The effect parental involvement, behavior, and attendance have on the success of at-risk community day school students

Thesis (M.A., Education (Educational Leadership and Policy Studies)) -- California State University, Sacramento, 2011.Parental involvement in schools, whether initiated by the parents or the schools, has a profound effect on academic, social, and emotional development of adolescents. All too often, by the time students reach the secondary level, parents back away from their involvement (Beghetto, 2001). As there are many barriers perceived by both parties, families and schools, that inhibit parental involvement, there are actionable steps school leaders can take to support, encourage, and develop parental involvement in education (Milliken, 2007). In addition, regular school attendance is pivotal to shaping a positive and proactive perspective on learning. Students need to feel they have a place in their school, best accomplished by regular attendance and engagement in everyday school activities and curriculum (Burg, 2007). Lastly, children identified as at-risk are more susceptible to being retained or eventually dropping out. By circumstance, often it is these at-risk individuals who experience greater truancy and little support from home, when in fact, they are likely the population in most need of such intervention and support.\ud The purpose of this study was to analyze factors that promote academic success and sustainability for students enrolled in a middle school community day school environment.\ud Data was collected using several implements. A survey of parents was taken, behavioral records from a community day school that show indications of parental contact made during poor behavior and attendance records for 15 randomly selected anonymous students were used. The study took place in a small county-run community day school in a small town to rural setting.\ud The findings of this study suggest that if schools are proactively developing family and community relationships and implement positive enforceable truancy programs to encourage attendance, they will find behavior of students improves making them more likely to be successful in a traditional academic setting. In a community day school, students arrive with varied social, emotional, and academic needs. It is plausible that these needs can be met by using parental involvement and attendance to facilitate a paradigm shift in the perception of school, leading to a successful placement in a general education environment.Education (Educational Leadership and Policy Studies