A Mixed-Methods Case Study of Compulsory Education

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A dissertation presented to

the faculty of

The Patton College of Education of Ohio University

In partial fulfillment

of the requirements for the degree

Doctor of Education

Jeffrey R. Fisher

April 2017

This dissertation titled

A Mixed-Methods Case Study of Compulsory Education

JEFFREY R. FISHER

has been approved for

the Department of Educational Studies

and The Patton College of Education by

Krisanna Machtmes

Associate Professor of Educational Studies

Renée A. Middleton

Dean, The Patton College of Education 3

Abstract

FISHER, JEFFREY R., Ed.D., April 2017, Educational Administration

A Mixed-Methods Case Study of Compulsory Education

Director of Dissertation: Krisanna Machtmes

The primary purpose of this case study was to provide a mixed-methods approach through qualitative examination and quantitative analysis of compulsory education laws in the United States with a specific focus on one Ohio school district and its issues with compulsory education, alternative educational options, and educational equitability.

Assessment data was used to compare the achievement and academic growth of students attending traditional brick and mortar schools versus those attending online options for quantitative data gathering. Additionally, qualitative information was obtained through scheduled personal interviews with school-age students attending both regular school and alternative options schooling, their parents, teachers, and administrators. In addition other entities interviewed were state politicians, online educators, and online administrators with opinions on public education, compulsory education, and alternative options for schooling available to school-age children and their parents/guardians. From this qualitative data, the researcher noticed the emerging patterns and themes and analyzed the information in order to provide support or show dissimilarities to the quantitative data found. Responses were examined closely in order to add personalization and context to the quantitative data found for this explanatory, sequential design-formatted mixed-methods case study. The data from this research study suggested the need for nontraditional schools such as online schools but with increased oversight 4 and accountability in order to ensure students have equal opportunity to diverse course work, taxpayer dollars are not wasted, and students are receiving similar educational quality to that of traditional school students. Additionally, compulsory education laws need updated to support the new phenomenon of online education to ensure children are truly given the intended educational opportunities protected by law regardless of socioeconomic status, gender, race, ethnicity, region, or state. Moreover, these updated regulations are essential for increased equity in regards to educational opportunities for all school-age children regardless of the state they reside. Finally, regardless of setting school-age students need access to trained educational professionals and resources in order to build internal locus of control and differentiate assignments based on student ability and interest. This study provides educators and scholars a comparative analysis of educational opportunities provided to students in the United States based on a conceptual framework that may alter the way researchers view and analyze compulsory education requirements.

Key Words: education, compulsory education, alternative education

Acknowledgments

This dissertation would not have been possible without the love and support of so many caring individuals. First and foremost, I could not have completed this intensive program of study, research, and dissertation without my wife and my son. I dedicate my work to them. To my wife Lindsay, thank you for always believing in me, being patient with me, and for always loving and supporting me. You are my best friend and the love of my life. I could not have done this without you. To my son Lleyton, I did this in large part to set an example for you and any future siblings and to show you the value of hard work, dedication, and education. Since becoming a father on November 20, 2013, every action I take is in an effort to set a positive example for my children and to make them proud. I hope I succeed in these goals.

Next, I would like to thank three very important family members who helped guide me in this process. To my mother Melinda, it is you who have always been there to listen, offer a calm word, and provide me reassurance even when I felt a task might be too insurmountable. You are my rock. Without you accomplishments such as this would not have been possible. To my dad Wesley, you are the person I strive to emulate on a daily basis both personally and professionally. I will always look up to you, and I will never forget the example you have set for me. You are the best father I could have ever asked for. To my Aunt Holly, this dissertation is as much a reflection of your talents as an educator as it is of my hard work. You are more than my aunt; you are my teacher.

Thank you to all three of you for loving and supporting me throughout this process. 6

Finally, I would like to thank my dissertation committee chair Dr. Krisanna

Machtmes for her talents, patience, feedback, and drive in leading me to the completion of this dissertation. I truly cannot put into words my admiration for Dr. Machtmes. I am beyond grateful for her and hold her in the highest professional regard. I will be forever grateful for Dr. Machtmes. Her compassion and expertise show her quality both personally and professionally. She is truly an elite human being. To my committee members Dr. Charles Lowery (a co-chair to my dissertation regardless of title or designation), Dr. William Larson, and Dr. Barbara Trube thank you for providing valuable comments and support throughout this process. During the past two years I have grown immensely, both personally and professionally, thanks in large part to these professionals. A special thank you to a former doctoral professor (Dr. Adam Hiebel) who did not sit on my dissertation committee but made a great impact on me personally and professionally. His willingness to put a fresh set of eyes on my work and provide meaningful feedback to my work was invaluable to the completion of my dissertation.

To everyone else who was a part of this journey with me, I thank you for your contributions.

Table of Contents

Page

Abstract ...... 3 Acknowledgments...... 5 List of Tables ...... 9 List of Figures ...... 10 Chapter 1: Introduction to the Study ...... 11 Introduction ...... 11 Phenomenon of Online Education ...... 12 Purpose Statement ...... 19 Theoretical Framework ...... 20 Significance of the Study ...... 24 Research Questions ...... 25 Definition of Terms ...... 26 Research Design and Methodology ...... 27 Necessity of Educational Options for School-Age Students ...... 31 Assumptions and Limitations ...... 35 Chapter 2: Review of Literature ...... 37 Introduction ...... 37 Historical Examination of Education in the United States ...... 38 Historical Examination of Compulsory Education in the United States ...... 46 Compulsory Education Today in the United States ...... 55 Court Cases Addressing Compulsory Education in the United States ...... 57 Cross-Cultural Comparison of Compulsory Education ...... 67 Alternative Options to Traditional School in the United States ...... 89 Gaps Existing in Literature Reviewed ...... 100 Chapter 3: Research Design and Methodology ...... 102 Introduction ...... 102 Purpose Statement ...... 102 Research Questions ...... 103 8

Rationale for a Mixed-Methods Case Study ...... 104 Instrumentation ...... 109 Data Collection Procedures ...... 112 Data Analysis Techniques ...... 116 Validity ...... 119 Researcher Positionality ...... 122 Summary ...... 124 Chapter 4: Results ...... 126 Introduction ...... 126 Data Point #1 ...... 126 Data Point #2 ...... 129 Data Point #3 ...... 136 Summary ...... 191 Chapter 5: Conclusion and Recommendations ...... 195 Introduction ...... 195 Implications of Findings and Researcher Reccomendations ...... 197 Recommendations for Further Research ...... 217 Summary ...... 219 References ...... 220 Appendix A: Ohio University IRB Approval Letter...... 232 Appendix B: Ohio University Pre-Proposal Approval Letter ...... 233 Appendix C: Ohio University Consent Form ...... 234 Appendix D: Ohio University Interview Protocol Form ...... 237 Appendix E: Survey on Compulsory Education Part I ...... 238 Appendix F: Survey on Compulsory Education Part II ...... 241 Appendix G: CCSD Superintendent Approval Letter ...... 243

List of Tables

Page

Table 1: Compulsory Education Requirements by State ...... 55

Table 2: 2013-2014 Comparative Data ...... 127

Table 3: 2014-2015 Comparative Data ...... 128

Table 4: 2015-2016 Comparative Data ...... 129

Table 5: Type of Respondents to the Likert Scale Survey ...... 131

Table 6: Likert Scale Survey Data ...... 133

Table 7: Type of Respondents to the Structured Interview ...... 138

List of Figures

Page

Figure 1: Four Elements of Student Success ...... 23

Figure 2: Attribution Theory ...... 204

Chapter 1: Introduction to the Study

Introduction

A high number of students dropping out of high school and choosing to withdraw or attend alternative educational programming such as online schooling is leaving the

United States with a percentage of its population uneducated and unskilled resulting in a negative impact on the national economy. Over 3 million school-age children drop out of school each year in the United States (Statistic, 2015) which equates to roughly 20 percent of school-age children dropping out of school prior to graduation on a yearly basis (Layton, 2014). While U.S. public high schools celebrate reaching the milestone of an 80 percent graduation rate with a goal of 90 percent by 2020, that still means at this time 20 percent of the student population in the United States is not graduating from high school (Hefling, 2014, para. 1).

According to political scientist Andrew Hacker, “One out of 5 young Americans does not graduate from high school” (Matthews, 2016, para. 3). Hacker goes on to comment that the record of American non-graduates is one of the worst in the developed world (Matthews, 2016, para. 3). Median earnings for high school dropouts are a mere

$415 per week (Bridgeland, Dilulio, & Streeter, 2007, p. 3). Research has shown a 10 percent rise in earnings for people who simply stay in school one year longer (Bridgeland et al., 2007, p. 3). Over their lifetimes, female high school dropouts earn between

$120,000 and $244,000 less than female graduates, and males $117,000 to $322,000 less than male graduates (Bridgeland et al., 2007, p. 3). A 10 percent increase in high school completion rates would reduce this nation’s cost on crime by $14 billion (Bridgeland et 12 al., 2007, p. 3). If all students graduated high school, the cost of public health care would decline by another $10 billion each year (Bridgeland et al., 2007, p. 3). A Milligan and

Oreopoulos study (2003) suggests that because of compulsory education laws, the citizens of the United States not only became better educated but also became more engaged politically (p. 1670). Compulsory education laws increased the probability of citizens voting, and as a result, increased national pride and social awareness (Milligan &

Oreopoulos, 2003, p. 1670).

Consequently, dropouts earn less money over their lifetimes, have increased health issues, are less aware of societal issues, and ultimately have a shorter life span as opposed to individuals who have additional years of schooling (Chapman, Laird, Ifill, &

KewalRamani, 2011). Data from the National Longitudinal Mortality Study (NLMS) supports this statement by suggesting that with each additional year of schooling completed, an individual’s average life expectancy increases by up to 6 months (Cutler,

2006, p. 21-22). To summarize, in addition to increased life expectancy, individuals who attend school longer earn more money over their lifetimes, have more access to preventive health care, are more aware of societal issues, and thus have a strong probability of living longer (Cutler, 2006, p. 21-22).

Phenomenon of Online Education

Overall, the federal government estimates that in 2012, 1.8 million students (or

3.4 percent of the total student population in the United States) were in some form of home-schooling, but even this number is likely inaccurate and low due to the fact that many states have no reporting requirements for home-schooled students (Prothero, 2015, 13 p. 2). Although this number may seem small, in just 9 years the number of homeschooled students has increased by over a million students; and the number continues to grow as more and more charter and online options are developed each year nationwide

(Prothero, 2015, p. 2). A study completed by the Center for Research on Education

Outcomes (CREDO) cited drastic increases in attendance in online schools as

“enrollments had nearly doubled between the 2009-’10 and 2012-’13 school years, documenting a rapidly growing corner of the charter school industry, which presents itself as an alternative to traditional public schools” (Rosenfeld, 2016, para. 5). Twenty- seven states in the United States allow online charter schools (Miron, 2016, p. 3).

Twenty-six of 27 states have legislation allowing online charter schools, and in each state

“considerable variations in state laws and regulations” were found (Miron, 2016, p. 4).

“In 22 of 28 states, funding mechanisms for online charter schools are the same” as funding for traditional schools (Miron, 2016, p. 4). There are 4 states that use a completion-based funding model, and the study done by the Center for Reinventing

Public Education (CRPE) makes recommendations to use the model of these 4 states for an alternative approach to funding (Miron, 2016, p. 4). California requires non- traditional online schools to spend 80 percent of their public revenue on instruction in an effort to better ensure educational integrity and equitability, while only 6 states require all non-traditional online schools to “provide computer hardware, software and Internet connectivity for some of their students” (Miron, 2016, p. 4).

While online education may be seen as simply an alternative to traditional schooling, this alternative educational program, like many others, satisfies compulsory 14 education requirements but has limited success in advancing students toward academic growth and achievement that could result in the academic success of high school graduation. “If virtual charters were grouped together and ranked as a single school district, it would be the ninth largest in the country and among the worst performing”

(Rosenfeld, 2016, para. 2). Recent research on student progress after enrolling in online schools says that “the average student who attends might as well not enroll” (Strauss,

2015, para. 1). The study by (CREDO) used math and reading scores on standardized tests to assess the effectiveness of online schools in 17 states, which includes the state of

Ohio, and found that students enrolled in online school for one academic year lost nearly half a year of learning in reading and a full year of learning in math compared to traditional public school students (Strauss, 2015, para. 2-6).

Even as the United States reaches unprecedented heights in graduations rates (80 percent in 2014) growth was not attributed to charter or online schools but instead to a greater awareness of dropout programs by traditional schools; efforts by traditional school districts, states and even the federal government to include graduation rates in accountability measures; and initiatives to close “dropout factory” schools in the traditional and non-traditional educational settings (Hefling, 2014, para. 3). It is noteworthy that if graduation rates had stayed the same nationally as they were in 2001,

1.7 million additional students would not have graduated in 2014 (Hefling, 2014, para.

19). As enrollment in non-traditional online schools increases and graduation rates increase nationally by 1.7 million more students graduating in America, the new 15 phenomenon of online non-traditional schooling is not cited as a factor in helping to achieve the increase in graduates in the United States.

A report by Mathematica Policy Research found the defining characteristics of non-traditional online schools are as follows:

Student driven, independent study is the dominant mode of learning . . . with 33

percent of online charter schools offering only self-paced instruction (Self-paced

means no deadlines from teachers). Online schools typically provide students

with less live teacher contact time in a week than students in conventional schools

have in a day . . . Maintaining student engagement . . . is considered the greatest

challenge . . . which places significant expectations on parents . . . to actively

participate in student instruction . . . These findings suggest reason for concern

about whether the online charter school sector is likely to be effective in

promoting the achievement of its students. (Rosenfeld, 2016, para. 19-20)

Another prime example of an alternative educational program having a limited success rate is an online school found in Ohio that is one of the largest districts

(regardless of designation) in the state. Since 2006, the Columbus, Ohio-based online charter school Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow (ECOT) more than doubled its enrollment to 14,561 students in 2013-2014 making it the state’s tenth largest school district (Bush & Richards, 2015). “ECOT, whose students take classes from home on a computer, grew by 122 percent during Ohio’s eight-year moratorium on new online charter schools” (Bush & Richards, 2015, para. 4). Despite the growth, this example of an alternative to traditional schooling in the state of Ohio has one of the worst track 16 records in the state for graduating students; two-thirds of ECOT seniors in the past four years did not graduate with their classes (Bush & Richards, 2015).

With its most-recent graduation rate of 38 percent, few districts in the state rank

lower. Only 35 of the roughly 700 traditional school districts and charter schools

that serve high-school students have a worse outcome, and most of those are other

statewide e-schools and charters that exclusively serve dropouts. (Bush &

Richards, 2015, para. 21)

According to state financial records, ECOT’s tax revenue is at $112.7 million; and

90 percent of that is funded by the state, meaning even though this charter school is funded by public tax dollars, it is privately run by a business (Bush & Richards, 2015).

The growth has been huge . . . [ECOT] has offices in Columbus and Dayton and

sponsors charters but criticizes weak oversight and poor-quality schools. There

are clearly a lot of questions about the quality of the education they’re putting out.

I’d be curious to know why parents are selecting it. (Bush & Richards, 2015, para.

Why are so many school-age children and their families turning to non-traditional online schooling like ECOT despite questionable results in academic achievement, growth, and completion? “According to a state financial audit . . . ECOT . . . spent $11 million on ‘communications,’ including advertising” (Bush, 2016, para. 9). This rather new phenomenon of online schooling serving as an alternative educational opportunity to traditional schooling finds school-age children satisfying compulsory education laws with limited oversight and questionable educational quality being delivered. “The Dispatch 17 reported last year that almost 23,000 students churned through ECOT, many staying for just weeks or months, to reach that average enrollment” stated above (Bush, 2016, para.

8). Due to the novelty of this phenomenon opportunities for social and emotional growth through peer interaction, oversight on the quality of health care the child is receiving, healthy dietary options through school-sponsored lunches, physical fitness opportunities, and instruction from certified teachers are all disregarded for a computer-based education that statistics show is of suspect quality and questionable results.

Couple this information with the notion that in Ohio the School of Choice Chief for the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) resigned in July 2015 after he admitted to providing unfair help to alternative-based educational programs like charter schools and online schools, withholding their failing grades on state report cards, and misusing government funds to support these schools. The evidence suggests a clear problem with the variances in laws and illegal assistance being given to certain educational options that aim to deceive and misuse compulsory education laws and ultimately hurt the school-age children the laws are there to protect and serve (Strauss, 2015). Politics and money, not education, seem to be driving forces behind alternative educational options like ECOT.

“ECOT founder William Lager is a major donor to Republicans in Ohio” (O’Donnell,

2015, para. 17). Ohio Governor John Kasich is a Republican who made a run at the

White House in 2016. Kasich’s presidential campaign manager was Beth Hansen, the wife of former ODE School of Choice Chief David Hansen. As mentioned previously, he resigned over the alternative educational programming scandal in Ohio (O’Donnell,

2015). Compulsory education laws meant to ensure quality educational opportunities 18 for all school-age children could lead to financial and political opportunities for individuals with personal agendas rather than a focus on education.

Compulsory education laws are intended to ensure a population of people has equal opportunity to basic education. In theory, through these regulations, educational equality is achieved and citizens, regardless of socioeconomic status, gender, race, ethnicity, or region, become more aware, skilled, and useful. However, just because school attendance is compulsory does not mean it is equal. The CREDO report “noted two-thirds of online charters ‘contract with for profit education management organizations (EMO), raising suspicions that schools will skimp on quality to maximize profits’” (Rosenfeld, 2016, para. 29). One state, New Mexico, has taken steps to restrict use of for-profit EMOs from operating non-traditional online schools due to the lack of educational equity offered to students in comparison to traditional schools (Miron, 2016, p. 4). According to the CRPE 2016 study, “legislative activity appears to be ‘heating up’ in response to often-reported concerns about quality, accountability, and transparency” of non-traditional online schools which serve to satisfy compulsory education laws with limited academic success and quality (Miron, 2016, p. 4). This disparity not only hurt the students who are supposed to be protected by these laws but also threaten to have a long- term, negative societal impact. A lack of regulations and accountability behind compulsory education expectations, as well as the wide variance of legal requirements on compulsory education laws from state-to-state, is problematic to students, parents, educators, schools, and communities nationwide.

Purpose Statement

This study used an explanatory, sequential design format to provide a close examination of an Ohio school district with alternative educational options and provides a framework for analysis of the inequitable nature of compulsory education in the United

States. This study examined the data found to discern whether there is a difference between academic achievement and academic growth of students attending online school after dropping out of traditional high school versus those students who maintain attendance within the traditional high school setting.

This research will add to the literature on compulsory education by focusing on alternative pathways to satisfying this legal requirement for school-age children.

Theoretical Framework

In 1991, Paleobiologist Stephen J. Gould made the argument that “human beings protect and preserve what they love; if they don’t know something, they don’t attend to it” (Smith & Sobel, 2010, p. 47). In that one statement the argument against compulsory education can be found. If a person is made to do something—can he/she truly love or appreciate it? If a person grows up in an environment where adults did not go to or graduate from school and thus devalue intellectual attainment—can that person value education? If a child sees his family grow up with basic needs being met through government assistance—will the drive for self-improvement through education be manifested considering the observations the child is making on a daily basis? In situations like the above, does the requirement of compulsory education become nothing more than a legal burden on families, educators, and communities?

Compulsory education laws can require school-age children to attend school, but these laws cannot ensure a student will give effort to learn while in attendance. The task of showing school-age children the value of education is a joint venture that must be obtained through teamwork.

The family, community, school and the individual student must be able to view

themselves as having the power to increase the number of graduates and decrease

the number of dropouts in the district. The family must teach the child that what

they do in the classroom each day leads to individual success. The family must

also understand that their words and actions can help or hinder the process of

success for the child. Students must believe they have the ability to change the 21

world around them. They must feel they have the power to chart the course of

their destiny. The community must also believe in its own power to make services

available and aid schools and families by working with them to bring positive

change. The schools must realize the importance and power they have in changing

the community as it stands currently as well as the future. (Lyttle-Burns, 2011, p.

When examining whether or not a student will maintain attendance in the traditional school setting, seek an alternative pathway to education, or dropout all together, it is important to consider self-efficacy. According to Bandura’s Social

Cognitive Theory, self-efficacy has an important role in student achievement. The stronger a person’s level of self-efficacy is, the higher expectations are set; and an increased focus is placed on accomplishing goals (Bandura, 1993). Attendance at school, high school graduation, or simply the obtainment of information, knowledge, and skills cannot be viewed solely as a requirement but must also be viewed as an opportunity an individual wants to seize. To begin this paradigm shift in how education is viewed students must have a high level of self-efficacy along with a strong support system from family, school, and community.

Bandura (1977) states,

Learning would be exceedingly laborious, not to mention hazardous, if people had

to rely solely on the effects of their own actions to inform them what to do.

Fortunately, most human behavior is learned by observation through modeling: 22

from observing others one forms an idea of how new behaviors are performed,

and on later occasions this coded information serves as a guide for action. (p. 22)

How would one learn from observation if he or she is not attending school and is missing social interaction with same-aged peers key to social, emotional, and intellectual development? How would a school-age child learn to model appropriate behaviors if he or she is fulfilling the requirement of compulsory education through an isolated alternative-based educational system where content delivery is provided online via a computer instead of with human interaction from a credentialed teacher as in traditional schooling? Clearly compulsory education laws are valuable in ensuring students have the learning opportunities Bandura cites, but the numerous options supplied to students and families outside the traditional school setting to achieve compulsory education requirements creates inequity in the educational opportunities provided to school-age children. These inequities are not limited to curriculum quality or delivery but extend to social interaction, observation, and imitation learning opportunities that assist school-age children’s social and emotional education as well as their intellectual capabilities.

“Regardless of the locale of the student, the four-element model of student success (Thompson, 2008) suggests that students are successful as a result of the involvement of family, community, school and individual student effort” (Lyttle-Burns,

2011, p. 5). This study will rely on the Four Elements of Student Success model (Figure

1) in an effort to ascertain if locale truly does matter to successful educational achievement or if, regardless of locale, as long as a student has achieved the four elements, success is likely to occur. While considering the educational setting is key to 23 meeting compulsory education requirements, variables such as the student’s socioeconomic level, family structure, and community will also be examined.

Figure 1: Four Elements of Student Success

Source: Lyttle-Burns, 2011

Student success, when defined as successful completion of high school, most

likely occurs when all four elements work together. Students who are missing one

element or experience deficits in any of the four elements are more likely to

struggle in the pursuit of obtaining their high school diploma. (Lyttle-Burns,

2011, p. 5) 24

Despite this assertion made by Lyttle-Burns, this research suggests the setting that compulsory education is satisfied in has an impact on student success, achievement, and growth regardless of the strength of the community, family unit, and even student’s personal self-efficacy.

