Impact of Schools' Social Bonding on Chronic Truancy
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View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by IUPUIScholarWorks IMPACT OF SCHOOLS’ SOCIAL BONDING ON CHRONIC TRUANCY: PERCEPTIONS OF MIDDLE SCHOOL PRINCIPALS Carolyn Sherlet Gentle-Genitty Submitted to the faculty of the University Graduate School in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in the School of Social Work Indiana University December 2008 ii Accepted by the Faculty of Indiana University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy. ________________________ Margaret E. Adamek, PhD Doctoral Committee ________________________ William H. Barton, PhD ________________________ David Westhuis, PhD ________________________ G. Roger Jarjoura, PhD August 29, 2008 _______________________ Jeffrey Anderson, PhD iii ©2008 Carolyn Sherlet Gentle-Genitty ALL RIGHTS RESERVED iv DEDICATION To my husband, Keith Russell Genitty, who unselfishly gave and continues to give of himself, his time, and his love through this educational journey. And To my mom, Gloria Codd, a woman who said “If that is what you want …do it” -- a statement that has allowed me to see the world as my playground and an endless field of opportunities. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Today you view the product but I’d like to share the process and acknowledge those that have made the product possible. First and foremost Margaret Adamek, you saw the potential, nurtured the dream, and celebrated the successes; while lending a shoulder through the challenges. I thank you. You will forever be a part of my life and my success. Kathy Lay, since the Bachelors program you have been a role model in what I wanted to do with my life. You lit the way and guided me through. Thanks. William Barton, you stood tall as a pillar of knowledge and strength; you pushed me to understand research beyond that of facts but to the thought behind the research - the theory. Thanks, you serve as the foundation of my success as a scholar. David Westhuis, you are a silent motivator, a true task master, and an effective leader. You reminded me not to flood my plate and to keep my eyes on the prize. I did; and for your subtle reminders of sprinting to the end, I thank you. Jeffrey Anderson, you are a true collaborator, you informed me of what was needed to do the work, guided me to the place where the work was to take place, and allowed me to do the work and find my way. I will never forget your guidance even when I still needed to find myself. Jim Landers, Jim, since the beginning you have been available for all my non-traditional questions to better understand this process and adapt to a new place. Throughout it all you have kept your door, your cell phone, and office phone open for my many requests. Thanks, a friend and colleague I would not trade. Roger Jarjoura, you let me be a part of your life, your work, and your passions; in doing so you nurtured my desire for community involvement, recognized my need for training skills, and quest for statistical knowledge and guidance. You gave me of your time even when there was not much to spare; you gave me opportunities when I thought I could not make it alone; and you vi valued my professional knowledge and created avenues to showcase them. At each step Irene, you reminded me that the dissertation is but only the commencement of my work as a scholar; finding out who I am and what I will become is left only up to me through the experiences I allow myself to have. Together, all of you gave time you rarely had to give and for that and many other things, I am truly indebted and appreciative. I am forever grateful. For many others that have helped me grow beyond the dissertation, Dr. Valerie Chang, Dean Michael Patchner, Dr. Bob Vernon, Dr. Crystal Garcia, Dr. James Daley, Dr. Gail Folaron, Dean Greg Lindsey Mrs. Etta Ward, Dr. Jeffry Thigpen, and of course, my social work cohort: James Brown, Valerie Decker, Virgil Gregory, Lisa Lewis, Phil Suman, Barb Burdge, Corey Pfahler, Ronnie Taylor, Delthea Hill, and Daniel Navarro. Sameeh Khamis, there is no category that you fit in and so I must create one just for you. You have offered invaluable help in my teaching, research, practice, and study. I am truly indebted to you for years to come. Thank you. vii PREFACE After 13 years of working with young people in Belize, it was evident to me that something besides poverty, academic failure, and family history contributed to a youth’s participation in crime and unwillingness to excel beyond elementary school. However, moving from this light bulb moment to the path of studying social bonding and chronic truancy in middle school was not simple. Before I realized that social bonding was a factor in chronic truancy, I began my analysis exploring youth antisocial behaviors – obviously a broad topic. After numerous conversations with Committee members and scholars and careful investigation of countless articles, books, and research, it became apparent to me that a common factor in participation in antisocial behaviors was school disengagement. I define disengagement as students who do not feel that they are part of the school they attend. These students have increased absences, engage in delinquent activities, foster a dislike for school, and eventually dropout. The school environment was looked at as a broad term to mean both its physical surroundings, resources, members, as well as its context of relationships among teachers, students, peers, and principals. Once this area was established, understanding early reasons for disengagement and comprehending reasons for participation in delinquent activities such as chronic truancy, was a natural next step. It is my hope that in reading through the pages of this dissertation that you will see this process, understand the need for the study area, learn about the study population, understand the study environment, and learn about the impact of the school’s social bonding on chronic truancy and the need for future research. viii ABSTRACT Carolyn Sherlet Gentle-Genitty IMPACT OF SCHOOLS’ SOCIAL BONDING ON CHRONIC TRUANCY: PERCEPTIONS OF MIDDLE SCHOOL PRINCIPALS Background. No longer is the family the only unit of care for children and their education; schools are now the primary unit of education and are responsible for at least 6-8 hours of student connectedness. Yet, one in every 100 US students is truant. Among students ages 14-17, the number of truants is one in 10. In one township in Indiana, one in every three students is a chronic truant. Understanding why children disengage from school before reaching the compulsory attendance age of 16 is essential. This study explored the relationship of schools’ social bonding opportunities and principals’ perceptions of students’ social bond on rates of chronic truancy in middle schools. Chronic truancy was defined as 10 or more absences reported to the Indiana Department of Education during the 2006-2007 school year. Methods. A cross-sectional online survey consisting of 81 items was administered using Survey Monkey™. The list of participants was generated from the Indiana Department of Education’s online database of middle and junior high schools in Indiana. Of the 429 principals invited to participate, 144 responded. The final sample consisted of 99 public schools. Secondary data was used to compare school demographic characteristics. ix Results. Using multiple regression analyses, the results showed that schools’ social bonding opportunities and principals’ perceptions of students’ social bonding in middle school were positively but not significantly related to rates of chronic truancy. The variables in the model of best fit accounted for 16% of the change in rates of chronic truancy. Principals reported doing well at creating opportunities for students to attach and be involved in school but that they needed to improve on building relationships to effectively increase social bonding in their middle schools. Conclusions. Student success is dependent on not only what the student brings to the school environment but what the school environment provides to the student. Creating an environment for students to thrive and succeed relies on the opportunities for social bonding in the middle school. Truancy prevention and school engagement is a shared responsibility. Margaret E. Adamek, PhD x TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................... .xii LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................ .xiii CHAPTER I – INTRODUCTION .................................................................................... ..1 Consequences of Chronic Truancy ............................................................................... 1 Defining Chronic Truancy ............................................................................................ 6 Historical Background .................................................................................................. 8 Responses to Chronic Truancy ................................................................................... 13 Assumptions of the Study ............................................................................................ 17 Implications................................................................................................................. 17 Summary ....................................................................................................................