloway (1985) reports that frequently absent students have a fear of teachers or specific subjects. He also reports that the families of absent students were noted as scoring much higher on measurements of familial stress. Both of Gallaway's reports identified an unfavorable parental attitude toward school as a significant influence on the absence rate of their children. Galloway's (1985) research showed excessive absentees
as students whose families had experienced financial problems or whose parents experienced poor health. Galloway suggests that the poor economic condition of the family may generate a negative attitude toward school either because the family needs the student to work and contribute to the family income or because education is not perceived to be an avenue to increased economic status. The largest factor in the average daily attendance of a school is generated from influences which occur independently of the school's organizational or attendance policy characteristics(Petzko 1990). Petzko's research concluded that student's absenteeism is related to familial or cultural characteristics. School climate and organization characteristics of the school have also been suggested as predictive factors in student absenteeism (Woog 1992). The Education Research Services Report (1977) suggests that staff/student relationship, quality of instruction, curriculum standards, and attendance procedures may affect absenteeism. Duke and Meckel (1980) studied two California high schools and identified five organizational variables potentially related to student attendance. Duke and Meckel conclude that division of labor, micro-level decision making, rewards and sanctions, macro-level decision making, training, and selection play a large part in the cause of attendance problems at the two schools.