Significance of the Study

“There are 17 states with online charter students: Arizona, Arkansas, California,

Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico,

Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, and Wisconsin, as well as the District of

Columbia” (Strauss, 2016, para. 3). Of these states Arizona has the highest proportion of online students with “one out of every 25 students” enrolled in online education

(Rosenfeld, 2016, para. 25); however, “The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools says Ohio, Pennsylvania, and California together enroll more than half of the country’s e- students” (Associated Press, 2016, para. 2). Couple this information with the fact that

“70 percent of e-school charters are operated by for-profit companies” and one can see that there is significant interest in a relatively new phenomenon that has the potential to make a large amount money (Bush, 2016, para. 7).

As the CREDO (2015) research points out, online schools may be a good investment and “have the potential to provide students a flexible, student-centered educational option (p. 1). However, it is the quality of education these online schools can provide that will determine how successful they can be; and to this point, “there have been few detailed longitudinal analyses on the impact of online schools on academic achievement” (CREDO, 2015, p. 2). “Without reliable information on school 25 performance, policy makers, school officials, and families risk the future learning and career opportunities of students in an unchartered arena” (CREDO, 2015, p. 2).

This research will provide educators and scholars a comparative analysis of educational opportunities provided to school-age children in the United States based on a conceptual framework that may alter the way researchers view and analyze compulsory education requirements. The results of the study indicate that the school setting in which students satisfy compulsory education requirements impacts student success, achievement, and growth regardless of the strength of the community, family unit, and even students’ personal self-efficacy despite assertions made in the theoretical framework of Lyttle-Burns’ 2011 Four Elements of Student Success. The data provided and assertions made based on that data in this study can be used by school districts, families, and even policy makers in an effort to determine the best possible educational placement for students to better ensure academic achievement and growth with the goal of attainment of high school graduation as the definition of academic success. It can also be argued that this study will indirectly impact school districts as they review their own data in a reflective manner in order to better place students in the correct educational setting, increase high school graduation rates, reduce dropout rates, and as a result increase the educational level of the community which will assist in reducing the level of poverty.

Research Questions

To complete this research study, the questions investigated were as follows:

1. Are current compulsory education laws effective in ensuring equitable

quality education is provided to all school-age students? 26

2. Is there a difference in the academic achievement and/or academic growth

of students attending online school after dropping out of traditional high

school versus those students who continue to attend traditional high

school?

3. What are the characteristics of students who drop out of high school to

attend online school?

4. What are teachers’, parents’, students’, and school leaders’

(administrators) experiences, perceptions, and beliefs about students who

drop out of traditional high school to attend online or non-traditional

school?

5. What are the students’ experiences and perceptions about the current

school system, and what makes some students feel the need or desire to

drop out of traditional high school and seek alternative educational

options?

6. What ways can the United States as a nation improve its compulsory

school attendance requirements?

Definition of Terms

 Education: Education refers to learning that is deliberate and formal and is

organized and directed by the people of the United States (Hughes, 1960, p. 1).

 Compulsory Education: Compulsory education refers to a period of educational

attendance required of all students. The period of compulsory education is often

determined by the student’s age. In the U.S., schooling is compulsory for all 27

children. The age range for which school attendance is required varies from state

to state. Some states allow students to leave school between the ages of 14–17

before finishing high school only with parental permission. In some other states,

students are required to stay in school until age 18 (USLegal, 2016, para. 1).

 Alternative Education: Alternative education is educational activities that fall

outside the traditional K-12 curriculum and school setting (Porowski, O’Conner,

& Luo, 2014, p. i).

 Online Education: Online education is a range of education programs and

resources in the K-12 arena, including distance learning courses offered by

universities, private providers, or teachers at other schools; stand-alone ‘virtual

schools’ that provide students with a full array of online courses and services; and

educational websites that offer teachers, parents, and students a range of resources

(U.S. Department of Education, 2008, p. 1).

Research Design and Methodology

Using an explanatory, sequential design format, this case study used a mixed- methods approach in an effort to make inferences about compulsory education laws in the

United States. The target population this study addresses is a group of students between the ages 14 and 19 in grades 9 through 12 over a three-year span (2013-2016) who have taken advantage of an online learning mechanism within an Ohio school district as a means to alternative education in order to adhere to compulsory education requirements, keep themselves and their parents out of trouble due to truancy and tardy issues, and pursue a high school diploma without attending the actual public high school setting 28 within the school district. The study targeted a program designed for an alternative pathway towards graduation through online learning that the district established to identify at-risk students based on attendance, discipline, grades, court involvement, and personal issues in an effort to educate and graduate this at-risk group of students.

Simultaneously the district is attempting to oppose online learning options outside the district, such as ECOT, K-12, VCS, Charter Schools, and more, that take students from the district via open enrollment and thus cost the district state financial aid and ultimately negatively impact the education the child receives.

Over the course of six months (November 2015-June 2016), qualitative and quantitative data was gathered on one Ohio School District serving grades 9 through 12 over a three-year span (2013-2016). Data was gathered on the student population attending regular school as well as the alternative pathways academy through online learning. The alternative pathways academy has three levels: First is CAPA, an acronym for the Ohio School District city’s name followed by Alternative Pathway Academy.

Second is Roweton complex which houses the entire county’s court-ordered students and provides access to online learning and mental health services. Third is true online-based home schooling which allows the student to stay home to complete all school work.

CAPA houses, on average, 50-60 students per year; and the curriculum students complete is entirely online similar to such online schools as ECOT, K-12, VCS, and more. There are 3 full-time teachers who oversee the program, as well as a mental health specialist. Students must apply for entry into the program, be placed in the program by school administration due to school-related issues, or be court ordered into the program. 29

CAPA is still part of the school district; thus, although the students do not attend traditional school, the school district does not lose funding for these students as it would if students were to leave the district and attend any of the other aforementioned online school districts (i.e. ECOT, K-12, VCS, etc.).

Roweton houses, on average, 10-20 students per year; and like CAPA, the curriculum students complete is entirely online, similar to such online schools as ECOT,

K-12, VCS, and more. The student as well as state funding for the student remain within the school district; although, the district does pay a daily rate ($50 a day per student) for every student who attends this off campus program. There are 5 full-time educators who oversee the program, as well as a mental health specialist. Students must be placed in the program by school administration due to school-related issues or be court ordered into the program.

The home-based online schooling houses, on average, 15-30 students per year; and the curriculum students complete is entirely online similar to such online schools as

ECOT, K-12, VCS, and more. Students remain in the district, and the district maintains full funding for these students. The program is run with oversight from the CAPA program, although these students do not actually attend a facility as do the CAPA and

Roweton students. All learning is online-based with limited social interaction with educators and same-age peers. Students must be placed in the program by school administration due to school-related issues, have medical documentation identifying a need for home instruction, or be court ordered into the program. 30

This study examined the data found to discern whether there is a difference between academic achievement and/or growth of students attending online school after dropping out of traditional high school versus those students who maintain attendance within the traditional high school setting. Data from required state graduation assessments was utilized to determine academic achievement while the number of credits a student earns in a given year to achieve grade promotion was the key factor in determining educational growth with variables such as school attendance, socioeconomic level, and court involvement considered as impacts to both achievement and growth of students. From a qualitative perspective, research questions listed above guided the study as school-age students, their parents, teachers, and administrators were surveyed. From a quantitative perspective, student performance in terms of credits earned, attendance, passage of state assessments, and the graduation rate of participants of the program were the key factors in determining a data analysis that would deem the alternative education program successful or not in comparison with the students in the traditional school setting. Cross tabulations, chi squares, and descriptive statistics on gathered information drive the results of this research study. Variables such as the setting, exposure to curriculum (online and/or educator-based), exposure to same-aged peers, exposure to educators, opportunities to use educational tools, class size, mental health services, court involvement, socioeconomic status, gender, and age were all considered throughout this study as areas that the researcher cannot necessarily control and thus may limit the generalizability of the findings. The school district used for this study educates between

850-1,000 students in the regular education setting each year. 31

Necessity of Educational Options for School-Age Students

The United States has a chronic absenteeism problem. “Overall, the national average of chronic absenteeism was 13 percent, or about 6.5 million students” in 2014 according to the U.S. Department of Education (Kerr & Hoyer, 2016, para. 3). This means that “more than 6.5 million students were absent for at least three weeks of the school year” (Kerr & Hoyer, 2016, para. 1). The current Secretary of Education John B.

King Jr. recognizes this national problem remarking that chronic absenteeism “from school can be devastating to a child’s education” (Kerr & Hoyer, 2016, para. 4). Bob

Balfanz, a research professor at Johns Hopkins University, called the numbers disturbing

(Kerr & Hoyer, 2016, para. 5). “If you’re not there, you don’t learn, and then you fall behind. You don’t pass your classes. You don’t get credits in high school and that’s what leads to dropping out” (Kerr & Hoyer, 2016, para. 6). The absenteeism is not gender specific or consistent with only one race or ethnicity as both genders as well as all races and ethnicities were at or above the national average (Kerr & Hoyer, 2016, para. 7).

Students are regularly missing schools for lots of reasons, Balfanz says. Many are

poor and could be staying home to care for a sibling or helping with elder care.

Others are avoiding school because they’re being bullied or they worry it’s not

safe. And then, there are some students who simply skip school. (Kerr & Hoyer,

2016, para. 9)

The question that comes out of this data is—What do we do with a population of students that is not attending school for any one of the reasons provided in the previous paragraph? As the report from the 2015 study by CREDO states, “Current online charter 32 schools may be a good fit for some students . . . Online charter schools provide a maximum of flexibility for students with schedules which do not fit the TPS [traditional public school] setting” (Strauss, 2015, para. 10). In situations where the traditional school setting does not work out for at-risk students, alternative options must be made available. Todd Ziebarth, a senior vice president of state advocacy for the National

Alliance for Public Charter schools says, “Thirty to 40 percent of kids are faring better in this environment . . . So it does work for some families” (Rosenfeld, 2016, para. 35).

The suggestion of recent research is that educational options such as non- traditional schooling may not be the problem. It is the oversight and accountability or lack thereof that must be improved. “Current oversight policies in place may not be sufficient for online charter schools. There is evidence that some online charter schools have been able to produce consistent academic benefits for students, but most online charter schools have not” (Strauss, 2015, para. 11). The CREDO study continues by suggesting, “States should examine the current progress of existing online programs before allowing expansion …. Online schools have the potential to serve large numbers of students with practically no physical restraints on their expansion” (Strauss, 2015, para. 12). Non-traditional online-based schools have the ability to expand more rapidly than traditional schools due to the lack of facility construction concerns and no limitations on potential student pools (Strauss, 2015, para. 12). It is because of this lack of limitations that enrollment in non-traditional online schooling is skyrocketing. “Some states have seen enrollment growth which is literally exponential . . . While the overall percentage of students who attend online schools is small . . . based on increasing growth 33 rates we should expect to see continued expansion of online educational services”

(Rosenfeld, 2016, para. 22). This means the need for oversight on non-traditional schools is increasingly important to mirror the accountability placed on traditional schools to better ensure student growth and achievement expectations. “This makes it critical for authorizers to ensure online charter schools demonstrate positive outcomes for students before being allowed to grow and that online charter schools grow at a pace which continues to lead to improved outcomes for their students” (Strauss, 2015, para. 12).

“There is evidence that some online charter schools have been able to produce consistent academic benefits for students” (Strauss, 2015, para. 11). Although clear connects were not made between increased graduation rates nationally and the increase in non-traditional online schools it is clear that the chronic absenteeism problem cited and supported by data has to be addressed through means of educational options being made available to support students who cannot achieve success in the non-traditional setting.

Despite difficulties in oversight and potential issues in educational equitability the researcher acknowledges that there is a need for non-traditional online based options for at-risk students.

The CRPE report adds to the already strong evidence that online schools serving

students at the K to 12 level are not working. The fact that online schools serving

students at primary and secondary school levels are not now working does not

mean they will never work. If a broader audience of stakeholders could be

involved in the design of online schools, and if ideas could be piloted and tested 34

before widespread implementation, we might find that online charter schools can

work. (Miron, 2016, p. 10)

However, consideration must be made to the necessity of accountability and oversight of these non-traditional schools, and there must be deliberation on the types of students who can be successful in such an unstructured environment. “Online charters are for ‘students who can’t attend traditional schools for health or other reasons,’” according to CREDO, yet far too many school-age students are utilizing the non- traditional online education route who have no such health affliction (Rosenfeld, 2016, para. 26). The “other reasons” category must be examined to better ensure the clientele served in a non-traditional setting is in the best educational environment possible to ensure academic learning and growth. As the 2016 report from CRPE states,

The report implies that since online schools cannot serve some students

effectively, they should therefore not have to admit them. Given that these are

public schools, and given that their model for provisions provides considerable

cost advantages, it appears instead that these schools should remain open to all. If

they cannot serve the students who enroll, then the online charters should be

required to return the public money they receive. For example, if a students does

not have a supportive home environment, then the online school should offer

home visits or find other ways to provide support. If the online school receives

special education money, then it should be required to serve these students by

modifying their staffing model and directing the additional resources they receive 35

to these particular students. This is an area that deserves closer scrutiny by the

U.S. Department of Education’s Civil Rights Office. (Miron, 2016, p. 9)

Assumptions and Limitations

The study assumed that the data needed for the research was available at the school building and/or district office and that records were complete and easily accessible for review. Data collection using the computer program DASL as well as hard copy records were also assumed to be complete. This study had several limitations including sample and data collection methods. A single mixed-methods research study on one school district within one state cannot possibly account for all the variances and variables that exist in the 50 differing states’ views on compulsory education, alternative educational options, or educational equitability found in each state. This study was limited to one school district in one state with a convenience sampling of individuals’ experiences and perceptions of compulsory education, traditional education, and alternative education. Also, variables such as the setting, exposure to curriculum (online and/or educator-based), exposure to same-aged peers, exposure to educators, opportunities to use educational tools, class size, mental health services, court involvement, socioeconomic status, gender, and age were all considered throughout this study. Transferability of the findings of this study may not apply to schools in other regions with opposing or varied demographics.

The quantitative data spans only 3 years and fails to consider the educational achievement and growth of students in years prior to their placement in alternative educational options in a way that would predict their success or lack thereof in the new 36 educational environment. The qualitative data was limited to perceptions of students, parents, educators, and other stakeholders of one select Ohio school district with the only opinions provided outside the district coming from a state politician and online administrators and educators of other school districts with limited understanding of the community and school referenced in the study and the law of compulsory education being closely examined in the research. Although every effort was made to have qualitative data to match the quantitative data used for this study, those who agreed to complete the survey and interview make up only a small number of the individuals used to create the quantitative data set used for this study.

Finally, the alternative educational options studied were limited to online-based educational options within one Ohio school district and failed to look into charter school possibilities or true homeschool options available in the state making inferences difficult to produce.

Chapter 2: Review of Literature

Introduction

In recent years the United States and other countries have made a strong effort to raise compulsory education laws to the age of 18. Mackey and Duncan (2013) stated,

“The underlying assumption is that young people benefit from continuing their studies to a certain age” (p. 6). As will be cited later in this chapter, in 2012 President Barack

Obama called on all states in the United States to raise minimum compulsory education laws to require school-age children to stay in school until the age of 18. This position was supported by the National Conference of State Legislatures, the National Association of Secondary School Principals, and the National Governors Association (Mackey &

Duncan, 2013, p. 6).

If compulsory education laws are raised it is argued that dropout rates will fall and teachers will be more engaged with students since they do not have the option of dropping out. Many see fully educating students as a moral obligation that is not met by requirements of compulsory education below the age of 18. Low compulsory education requirements are viewed as a “remnant of earlier times” and are seen as a signal to students and families that dropping out is acceptable. From a budgetary concern, “[t]he costs of the change will be more than compensated for by lower spending on social programs, public safety, correctional services, and other state programs and functions”

(Mackey & Duncan, 2013, p. 6).

Numerous counter-arguments are made against raising the compulsory education requirements which include the fact that it will cost more to educate more students, to pay 38 additional teachers and counselors, maintain facilities, and provide materials to meet the needs of students who otherwise would have dropped out. Raising the compulsory school attendance age is viewed by many as an ineffective practice in keeping potential dropouts in school and forcing older teens who do not want to attend school to remain in school will cause an increase in disciplinary and safety problems. Ultimately, increased compulsory education requirements are seen as a usurpation of parents’ rights to make educational decisions regarding their children (Mackey & Duncan, 2013, p. 6).

Compulsory education is a policy with advantages and disadvantages as well as proponents and detractors. The purpose of this chapter is to review relevant literature pertaining to the history of education in the United States followed by a close examination of compulsory education in the United States historically, compulsory education in the United States today, court cases addressing compulsory education in the

United States, and an international perspective on compulsory education to provide a cross-cultural comparison to the United States. Additionally, alternative options to traditional school in the United States were researched to provide an understanding of the lack of uniformity found among the states in the United States in terms of what meets compulsory education laws. Finally, this literature review will identify existing gaps in the literature that make the corresponding research study necessary.

Historical Examination of Education in the United States

Introduction. For this work, education will be defined by James Monroe

Hughes’s definition used in Education In America which stated, “[E]ducation refers to learning that is deliberate and formal and is organized and directed by the people of the 39

United States” (1960, p. 1). Goldin (1999) considered formal education essential for improving basic literacy and enhancing democracy, citizenship, and community (p. 1).

The education and training of a population, in the United States and elsewhere, is

a critical input to productivity and thus to economic growth. Education directly

enhances productivity, and thus the incomes of those who receive schooling, by

providing individuals with useful skills. (Goldin, 1999, p. 1)

According to Goldin (1999), “The federal government began to collect data on education from the states just after the establishment of the Office of Education in 1867”

(p. 3). However, this data was largely unreliable due to the fact that it was not collected by one national agency nor even many state agencies but instead by the localized districts themselves (Goldin, 1999, p. 3). The Bureau of Education was established in 1867 and remained as the overseer of national education in the United States for 70 years under the

Department of the Interior until it was renamed, in 1929, the Office of Education (Goldin,

1999, p. 3-4). It was not until 1980 that the Department of Education became a separate agency unto itself with each state eventually adopting its own Department of Education to work with the national agency (Goldin, 1999, p. 4).

The nineteenth century saw the United States become the educational leader in the world only to see its place in education worldwide come into question in the twentieth century. Before one can begin to understand education in the twenty-first century, a look to the past must be first considered.

Nineteenth century education in the United States. Until the nineteenth century, education was not publicly operated and often not completely publicly funded

(Goldin, 1999, p. 2). To this point in the history of education in the United States, parents were asked to pay for their children’s public education; and in large cities like

New York City, a class system existed of substandard, partially-funded public education through pauper schooling for the poor and private, more formal, education for those more fortunate financially (Goldin, 1999, p. 2). During the nineteenth century, America embraced a unified common education system for all which was in stark contrast to the elitist nature of the different systems for different children that existed in Europe and in

American until this point in history (Goldin, 1999, p. 2). Post-Civil War “virtually every state in the nation shifted to publicly funded education at the elementary or common school level” (Goldin, 1999, p. 2). One has to keep in mind that each of the advancements made in education in American in the nineteenth century dealt only with the free population; thus, a free public education was not free to all. Most slaves received no formal education; and southern states went as far as passing laws, the first of which was passed in 1830, making it illegal to teach slaves to read. Even in the north, segregation of schools by race made for inequitable schooling; and it was not until the

Brown vs. Board of Education (1954) case, that deemed segregation of schooling unconstitutional, that public education was open to all races (Goldin, 1999, p. 2).

By the nineteenth century, the United States had exceeded European countries in primary school enrollment per capita, and literacy rates were extremely high among its citizens. Thus, they were considered the best-educated population among the world’s 41 richest countries (Goldin, 1999, p. 1). America borrowed many concepts for public education from European countries as free publically-funded school allowed school-age children, regardless of age, social status, previous school records, or sex to receive a basic education (Goldin, 1999, p. 1). “In the first several decades of the twentieth century, the

United States pulled far ahead of all other countries in the education of its youth” (Goldin

& Katz, 2008, p. 1). “From 1910 to 1940, America underwent a spectacular educational transformation. Just 9 percent of 18-year olds had high school diplomas in 1910, but more than 50 percent did by 1940” (Goldin & Katz, 2008, p. 1). The enrollment rate in

U.S. secondary schools in 1955 was just under 80 percent while no European country could boast an enrollment exceeding 25 percent (Goldin & Katz, 2008, p. 2).

The greater level of education in the United States than Europe until late in the

twentieth century is, of course, due to a host of factors and not just the

decentralization of educational decision-making. These other factors include

higher levels of wealth, lower relative opportunity costs for youths, competing

religions that valued the ability of the laity to read the Bible, and the ideology of

democratic ideals of universal literacy. (Goldin, 1999, p. 3)

All levels of K-12 education can be either under public or private control with the vast majority of K-12 private schools being denominational (Goldin, 1999, p. 6).

Common School or elementary school was generally seen as grades 1-8 for ages 6-14 and taught in a single-room school house by one teacher, for all ages and grades, well into the mid-twentieth century; and rarely were the older students taught at the secondary school level (Goldin, 1999, p. 4). Goldin (1999) stated, “According to the data the 42 transformation to ‘mass’ primary school education (among the free population) was completed by the mid-nineteenth century” (p. 9). At the start of the twentieth century, the majority of American school-age children attended school until they were fourteen years of age and had attained the goal of common schooling of at least six years (Goldin &

Katz, 2008, p. 4). As Goldin and Katz (2008) noted, “America was poised for a transition from the elementary and common schools to the secondary level” (p. 4), as starting around 1890 there was an increase in demand for an educated white-collar workforce. Parents viewed the rise of secondary education as the ticket to their children’s prosperity as the United States became a less and less agrarian country and more and more an industrialized nation (Goldin & Katz, 2008, p. 4-5).

Goldin and Katz (2008) informed, “The first public high school in the United

States was established in Boston in 1821, and most of the larger coastal cities of the East founded public high schools soon after” (p. 5). Secondary School or high school was generally seen as grades 9-12 for ages 15-18 during the same time frame (Goldin, 1999, p. 4). Junior high school was introduced in 1909 as an intermediary between elementary and high school (Goldin, 1999, p. 4). From a historical vantage point, the research suggests that while the skeleton structure of the American school system was in place as early as the early 19th century, it was not until much later that laws were enacted and enforced to better ensure school-age children stayed in school and utilized the age- specific educational entities of elementary, junior high school, and high school.

“Each state, today and in the past, determines what constitutes promotion and graduation. With the establishment of the state universities, graduation from high school 43 often implied automatic college admission” (Goldin, 1999, p. 5). Goldin (1999) claimed that there was considerable retention in the early stages of the modern era of schooling until the “mid-twentieth century when automatic promotion became a more common phenomenon” (p. 5). The high school “movement marks an enormous expansion in the number and geographic reach of high schools, the spread of a more uniform curriculum, and a replacement of many private high schools with public ones” (Goldin & Katz, 2008, p. 5).

