The effect of at-risk tutorial programs on student grade point average

The purpose of the study was to determine the effectiveness of at-risk tutorial programs as measured by student grade point average.The population was defined as elementary students identif7ed by local school officials as being at-risk according to federal and state descriptions of at-risk youth and according to individual school program objectives. The sample consisted of 250 elementary students selected from nine schools in five school districts that offered Indiana Department of Education funded at-risk tutorial programs and who were identified as at-risk by local school officials.The independent variables were time and treatment utilizing a 3 (Time) x 3 (Treatment) design for the study. The dependent variable was grade point average. Intervening variables were gender, age, grade, socioeconomic status, tutor, race, type of treatment, motivation, parent input such as encouragement, and student participation in other special programs such as special counseling.The following three findings were a result of analysis of data collected for the study:1. The null hypothesis of no differences among group means was rejected at an alpha level of .05 using Wilks multivariate analysis of variance.2. Univariate F statistics revealed the multivariate difference among group means to be accounted for at Time 4.3. Scheffe' post hoc pair-wise comparisons for Time 4 revealed a difference existed between the Control Group and Experimental Group 1 and between Experimental Group 1 and Experimental Group 2. No difference existed between the Control Group and Experimental Group 2.One conclusion was evident as a result of procedures applied in the study. No differences of grade point average were proven to result from differing levels of participation in at-risk tutorial programs. Implications of the study were (a) at-risk students need to participate in long-term programs that provide services for the student K-12 school career and (b) short-term at-risk programs may cause decline of student progress when the program is withdrawn.Department of Educational LeadershipThesis (D. Ed.