The modern U.S. public high school was a quintessential American innovation:

generally free, open to all who completed eighth grade, gender neutral in

admission, secular, fiscally controlled by local governments, and a guarantor of

acceptance to a state college for its graduates, in most states. Nowhere else in the

world was that the case when the U.S. high school movement was in its early

stages even though similar economic incentives in the form of wage differentials

were present in parts of Europe. (Goldin & Katz, 2008, p. 11)

As the twentieth century approached, the United States was a world leader in education. The development of a uniform educational system that removed the elitist nature of earlier systems used in America, as well as those continually used in Europe, allowed for more of the population to thrive educationally. Structurally, the American education system called for equity and the possibility for all to achieve at a high level through education regardless of status.

Twentieth century education in the United States. By the end of the twentieth century, most of the world’s other developed nations were closing the gap with the

United States in educational entities (Goldin, 1999, p. 14). “More important, they are rapidly exceeding the United States with respect to educational quality” (p. Goldin, 1999, p. 14). The open structure and system of the state-led and locally-funded public school systems in America that once allowed the nation’s educational system to thrive had now left the country without national standards, examinations, or uniform federal expectations

(Goldin, 1999, p. 14). Because of this, a class system was forming where the more affluent family’s children were succeeding and those less affluent were left to struggle in a system that now did not favor them (Goldin, 1999, p. 14). As well, Goldin (1999) stated, “Many of the virtues of the U.S. educational system, that served Americans so well in the past, are fast becoming disadvantages and drawbacks” (p. 14).

Additionally, Goldin (1999) added, “In many European countries, the bottom half is challenged and sorted by standardized tests or offered technical tracks” (p. 14). In

America, at this time, tracking was seen as a dirty word as the country pushes everyone towards college even if their skillset is ill suited for such an endeavor.

A more recent development in secondary schooling is the General Educational

Development (GED) credential. The GED was instituted during World War II (in

1942) to give veterans without a high school diploma a chance to earn credit for

their informal education outside school. Civilians were allowed to take the

examination in 1952. (Goldin, 1999, p. 12) 45

The onset of the GED does allow school-age children who do not want to attend college and families who do not value the time a child spends in a school setting to achieve educational requirements and move forward with workforce, collegiate, or military attainment.

Summary. The history of education in the United States is one of suspect data thanks in large part to a national office for education not being founded until the late nineteenth century and most of the data leading up to the twentieth century leaving off those our country deemed unworthy of a free public education such as minorities and women. Despite these facts, “there is no widespread disagreement among scholars that by the middle of the nineteenth century, U.S. schooling rates were exceptionally high, schooling was widespread among the free population, and literacy was virtually universal, again among the free population” (Goldin, 1999, p. 1). Secondary schooling came about early in the twentieth century and led the United States to the top of the world in education. “The relative stock of educated workers, therefore, was considerably greater in the United States than in most European countries until the 1970s and even to the 1980s” (Goldin, 1999, p. 2). But, since then the United States has fallen considerably in the eyes of the world in education.

Why the United States has fallen behind many countries in the quality of its

secondary school education may be rooted, ironically, in some of the

characteristics that are considered to have been virtuous earlier in the twentieth

century. These characteristics include small, numerous, and fiscally independent

districts; public funding and provision; an absence of uniform standards for 46

advancement; and an open, forgiving, and second-chance system. These virtues

once led to the expansion of high schools but have increasingly come under attack

for a variety of reasons. (Goldin, 1999, p. 26)

Historical Examination of Compulsory Education in the United States

Introduction. In the United States, education is left to the individual states to determine requirements, funding, and enforcement of expectations. This notion of state and not federally-run educational systems has left such laws as compulsory education in

American to vary in terms of entry age, total years of compulsion, compulsion age range, concluding age, and type of schooling satisfying the requirement of compulsory education for school-age children. “In January 2012, President Obama called for states to extend compulsory education in the United States to age 18” (Rauscher, 2015, p. 1397).

While some may see the president’s suggestion as an obvious step in the right direction of ensuring America’s high school graduation rates continue to rise, it may surprise many to learn that only 24 of the United States’ 50 states along with the District of Columbia have compulsory education laws that require school-age children to attend school until the age of 18 (Argon, 2015). How can a progressive, educationally-driven country like the United States have 26 states in the union that allow students to stop attending school prior to the necessary age of 18? (Argon, 2015). In order to properly understand the circumstances surrounding compulsory education in the United States in the twenty-first century, one must first understand how, when, and why compulsory education in

American came to be in the first place.

Pre-compulsion education in the United States. According to Everhart (1977),

The growth and transformation of organized American education is the story of

change from an informal, loosely structured, discontinuous educational process to

a school system that was both formal and explicit, increasingly centralized, and

based upon greater continuity and flow from one unit to the next. (p. 502)

Until the mid-eighteenth century education was a part-time experience for school- age children, and pre-compulsion education was dominated in the United States by the family unit and the community church that served as the main sources of providing education and culture to children (Everhart, 1977, p. 502-503). On June 14, 1642, the

Puritans passed what may be viewed as the first compulsory education law in American history when they established a minimum set of standards by which parents would be judged on their educational responsibilities to their children (Katz, 1976, p. 12). A group of educational supervisors, that by law were tasked with judging parental neglect in the upbringing of their children and reporting offenses to the courts, was established and enacted in 1642 to ensure that children were having their basic educational needs met

(Katz, 1976, p. 12). While many view this as America’s first act in the movement toward compulsory education, it is important to note that the 1642 Puritan Law did little to move education from the control of the parental unit and church to that of a state-run school

(Katz, 1976, p. 12). It also did not define ages for compulsory education as the main purpose of the law was simply to ensure that children were being raised properly by their parents according to appointed educational supervisors (Katz, 1976, p. 12). Everhart

(1977) maintained, “This infrequency of education through schooling existed despite the 48 fact that the first compulsory training and literacy laws were enacted in 1642 and 1648, and the first compulsory schooling law in 1647” (p. 503). Although these laws existed on paper, they resulted in little change in the actual schooling process of the nation’s youth

(Everhart, 1977, p. 503). It was not until the eighteenth century that education began to shift from a parental- and church-dominated entity to a state-run organization through schooling for appropriately-aged children (Everhart, 1977, p. 503). “The modal activity of the era was to send children to school for the length of time deemed necessary to learn what parents felt needed to be learned” (Everhart, 1977, p. 505). “Consequently, a child might attend school early in his life and not return, or he might enter later for a specified period, or he might even be in and out as the need arose” (Everhart, 1977, p. 505). The inconsistency of education provided to school-age children was due to the control parents had over the education their children were provided and how long that education would be provided. Despite these inconsistencies, parents and community churches were for the most part committed to a basic form of education for their children. “[T]he seventeenth century was characterized by a commitment to formal schooling but an inability to implement it effectively” (Everhart, 1977, p. 503).

Initial steps towards compulsory education in the United States. Moving from the seventeenth century, when schooling was optional and most education was provided by the church and home, to the eighteenth century when schools began to become the major educational entity in the United States, one can see that even before compulsory schooling laws, education was “a highly valued process, a fact illustrated by the remarkably high degree of literacy demonstrated by colonial Americans” (Everhart, 49

1977, p. 505). The presence of schools in American communities and the impact of education on school-age children pre-dates compulsory education laws; but one must remember that these statistics provided to support education prior to compulsory education laws often neglects the fact that slaves, the poor, and girls were not seen as people needing formal education; thus, data is often skewed (Everhart, 1977, p. 505).

“The right to compel attendance at schools was not established until the second half of the nineteenth century” (Katz, 1976, p. 13). Until this time the obligation to educate one’s child rested firmly with the child’s parents, and often the community church provided support as well (Katz, 1976, p. 13). In 1852, almost 200 years after passing what some would call the first law on compulsory education, the state of Massachusetts wrote a law that required parents to send their children to public schools for at least 12 weeks a year, 6 of those weeks were required to be continuous (Katz, 1976, p. 17).

“Many states had passed truancy laws prior to compulsory attendance laws, and although truancy laws did not force attendance at school as much as they served as legal justifications for reducing vagrancy, they did supply the legal precedent for state regulation of attendance” (Everhart, 1977, p. 511). Despite the enactment of this groundbreaking law, that for the first time wrestled control of a child’s education from the parental unit and supplied that control to state-run schools, the impact of the law was minimal at best. “The law itself was largely ineffective as virtually no attempt was made to enforce it, and it was ignored for about two decades” (Katz, 1976, p. 17). A report in

1889, indicated that state superintendents whose states had compulsory education laws were largely unaware the laws even existed, meaning there was no actual enforcement of 50 the requirements (Everhart, 1977, p. 517). By 1900, 32 states had compulsory education laws, and all were enacted with the understanding that states were protecting and educating the nation’s youth (Everhart, 1977, p. 516). Like the first law in Massachusetts in 1852, “the earliest compulsory attendance laws often were ineffective and, for all intents and purposes, existed only on paper” (Everhart, 1977, p. 517). It was 66 years until all states in the union had enacted compulsory education requirements, with the state of Mississippi in 1918 being the last to follow Massachusetts’ lead in 1852. Once the

United States finally had compulsory education laws in every state in the union, one would think uniformity would reign; but that was not the case as these laws varied from one state to the next in regards to the expectations they placed on school-age children and schools; however, they did have one thing in common: their unenforceability (Katz,

1976, p. 18). Many states struggled to enforce compulsory education laws due to a lack of bureaucratic structure, proper funding, and adequate support from the judicial system

(Everhart, 1977, p. 517). Also, one must remember each of the advancements made in education in America in the nineteenth century dealt only with the free population; thus, a free public education was not free to all (Goldin, 1999, p. 2). Most slaves received no formal education, and southern states went as far as passing laws, the first of which was passed in 1830, making it illegal to teach slaves to read (Goldin, 1999, p. 2). Even in the north, segregation of schools by race made for inequitable schooling, and it was not until the Brown vs. Board of Education (1954) case that deemed segregation of schooling unconstitutional that public education was open to all races (Goldin, 1999, p. 2). The end of the nineteenth century “witnessed a plethora of compulsory attendance laws and a 51 paucity of enforcement mechanisms” and a remaining lack of equity in educational opportunities based on race, gender, and even socioeconomic levels (Katz, 1976, p. 20).

Increased effectiveness of compulsory education in the United States courtesy of child labor laws. “Between 1900 and 1930, compulsory schooling laws were transformed in many states from symbolic dead letters into reasonably effective statutes”

(Katz, 1976, p. 21). As compulsory education laws were re-established as enforceable entities, the hiring of truant officers and the defining of their roles in support of schools in conjunction with the judicial system, as well as supporting child labor laws, quickly came into focus (Katz, 1976, p. 21). “All states passed compulsory education laws at some point in their history, and most were accompanied by related legislation regarding child labor” (Goldin, 1999, p. 11). Prior to the late 1920s, the maximum age of compulsion was generally not binding in most states making the legality questionable at best as youths could be excused from school attendance if they obtained a labor permit and had attained some minimum level of schooling (Goldin, 1999, p. 11). Child labor regulations most often established that a child must be attending school as a prerequisite for employment, and it made it impossible for youths of a certain age to work during the period of their schooling (Katz, 1976, p. 21). “[C]hild labor laws, especially the Federal

Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, help explain how the age of 16 became established as an arbitrary educational cut-off point for formal instruction in school” (Katz, 1976, p.

31). The notion of Child Labor Laws may have a direct correlation with the previously mentioned statistic that 26 of 50 states in the United States have compulsory education laws that do not require school-age children to attend school to the age of 18 (Aragon, 52

2015). Sixteen of 50 states end compulsion at age 16, which coincides with the aforementioned legislation on child labor. (Aragon, 2015). By 1920, statistics show that compulsory education laws were more widely complied with and better enforced as fewer than 15 percent of school-age children required to attend school were not enrolled (Katz,

1976, p. 21). While some opposed compulsory education laws, as the United States turned in the eighteenth and nineteenth century from a nation where education was the responsibility of the parent to a nation in the twentieth century where the state had a responsibility to ensure proper education for children, most were in support of these laws.

Without doubt, rapid institutional and technological changes placed new strains

on urban dwellers, and the influx of immigrants fueled fears of social chaos and

the breakdown of the American Culture. Likewise, the demands of a growing

corporate state cried out for large numbers of punctual, hardworking, and

obedient workers. It was in this context that compulsory schooling laws would be

both implemented and socially accepted by more and more people in the first

three decades of the twentieth century. (Katz, 1976, p. 24)

Summary. Educational researchers suggest that compulsory education laws prevented children of poor families from being subject to continuing a family cycle of poverty due to lack of education (Rauscher, 2015, p. 1402). By suggesting compulsory education laws are aimed to increase school attendance of lower-class youth it becomes evident that these legalities are in place to override irresponsible parenting (Rauscher,

2015, p. 1402). “Compulsory laws aimed to achieve universal school attendance and were primarily directed at lower-class and immigrant families who did not already send 53 their children to school” (Rauscher, 2015, p. 1402). From the onset of compulsory education laws, these expectations were not ideally enforced, which led to compliance issues as the laws targeted disadvantaged youth through the threat of potential punishment for non-attendance; but varying expectations and enforcement left states with varied results (Rauscher, 2015, p. 1402). Today, states have improved systems of accountability, better standardization of compulsory education, and more defined consequences for those breaking compulsory education expectations. Still today, compulsory education varies state to state. Seven out of 50 states require only 9 years of compulsory education, and each of those states has a maximum requirement of only 16 or

17 years of age for school-age children (Aragon, 2015). None of these states requires compulsory education until a child turns 7 or 8 years old (Aragon, 2015). Twelve of 50 states require only 10 years of compulsory education, and all but one of these states has a maximum requirement of only 16 or 17 years of age for school-age children (Aragon,

2015). These states also do not require compulsory education until a child turns 6 or 7 or even 8 years old (Aragon, 2015). This means that 19 out of the 50 states in the union require no more than 10 years of schooling, do not require the maximum number of school-age years children need to graduate high school (save one, the state of Washington that does compel students to attend school until 18 but does not require they start school until the age of 8), and do not compel students to stay in school until the age of 18 when most students graduate from high school (Aragon, 2015). Only 24 states along with the

District of Columbia in the United States require school-age children to attend school until the age of 18, as decreed by President Obama in 2015 for all states in the union in an 54 effort to better promote high school graduation (Aragon, 2015). The human capital theory supports the need for compulsory education due to the fact that education facilitates innovation and technological developments that change the tasks that employers need completed (Rauscher, 2015, p. 1399). Increased years of education not only impact the individuals being educated but also have societal returns as well.

“Educated populations encourage innovation, technological advances, and economic growth, so education raises both individual and group returns” (Rauscher, 2015, p. 1399).

Rauscher’s (2015) study suggests that the institution of state compulsory education laws in the United States “increased attendance rates, particularly among lower-class boys, thus contributing to educational expansion” (p. 1417). Rauscher’s (2015) study also suggests that the creation and enforcement of compulsory education expectations in developing countries could yield similar results to those the United States gained after enacting these policies in the nineteenth century in becoming the leader in global education (p. 1418). As for a national impact, Rauscher (2015) suggests that raising the compulsory schooling age to 18, as proposed by President Obama, would lead to benefits beyond individual gain as it would also positively impact American society (p. 1418).

“[C]ompulsory attendance laws safeguard children’s interests by ensuring an adequate level of education necessary for functioning in society and contributing to its economic stability” (Papastephanou, 2013, p. 2). If the studies done by Papastephanou and

Rauscher are accurate, then one would have to question why better uniformity is not considered among the states of the United States to better ensure the best interests of 55 school-age children as well as those of American society as a whole, not to mention the country’s economic stability.

Compulsory Education Today in the United States

Introduction. Today, compulsory education laws in the United States continue to be enacted by individual state governments. Each state determines when the designated period of time starts and ends for compulsory education, and these ranges vary from state to state as do the penalties for non-compliance.

Failure to comply is a misdemeanor in almost every state. The penalties include

fines for the first offense ranging from $20 to $100 and increasing thereafter for

subsequent offenses from $250 to $1000 depending upon the jurisdiction. Most

states also have the option of sentencing parents for as long as 30 days in jail.

Some states provide for alternatives such as community service or counseling.

(USLegal, 2015)

Table 1: Compulsory Education Requirements by State. State-by-state compulsory education laws in the United Stated broken down by the year the law was enacted, the current age-range requirement which tells when a school-age child must start school and at what age compulsion ends, and the total number of years each state defines a child being school-age (Aragon, 2015). States Enacted Age Range Total Years Law Alabama 1915 6 to 17 11 Alaska 1929 7 to 16 (If you complete the 9 12th grade, compulsory education ends.)

Arizona 1899 6 to 16 (If you complete the 10 10th grade, compulsory education ends.) Arkansas 1909 5 to 18 13 Table 1: continued 56

California 1874 6 to 18 12 Colorado 1889 7 to 16 11 Connecticut 1872 5 to 18 13 Delaware 1907 5 to 16 11 District of 1864 5 to 18 13 Columbia Florida 1915 6 to 16 10 Georgia 1916 6 to 16 10 Hawaii 1896 5 to 18 13 Idaho 1887 7 to 16 9 Illinois 1883 6 to 17 11 Indiana 1897 7 to 18 11 Iowa 1902 6 to 16 10 Kansas 1874 7 to 18 11 Kentucky 1896 6 to 18 12 Louisiana 1910 7 to 18 11 Maine 1875 7 to 17 10 Maryland 1902 5 to 17 12 Massachusetts 1852 6 to 16 10 Michigan 1871 6 to 18 12 Minnesota 1885 7 to 17 10 Mississippi 1918 6 to 17 10 Missouri 1905 7 to 17 (If you complete 16 10 credit hours, compulsory education ends.) Montana 1883 7 to 16 (If you complete the 9 8th grade, compulsory education ends.) Nebraska 1887 6 to 18 12 Nevada 1873 7 to 18 11 New 1871 6 to 18 12 Hampshire New Jersey 1875 6 to 16 10 New Mexico 1891 5 to 18 13 New York 1874 6 to 16 10 North Carolina 1907 7 to 16 9 North Dakota 1883 7 to 16 9 Ohio 1877 6 to 18 12 Oklahoma 1907 5 to 18 13 Oregon 1889 7 to 18 11 Pennsylvania 1895 8 to 17 9 Rhode Island 1883 6 to 18 12 South Carolina 1915 5 to 17 12 South Dakota 1883 6 to 18 12 Table 1: continued

Table 1: continued 57

Tennessee 1905 6 to 18 12 Texas 1915 6 to 18 12 Utah 1890 6 to 18 12 Vermont 1867 6 to 16 (If you complete the 10 10th grade, compulsory education ends.) Virginia 1908 5 to 18 13 Washington 1871 8 to 18 10 West Virginia 1897 6 to 17 11 Wisconsin 1879 6 to 18 12 Wyoming 1876 7 to 16 (If you complete the 9 10th grade, compulsory education ends.)

Summary. The fragmented way in which the United States allows compulsory education laws to be enacted and implemented leads to an inconsistent requirement from a federal perspective. U.S. President Barack Obama (2009-2016) may call for states to increase their compulsory education requirements to the age of 18 (the year in which most students would be able to graduate from high school), but the call is little more than a suggestion considering that education is seen as a state right and not under federal jurisdiction (Rauscher, 2015, p. 1397).

Court Cases Addressing Compulsory Education in the United States

Introduction. The “dimensions of compulsory education itself are not the direct provision of the Supreme Court, as education in general is under state rather than federal jurisdiction” (Everhart, 1977, p. 499). While education is left to the individual states, the federal government often has interjected itself into educational issues. For the most part this has occurred not through the U.S. Department of Education but, instead, through the

U.S. Supreme Court. Federal rulings on such aspects of education as compulsory school attendance have left states to modify previously held state laws on compulsion. Starting 58 with Massachusetts in 1852 and ending with Mississippi in 1918, all states in the union had compulsory education before 1920 (Katz, 1976, p. 5). “By 1920, thirty-one of the forty-eight states required school attendance until age 16, while one (Delaware) required it until age 17, and five (Idaho, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Utah) required it until age

18. Eight states, mostly southern states, required school attendance until age 14 only”

(Katz, 1976, p. 22). No sooner were these laws enacted, than challenges to the legality came into the courtrooms.

The first major case to hit the U.S. Supreme Court occurred in 1925 with Pierce v.

Society of the Sisters challenging the Oregon Compulsory Education Law of 1922, which required all children of school age (8-16) to attend public schools (Katz, 1976, p. 25).

The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the lower court’s injunction and deemed Oregon’s

Compulsory Education law unconstitutional, asserting the state was not allowed to compel attendance solely in public schools (Katz, 1976, p. 26). This court case set a precedent that is still used today to argue that compulsory education laws can be satisfied by online, charter, private, and home instruction. This case also “reinforced the principle of parental control” (Katz, 1976, p. 26).

Meyer v. State of Nebraska (1922) was a state-level court case, but it also gave support to homeschooling options and limited state power over education (Provasnik,

2006, p. 346). “The immediate effect of the Meyer and Pierce decisions was to revoke the state’s carte blanche to enact any type of law regulating schooling and the curriculum that serves the best interests of the state” (Provasnik, 2006, p. 346). The court’s

“decisions set a limit on the state’s authority, leaving to parents what has become labeled 59 a ‘parental right’: the choice of school (now including home schooling)” (Provasnik,

2006, p. 346).

In 1972, the U.S. Supreme Court dealt a serious blow to compulsory education requirements and state control over school-age children in the Wisconsin v. Yoder ruling which found the state’s compulsory education law unconstitutional (Katz, 1976, p. 9).

“The Yoder case, which established the right of the Amish in Wisconsin not to send their children to school beyond the eighth grade, tested compulsion in the policy arena via the free exercise clause of the First Amendment” (Everhart, 1977, p. 499). The ruling carved out a niche for religious exemptions only to compulsory school attendance as the defendants were three Amish families whose children had completed eight years of schooling, and further schooling was seen as endangering the Amish way of life (Katz,

1976, p. 9).

In finding for Yoder, however, the court majority noted more than three centuries

of self-sufficiency and adherence to the principles of law and order by the Amish,

and cautioned that the court's decision should not be construed as opening the

door to a flood of petitions against compulsory education per se. This action by

the Supreme Court appeared to discourage questioning the propriety of

compulsion itself, especially by groups, as Justice Burger put it, “claiming to have

recently discovered some progressive or more enlightened process for rearing

children in modern life.” (Everhart, 1977, p. 499)

Four additional court cases also helped shape compulsory education within states even though these did not reach the federal level. State v. Bailey (Indiana, 1901), State v. 60

Jackson (New Hampshire, 1902), Patrick F. Quigley v. State of Ohio (Ohio, 1891), and

Commonwealth v. Edsall (Pennsylvania, 1903) all dealt with issues of the constitutionality of compulsory education; and in these cases, the laws of compulsion were on the books anywhere from 4 to 28 years before being challenged in Appellate

Court (Provasnik, 2006, p. 314). “In all four of these cases, the state appellate courts ruled that the state legislatures could constitutionally and properly compel school attendance” (Provasnik, 2006, p. 314).

State courts played an instrumental role in reshaping traditional parental authority

over a child’s education and in giving states, for a brief period, a carte blanche to

enact laws regulating all dimensions of children’s school education or to enact

what are sometimes called ‘‘compulsory education’’ laws. (Provasnik, 2006, p.

314)

The U.S. Supreme Court, as well as state appellate courts, have played an important role in reshaping compulsory education laws at the state level. As legislation has been enacted regarding compulsory education on a state-by-state basis, challenges have arisen ranging from religious exemptions to defining parental control. Ultimately, the opportunity for a nation’s population to understand and challenge enacted legislation is an important part of America’s system of government that keeps a checks-and-balance factor between the legislative, executive, and judicial branches.

Overview and timeline of important court cases in the United States.

 According to Goldin (1999, p. 22-24) the following cases have impacted

education laws in the United States. 61 o 1635: Boston Latin School: first “grammar” or secondary school in the

colonies opens; Boston Latin was funded, in part, by income from a public

land sale, making it the first public school in America. o 1638: Harvard University: the first university in America, founded in

1636, is opened to students. o 1647: Old Deluder Satan Act of the General Court of the Colony of

Massachusetts Bay: towns of 50 families or more must establish a public

elementary school, and towns of 100 families or more must establish a

public “grammar” school “with a master capable of preparing young

people for university level study.” o 1785: First state university: chartered in Georgia; Land Ordinance of

1785: “an Ordinance for ascertaining the mode of disposing of Lands in

the Western Territory” (north of the Ohio River and east of the

Mississippi) passed by the Continental Congress, reserved section 16 of

each congressional township (36 square mile sections) for the support of

public schools within the township. o 1787: Northwest Ordinance: “an Ordinance for the government of the

Territory of the United States northwest of the River Ohio” passed by the

Continental Congress, noted that because “religion, morality, and

knowledge” are essential to good government, “schools and the means of

education shall forever be encouraged.” 62 o 1789: U.S. Constitution: Tenth Amendment provides legal basis for

making education a state function. First Amendment and Fourteenth

Amendment together assure separation of church and state in the provision

of education at the local level. o 1789: State Constitutions: provide for the establishment of statewide

school systems and, for states entering the union after 1862, contain

allotments of federal lands to support state institutions of higher education. o 1819: Dartmouth College v. Woodward: charter of Dartmouth College

was determined to be a contract; thus, the state legislature of New

Hampshire could not abrogate it and set up a state college instead. o 1830: Laws prohibiting the teaching of slaves to read: first such law

passed in Louisiana; Georgia and Virginia follow in 1831; Alabama in

1832, South Carolina in 1834, and North Carolina in 1835. o 1833: Oberlin College: (was Oberlin Collegiate Institute) in Ohio is

founded as the first coeducational college in the United States. o 1837: Massachusetts Board of Education: Horace Mann appointed to head

the first state board of education. o 1850: Amendment to the Land Ordinance of 1785: increased educational

allotment to two sections, 16 and 36, for states entering after 1850. o 1852: Compulsory school-attendance act: Massachusetts passed the first

such law in the United States. 63 o 1862: Morrill Land Grant Act: Congress granted funds (scrip in federal

land) to states to found colleges of mechanical arts (engineering), military

science, and agriculture. o 1867: U.S. Office of Education: established. o 1872: Kalamazoo Decision: Michigan Supreme Court decision validated

use of local funds for secondary school education similar to their use for

elementary (common) school education. o 1887: Hatch Act: provided government support of state agricultural

experiment stations, as joint research projects of state agricultural colleges

and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. o 1890: Second Morrill Land Grant Act: Congress instituted regular

appropriations for the land grant colleges; the “historically black”

institutions were set up in response to the demands of this act that

nonwhite students be provided facilities. o 1896: Plessy v. Ferguson: Supreme Court validated the separation of

black and white pupils and established the “separate but equal” doctrine. o 1909: The Junior High School: first established in Columbus, OH and

Berkeley, CA. o 1914: Smith-Lever Agriculture Extension Act: set up agricultural

extension. 64 o 1917: Smith-Hughes Vocational Act: gave funds to support agriculture,

industry, and home economics education and created the Federal Board

for Vocational Education. o 1918: Compulsory school-attendance laws: all states have such a law,

although the maximum age of compulsion often exceeds the age at which

a work permit can be granted. o 1942: General Education Development (GED) Program: initiated to

provide World War II veterans lacking a high school diploma with an

opportunity to earn a secondary school credential; civilians were first able

to take the test in 1952. o 1943: West Virginia Board of Education v. Barnette: Supreme Court ruled

that students who are Jehovah’s Witnesses were not obliged to participate

in saluting the flag. o 1944: G.I. Bill of Rights: 78th Congress provided subsistence allowances,

tuition fees, and supplies for the education and training of veterans of

World War II in a wide variety of settings, including colleges, high

schools, and vocational training institutions. o 1950: National Science Foundation: established to “promote the progress

of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; to

secure the national defense; and for other purposes.” 65 o 1952: Korean War G.I. Bill of Rights: educational benefits of the 1944

Bill are extended to Korean War veterans and others who served in the

armed forces during the war period. o 1954: Cooperative Research Program: authorized the U.S. Commissioner

of Education to contract with institutions of higher education and state

education agencies for educational research. o 1954: Brown v. Board of Education: held unconstitutional the deliberate

segregation of schools by law on account of race. o 1958: National Defense Education Act: provided extensive aid to schools

and students. o 1962: Engel v. Vitale: Supreme Court ruled that the state could not

enforce prayer in public schools. o 1963: Vocational Education Act: further expanded agricultural extension. o 1964: Civil Rights Act, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972

and Section 1983 of the 1964 Act: outlaws discrimination by sex and

protects students from receiving different resources and other disparate

treatment based on gender. o 1965: Head Start: established in the Office of Economic Opportunity as a

way to serve children of low-income families; later administered by the

Administration for Children and Families. o 1973: Federal Pell Grant Program: authorized under the Higher Education

Act of 1965 provides for undergraduate student aid based on need. 66

o 1975: Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA): requires

better access to schools for disabled students.

o 1975: Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA): replaces

EAHCA and addresses the failure of many states to comply with EAHCA.

o 1978: University of California Regents v. Bakke: Supreme Court rules

against reverse discrimination, fixed quotas cannot be set.

o 1980: Department of Education: established as a separate cabinet-level

agency.

Summary. Legislative mandates are important in understanding the history of the American education system as well as compulsory education requirements (Goldin,

1999, p. 14). While court cases at the state and federal level set precedents for the power states had over school-age children and their families regarding compulsory education requirements, some historical data shows that not all educators were even in favor of the idea of compulsory education. “A 1972 Gallup poll indicated that 38 percent of the professional educators polled believe that students uninterested in attending secondary schools should not be forced to attend” (Everhart, 1977, p. 500).

The assumptions that educators promoted compulsory attendance and that

compulsory attendance laws were enacted when state legislators responded to

educators’ demands disregard the historical reality that educators and state

teachers’ associations generally did not support compulsory attendance.

(Provasnik, 2006, p. 311) 67

As Everhart (1977) puts it, “requiring school attendance was hardly universally needed, enthusiastically accepted, or initially effective” (p. 520).

The National Commission on the Reform of Secondary Education (1973) issued a

report in which a section was included questioning the advisability of some facets

of compulsory attendance laws. Specifically, the commission recommended that

the maximum age at which a child should be compelled to attend school should be

reduced to 14. (Everhart, 1977, p. 500)

Regardless of support, the enactment of compulsory education laws in all states coupled with Child Labor Laws not only increased the necessity for school-age children to attend school at a set age range deemed by individual states but also legally required it.

Cross-Cultural Comparison of Compulsory Education

Introduction. In a comparative review of two nations, the United States and

China, this study will show that disparities exist in the implementation of the two countries’ compulsory school regulations. These disparities not only hurt the students who are supposed to be protected by these laws but also threaten to have a long-term negative impact on the two countries from an economic and national pride standpoint.

Compulsory school attendance laws in these countries are not equal across the respective nations, nor are they adequately funded, yet the laws are necessary. As

Oreopoulous suggests in his 2006 study of compulsory schooling in the United States,

“Exceptions, leniency, and weak consequences for truancy substantially weakened the eﬀectiveness of these laws in increasing school attainment” (p. 105). In the case of

China, Brown and Park (2002) declare, “Despite the compulsory education law 68 mandating 9 years of education, children whose families do not pay school fees are not allowed to attend school” (p. 529). Each researcher documents how the two respective countries’ lack of oversight, accountability, and/or accessibility cripple the compulsory school attendance regulations these nations need for their children to thrive. Despite obvious challenges that these countries must overcome in regards to their compulsory education requirements, however, these laws are necessary. In the study previously mentioned concerning United States’ attendance laws, Oreopoulous (2006) comments,

“The results suggest that recent and more restrictive compulsory schooling laws reduced dropout rates, increased college enrollment, and improved several social economic indicators” (p. 105). In the case of China, after aggressive compulsory attendance laws were enacted, “200 million people were moved from poverty in only 23 years” (Dewan,

2003, p. 2).

The guiding question to this cross-cultural comparison is clear. What are some of the inequities in compulsory school attendance laws in the United States and China that require reform in order for the legislation to be properly enforced? The purpose of this review is to explore the inequities in these laws in the United States and China and offer suggestions for reform that could positively impact the implementation of the regulations in the respective countries. The research data demonstrates that the educational opportunities provided to the countries’ children have impacted each country on the variety of levels previously mentioned. The study argues that through research on this topic, one will find that the countries that have the most progressive and sustaining legal requirements on compulsory school attendance for children, regardless of socioeconomic 69 standing, will have a better educational system defined by more opportunities for children regardless of class or designation; lower levels of poverty; a more balanced, established, and thriving economy; and a greater sense of national pride. This research suggests the need for compulsory school attendance laws in all countries, but that oversight of established requirements will be necessary to ensure children are truly given the intended educational opportunities protected by law regardless of socioeconomic status, gender, race, ethnicity, or region. A transcultural quadrangulation perspective using the concepts of cultural sameness, uniquesameness, sameniqueness, and uniqueness will be established between the countries’ school attendance expectations. Oversight and additional regulations are necessary to ensure children of the United States and China are truly given the intended educational opportunities protected by law regardless of socioeconomic status, gender, race, ethnicity, or region. This research will provide educators and scholars a comparative analysis of international educational opportunities provided to students based on a conceptual framework that may alter the way researchers view and analyze compulsory school attendance requirements.

Findings: A transcultural quadrangulation perspective. Jean Francois (2012) defines transculturality as “an acknowledgement that national cultures constitute unique realities in their own context” (p. 8). To clarify, Jean Francois continues, “In other words, transcultural implies the coexistence of multicultural and intercultural practices, experiences, and realities that are based on context and maintains its metabolism” (2012, p. 8). It is within this scope that this study will provide a framework for the analysis of compulsory school attendance laws in the United States and China. Using the four 70 dimensions of transcultural integration, this research will provide a quadrangulation perspective of the sameness (What do we have as similarity?), uniquesameness (What do we have as unique but with similarity?), sameniqueness (What do we have as similarity, but with particularity?), and uniqueness (What do we have as unique?) of the two countries’ implementation of their compulsory school regulations as clarity is gained regarding the similarities and differences between the two countries policies (Jean

Francois, 2012, p. 11).

Transcultural sameness: United States and China’s compulsory attendance laws. Both the United States and China recognize that compulsory school attendance laws are necessary to better ensure not only the education of their respective country’s youth but also to provide stability to the two countries’ economies, as well as to infuse a sense of national pride into their citizens who, because of improved educational opportunities, would then be more politically active and involved with their countries.

Each country experienced multiple successes after implementing compulsory education laws, making the impact of the laws appear to be extremely similar.

United States perspective. The United States noticed the necessity of compulsory education laws earlier than China with the development of the country’s first official school attendance laws with the 1852 Compulsory School Attendance Act in

Massachusetts (Goldin, 1999, p. 22). By 1918, all states had compulsory school laws

(CSL) (Goldin, 1999, p. 22). As Fagan (1992) remarked, “The increasing enactment and enforcement of compulsory attendance laws between 1890 and 1930 dramatically changed public education” (p. 236). Similarly, Bridgeland et al. (2007) asserted, 71

Most states enacted these compulsory school attendance laws between 1870-1910,

a time when fewer than 10 percent of 17 year olds graduated from high school. In

fact, fewer than 15 percent of 14-17 year olds were even enrolled in high school

in any given year before 1910. In an economy that was still significantly agrarian,

a high school education was not a prerequisite to participating in the mainstream

workforce. Fifty-two percent more Americans lived in rural than in urban areas in

1900. One hundred years later, the situation had changed entirely, and nearly four

times more Americans live in urban than in rural areas. (p. 2)

At a time when the United States was transitioning from an agriculturally-based into an industrialized economy, the government took steps to better ensure skilled workers could fill the job needs of the new century. “From 1910 to 1940, America underwent a spectacular educational transformation. Just 9 percent of 18-year olds had high school diplomas in 1910, but more than 50 percent did by 1940” (Goldin & Katz,

2008, p. 1). With the rise in a more educated and skilled population, the United States went through a period of educational prosperity. According to Goldin and Katz (2008), in 1955 the enrollment of high school students in the U.S. was just below 80 percent while no European country exceeded enrollment of 25 percent in their high schools (p. 2).

Goldin and Katz (2008) supported, stating, “The relative stock of educated workers, therefore, was considerably greater in the United States than in most European countries until the 1970s and even to the 1980s” (p. 2).

From a historical viewpoint, the implementation of compulsory school attendance laws in the United States drastically impacted the country in more ways than just basic 72 educational opportunities for the country’s youth. As Milligan and Oreopoulos’ (2003) research suggested, “A large body of research in the last 30 years shows that schooling has a significant private return in terms of increased earnings. Yet, it is possible that education creates other benefits to society that are not reflected in earnings of the education” (p. 1667-1668). As previously mentioned in this essay, the study that

Milligan and Oreopoulos (2003) conducted suggests that because of compulsory school attendance laws, the citizens of the United States became more engaged politically, augmented the probability of voting, and increased national pride and awareness (p.

1670). Further studies suggest that while compulsory education laws affected primarily middle and high school grade levels due to primary school attendance already being high, additional years of schooling, even without guaranteed graduation, increases an individual’s wages by 6 to 10 percent (Acemoglu & Angrist, 1999, p. 1). “Many estimates suggest that a year of education raises earnings by about 10 percent, or perhaps

$80,000 in present value over the course of a lifetime” (Cutler, 2006, p. 21).

Oreopoulous (2006) states that “compulsory schooling lowers the likelihood of committing crime or ending up in jail” (p. 2214). He continues by stating that

“compulsory schooling reduces the chances of teen pregnancy in the U.S.” (Oreopoulous,

2006, p. 2214). Any legislation enacted that research shows improves the education, economy, and national pride of a country’s citizens would be deemed a success; but one that also reduces crime and teen pregnancy would have to be considered an overwhelming triumph for the government. Despite the obvious advantages already cited from research that individuals and the country as a whole achieve due to the institution of 73 compulsory school attendance laws, the most compelling data in support of these schooling laws are ones that suggest the longer a person stays in school the longer a person lives.

Using data from the National Longitudinal Mortality Study (NLMS) we find that

1 more year of education increases life expectancy by 0.18 years if we use a 3

percent discounting rate; or by 0.6 years without any discounting (it is not clear

that one would want to discount health improvements in the same manner one

discounts income streams over time). Assuming that a year of health is worth

$75,000—a relatively conservative value (Cutler 2004)—this translates into about

$13,500 to $44,000 in present value. These rough calculations suggest that the

health returns to education increase the total returns to education by at least 15

percent, and perhaps as much as 55 percent. Such returns suggest public policy

should do more to promote educational attainment. (Cutler, 2006, pp. 21-22)

Students who stay in school longer, live longer and healthier lives. Could there be a better argument for compulsory school education laws? Mazumder (2008) claimed, “In a provocatively titled front page article, ‘A surprising secret to a long life: Stay in school,’ The New York Times recently suggested that many researchers now believe that education is the key factor in promoting health” (p. 2). The same study cites that the requirements of nutrition and vaccination programs in schools have greatly reduced the likelihood of an individual who stays in school longer having problems with seeing, hearing, or speaking (Mazumder, 2008, p. 11). 74

A multicultural perspective: China. China passed The Compulsory Education

Law of 1986 in response to a growing trend that saw literacy rates among adults alarmingly low and educational opportunities between rural and urban children strikingly different (Dewen, 2003, p. 3). The new law is referred to as “Nine-Year Compulsory

Education” and breaks the education system down into two phases: phase one is six years of primary school, and phase two is three years of junior secondary school (Dewan,

2003, p. 3). According to this same study, “Among the 9 developing countries with the biggest population in the world, China is the first and only one that has accomplished

‘Nine-Year Compulsory Education’” (p. 4). The two goals were to increase schooling attendance as well as reduce the country’s illiteracy rate. The results are hard to dispute.

With the expansion of compulsory education, China has made great

improvements in primary school education and junior secondary school

education. From 1986 to 2001, the enrollment rate of pre-school children rose

from 96.4 percent to 99.1 percent, an increase of almost 3 percent, with an

increased enrollment number of 8.7 million; the proportion of primary school

graduates entering junior secondary school rose from 69.5 percent to 95.5 percent,

an increase of 26 percent, with the number of students enrolling in junior

secondary school increased to 8.86 million; the proportion of junior secondary

school graduates entering senior secondary schools rose from 40.6 percent to 52.9

percent, an increase of 8.3 percent, with an increase of 6.75 million in primary

school graduates. (Dewen, 2003, p. 5) 75

The establishment of compulsory education laws in China has cut illiteracy rates by 25 percent from 37.74 percent to 11.55 percent in rural areas where illiteracy was the highest in the country (Dewan, 2003, p. 5). According to Minxia and Zhang (2006), “The expansion of compulsory education in rural China, especially poverty-stricken areas in central and western China, has proved to be highly cost-eﬀective and to have considerable positive social and economic beneﬁts. Education has shown itself to be the most sustainable poverty reduction strategy” (p. 279). The areas of China most poverty- stricken reduced from 250 million (over 20 percent of the rural population) considered impoverished in 1978 to just 8 million (8.87 percent of the rural population) in 1995

(Minxia & Zhang, 2006, p. 265).

According to the statistics at the end of 2002, the proportion of the population in

areas that achieved universal access to nine-year compulsory education rose from

40% in the early 1990s to over 90%. Furthermore, the rate of illiteracy among

youths and adults was reduced to 4.8% over the same period. The “two basics’’

were achieved in 2,598 counties, 90% of the total in the country. The average

years of schooling in the population rose from less than 5 years in the early 1980s

to over eight in 2003, an increase of more than 3 years. (Minxia & Zhang, 2006,

p. 270-271)

By 2012, less than 5 percent of the country of China was considered illiterate, a far cry from nearly one-third of the country being illiterate in the early 1960s (Fang,

Eggleston, Rizzo, Rozelle, & Zeckhauser, p. 26). With additional skills from education, studies found that an additional year of school without guarantee of graduation for rural 76 residents of China (those most impacted by compulsory school laws) raised earnings by

4.8 yuan per month (Chen, Tsang, Xu, & Wei, 1999, p. 184). With an investment in education, citizens began to feel more pride about being Chinese, thanks to being better educated, having more money, and having increased opportunities due to new skills such as literacy.

Transcultural uniquesameness: United States and China’s compulsory attendance laws. Both the United States and China fund education through a decentralized model. In the United States and in China, the individual states or provinces govern and finance the majority of education initiatives, with much of the financial burden actually falling to the local level. There are benefits and burdens to this situation; nonetheless, it is a reality. While the funding models are unique and different in their respective ways, the countries have similarities in the way they go about funding education and initiatives such as compulsory school attendance.

United States. In the United States, compulsory school attendance laws for the most part are funded at the local level by taxes on income and property to ensure that schools have the means to support and educate the children of a particular community.

“In the 2004-05 school year, 83 cents out of every dollar spent on education is estimated to come from the state and local levels (45.6 percent from state funds and 37.1 percent from local governments)” (U.S. Department of Education, 2014, para. 8). The federal government's share is just over 8 percent funding for schools in the U.S. (U.S.

Department of Education, 2014). 77

The responsibility for K-12 education rests with the states under the Constitution.

There is also a compelling national interest in the quality of the nation's public

schools. Therefore, the federal government, through the legislative process,

provides assistance to the states and schools in an effort to supplement, not

supplant, state support. The primary source of federal K-12 support began in

1965 with the enactment of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act

(ESEA). (U.S. Department of Education, 2014, para. 2)

While federal and state dollars are available for schools in the United States, many of the finances are tied to initiatives that schools must complete in order to obtain the financial windfall for the district. School levy campaigns to tax income, property value, and more are the lifeblood of school districts in the state of Ohio where the vast majority of costs for districts are wrapped up in salary and benefits for employees.

According to the U.S. Department of Education website (2014), “Taxpayer investment in education exceeds that for national defense. In addition to the K-12 money mentioned above, taxpayers will spend an estimated $373 billion for higher education in the same school year (para. 6).”

The analysis presented here suggests that compulsory schooling, which is

financed by proportional taxes on income, is a public policy that enhances growth,

makes the distribution of earnings more equal while the majority of the population

is better off in the long run under this regime. As a result, the wide

implementation of this policy around the world can be explained by its role in 78

achieving a preferred allocation of resources and more equal distribution of

human capital. (Eckstein, 1994, p. 353)

Despite this funding model where schools must come up with the majority of their funding from a local measure, the compulsory school attendance laws each state has cannot deny children entry into school for issues like inability to pay fees. The decentralized way of funding schools does lend itself to inequity between high income- and-property-value districts and low income-and-property-value districts. This same issue due to decentralization is found in China as well.

A multicultural perspective: China. In China the equitability of compulsory education between rural and more urban locations poses a problem for the nation’s school-age children. This inequitable system is supported by facts that show that, while compulsory education requirements in China have improved the nation’s literacy and overall educational quality, rural areas of China are still drastically behind the opportunities supplied to more urban areas of the country.

China’s rural compulsory education is not really a free one. With the increase in

tuition and miscellaneous expenses, a number of rural families cannot afford to

send their children to primary school or junior secondary school. In West China,

522 counties had yet to implement “nine-year compulsory education” by the end

of 2001, which means that a significant amount of rural children have difficulties

in schooling. Especially in recent years, in order to ease the burden of education

inputs on local finances, many rural areas cut back on the number of teachers by

merging village primary schools and township junior secondary schools, thereby 79

reducing investments in infrastructure constructions such as school buildings and

the payment of teachers salary, which has to some extent made schools farther

away from rural students. (Dewan, 2003, p. 6)

More than 60 percent of the Chinese population lives in rural areas, and 61.8 percent of school-age children who fall under compulsory attendance laws reside in rural

China (Dewen, 2003, p. 9). Well over half the population of school-age children are in a situation where school fees could stop them from what should be the guaranteed right of an education. “Despite the compulsory education law mandating 9 years of education, children whose families do not pay school fees are not allowed to attend school” (Brown

& Park, 2002, p. 529). This problem is unique to China when compared to the United

States. An inability to pay school fees does not remove the obligation of compulsory school attendance from the child or the school district in the U.S.

Despite its praiseworthy achievements thus far, China is still faced with a number

of problems and challenges regarding the establishment of universal basic

education in rural areas: First, a wide gap between rural and urban educational

status remains. One of the most difficult problems lies in the growing rural-urban

divide. As of 2002, 372 counties failed to achieve the goal of the ‘‘Two Basics’’;

they were all in the disadvantaged rural western regions. Second, county-based

funding and management system is unable to provide adequate educational

funding. Although the GOC has made great efforts to mobilize resources to

support the compulsory education program, total investment is still low when

compared with international standards. The new administration system, which 80

relies mainly on county-based management, is faced with many difficulties; in

particular, the provision of basic education seems less effective in poor rural

counties due to an inability to raise sufficient funds. Third, educational quality has

yet to be universalized. Current endeavors to institute basic education are still

less equitable in some poor communities that lack funding, qualiﬁed teachers, and

school facilities. Some studies (see Zhang 2003b) reveal that the equitable

distribution of learning opportunities both quantitatively and qualitatively,

especially in poor rural areas, will be a more demanding challenge. (Minxia &

Zhang, 2006, pp. 283-284)

Dewen’s 2003 study states that 75 percent of the education expenditure is accrued at the township level making the inequity between richer urban school districts and rural school districts even greater (p. 12).

Dewan (2003) further states,

According to Education Law and Compulsory Education Law, higher education

falls into the responsibility of the central and provincial governments and rural

compulsory education is the responsibility of county and township governments.

Because upper governments have bigger power than lower governments in terms

of the allocation of financial resources, township governments are the weakest in

financial power. Under the principle of education is funded by government at the

same level, local governments allocate far more funds to higher education and

urban compulsory education than rural compulsory education. (p. 11) 81

Transcultural sameniqueness: United States and China’s compulsory attendance laws. While both the United States and China have compulsory school attendance laws, the two countries are unique in their implementation of these regulations. The United States, much like its funding model, leaves it to the states to decide compulsory school attendance timelines, ages, and oversight. The Chinese, on the other hand, have turned away from the framework of their funding model and have made compulsory school attendance model decisions at the centralized national government level.

A local perspective: United States. “In the United States, each state and the

District of Columbia have enacted Compulsory School Attendance Laws that date from the earliest adoption in Massachusetts in 1852 to the latest in Alaska in 1929” (Williams,

2001, para. 1). Despite each state having laws in place, the ages that each state enacts for school compulsion vary. Also, some states recognize home schooling as a viable option for students to satisfy compulsory school attendance requirements, while other states do not. This decentralized approach to compulsory school attendance makes the student’s experiences different state by state within the United States.

Although slight differences occur in beginning and ending ages within the

compulsory attendance laws, the range is from five to eighteen. Sixteen percent

of the states adheres to a beginning age of five, followed by 19% at age six, 43%

at age seven, and 4% at age eight (The Learning Network, 2001). Ending age for

compulsory attendance ranges from 59% at age 16, to 18% at age 17, and 24% at

age 18. (Williams, 2001, para. 1) 82

What the United States compulsory school attendance laws do guarantee is that students must span all 3 areas of grade-school education (primary school [5-11], middle school [12-14], and high school [14-18]) before dropping out without completion is allowable. The push towards getting U.S. students to graduate was clearly the intent behind making the age requirements on compulsory school attendance laws. Data shows that compulsory school attendance laws in the United States are growing more restrictive with maximum enrollment age lowering and the minimum dropout age rising (Acemoglu

& Angrist, 1999, p. 12). Couple this with the fact that the minimum-age requirements for work permits have risen and the push for students in the U.S. to stay in school, get an education, and graduate is the clear goal of legislation like compulsory education laws

(Acemoglu & Angrist, 1999, p. 12).

A cross cultural comparison: China. Due to compulsory school attendance laws, “China had also achieved virtually universal enrollment in primary education, a coverage rate that still outpaces the rates found in several Asian counterparts” (Hossain,

1996, p. 2). However, the average grade attainment in China is only 5.6 years and the survival rate of a cohort to make it through high school graduation is only 68 percent

(Hossain, 1996, p. 2).

The key difference in the compulsory school attendance models used by the countries of the United States and China are found in the coverage that these laws provide its school-age citizens. In the United States, the goal is graduation given the age range used for compulsion laws. In China it seems basic education and skills such as 83 literacy, not graduation and opportunities for advancement to higher education, are the goals of the laws.

Primary school normally takes 6 years to complete, middle school 3 years, and

high school 3 years. No less than 84% of children in the sample were enrolled by

the age of 7. We therefore take the age group 7-12 to be representative of primary

school enrollment, 13-15 to correspond to middle school enrolment, and 16-18 to

be relevant for high school. The primary school net enrollment rate in the sample

is remarkably high (at 95%), as is the middle school net enrolment rate (90%).

All but a small minority of children attend the compulsory years of school. Only

in the non-compulsory high school years does the net enrollment rate fall sharply

(55%). (Knight & Shi, 2009, p. 6)

As Dewen remarked in his 2003 study, “The key issue is to keep a balance between three stage education (system)” (p. 14). Currently this lack of coverage in

China’s compulsory attendance laws allows for the focus to fall short of graduation and instead supply emphasis on lower-level educational attainment like literacy rates of the country’s population.

Transcultural uniqueness: United States and China’s compulsory attendance laws. The United States and China both reacted appropriately to societal problems existing in their countries to better ensure basic education for their populations.

Due to these reactions, compulsory attendance laws were put into place in both countries with successful results. The uniqueness of these results comes into focus when one begins to consider the actual goal of compulsory school attendance in each country. 84

While goals in both countries were achieved due to compulsory school attendance laws, the goals of the two countries are very different; and because of this, two distinct and extremely different problems have arisen in the respective countries.

United States. The United States faces what many feel is a dropout epidemic.

Almost one-third of all high school students in the United States and one-half of African-

Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans fail to graduate from high school

(Bridgeland, Bilulio, & Streeter, 2007, p. 1). Obviously the society as a whole suffers from this loss of skilled workers, the increased needs of incarceration, health care, and social services that result from uneducated and unskilled citizens (Bridgeland et al., 2007, p. 1). Individuals who stay in school longer and eventually graduate are less likely to fall below the poverty line and less likely to receive welfare” (Oreopoulos, 2006, p. 105).

Eckstein (1994) suggests that compulsory school attendance has a positive impact on ensuring individuals do not end up on welfare (p. 352). One must question if continued education has all the benefits of a healthier, fuller, and more productive life, then how can our dropout rate in the United States be so high?

In the words of Bridgeland et al. (2007),

Their concerns are merited – the economic consequences of dropping out are

dramatic. In the United States, high school graduates earn 43 percent more than

individuals without a high school diploma, and college graduates earn more than

150 percent—one and a half times—more . . .. College graduates earn between

$800,000 and $1,387,000 more over their lifetimes than high school dropouts.

The unemployment rate among individuals who have not graduated from high 85

school is 65 percent higher than it is for graduates and 3 times higher than it is for

college graduates. Clearly, dropping out of high school is often equivalent to

choosing a life of financial hardship. It also places a burden upon society as a

whole. Annual public health costs for dropouts have been estimated at $58 billion,

and approximately $10 billion could be saved each year in public assistance if all

our students graduated from high school. . . . One recent study has shown that

cutting the current cohort of 20-year-old dropouts in half would result in $45

billion in added tax revenues and reduced public health, crime and welfare costs

over the life of the cohort. (p. 3)

It is well documented in the studies provided that the United States has a significant problem with students dropping out of school without having completed the necessary work to graduate. Many are suggesting that a uniform centralized change be made so the compulsory school attendance requirements of all states and the District of

Columbia is 18 years of age, giving students the most compelling opportunity not to just go to high school but to graduate from high school. “Raising the school leaving age may offer an effective and affordable means to increase education attainment among the least educated and improve their subsequent employment circumstances and earnings potential” (Oreopoulos, 2006, p. 106). Again, Bridgeland et al. (2007) supported, stating,

Not everyone, of course, supports raising the compulsory school age. Some have

argued that students inclined to drop out will do so anyway, regardless of what the

legal age is. In addition, some say, forcing likely dropouts to stay in school will

lead to greater classroom disruptions and an overall negative influence on the 86

remaining students. Others have opposed raising the legal age because it

interferes with parents’ rights to make educational choices for their children,

while still others argue that it raises the burden on taxpayers and gives more

control to an already intrusive government. (p. 7)

Despite naysayers, there is a distinct correlation proven in the aforementioned studies between high school graduation and a healthy and fulfilling life where the individual is of value and not a drain on society. The United States would be wise to consider how the country can tweak compulsory attendance laws to better serve its students in an attempt to ensure a more stable economy and a well-informed and patriotic population.

China. A problem completely unique to China is the idea of the hukou system.

This system categorizes Chinese citizens into urban and rural residents and has long- ranging impacts socially, economically, and politically (Montgomery, 2012, p. 591).

The hukou system has been accused of many things: creating a rural urban

apartheid, building cities with invisible walls, and discriminating against the same

workers who made China’s economic boom possible. Many criticisms of the

hukou system are based on its effects on access to social services, such as

education. As a result of this relationship, the large populations of rural migrant

children living in Chinese cities without urban hukou are effectively shut out of

the public school system with few other viable options. (Montgomery, 2012, p.

592) 87

The current system of hukou is one that is causing civil unrest and social turmoil weakening the citizens’ pride in their country since it is the country’s laws that are removing educational opportunities from a set group of children. “Despite the fact that the Compulsory Education Law seems to guarantee free compulsory education to all school-age children in China, in 2004 tuition and miscellaneous fees made up 18.59% of total expenditures on education in the country. This burden tends to fall the hardest on migrant children” (Montgomery, 2012, p. 599). As previously mentioned, in China if a family fails to pay school fees, the school can and likely will keep the child out of school until the fees are paid thus removing the child from the educational setting. As

Montgomery (2012) notes, the decentralization of education in China gives local governments too much unchecked discretion; thus, regulations like compulsory school attendance are seen more as guidelines than law (p. 603).

Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “[e]veryone

has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and

fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory.” Today the

Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations General

Assembly in 1948, is considered customary international law, meaning states

comply with the norm because they believe it to have binding effects similar to

any other law. Migrant children are no less Chinese than their urban counterparts,

and they deserve the same educational rights that the law guarantees to all

Chinese children. Education is a powerful tool. It gives children the means to

improve their own lives and to make valuable contributions to China’s economy, 88

culture, and society. Compulsory education should not be withheld from migrant

children because of their parents’ inability to obtain urban hukou. (Montgomery,

2012, p. 608)

China has a distinct problem in regards to educational equity. Compulsory school attendance laws are in place but are vastly different between the urban and rural settings and allow for discriminatory practices like hukou due to the decentralization of the legal requirements of compulsory school attendance. In order to better ensure equitable education for all these issues of inequity, compulsory school attendance in China will have to be considered and addressed.

Summary. It is clear that both the United States’ and China’s compulsory school attendance laws have drastically impacted the countries from educational, economic, equality, and national pride perspectives. Although many advantages have come from these laws, in both countries’ challenges remain to better ensure their respective populations have the opportunity to a free public education. The research data demonstrates that the educational opportunities provided to the countries’ children have impacted each country on the variety of levels previously mentioned. The study argues that, through research on this topic, one will find that the countries that have the most progressive and sustaining legal requirements of compulsory school attendance for children, regardless of socioeconomic standing, will have a better educational system defined by more opportunities for children regardless of class or designation; lower levels of poverty; a more balanced, established, and thriving economy; and a greater sense of national pride. 89

The study suggests the need for compulsory school attendance laws in all countries, but that oversight on established requirements will be necessary to ensure children are truly given the intended educational opportunities protected by law regardless of socioeconomic status, gender, race, ethnicity, or region. This research provides educators and scholars a comparative analysis of international educational opportunities provided to students based on a conceptual framework that may alter the way researchers view and analyze compulsory school attendance requirements.

Alternative Options to Traditional School in the United States

Introduction. All states in the United States have some sort of alternative option to traditional schooling which allows students to pursue their educations in a non- traditional format; but because each state handles alternative educational programing differently, the structure, services provided, and target population vary from state to state

(Pororwski, O’Conner, & Luo, 2014, p. i). In order to have a working definition of alternative educational options to traditional schooling, this work uses the definition from

Pororwski, O’Conner, and Lou’s (2014) research How do states define alternative education?: “Alternative education programs—broadly defined as educational activities that fall outside the traditional K-12 curriculum” (p. i).

At the federal level an alternative school is defined as “a public

elementary/secondary school that addresses needs of students that typically

cannot be met in a regular school, provides nontraditional education, serves as an

adjunct to a regular school, or falls outside the categories of regular, special, or

vocational education. (Pororwski et al., 2014, p. 1) 90

Currently, 43 states and the District of Columbia have formal definitions of alternative education that differ from the federal definition provided, and research suggests that alternative education programming nationwide primarily serves students with behavior problems (Pororwski et al., 2014, p. i). “Alternative education programs . .

. include home schooling, general educational development (GED) programs, gifted and talented programs, and charter schools” (Pororwski et al., 2014, p. 1). In a national survey completed in 2008, 64 percent of districts reported having some sort of alternative school or program for at-risk students and these programs were populated by 646,500 students that year in the United States (Pororwski et al., 2014, p. 2). Of these alternative schools over half the states reported that the reason behind having alternative educational programming was to prevent students from dropping out of school (Pororwski et al.,

2014, p. 3).

Alternative education programs are often intended to support students who are

underperforming academically, have learning disabilities, display emotional or

behavioral issues, are victims of other students with behavioral problems,

demonstrate a high risk of dropping out of school, or display the need for

individualized instruction. (Pororwski et al., 2014, p. 3)

Thirty-nine states include guidance to alternative educational programming on what should or might be provided as a curriculum although only 21 states explicitly include this component in their definition of alternative education and make it binding

(Pororwski et al., 2014, p. 8). Fourteen states include discussions of counseling services for students in alternative programming, but only 11 require or suggest it; 13 states have a 91 focus on social skills within alternative programming; and 12 states have focuses on career education or mention other services like daycare, transportation, credit recovery, and substance abuse programming (Pororwski et al., 2014, p. 8).

For the most part, compulsory education requirements are met for students as long as they are enrolled in either traditional or alternative educational programming during the years of state-required compulsion. Pororwski et al. (2014) noted,

While some exemptions were mentioned (for example, in Pennsylvania, Amish

children can obtain a waiver from compulsory attendance), most states require

students to be enrolled in either public or private education programs, whether

traditional or alternative, while of compulsory attendance age. (p. 8)

For this study, focus will be supplied to homeschooling and online schooling as the main forms of alternative-based education.

Homeschooling. According to Danielle Geary (2011), modern day homeschooling began in the 1970s and centered around two groups: the ultra-rich and the intensely religious (p. 1). “In the 1970s and 1980s, states treated homeschooling as a type of truancy, claiming that children, by law, must be in school” (Geary, 2011, p. 1). In the 1990s with the legalization of homeschooling and increased availability and use of computers and the internet, “homeschooling began to grow and became a viable option for more families” (Geary, 2011, p. 1).

The National Center for Education Statistics´ research finds that parents choose to

homeschool for a variety of reasons. Thirty-six percent do so “to provide

religious or moral instruction” (U.S. Department of Education, 2007). Twenty- 92

one percent have concerns about the school environment, and 17% are not

satisfied with the academic instruction. Other reasons include family time,

finances, distance, and caring for a special needs child. Ray (2009) contends that

there are even more reasons parents homeschool their children, citing a preference

for a customized curriculum for each child, teaching methodology that is not

provided in institutions, and enrichment of family relationships. Isenberg (2007)

adds to this list, mentioning the lack of private schools as yet another reason

parents choose homebased education. (Geary, 2011, p. 1)

Geary’s (2011) research goes on to cite that critics of homeschooling allege it is academically and socially harmful to students; but since alternative-based educational options like homeschooling are “relatively new and difficult to assess in an experimental group of a significant number of students, there has been limited research in the area of homeschooling due to the lack of data” (p. 2). Despite critics this same article goes on to state that alternative educational options should be a societal right.

As a whole, studies on homeschooling concur that homeschooling is

advantageous and should be part of our society as a school choice. Furthermore,

the United States is not alone in this endeavor. Other nations are experiencing a

homeschooling growth spurt as well. Countries like Australia, Canada, Hungary,

Japan, Kenya, and the United Kingdom are just some of the other societies that

are including home-based education as an option for the education of their

citizens. (Geary, 2011, p. 3) 93

According to Wixom (2015), “Homeschooling policies vary widely from one state to the next, and families’ homeschooling experiences will likely be very different depending on where they live” (p. 1). Of our 50 states with 50 unique policies on alternative options to traditional schooling, Wixom (2015) found in a report for the

Education Commission of the States that Alaska, Idaho, and Michigan put the fewest restrictions on home-schooling families, while Washington, New York, and Pennsylvania have the most regulations (p. 1). Wixom (2015) went on to add,

Homeschooling is typically addressed through states’ compulsory school

attendance exemption policies, but states approach the issue very differently.

Homeschooling is most often governed in state policy in one of the following

ways: (1) explicitly allowed in statute or regulation, (2) allowed under the

umbrella of private or church schools, (3) tacitly allowed under private school

policies, (4) governed through local district or school oversight, or (5) some

combination of the above. Additionally, in a small number of states

homeschooling policies are, at least in part, shaped by case law. (p. 2)

A public educator in the state of Ohio, for example, not only has to have a college education but also must be highly qualified in the area he or she is teaching and hold a current license from the Ohio Department of Education in order to teach students in a public or private school setting. In opposition to this is the notion of homeschooling where only “13 states plus the District of Columbia require homeschool instructors to have qualifications, usually requiring a high school diploma” (Wixom, 2015, p. 1).

According to Wixom (2015), the majority of “states require home instruction to be 94 provided by a parent” (p. 2). “In Ohio, homeschooling parents who lack the required qualifications, including a high school diploma or its equivalent, must be supervised by someone with a college degree” (Wixom, p. 2, 2015). Given these stark contrasts between deeming who can provide education to school-age children, how can one assess equitability for students? To further complicate matters, Wixom (2015) states that “fewer than half of states require homeschool students to be assessed” (p. 1). Again, this is in contrast to the fact that all states are providing some sort of state-required assessment to students of school age in the public and private setting.

In all, Wixom (2015) states that only 20 states require some form of academic assessment, 29 states plus the District of Columbia mandate that homeschoolers learn certain subjects, 23 states plus the District of Columbia have some kind of attendance benchmark, almost 40 states plus the District of Columbia require parents to tell the state or their local school district if they plan to homeschool, and 26 states allow homeschooled students to participate in extracurricular activities or attend their local district schools part-time (p. 2-4). “In keeping with the theme of wild policy variations,

Georgia and Minnesota don’t count students enrolled in online schools as homeschoolers, while Florida allows students to be both” (Prothero, 2015, p. 2).

“An increasing number of homeschooled students are participating in online education through state online schools, virtual charter schools or other distance education programs” (Wixom, 2015, p. 1). Wixom also reports that the lines between homeschooling and online education are blurring as states provide more online education 95 options (2015, p. 1). “In the absence of federal homeschooling guidelines, states regulate homeschooling through a patchwork of provisions” (Wixom, p. 1, 2015).

Online education. For the purpose of this work, online education will use the

U.S. Department of Education’s definition: “a range of education programs and resources in the K-12 arena, including distance learning courses offered by universities, private providers, or teachers at other schools; stand-alone ‘virtual schools’ that provide students with a full array of online courses and services; and educational Web sites that offer teachers, parents, and students a range of resources” (2008, p. 1). With the rise of technology, computers, devices, and the internet offered a whole new spectrum of educational opportunities to families and school-age children. The way in which students engaged in learning and best learned changed as did the way in which anyone and everyone could access information thanks to technological innovation. In 2008, The U.S.

Department of Education noticed the rise in innovation in education that was based on technology advancement and issued a report entitled Evaluating Online Learning:

Challenges and Strategies for Success. Former National Secretary of Education Margaret

Spellings stated in her foreword to this report:

As with any education program, online learning initiatives must be held

accountable for results. Thus, it is critical for students and their parents—as well

as administrators, policymakers, and funders—to have data informing them about

program and student outcomes and, if relevant, about how well a particular

program compares to traditional education models. To this end, rigorous

evaluations are essential. They can identify whether programs and online 96

resources are performing as promised, and, equally important, they can point to

areas for improvement. (US. Department of Education, 2008, p. v)

Fast forward 7 years to the 2015 article by Valerie Strauss in The Washington

Post, regarding the resignation of David Hansen, the Ohio Education Department official responsible for school choice and charter schools. Hansen admitted to helping charter and online schools look better in state evaluations, and one can see the words of Spellings cannot be ignored. Hansen, who has since resigned, acknowledged that he left off failing grades received by online and dropout recovery schools that resulted in the boosting of grades for these schools (Strauss, 2015, para. 2). The failing grades received by these charter and online schools were given for “failing to teach kids enough material over the school year” (Strauss, 2015, para. 3).

This is just the latest trouble for Ohio’s charter sector, which has misspent

hundreds of millions of dollars over more than a decade, according to state audits.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) has vowed to reform the charter sector, but significant

efforts to do so legislatively have failed. (Strauss, 2015, para. 4)

The schools that got the most help from Hansen’s illegal and unethical decisions just happen to be the schools “run by the state’s largest political donors” (Strauss, 2015, para. 7). According to Strauss’ (2015) article the “state’s not penalizing sponsors, we found, for poor graduation rates at dropout recovery schools, portfolios of charter schools that have more bad grades than good ones and, most surprising, failing grades for online schools” (para. 10). 97

According to Bush (2009), virtual schools are utilized for a variety of reasons ranging from credit-recovery programming to accelerated learning opportunities through advanced placement courses with additional online programming that provides an entire curriculum to aid students pursuing graduation (p. 1). “Regardless of the curriculum’s focus, it needs to meet state quality assurance standards to help ensure that students enrolled in virtual courses meet state graduation standards” (Bush, 2009, p. 1). But, what happens when a state’s largest vendor of online curriculum has one of the worst graduation rates and academic achievement of any school, virtual or traditional, in the state?

Overall, the federal government estimates that in 2012, 1.8 million students (or

3.4 percent of the total student population in the United States) were on some form of home-schooling; but even this number is likely inaccurate and low due to the fact that many states have no reporting requirements for homeschooling students (Prothero, 2015, p. 2). Although this number may seem small, in just 9 years the number of homeschooled students has increased by over a million students and the number continues to grow as more and more charter and online options are developed each year nationwide

(Prothero, 2015, p. 2). Since 2006, the Columbus, Ohio-based online charter school

Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow (ECOT) more than doubled its enrollment to 14,561 students in 2013-2014 making it the state’s tenth largest school district (Bush & Richards,

2015, para. 5). “ECOT, whose students take classes from home on a computer, grew by

122 percent during Ohio’s eight-year moratorium on new online charter schools” (Bush

& Richards, 2015, para. 4). Despite the growth, this example of an alternative 98 educational program to traditional schooling in the state of Ohio has one of the worst track records in the state for graduating students: two-thirds of ECOT seniors in the past

4 years did not graduate with their classes (Bush & Richards, 2015, para. 20).

With its most-recent graduation rate of 38 percent, few districts in the state rank

lower. Only 35 of the roughly 700 traditional school districts and charter schools

that serve high-school students have a worse outcome, and most of those are other

statewide e-schools and charters that exclusively serve dropouts. (Bush &

Richards, 2015, para. 21)

According to state financial records, ECOT’s tax revenue is at $112.7 million and

90 percent of that is funded by the state meaning even though this charter school is funded by public tax dollars, it is privately run by a business (Bush & Richards, 2015, para. 7).

“The growth has been huge,” said Aaron Churchill, who is Ohio research director

for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute. It has offices in Columbus and Dayton and

sponsors charters but criticizes weak oversight and poor-quality schools. “There

are clearly a lot of questions about the quality of the education they’re putting out.

I’d be curious to know why parents are selecting it.” (Bush & Richards, 2015,

para. 6)

Online Schools receive about a third of the $1 billion Ohio spends on charter schooling each year, and data shows that these schools consistently earn failing grades for the number of students they serve in a year (O’Donnell, 2015, para. 4). “That’s because so many students fall so far behind in their first year of taking classes at home on a 99 computer, rather than in a classroom, that they never catch up” (O’Donnell, 2015, para.

2).

The schools spend millions on advertising to students . . . because states (Ohio

included) pay them based on the number of students they have. The ads and

school outreach efforts . . . are not targeted at kids who would be good fits but are

aimed at bringing as many kids, and dollars, to the school as possible.

(O’Donnell, 2015, para. 38-41)

The National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) urges Ohio and all states to reject notions or proposals from online schools to downplay failing grades (O’Donnell, 2015, para. 55-56). According to O’Donnell, 38,500 students attend online schooling in the state of Ohio each year; and based on the aforementioned data, most will not graduate with their class, make an adequate year’s growth when they begin attending the school, and as a result will receive a substandard education (O’Donnell,

2015, para. 4).

Summary. Alternative education programs are necessary educational options in today’s twenty-first century world; but as former National Secretary of Education

Margaret Spellings stated in 2008, oversight of such schools is of the utmost importance.

The CREDO (2015) study found that while students enrolled in online schooling as an alternative educational option to traditional schooling had significantly weaker growth than their same aged peers who maintained attendance in traditional schooling that positive growth across sectors is possible; although, it is not the common outcome with traditional school students usually performing far better than online school students (p. 100

62). Still, implications of the CREDO (2015) study are clear that online school options may be a good fit for some students but current oversight policies for online schools may not be sufficient (p. 62). The current disconnect in the educational landscape between oversight and accountability of traditional schools versus the lack of scrutiny on alternative educational programming raises concerns regarding the educational quality and equitability of alternative schools in comparison to traditional schooling.

Furthermore, the struggles academically call into question whether these alternative option programs actually do or should meet compulsory education requirements in states in the United States.

Gaps Existing in Literature Reviewed

Studies on compulsory education in the United States failed to focus on the inconsistencies of laws on a state-by-state basis; the inclusion of home-schooling, online schooling, and other forms of non-public schooling as suitable equals to public education thus satisfying compulsory education laws; and the impact that alternative educational options have on school finance as well as district and building report card ratings. The primary purpose of this study was to provide a mixed-methods approach through qualitative examination and quantitative analysis of an alternative education program in an Ohio School District that satisfies Ohio’s compulsory education laws in order to better understand the variances that states have in regards to compulsory education laws and also if alternative education programs equate to the public education the child could be receiving. After completion, this study will review compulsory education laws through an explanatory sequential design before offering suggestions for improvements to better 101 ensure educational equality for all school-age children and increased accountability for parents, students, and schools.

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Chapter 3: Research Design and Methodology

Introduction

This chapter explains the methodology the researcher used to obtain quantitative and qualitative data that assisted in answering the research questions posed by this study.

It will be the goal of this case study to determine if alternative educational programs yield comparable results to those of public and private schools found in the state by making an inference based on the challenges one Ohio school district faces in attempting to meet state compulsory education requirements using alternative educational options.

Purpose Statement

The intent of this study was to provide necessary data and information on how the system of compulsory education in the United States is built upon inequity and lack of accountability. The flaws within the system perpetuate and allow citizens to have access to substandard education which negatively impacts the American society. The primary purpose of this case study was to provide a mixed-methods approach through qualitative examination and quantitative analysis of compulsory education laws in the United States with a specific focus on one Ohio school district and its issues with compulsory education, alternative educational options, and educational equitability. This study used an explanatory, sequential design format to provide a close examination of an Ohio school district with alternative educational options and provides a framework for analysis of the inequitable nature of compulsory education in the United States. In addition, the study examined the data found to discern whether there is a difference between academic achievement and academic growth of students attending online school after dropping out 103 of traditional high school versus those students who maintain attendance within the traditional high school setting. This research will add to the literature on compulsory education by focusing on alternative pathways to satisfying this legal requirement for school-age children. Although the topic of compulsory education has been debated and researched for many years, there is surprisingly little research focusing on alternative educational options, like online schooling, to satisfy compulsory education requirements.

Research Questions

To complete this research study, the questions investigated were as follows:

1. Are current compulsory education laws effective in ensuring equitable

quality education is provided to all school-age students?

2. Is there a difference in the academic achievement and/or academic growth

of students attending online school after dropping out of traditional high

school versus those students who continue to attend traditional high

school?

3. What are the characteristics of students who drop out of high school to

attend online school?

4. What are teachers’, parents’, students’, and school leaders’

(administrators) experiences, perceptions, and beliefs about students who

drop out of traditional high school to attend online or non-traditional

school?

5. What are the students’ experiences and perceptions about the current

school system, and what makes some students feel the need or desire to 104

drop out of traditional high school and seek alternative educational

options?

6. What ways can the United States as a nation improve its compulsory

school attendance requirements?

Rationale for a Mixed-Methods Case Study

Mixed-methods research design was used as a methodology for this case study.

Creswell and Plano Clark (2007) describe a mixed-methods approach to research.

As a methodology, it involves philosophical assumptions that guide the direction

of the collection and analysis of data and the mixture of qualitative and

quantitative approaches in many phases in the research process. As a method, it

focuses on collecting, analyzing, and mixing both quantitative and qualitative data

in a single study or series of studies. Its central premise is that the use of

quantitative and qualitative approaches in combination provides a better

understanding of research problems than either approach alone. (p. 5)

An exploration of the rather new phenomenon of alternative-based educational programs, such as online learning mechanisms, to satisfy compulsory education requirements is quite limited in the literature and current research. Increased attention needs to be devoted to the educational quality being provided to school-age students through these alternative-based educational programs. With state laws that mandate compulsory school attendance, federal expectations to increase graduation rates and decrease dropouts, state and national hopes to close the achievement gaps of subgroups such as minority student populations and economically disadvantaged students, and 105 implications previously noted from a societal standpoint, a mixed-methods case study to obtain a detailed description of the impact alternative educational programs are having on students inside a single urban school district is of the essence to make inferences that could impact state and national discussion.

In order to mix quantitative and qualitative data in a mixed-methods research methodology, this study implemented an explanatory sequential design. In this design,

“the researcher first conducts quantitative research, analyzes the results and then builds on the results to explain them in more detail with qualitative research” (Creswell, 2014, p. 15). The qualitative data gathered was used to further explain the initial quantitative data provided in the research study (Creswell, 2014, p. 15). The concept of causation was used to identify “consistent associations between variables” through qualitative and quantitative data gathering (Maxwell, 2012, p. 656).

This view of causation is also essential to any approach to causation that can be of

real use to social and educational researchers. This is most clearly illustrated by

mixed-method studies that combined qualitative and quantitative approaches in

ways that respected the value of both approaches and supported a dialog between

the two. (Maxwell, 2012, p. 658)

Using an explanatory, sequential design format, this case study used a mixed- methods approach in an effort to make inferences about compulsory education laws in the

United States. The target population this study addresses is a group of students between the ages 14 and 19 in grades 9 through 12 over a three-year span (2013-2016) who have taken advantage of an online learning mechanism within an Ohio school district as a 106 means to alternative education in order to adhere to compulsory education requirements, keep themselves and their parents out of trouble due to truancy and tardy issues, and pursue a high school diploma without attending the actual public high school setting within the school district. The study targeted a program designed for an alternative pathway towards graduation through online learning that the district established to identify at-risk students based on attendance, discipline, grades, court involvement, and personal issues in an effort to educate and graduate this at-risk group of students.

CAPA houses, on average, 50-60 students per year; and the curriculum students complete is entirely online similar to such online schools as ECOT, K-12, VCS, and 107 more. There are 3 full-time teachers who oversee the program, as well as a mental health specialist. Students must apply for entry into the program, be placed in the program by school administration due to school-related issues, or be court ordered into the program.

Roweton houses, on average, 10-20 students per year; and like CAPA, the curriculum students complete is entirely online, similar to such online schools as ECOT,

K-12, VCS, and more. The student as well as state funding for the student remain within the school district although the district does pay a daily rate ($50 a day per student) for every student who attends this off-campus program. There are 5 full-time educators who oversee the program, as well as a mental health specialist. Students must be placed in the program by school administration due to school-related issues or be court ordered into the program.

The home-based online schooling houses, on average, 15-30 students per year; and the curriculum students complete is entirely online similar to such online schools as

Roweton students. All learning is online-based with limited social interaction with educators and same-age peers. Students must be placed in the program by school 108 administration due to school-related issues, have medical documentation identifying a need for home instruction, or be court ordered into the program.

This study examined the data found to discern whether there is a difference between academic achievement and/or growth of students attending online school after dropping out of traditional high school versus those students who maintain attendance within the traditional high school setting. Data from required state graduation assessments was utilized to determine academic achievement while the number of credits a student earns in a given year to achieve grade promotion was the key factor in determining educational growth with variables such as school attendance, socioeconomic level, and court involvement considered as impacts to both achievement and growth of students. From a qualitative perspective, research questions listed above guided the study as school-age students, their parents, teachers, and administrators were surveyed. From a quantitative perspective, student performance in terms of credits earned, attendance, passage of state assessments, and the graduation rate of participants of the program were the key factors in determining a data analysis that would deem the alternative education program successful or not in comparison with the students in the traditional school setting. Cross tabulations, chi squares, and descriptive statistics on gathered information drive the results of this research study. Variables such as the setting, exposure to curriculum (online and/or educator-based), exposure to same-aged peers, exposure to educators, opportunities to use educational tools, class size, mental health services, court involvement, socioeconomic status, gender, and age were all considered throughout this study as areas that the researcher cannot necessarily control and thus may limit the 109 generalizability of the findings. The school district used for this study educates between

850-1,000 students in the regular education setting each year.

Instrumentation

“[Q]uantitative research is essentially about collection of numerical data to explain a particular phenomenon” (Muijs, 2004, p. 1). Two different survey instruments were used to collect quantitative data for this study. The first survey (Appendix E) is a 5- scale Likert Scale survey model which allows individuals to choose from 5 options to respond to a variety of questions regarding compulsory education and alternative educational options to meet compulsory education requirements. Muijs (2004) states that

“[m]any data that do not naturally appear in quantitative form can be collected in a quantitative way” (p. 2). This is done through the creation of surveys like the one designed or this statistical analysis as the survey is “aimed specifically at converting phenomena that don’t naturally exist in quantitative form into quantitative data, which we can analyze statistically” (Muijs, 2004, p. 2). Attitudes and beliefs about such topics as compulsory education, the traditional school setting, alternative educational programming, and more educationally-based information will be ascertained through this

Likert Scale survey administered to a convenience sampling (n) of the overall population

(N) of students, parents, and educators in both the traditional school setting as well as the alternative programming school setting. Within this survey there was opportunity left for the respondents to provide a written response to any question to clarify or extend their answers beyond the 5 options provided. After the data was collected, a regression was run using SPSS in order to report the mean, median, and additional statistical findings. 110

Additionally, research was done on students’ academic records using cumulative folders found in the district office or school building as well as the DASL reporting system used by the school district to report information to the state education department. The intent of this numerical gathering of educational achievement, growth, and success was to determine if there is a difference in the performance of students in the traditional school setting and students in the alternative educational programming setting.

According to a field guide on qualitative research written by Mack, Woodsong,

MacQueen, Guest, and Namey (2005), “Qualitative research is a type of scientific research” that investigates a phenomenon in order to “seek answers to questions, . . . systematically uses a predefined set of procedures to answer the question, . . . collects evidence, . . . produces findings that were not determined in advance” and “produces findings that are applicable beyond the immediate boundaries of the study” (p. 1). For this qualitative study based on the aforementioned research questions, in-depth interviews were conducted on a convenience sampling (n) of the research population (N). “In-depth interviews are optimal for collecting data on individuals’ personal histories, perspectives, and experiences, particularly when sensitive topics are being explored” (Mack et al.,

2005, p. 2). An in-depth interview technique was used to produce a vivid account of the participant’s perspectives on the phenomena being studied (Mack et al., 2005, p. 29).

The interviewing techniques used by the researcher in this study are motivated by the desire to learn as much as possible from the participants, who are considered experts, on the research topic (Mack et al., 2005, p. 29). During in-depth interviewing of participants, 111

Researchers engage with participants by posing questions in a neutral manner,

listening attentively to participants’ responses, and asking follow-up questions and

probes based on those responses. They do not lead participants according to any

preconceived notions, nor do they encourage participants to provide particular

answers by expressing approval or disapproval of what they say. (Mack et al.,

2005, p. 29)

The second survey (Appendix F) used in this research study is a 10-question survey to report qualitative data utilized in a structured interview protocol style. A question was provided to the respondents without any additional clarity to ensure that the responses were not tainted by bias on the subject matter. The questions were repeated, if asked, to better ensure clarity of understanding but were only repeated by the interviewer if asked by the interviewee to do so. The types of data collected through this survey were field notes as well as audio recordings that were later transcribed for accurate reporting of the research data.

Regardless of the survey completed for quantitative or qualitative data, all participants were provided a consent form to sign (Appendix C). Anyone under the age of 18 also had to have a parent or legal guardian signature to participate in the study.

Ensuring all participants understood the overall purpose of the data being collected was of the utmost importance to the research being done. All participants used in the structured interview protocol setting to produce qualitative data were read an interview protocol form (Appendix D) prior to the interview being conducted in order to ensure the participant understood his or her rights and the agreement of confidentiality, unless 112 certain circumstances were breached, to provide the opportunity for the interviewee to ask questions prior to the interview and to obtain initial data such as the participants name, contact information, gender, and age.

Data Collection Procedures

The school district used for this study educates between 850-1,000 students in the regular education setting each year. As part of a stratified convenience sampling, the researcher divided the population of nearly 1,000 regular education students and just over

100 alternative-options education students by gender, socioeconomic status, race, and court involvement to ensure the proportional representation of groups in the sample is the same as in the overall population. Stratified sampling “represents a sampling scheme in which a population is divided into sub-populations . . .; the sampling frame is first divided into sub-populations, or strata . . .. (A) [S]ample is selected from each strata . . ..

The goal of a stratified . . . sampling is to select a sample in such a way that the target subgroups are represented in the sample in the same proportion that they exist in the population” (Onwuegbuzie & Leech, 2007, p. 111). The convenience basis of the stratified sampling “involves selecting individuals or groups that happen to be available and are willing to participate at the time” (Onwuegbuzie & Leech, 2007, p. 114). In combining the strategies of stratified sampling and convenience sampling, the researcher was able to divide the populations into sub-populations, and then, based on convenience, obtain data from representatives of each subgroup in a sample that was of similar proportion to that which exists in the overall population. 113

The names of all participants were listed on an excel spreadsheet (one for regular education students attending traditional schooling and one for students attending alternative educational programming), and numbers were assigned to each student with a master list to better ensure anonymity. These students (both the regular education and alternative education students) are the research population (N) along with educators, parents, and other citizens who are surveyed regarding this topic. In order to select a sample (n) of students as well as educators, parents, and other citizens who were surveyed regarding this topic from these two populations, this study used a simple convenience sample. With simple convenience sampling, the researcher ensured each of the students over a 3-year span (roughly 1,400 students in the traditional educational setting and 300 students in the alternative educational setting) could be selected for inclusion in the sample if possible. The desired sample (n) was 100 students from each of these populations (N) for a total of 200 students with additional information from educators, parents, and other citizens for the sample (n) population.

Theoretical and data saturation is defined as the point when “no additional data are being found whereby the (researcher) can develop properties of the category. As he sees similar instances over and over again, the researcher becomes empirically confident that the category is saturated” (Guest, Bunce, & Johnson, 2006, pp. 64-65). Researchers

“should continuously assess how much data should be sampled until data saturation, theoretical saturation, or information redundancy is reached” (Onwuegbuzie & Leeth,

2007, p. 109). For the most part in qualitative research, sample sizes should not be so small that saturation is difficult to reach; and the sample should not be so large that it is 114 difficult to provide solid analysis of the data (Onwuegbuzie & Leeth, 2007, p. 116).

Guest et al. (2006) state, “Saturation is the key to excellent qualitative work” (p. 60). In an effort to properly represent the populations (N), respect the stratified sampling strategy used, and achieve informational saturation, the desired sample (n) was set at 100 students for both traditional and non-traditional settings as well as additional information from educators, parents, and other citizens representing both traditional and non-traditional schooling. The researcher felt that this number would not only represent the respective populations (N) within the sample (n) but also achieve saturation from a data and theoretical standpoint after experiencing information redundancy.

Quantitative data collection. The “goal in quantitative research is to obtain large, representative samples and to generalize findings to populations” (Onwuegbuzie &

Leeth, 2007, p. 106). It was the intent of this study to generalize the findings presented from one Ohio School District in an effort to make inferences that impact the larger educational landscape statewide and even nationally. Over the course of six months

(November 2015-June 2016) qualitative and quantitative data were gathered on one Ohio

School District serving grades 9 through 12 over a three-year span (2013-2016). From a quantitative perspective, the Likert Scale survey previously mentioned was maintained through Ohio University’s Qualtrics online delivery system. Qualtrics Research Suite is used to create online surveys and supports a wide range of approaches, from simple questionnaires and event signup lists to sophisticated social science research instruments with extensive scripting and randomization. The data collection procedures consisted of the researcher using the school management software DASL and cumulative records of 115 students randomly chosen for the study to research the credits assigned per year, credits earned per year, attendance rating, and state test scores for students attending regular school within the Ohio school district and students attending the alternative-based online program within that same district to determine the statistical differences over a 3-year timeframe starting with the school year 2013-2014 and ending with the school year 2015-

2016.

Qualitative data collection. “[W]hen a researcher interviews a person, the feelings, experiences, thoughts, and opinions expressed by that person can never represent the whole picture” (Onwuegbuzie & Leech, 2007, p. 107). Thus it is “crucial that the interviewer collects a sufficient number of words from the interviewee” in order to not only have a sufficient sample size of respondents but also quality material from each person interviewed in order to capture lived experiences and then interpret and evaluate this data (Onwuegbuzie & Leech, 2007, p. 107). From a qualitative perspective, the researcher scheduled personal interviews with school-age students, attending both regular school and alternative-options schooling, and their parents, teachers, and administrators. In addition, other entities interviewed were state politicians; online educators; and online administrators with opinions on public education, compulsory education, and alternative options for schooling available to school-age children and their parents/guardians. All interviews were recorded for notetaking purposes. The technique of memoing was used as well. “Memoing serves to assist the researcher in making conceptual leaps from raw data to those abstractions that explain research phenomena in the context in which it is examined” (Birks, Chapman, & Francis, 116

2008, p. 68). Also, to ensure that interviewees were not influenced by the researcher’s position as building principal of the high school and programs being studied, each interviewee was offered the opportunity to complete the research study questions via an online form also developed in Ohio University’s Qualtrics online delivery system that asked the same questions but were completed in a survey-based form rather than interview to allow total anonymity for the interviewee.

Data Analysis Techniques

Quantitative data analysis. Once collected, the data was analyzed using the

Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Data collected included the quantitative measures researched through the school management software DASL as well as the quantitative data measured through the Likert Scale survey instrument. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the difference between data of students attending regular school as opposed to data of students attending alternative educational options, as well as the differing viewpoints interviewees had on compulsory education and alternative educational options. For the graduation rate, cross tabulations and chi-squares were used in order to show statistical differences. To do this, one column of students attending traditional school and another with non-traditional students were created and comparisons were made based on student graduation. Students graduating were assigned the number

1, and students who did not graduate were assigned the number 0. A one-way ANOVA was used to examine attendance rates and credits earned for students in the traditional and non-traditional setting. Also, a t-test was run comparing the means of achievement and progress based on the mean graduation rates and credits earned of traditional and non- 117 traditional students in the selected school district’s study-defined timeframe. The datasets were analyzed using linear regression analysis through SPSS to determine the correlation between educational setting and education production of students, as well as the viewpoints on compulsory education and educational options for students. The correlation analysis was performed to identify the aforementioned relationships, as well as statistical significance. Data were aggregated at the school level by averaging scores for each item or category defined in the instrument for quantitative and qualitative data.

The mean scores for each variable and factor were then determined by averaging the scores for all items or categories within each instrument for the quantitative and qualitative data. A correlation analysis was generated to identify relationships between the variables, as well as significance.

Qualitative data analysis. “[Q]ualitative researchers make inferences from the sample of words to each respondent’s truth space when conducting thematic analyses on data from interviews” (Onwuegbuzie & Leech, 2007, p. 106). From a qualitative perspective, responses to scripted interview questions were used to gain insight on the perceptions stakeholders have of compulsory education laws, traditional schooling, alternative educational options, students who take advantage of one or both schooling options, and school dropout rates. Responses were examined closely in order to add personalization and context to the quantitative data found for this explanatory, sequential design-formatted mixed-methods case study. “In order to gain insights, qualitative researchers usually strive to extract meaning from the data” (Onwuegbuzie & Leech,

2007, p. 106). 118

Memoing enables the researcher to engage with the data to a depth that would

otherwise be difficult to achieve. Through the use of memos, the researcher is

able to immerse themselves in the data, explore the meanings that this data holds,

maintain continuity and sustain momentum in the conduct of the search. (Birks et

al., 2007, p. 69)

After conducting the in-depth interviews, the researcher hired an individual to organize and transcribe the questions and answers using Microsoft Word. Once the data were transcribed and produced, the researcher began to reflect on the overall assumptions and started exploring themes. “In qualitative research . . . the interplay between researcher and data is crucial to the generation of knowledge that reflects the breadth and depth of human experience” (Birks et al., 2007, p. 69). An analysis of the data began by coding the information and exploring patterns within the text. The researcher went through the transcribed interviews and coded each section for similarities. While doing this, the researcher noticed the emerging patterns and themes and started to analyze the information in order to provide support or show dissimilarities to the quantitative data found. As Birks et al. (2007) pointed out,

Through the use of memos, the qualitative researcher is able to engage with their

research to a greater degree than would otherwise be the case. An intense

relationship is established with the data, enabling the researcher to feel a heighted

sensitivity to the meanings contained therein. (p. 69)

“The search for quality, or specifically the criteria with which to ensure quality . .

. is essential for the research to be accepted into the pantheon of knowledge and to be 119 received as suitable for the use in various means and ways” (Loh, 2013, p. 4). To better ensure quality validity checks are essential.

Finally, the researcher emailed all interviewees for a peer debriefing and member check to share the research used to ensure the validity of the information the researcher gleaned through the coding and decoding process. “Member checking is a process whereby ‘the final report or specific descriptions or themes’ are taken back to the participants to offer them ‘an opportunity to provide context and an alternative interpretation’” (Loh, 2013, p. 6). This validity check prevents researcher bias and allows confirmation of the research findings as those interviewed confirmed statements and information provided assisting the researcher in concluding the research was completed ethically. It is important to remember that “member checking, and therefore not member validation, is used as a form of follow-up data collection to create ‘an occasion for extending and elaborating the researcher’s analysis’” (Loh, 2013, p. 6). The researcher is not required to honor all responses provided through the peer debriefing and member check, but the researcher “is bound to hear them and weight their meaningfulness” (Loh, 2013, p. 6).

Validity

The researcher chose to employ techniques from Johnny Saldana’s The Coding

Manual for Qualitative Researchers for this case study. The data for this study consisted of interview transcripts and open-ended survey responses from 130 respondents. First, the researcher hired an individual to organize and transcribe the questions and answers of all in-depth interviews completed. Next, the researcher embarked in the coding process 120 by reading all transcriptions at least once and made notes about the transcripts looking for emerging patterns and themes. “A code in qualitative inquiry is most often a word or short phrase that symbolically assigns summative, salient, essence-capturing, and/or evocative attribute for a portion of language based or visual data” (Saldana, 2016, p. 4).

In the first cycle of the coding process, information ranged from a single word to a full paragraph or even an entire response (Saldana, 2016, p. 4). The first cycle coding methods used were a combination of In Vivo Coding, to derive meaning from the actual language of the participants, and Descriptive Coding, to generate a sufficient list of subtopics from the Elemental Methods in order to establish themes from the perspective respondents (Saldana, 2016, p. 68-76). In the second cycle of the coding process, Pattern

Coding was used as “critical links” were examined to find consistent chunks of information to explain meaning from the data collection (Saldana, 2016, p. 4 & 68).

“Coding is the process of organizing the materials into ‘chunks’ before bringing meaning to those ‘chunks’” (Rossman & Rallis, 1998, p. 171). Through the process of coding and decoding, themes emerged from the data that allow support or show dissimilarities to the quantitative data shown. This was followed by the researcher stepping away from the data and examining the case study from a different angle. According to Creswell (2007), examining data from differing angles is the best way to ensure the researcher can give a rich, detailed description of the reality in which the data were gathered (p. 44). Once themes developed, the researcher grouped similar statements to support meaningful themes. These themes were then used to support or show dissimilarities to the quantitative data gathered. “[I]n case studies, researchers are unable to avoid 121 generalizations because at the very least, they are generalizing ‘to happenings of their cases at times yet to come and in other situations’” (Onwuegbuzie & Leech, 2007, p.

118). To continue the process, the researcher used the data from the qualitative research to describe how this phenomenon was experienced by the participants and ultimately to make generalizations and inferences about the disparities or similarities between alternative educational options and traditional educational options statewide and even nationally. To conclude, member checking and peer debriefing opportunities were provided. “Member checking is important for stablishing trustworthiness because the views from those in the field, participants, other teachers and researchers, allow for a fuller and rounder understanding of what is happening in the field” (Loh, 2013, p. 7).

Through the completion of these validation stages the concepts of verisimilitude and utility are better achieved. “The quality of verisimilitude is important because it allows others to have a vicarious experience of being in the similar situation and thereby being able to understand the decisions made and the emotions felt by the participants in the study” (Loh, 2013, p. 10). In order to achieve verisimilitude, the research must resonate with those reading the study; and in order for the study to resonate and the data to be plausible, “the trustworthiness technique of member checking” is essential (Loh,

2013, p. 10). The utility or usefulness of the study is better defined through the validation stages provided and thus may become a basis for others’ work (Loh, 2013, p.

10).

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Researcher Positionality

The primary instrument for data collection and analysis in the qualitative side of mixed-method case study research is the researcher himself. It is necessary for the researcher to acknowledge himself as a primary research tool. A qualitative researcher’s expertise, biases, and limitations all impact data collection, interpretation, analysis, and reporting of data. Peshkin (1998) states, “One’s subjectivities could be seen as virtuous, for bias is the basis from which researchers make a distinctive contribution, one that results from the unique configuration of their personal qualities, and joined to the data they have collected” (Merriam, 2002, p. 5). In order for anyone reading research to evaluate the validity of conclusions researched and recommendations made it is important to have the researcher’s personal experience and expertise represented accurately. For this study, the following is provided in the effort of full disclosure and to guard against unethical or unintentional influence on data collection or analysis of compulsory education laws for school-age children.

I have currently spent 11 years working in K-12 education, including 5 years as a high school-age classroom teacher; 1.25 years as a district-level administrator; and 6 years as a high school building principal. Each of these positions has given me keen insight into how compulsory education laws impact educational equitability and student learning and provide data available to teachers and administrators within school buildings and the school district. As a teacher I saw firsthand the difficulty in attempting to

“educate an empty seat,” so to speak, as student’s attendance greatly impacted their ability to comprehend, learn, achieve, and grow. The 1.25 years as a district-level 123 administrator were spent as I was concluding my last 2 years of teaching within a high school classroom. This dual role had an administrative focus on the district’s attendance policy due to a dropping attendance rate within buildings in the district. In this role I was asked not only to design a program to counteract the dropping attendance rate of students within the district but also to file cases against families and students on truancy charges

(both habitual and chronic) with the city juvenile court system. From this position, I had the ability to work on the day-to-day processes and concerns regarding compulsory education laws as well as write policy and find funds to support the policy expectations.

I also learned of the difficulty the court system faces in enforcing compulsory education laws especially with the onset of online education and alternative educational options for school-age students and their families as well as limitations on consequences tied to legalities regarding compulsory education. Transitioning into my current role as a building principal, I was required to enact a policy I wrote for the district as well as create an online school for the district to combat the loss of enrollment and funds the school district was experiencing to online schools such as ECOT, VCS, and K-12 online learning schools. The online educational school “CAPA” was developed by me and has been under my supervision since its inception 5 years ago. I have attempted to ensure students are held accountable for compulsory education requirements to ensure they have educational opportunities necessary for student growth and educational equitability. My experience at varying levels of the educational hierarchy have given me different lenses to consider compulsory education requirements placed on school-age children, families, educators, schools, and juvenile courts. In 2015, I was named the Ohio Principal of the 124

Year and nationally regarded for my work in the principalship and the progress the school and students I serve have made.

Additionally, my personal background and upbringing along with my professional experiences may bias my methodological approach. I have lived my entire life within a

50 mile range of the research site. I have worked within the district being researched all

11 years of my professional career. Due to this geographical and professional context, I have a deep-rooted understanding of the culture of the community, the school, and its students, parents, and stakeholders.

Summary

Chapter 3 reaffirmed the purpose of this study, which is to examine the possible inequity of education provided to students in differing educational programs that satisfy a state’s compulsory education laws. The case study was identified as a mixed-methods approach through qualitative examination and quantitative analysis of compulsory education laws in the United States with a specific explanatory, sequential design focus on one Ohio school district and its issues with compulsory education, alternative educational options, and educational equitability. Using descriptive statistics, data was collected to discern whether there is a difference between academic achievement and academic growth of students attending online school after dropping out of traditional high school versus those students who maintain attendance within the traditional high school setting. Sections on the purpose of the study, research questions, research design and methodology, instrumentation, data collection procedures, and data analysis techniques were all detailed before a focus on the importance of the study was provided. This 125 research will provide educators and scholars a comparative analysis of educational opportunities provided to students in the United States based on a conceptual framework that may alter the way researchers view and analyze compulsory education requirements.

Chapter 4 presents the results of the study; and Chapter 5 provides conclusions based on the data rendered from the study and recommendations for future discussion, alterations, and research on this topic.

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Chapter 4: Results

Introduction

Data Point #1

The first data point examined the data found over a three-year span (2013-2016) to discern whether there is a difference between academic achievement and academic growth of students attending online school after dropping out of traditional high school versus those students who maintain attendance within the traditional high school setting.

Data from required state graduation assessments was utilized to determine academic achievement while the number of credits a student earns in a given year to achieve grade promotion was the key factor in determining educational growth with variables such as school attendance, socioeconomic level, and court involvement considered as impacts to both achievement and growth of students. From a quantitative perspective, student performance in terms of credits earned, attendance, passage of state assessments, and the graduation rate of participants of the program are the key factors in determining a data analysis that would deem the alternative education program successful or not in comparison with the students in the traditional school setting. 127

For the data found below, the terms CAPA, Roweton, and Home are all indications of the program students are in that are non-traditional in nature, meaning the students do not attend school inside the district’s high school building during normal school hours. The term traditional is for students who are attending school inside the district’s high school building during normal school hours. The school district used for this study educates between 850-1,000 students in the traditional education setting each year while educating between 75-110 students in the non-traditional education setting each year.

Table 2: 2013-2014 Comparative Data. Comparative data in terms of averages (credits assigned, credits earned, and unexcused absences), percentages (OGT passage rate), and whole numbers (ACT exams attempted and students court involved) between non-traditional school settings and the traditional school setting during the 2013-2014 school year in one Ohio school district. Educational Average Average Average Total Total Total Placement Credits Credits Unexcused OGT Attempted Students Assigned Earned Absences Passage ACT Court Rate Exams Involved CAPA 5 3.6 18 33% 0 0 Roweton 5.6 3.8 19.8 17% 0 5 Home 4.4 3.6 Not 63% 0 0 Applicable Traditional 7 6.82 2.31 86% 118 0 Overall 5.5 4.46 10.03 77% 118 5 Average or Totals Note 1: Attendance is not taken for students on home-based non-traditional online educational settings thus that data point is not applicable to the study. Note 2: The school district’s successful appeal to award all students in the district free breakfast and lunch due to the high number of economically disadvantaged students in the district altered the researcher’s ability to define students actual designation as economically disadvantaged since all students were defined as eligible for free lunch.

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Table 3: 2014-2015 Comparative Data. Comparative data in terms of averages (credits assigned, credits earned, and unexcused absences), percentages (OGT passage rate), and whole numbers (ACT exams attempted and students court involved) between non-traditional school settings and the traditional school setting during the 2014-2015 school year in one Ohio school district. Educational Average Average Average Total Total Total Placement Credits Credits Unexcused OGT Attempted Students Assigned Earned Absences Passage ACT Court Rate Exams Involved CAPA 6.2 4.2 14.5 37% 0 0 Roweton 6.3 3.5 17 0% 0 7 Home 4.5 3.3 Not 57% 0 0 Applicable Traditional 10 9.34 3.1 88% 111 0 Overall 6.75 5.09 8.13 81% 111 7 Average or Totals Note 1: Attendance is not taken for students on home-based non-traditional online educational settings thus that data point is not applicable to the study. Note 2: The school district’s successful appeal to award all students in the district free breakfast and lunch due to the high number of economically disadvantaged students in the district altered the researcher’s ability to define students actual designation as economically disadvantaged since all students were defined as eligible for free lunch. Note 3: The high school in this Ohio school district changed from full-year to semester block scheduling beginning in the 2014-2015 school year thus the reason for the increase in average credits assigned and average credits earned for students in the traditional school setting.

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Table 4: 2015-2016 Comparative Data. Comparative data in terms of averages (credits assigned, credits earned, and unexcused absences), percentages (OGT passage rate), and whole numbers (ACT exams attempted and students court involved) between non-traditional school settings and the traditional school setting during the 2015-2016 school year in one Ohio school district. Educational Average Average Average Total Total Total Placement Credits Credits Unexcused OGT Attempted Students Assigned Earned Absences Passage ACT Court Rate Exams Involved CAPA 4 3.5 31 56% 0 0 Roweton 6.3 3.7 21.6 0% 0 7 Home 5.2 4.2 Not 83% 0 0 Applicable Traditional 10 9.71 2.34 88% Projected: 0 124 Overall 6.45 5.28 13.4 81% 124 7 Average or Totals Note 1: Attendance is not taken for students on home-based non-traditional online educational settings thus that data point is not applicable to the study. Note 2: The school district’s successful appeal to award all students in the district free breakfast and lunch due to the high number of economically disadvantaged students in the district altered the researcher’s ability to define students actual designation as economically disadvantaged since all students were defined as eligible for free lunch. Note 3: The final number of students taking the ACT from the traditional school setting is only a projected number because the school does not have an official count from ACT of how many students from this setting took the exam in the summer of 2016. That raw data will not be available until Fall of 2016 after the scheduled completion and defense of this dissertation research study.

Data Point #2

The second data point examined the data from a 5-scale Likert Scale survey model (Appendix E) which allowed individuals to choose from 5 options to respond to a variety of questions regarding compulsory education and alternative educational options to meet compulsory education requirements. Attitudes and beliefs about such topics as compulsory education, the traditional school setting, alternative educational programming, and more educationally-based information was ascertained through this 130

Likert Scale survey administered to a convenience sampling (n) of the overall population

(N) of students, parents, and educators in both the traditional school setting as well as the alternative programming school setting. Within this survey there was opportunity left for the respondents to provide a written response to any question to clarify or extend their answers beyond the 5 options provided. After the data was collected, a linear regression analysis was run using SPSS in order to report the mean, median, and additional statistical findings such as the interviewee’s viewpoints on compulsory education and educational options for students.

As part of a stratified convenience sampling, the researcher divided the population of nearly 1,000 regular education students and just over 100 alternative-options education students by gender, socioeconomic status, race, and court involvement to ensure the proportional representation of groups in the sample is the same as in the overall population. With simple convenience sampling, the researcher ensured each of the students over a 3-year span (roughly 1,400 students in the traditional educational setting and 300 students in the alternative educational setting) could be selected for inclusion in the sample if possible. The desired sample (n) was 100 students out of each of these populations (N) for a total of 200 students with additional information from educators, parents, and other citizens for the sample (n) population. Ultimately a total of 130 surveys were collected that make up the second data point provided.

Respondents were presented with a list of statements related to compulsory education, traditional schooling, and non-traditional schooling options and were directed to rate the extent to which they agreed with each item on a five-point Likert-type scale: 131

1= strongly disagree, 2= disagree, 3= neither agree nor disagree, 4= agree, and 5= strongly agree. The following scale was created by the researcher to aid in the interpretation of the responses: 0.99 and below= strongly disagree, 1.00 – 1.99= disagree,

2.00 – 2.99= neither agree nor disagree, 3.00 – 3.99= agree, and 4.00 – 5.00= strongly agree.

Table 5 below indicates the type of respondents surveyed for this research study.

Each type of respondent brought with him or her a unique perspective about compulsory education laws, alternative educational options, and traditional schooling. Table 6 below illustrates the mean scores and standard deviation for each item representing respondent’s level of agreement with compulsory education laws, alternative educational options, and traditional schooling.

Table 5: Type of Respondents to the Likert Scale Survey. Indicates the type of respondents surveyed using the Likert Scale Survey on the topics of compulsory education laws, alternative educational options, and traditional schooling. Categories of n Percent of the Responses

Respondents

I am a traditional student 47 33.8 (i.e. public or private school).

I am a non-traditional 28 20.1 student (i.e. on-line or charter school; GED).

I am a parent of a 10 7.2 traditional student (i.e. public or private school).

Table 5: continued 132

I am a parent of a non- 2 1.4 traditional student (i.e. online or charter school; GED).

I am a teacher at a 28 20.1 traditional school (i.e. public or private school).

I am a teacher at a non- 8 5.8 traditional school (i.e. online or charter school; GED).

I am a school administrator 12 8.6 at a traditional school (i.e. public or private school).

I am a school administrator 2 1.4 at a non-traditional school (i.e. on-line or charter school; GED).

I am an “Other” (politician, 2 1.4 community member, grandparent of a school age child, etc.).

Total: 139 Total: 100

Note: Statement #1 on the Likert Scale Survey allowed respondents to choose “all that apply”; thus, a respondent could have fallen under multiple categories. This explains the reason for 139 total categories chosen despite only 130 surveys being collected.

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Table 6: Likert Scale Survey Data. Illustrates the mean scores and standard deviation for each statement in the Likert Scale Survey representing respondent’s level of agreement with compulsory education laws, alternative educational options, and traditional schooling. Question Mean Standard Category Range

Deviation

Q#2: Compulsory 3.35 1.25 Agree Education Laws (requiring students to attend school) should be created at the federal level for all states to implement to best ensure school attendance for school age children.

Q#3: Compulsory 3.15 1.12 Agree Education Laws (requiring students to attend school) should be left to the individual states to decide what is best for each state's respective school- age children.

Q#4: Current 2.72 1.16 Neither agree nor Compulsory Education Laws disagree (requiring students to attend school) locally, statewide, and nationally do enough to compel students to attend school.

134 Table 6: continued

Q#5: Compulsory 2.49 1.07 Neither agree nor Education Laws (requiring students disagree to attend school) are not effective and should be repealed allowing for educational choice amongst families and school age children.

Q#6: On-line, 3.35 1.25 Agree charter, and other non-traditional forms of education (i.e. schools other than traditional public and private schools) are acceptable alternatives to traditional school and should allow parents/students to meet state requirements for Compulsory Education Laws.

Q#7: Students who 2.45 1.30 Neither agree nor choose to attend non-traditional disagree schooling (i.e. online education, charter schools, GED, etc.) receive the same quality education as a student attending traditional Table 6: continued 135

schooling (i.e. public or private school).

Q#8: There is a 3.79 0.95 Agree difference in academic achievement and/or academic growth of students attending non-traditional schooling (i.e. online or charter school; GED) after dropping out of traditional high school (i.e. public or private school) versus those who continue to attend a traditional high school.

Q#9: High dropout 4.35 0.74 Strongly Agree rates of high school students are a local, state, and, national concern.

Q#10: There are 2.95 1.01 Neither agree nor successful systems in place to react to disagree high dropout rates of traditional high school students (i.e. on-line schools, charter schools, GED, etc.).

Overall 2.86 0.98

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Data Point #3

The second survey (Appendix F) used in this research study is a 10-question survey to report qualitative data utilized in a structured interview protocol style. A question was provided to the respondents without any additional clarity to ensure that the responses were not tainted by bias on the subject matter. The questions were repeated if asked to better ensure clarity of understanding but were only repeated by the interviewer if asked by the interviewee to do so. The types of data collected through this survey were field notes, as well as audio recordings that were later transcribed for accurate reporting of the research data.

Ensuring all participants understood the overall purpose of the data being collected was of the utmost importance to the research being done. All participants used in the structured interview protocol setting to produce qualitative data were read an interview protocol form (Appendix D) prior to the interview being conducted in order to ensure the participant understood his or her rights and the agreement of confidentiality, unless certain circumstances were breached, to provide the opportunity for the interviewee to ask questions prior to the interview and to obtain initial data such as the participants name, contact information, gender, and age.

From a qualitative perspective, research questions listed below guided the study as responses from school-age students and their parents, teachers, and administrators 137 were surveyed. The researcher scheduled personal interviews with school-age students attending both regular school and alternative-options schooling, their parents, teachers, and administrators. In addition other entities interviewed were state politicians, online educators, and online administrators with opinions on public education, compulsory education, and alternative options for schooling available to school-age children and their parents/guardians. All interviews were recorded for notetaking purposes. Also, to ensure that interviewees were not influenced by the researcher’s position as building principal of the high school and programs being studied, each interviewee was offered the opportunity to complete the research study questions via an online form also developed in

Ohio University’s Qualtrics online delivery system that asked the same questions but were completed in a survey-based form rather than interview to allow total anonymity for the interviewee. Responses to scripted interview questions were used to gain insight into the perceptions stakeholders have of compulsory education laws, traditional schooling, alternative educational options, students who take advantage of one or both schooling options, and school dropout rates. Responses were examined closely in order to add personalization and context to the quantitative data found for this explanatory, sequential design-formatted mixed-methods case study.

After conducting the in-depth interviews, the researcher hired an individual to organize and transcribe the questions and answers using Microsoft Word. Once the data were transcribed and produced, the researcher began to reflect on the overall assumptions and started exploring themes. An analysis of the data began by coding the information and exploring patterns within the text. The researcher went through the transcribed 138 interviews and coded each section for similarities. While doing this, the researcher noticed the emerging patterns and themes and started to analyze the information in order to provide support or show dissimilarities to the quantitative data found.

The findings below are themes that have emerged out of each individual question based on the responses from the 130 interviewees. First, the researcher will once again provide a table detailing the respondents to the survey just as was done with the first survey to clearly establish the respondent’s background and experience with the topics discussed. It is important to note that each individual who completed the first survey also completed the interview process of the second survey through a scripted interview setting; thus, the data is identical. Next, question-by-question the themes will be established to determine necessary qualitative data points. Prior to the narrative discussion of themes per question, a description of coding procedures, both first cycle and second cycle coding, was provided.

Table 7: Type of Respondents to the Structured Interview. Indicates the type of respondents interviewed using the structured interview format on the topics of compulsory education laws, alternative educational options, and traditional schooling. Categories of n Percent of the Responses

Respondents

I am a traditional student 47 33.8 (i.e. public or private school).

I am a non-traditional 28 20.1 student (i.e. on-line or charter school; GED).

Table 7: continued 139

I am a parent of a 10 7.2 traditional student (i.e. public or private school).

I am a parent of a non- 2 1.4 traditional student (i.e. online or charter school; GED).

I am a teacher at a 28 20.1 traditional school (i.e. public or private school).

I am a teacher at a non- 8 5.8 traditional school (i.e. online or charter school; GED).

I am a school administrator 12 8.6 at a traditional school (i.e. public or private school).

I am a school administrator 2 1.4 at a non-traditional school (i.e. on-line or charter school; GED).

I am an “Other” (politician, 2 1.4 community member, grandparent of a school age child, etc.).

Total: 139 Total: 100

Note: Statement #1 of the scripted interview allowed respondents to choose “all that apply”; thus, a respondent could have fallen under multiple categories. This explains the reason for 139 total categories chosen despite only 130 surveys being collected.

Coding: First and second cycle. In the first cycle of the coding process, information ranged from a single word to a full paragraph or even an entire response

(Saldana, 2016, p. 4). The first cycle coding methods used were a combination of In 140

Vivo Coding, to derive meaning from the actual language of the participants, and

Descriptive Coding, to generate a sufficient list of subtopics from the Elemental Methods in order to establish themes from the perspective respondents (Saldana, 2016, p. 68-76).

In Vivo Coding “refers to a word or short phrase from the actual language found in the qualitative data record” (Saldana, 2016, p. 105). Establishing key words or phrases from the actual statements of the interviewees used from a variety of respondents allowed the researcher to move into descriptive coding to continue the first cycle coding process.

“Descriptive Coding summarizes in a word or short phrase—most often a noun—the basic topic of a passage of qualitative data” (Saldana, 2016, p. 102). Due to the emotional nature of the research topic and the personal experiences of respondents involved in the study, the researcher felt it was best to use a combination of coding techniques for cycle one in order to establish clear opportunities for themes in cycle two coding.

“The primary goal during second cycle coding is to develop a sense of categorical, conceptual, and/or theoretical organization from your array of first cycle codes” (Saldana, 2016, p. 234). In the second cycle of the coding process, Pattern

Coding was used as “critical links” were examined to find consistent chunks of information to explain meaning from the data collection (Saldana, 2016, p. 4 & 68).

“Pattern Coding, as a second cycle method, is a way of grouping those summaries into smaller number of categories, themes, or concepts” (Saldana, 2016, p. 236). Through the process of coding and decoding, themes emerged from the data that allow support or show dissimilarities to the quantitative data shown. 141

Results of coding: Theme establishment per question.

Question #2: What are the characteristics of students who drop out of traditional high school (i.e. public or private schools) to attend non-traditional school (i.e. on-line or charter schools; GED)?

Theme #1: Poverty. The leading theme coming out of this question which asked interviewees to characterize students who drop out of traditional high school to attend non-traditional high school was that these students are from a low socioeconomic level background. As one non-traditional student from the district stated, “Most of these kids are really poor and don't have good home lives. It is really sad. Some aren't very smart but others are and just have bad home lives” (personal communication). A parent of a traditional high school student who also happens to be an educator inside the traditional school setting supports this theme by characterizing these students as having “low income” with “little home support” (personal communication). A teacher of in a traditional school setting overwhelmingly supported this theme:

Poverty. I would love to see a breakdown of this but I bet almost every student

who leaves regular school to go to non-traditional options is at least on reduced if

not free lunch due to poverty issues. Of course there are other characteristics but

the one defining one would be poverty. (personal communication)

Theme #2: Lack of parental support. Coupled with the theme of poverty the issue of a difficulty at home with limited parental support was a leading theme as to why students drop out of traditional school to attend the non-traditional school setting. A non- traditional student who served as an interviewee passionately addressed this theme: 142

None of these kids have parents like those kids have parents or grow up in houses

like those kids grow up in. Man I am just as smart as any of those kids but they

didn't grow up dealing with what I dealt with all the time. It makes going to

school a lot harder when you are embarrassed about the clothes you are wearing

or the way you smell or stuff like that. I think a lot of these kids are mad because

they know they are just as smart as any of those kids but weren't given things the

way those kids are because they have good parents. (personal communication)

Additionally a respondent falling in the category of “Other” states, “These students likely have difficult home lives, lack parental support, and haven’t had success in traditional schooling opportunities” (personal communication). The themes of poverty and lack of parental involvement overlapped in the vast majority of responses regardless of the type of respondent.

Theme #3: Work over school. A relatively straightforward theme that came out of this inquiry was that some students simply do not want to attend school and instead prefer to work and earn money for their lives or families. Among multiple items, one non-traditional student stated that students like this respondent attend the non-traditional setting because they “Don’t have much money,” “Has to work,” and use that money to support “brothers and sisters” (personal communication). Another non-traditional student said these students are “workers not students. These students want to work not sit at a desk and be told to learn stuff that doesn’t matter” (personal communication). A parent of a non-traditional student also supported this theme: 143

The one boy my daughter used to date before she got pregnant had his mother and

father both sick and he was working just to support the family and take care of his

little brother so having an online option to go to school meant he got to go to

school for less time and work more without getting in trouble with the court

system. (personal communication)

Theme #4: Academic issues. A consistent theme among all respondents was that students turning to non-traditional school settings had high failure rates; thus, the lack of success in traditional schooling predicated the turn to non-traditional school. A school administrator of a traditional school setting said a “history of academic failure” led to these students being older in age in comparison to their classmates and thus is a defining factor in their dropout from traditional schooling (personal communication). One traditional school student went further than to simply suggest these types of students experience academic failure but mentioned potential learning disabilities that lead to those education failures. “Students who drop out of traditional high school to attend non- traditional school are typically developmentally or socially disabled” (personal communication). Additionally a traditional school teacher with experience working with non-traditional students in non-traditional school settings stated:

Students who drop out are typically students who have fallen behind in graduation

requirements because of missing a lot of school or falling behind in the work and

not passed classes, or they are students who have major behavior problems.

(personal communication) 144

Theme #5: Bullying issues. In many ways it could be argued that themes one through three are outside the control of the student who is choosing to move from traditional schooling to non-traditional school settings. Even theme four can be met with sympathy if the student has a learning disability hindering his or her success. Theme five is the first theme that could be seen is volatile enough that school officials working with parents and students could remove as a reason for students dropping out of traditional schooling.

The characteristics of students who drop out of traditional high school to attend

non-traditional school are students who are bullied, struggling academically,

struggling socially, misbehavior, lacks organization, and requires flexibility or

acceleration. (teacher in a traditional school setting, personal communication)

Interestingly the mentioning of the word bullied was prevalent in the responses from non-traditional school students as well as traditional school students but not as prevalently mentioned in the responses of the adults interviewed.

Question #3: What are your perceptions and beliefs about students who drop out of traditional high school (i.e. public or private schools) to attend non-traditional school (i.e. on-line or charter schools; GED)?

Theme #1: Dropout of high school. The most consistent theme coming out of this question that asked respondents their perceptions about students attending non- traditional schools, was that these students would simply become a statistic as a high school dropout. One non-traditional student interviewed best characterized how he feels he and other non-traditional students are viewed by stating the perception is these types 145 of students “won’t make it. They won’t graduate. They will end up in jail or living with their parents forever” (personal communication). Another non-traditional student further supported this theme but had a slightly more optimistic outlook in saying that not all students attending alternative educational programs will fail to graduate.

Most people think these students are worthless and to tell the truth a lot are but

not everyone. I think the perception of most is that students who go to online

school or Roweton or another alternative school won't graduate and won't really

do anything with their life. (personal communication)

As disturbing or self-aware as one might find how current non-traditional students feel they are viewed for dropping out of traditional school, the data from this qualitative study supports their perceptions. A parent of a traditional school student stated, “They are unlikely to graduate or make a positive contribution to society” (personal communication). Additionally two traditional school teachers made these statements to support this theme: “They won't graduate and will likely end up in jail later in life”

(personal communication).

I believe any student that removes themselves from the traditional school setting

is robbing themselves of future opportunities in life such as college or career

based jobs. It is my perception that they are doomed to either not graduate from

high school and then live off government assistance or they will graduate high

school and work remedial jobs to make ends meet. (personal communication)

Theme #2: Lack of parental support. For the second question in a row the issue of lack of parental support at home is the second most common theme in regards to non- 146 traditional students and their presence in online schooling. A teacher of a non-traditional school represented this theme clearly as from her experience, it is lack of support from the family unit that is a key factor in students moving to a non-traditional school setting.

“They have experienced failure due to lack of family support and structure” (personal communication). Still another non-traditional educator continued this theme by commenting, “Because they often lack a support system at home, these kind of students frequently look for the easiest possible way to avoid responsibility” (personal communication). A non-traditional student who was interviewed also supported this theme and the observations of the non-traditional educators by stating, “Their home lives are terrible” (personal communication). A teacher at a traditional high school made parallels to the much debated and discussed cycle of poverty by making allusions to a cycle of ignorance due to a devaluing of education in the family unit.

These are students living in poverty who are being raised in a household that

doesn’t value education and because of this the student is failing in school much

the way the parents failed in school. Continuation of ignorance. (personal

communication)

Still another non-traditional student made a sobering comment regarding the realities of life for many non-traditional students:

That most of the kids are like me. Parents are in prison. Drugs are all around all

the time. Living with whoever will take you in for the time being. Do you know

nobody really wants me or my sister? My sister loves school but she misses a lot

too, and she'll probably end up in CAPA whenever she is old enough because we 147

move so much sometimes we don't even know where the bus stops to go to

school. That's why I think most of these kids aren’t going to graduate or do much

and are only here because they don't want to deal with you or the judge or going

to JDC. (personal communication)

Theme #3: Bullying issues. Another repeat theme from the previous question, although a more prevalent theme under this question, is that of school discipline issues and bullying as a key perception of who non-traditional students are and why they are in an alternative school setting. A traditional student interviewed said, “These children have issues with the normal school system and aren't feeling accepted in normal school” and from her standpoint this leads to bullying issues and discipline problems (personal communication). Another traditional student stated these students “did not see the good in traditional schooling or were bullied out of it” (personal communication). Additional responses focused on students feeling ostracized and out of place in the traditional school setting. Whether bullying was a perception or reality, it is a factor in students leaving the traditional school setting.

Theme #4: Academic issues. The fourth theme to emerge from this question is identical to the fourth theme of the previous question and that is these students simply are not intelligent and have academic issues with high failure rates. A non-traditional student respondent said bluntly that these types of students “Aren’t smart enough for normal school” (personal communication). Comments similar to this were littered through the responses regardless of the category the respondent fell in. The perception is that non- traditional students simply do not have the intelligence to make it in the traditional school 148 setting. As another non-traditional student put it, “We aren't that smart so we need something else just to try to graduate” (personal communication). A parent of a non- traditional student understood the perceptions facing her child but remained undaunted in her goal for her child to graduate from high school.

I think most people think these kids are just dumb or criminals and while some

are, not all are. There are some dumb kids and some criminal like kids at regular

school too. You know? But I know going to online school brands these kids as

bad or not smart but whatever, they'd have been thought of the same way

regardless you know? Even if they were in regular school they'd been thought of

that way. All I want is for my kids to graduate high school like I did. That is a

big accomplishment. (personal communication)

Theme #5: Teen parents. A new theme introduced by this question is the suggestion that non-traditional students choose these alternative roots due to teen pregnancy and parenting situations. A teacher in a non-traditional setting spoke about the challenges, including teen pregnancy and parenthood that caused students to turn to alternative-based educational options:

My perception and belief is that these students are just kids and need to feel

successful and wanted, and the traditional school setting has not given them that

at all. The hope is that these students can overcome or at least cope with the

issues of mental disorders, poverty, pregnancy or parenthood, traumatizing

bullying, sexual abuse, and more through an educational setting that is more

individualized and personal and doesn't exacerbate all the issues they are already 149

dealing with. I mean think about going to a place with 500-1000 same-age

individuals, who mock differences, and trying to learn geometry or physics. That

is impossible. These kids are in need, and the hope is we can provide that safer

setting for them to succeed. (personal communication)

Question #4: What do you think are the students’ experiences, perceptions, and beliefs about the current school system and what makes them feel the need or desire to drop out of traditional high school (i.e. public or private school) and seek non- traditional educational options (i.e. on-line or charter school; GED)?

Theme #1: Academic issues. For the third question in a row the issue of academic issues and high rates of failure are a key experience driving students from the traditional school setting into a non-traditional setting. This is the leading theme of this question as respondents felt that the lack of academic success in traditional schooling was the top reason students look to alternative education as a potential solution to their high rates of failure. A non-traditional school student who turned to the non-traditional setting after years of failure in traditional schooling said, “School is too hard and is only there for students who want to be doctors or teachers or whatever” (personal communication).

Another non-traditional student lamented the lack of individualized attention in a traditional school setting: “School is really hard when you don't understand stuff that well so by doing CAPA at least I can work with someone one on one rather than having to have a whole class know I don't get it and am stupid” (personal communication). A parent of a traditional school student continued this theme with the following statement: 150

I’d say they failed a lot and probably ran into social issues because kids made fun

of them or shunned them for not doing well in school so school wasn’t a safe

place for them. This is probably why they are looking for something else and not

wanting to go to school. (personal communication)

Continuing the theme from yet another source, a traditional school educator clearly remarked on the lack of academic success students have in traditional school that drives them to non-traditional settings while also taking aim at the state of Ohio’s largest producer of non-traditional education through online learning.

Lack of academic success probably led to social issues as far as making friends

which led to a disdain for school and put them on a path to find some avenue to

go to school without getting in trouble for not going to school. They probably

saw that stupid ECOT commercial of the kid dancing around in their pajamas and

eating cereal and going to school and thought why not do that! (personal

communication)

Theme #2: Bullying issues. While issues with bullying and school discipline have hovered in the lower sections of the top five themes of the first two questions, it is one of the top two themes of this question. A school administrator at a traditional school said these students “usually hate it (school). Their perceptions are that they are the victims of everything from bullying, harassment, teachers that don't care, or other negative connotations. They seek on-line schooling to escape the ‘bad treatment’ they are receiving” (personal communication). A non-traditional student stated, “Nobody in an online school had a good experience with school. If you weren't failing your classes then 151 it was usually something about being bullied or left out that made you hate going to school and impossible to learn” (personal communication). A parent of a non-traditional student sees a system failure as a leading cause for students migrating to the non- traditional setting but even within that system failure had bullying as a key factor.

Because these kids learn differently they feel out of place and when they feel out

of place, they act weird and that leads to bullying and fighting and hating school

and once all that happens, these teachers and everyone … I mean they try their

best … I know my kids are shits … but you know they start looking at them

different and expecting bad things and treating them different and that ain't right.

The education system fails these kids like my kids and then because it’s a law, the

kids have to go to school then we have to go to online school. Heck even if we do

go to court they still send them to online school. Like that is the punishment

when they don't want to go to school anyway. Why waste everyone's time? You

are an important man. I am busy doing stuff. Let's just put'em online and be done

with it and hope they graduate. (personal communication)

Theme #3: Lack of involvement in school-based organizations. A new theme emerging from this question supports studies that have shown students who are involved in school-based athletics or organizations are more likely to graduate and have good experiences in school. The perception is the only thing these students do when going to traditional schooling is to actually attend school during the set times and are not involved in anything outside the academic classes assigned. 152

School was awful for most of us. We aren’t popular. We aren’t involved in

sports and clubs and all that and if you aren’t involved in all that, then you just get

overlooked. Regardless of how smart you are, you just don't get a lot of attention.

I was a straight A student until 7th grade and then once everyone started dating

everyone and popularity mattered, I started getting made fun of and being left out

of things and I started to hate school. I started failing because I didn't come to

school and didn't understand the work but I didn’t come to school because people

are so mean. Kids don’t want to attend regular school if they don’t feel safe

around all those jerks. Teachers try to help and so do principals but now with

social media you can get made fun of 24/7 and no one actually knows. (non-

traditional student, personal communication).

Unfortunately, numerous students who have turned to the non-traditional setting commented on their lack of involvement with the school as a key reason for their change in educational placement that was precipitated by academic failure in the traditional school setting.

Couldn’t play no sports because of stuff at home and my parents wouldn’t take

me to practice so I lost all my friends and then because I didn’t have any friends I

didn't want to go to school. Kids who are all involved in that stuff like to go to

school but some kids can’t be in all that stuff because their parents won’t take

them and that makes school not fun for those kids. (personal communication).

Theme #4: Limited friend groups. The social aspects of high school continued to come into play as themes emerged from this question. Interviewees from varied 153 backgrounds stated the lack of acceptance in peer or friend groups as a leading cause for students to look to the non-traditional setting as an escape of some sort from the social pressures of traditional schooling. One non-traditional student commented on how alone he felt in the traditional school setting based on situations completely out of his control.

I think the system is only set up for those who are in perfect situations. If I didn’t

live in 9 different towns in the last 4 years maybe I would like school better

because I’d know somebody and they’d know me. Instead I get in trouble for

leaving school early when all I am trying to do is get home to take care of my

little brother because my dad has to go to work. Nobody cares about that. They

just suspend you or take you to see the judge. (personal communication)

A parent of a non-traditional student also commented on the social aspects of high school impacting his daughter’s decision to go to online schooling.

I think the social aspect of school like in life is huge. My son played every sport

and was involved in every club possible and my daughter wasn’t involved in

anything and I think that was our big mistake because she didn't make friends as

easy. Plus, she is beautiful so when the boys noticed her, the girls hated her.

How can you enjoy going to school and love learning if everyone is mean and

shows hatred towards you? I think most of the students who move to online

learning or another form of school do so more because of social issues rather than

educational issues because no one who wants to go to college is going to leave

traditional school for online school. (personal communication) 154

Theme #5: School is not fun. Simply put, school not being fun nor a place students want to be was an emerging theme from this question. A non-traditional student had this to say about the lack of fun he had in traditional school that pushed him to the non-traditional setting:

Kids who are on online school didn't have fun in regular school. They were

probably the losers in class and were always clowning just to try to fit in and get

attention. I know a lot of the kids out here have disabilities and struggle learning.

I struggle to make a shot in basketball. I suck. You think I play much basketball?

No. It isn’t fun. Why would someone like school if they aren’t good at it? When

you aren't good at things people make fun of you without even knowing it. They

stop including you. Teachers don’t call on you so they don’t embarrass you but

that only embarrasses you worse. Yeah, school just sucked for us and that is why

were are here as much as anything. We learn different and school isn’t made for

people who learn different. (personal communication)

Additionally, another non-traditional student had this to say:

For most students who are in CAPA or Roweton or going to school online at

home, school wasn’t a fun place. I know I failed a lot because I hated all the kids

around me and hated being in class. I don’t mind math when I am doing it while

trying to build something but on a worksheet, come on, that sucks. Most kids

who are in online programs are bored at school, don’t do well in subjects that

don’t matter, and just want to learn what they need in order to work for a living.

(personal communication) 155

Another non-traditional student simply stated, “School wasn't fun for students like me and the system isn't set up for fun so you just look for something else to do, I guess”

(personal communication). The lack of student engagement was also a key factor in responses from traditional educators and traditional students as both parties denoted issues with these types of students being motivated and entertained through education.

Question #5: How can this school district, our state, and this country improve compulsory education laws (requiring students to attend school) expectations to increase school attendance and reduce dropout rates of school-age children?

Theme #1: Make school more interesting and fun. As one non-traditional student stated, “If you want to make school better for everyone then make classes that interest different people” (personal communication). Continuing that theme another non- traditional student stated, “Make school more fun. Make it so everyone doesn't have to take all the same classes all the time and you can take classes with people who are interested in things you are interested in” (personal communication). Another non- traditional student who enjoyed school prior to middle school stated, “If you want to increase school attendance make it more interesting and fun. You don't have many attendance issues in 2nd grade do you? Kids like coming to school. Why can't 10th grade be like that?” (personal communication). A teacher of a traditional school who is also a parent of a traditional school student sees the need for increased vocational training inside high schools to reduce dropout rates and the number of students turning to alternative education. “Increase non-college prep/career readiness hands-on programs!

Job skills!!” (personal communication). A school administrator of a traditional school 156 also sees the need for more hands-on learning opportunities to increase engagement in school and make them more interesting and fun.

We need to gain the interest of all students. Most students who we lose to on-line

schools would function well in a hands-on learning environment. I feel as though

we should make vocational training available for all students grades 9-12. Also

when the vocational school feels as though the student is ready, they should be

able to achieve a certification to go on to work. This could occur no earlier than

16 years of age. (personal communication)

Theme #2: Increase accountability for law breakers. A parent of a child in a traditional setting who also happens to be an educator in a traditional setting felt “less unexcused days allowed, stricter punishments for caregivers of truant children” would have an impact on improving compulsory education requirements and thus improving school attendance (personal communication). Another traditional school educator cited issues with not only the laws but the enforcement of the laws as he suggested often the court system excuses lawbreakers from the consequences of the violations. “Laws need to be stricter and to have actual consequences attached” (personal communication). A traditional school student supported this previous claim of the traditional school educator by stating,

The judicial system should be more strict on children who do not attend school or

drop out to ensure they get the full opportunity to better their life. High school

years are the years that a student typically drops out. A high school student's brain 157

is not fully developed, therefore the decision they choose is not always the wise

one. (personal communication)

A teacher in a non-traditional setting turned the light on the court system again as a key issue with regards to accountability.

It is the responsibility of the parent to ensure their child attends school. There

needs to be some penalty suffered by the parents if they do not send their children.

A major problem is that students go to court for truancy charges, but nothing is

done. They are ordered to attend school, but there isn’t much follow up to ensure

they are there. (personal communication)

Additionally, another teacher in a non-traditional setting suggested penalties not only target students but also parents. “There needs to be harsher penalties for not going to school. These penalties need to involve the guardian to ensure that they are doing all they can as well” (personal communication). A school administrator of a traditional school believes we have the right consequences in place but we simply need to use them more often in regards to compulsory education laws. “Throw parents in jail who aren't making their kids come to school. If that doesn't work start throwing the students in JDC for months at a time” (personal communication). A non-traditional student supports the sentiments of the previous quote by stating, “Send more kids to JDC. I got sent there and

I don't ever want to go back. That was terrifying” (personal communication). A traditional school educator angrily turned her attention towards unfit parents when considering this question: 158

We need harsher consequences on parents who won't send their kids to school or

students who won't attend. Don't have kids if you can't or won't send them to

school. It sounds harsh but if you can't or won't send your kids to school then you

should have the ability to have kids taken from you. And yes I mean sterilization.

(personal communication)

A non-traditional student showed similar anger to that of the traditional school educators when she asked, “Can you give us parents who actually care about us?”

(personal communication).

Theme #3: Increased course offerings for non-college bound students. A non- traditional student had a creative solution to increase school attendance for what many deem at-risk students:

Can we get some classes on how to fix a car, how to look for the best mortgage,

or how to save money that isn’t playing with fake money? I think the president or

someone should say all kids have to go to school but here are 3 or 4 entirely

different ways to go to school and the family can choose any of those and it is

okay. If that were the case then kids would want to go to school because they

could go to learn about something they like. (personal communication)

Another non-traditional student had similar feelings about increased life skills courses needing to be offered while also showing understanding for the importance of certain traditional courses offered and asking the federal government for assistance:

I think schools need to have different ways to graduate. Like if I could have taken

shop class like my dad did in school I’d have loved going to school but instead I 159

had to take family consumer science and learn how to cook and sew. It was either

that or choir. Don't get me wrong my girlfriend is in the choir and our daughter

will probably be in the choir so I love me some choir but I don’t want to take

choir. Why can’t there be courses that can lead to graduation that train us to work

like they have at the vocational school but you don’t have to go to the vocational

school? I think the government could help the school fund something like that

and I know a lot of us online kids would then love to go to school. (personal

communication)

Even public educators and administrators of traditional school settings noted the need for increased course offerings that engage students in more hands-on learning opportunities that are job and skills related rather than simply college preparatory courses. A parent of both a traditional and non-traditional student had a wide-ranging perspective on this matter:

I think providing these options is important. I wouldn’t have if I didn't have the

experience I had with my daughter but having those options allowed my daughter

to get her high school diploma and without online schooling, I don’t think that

would have been possible. I think having more and more options like bring back

shop class and things like that for kids who want to work with their hands is

important. Not every kids thrives in the traditional school setting so I do think the

district is doing a lot to help but can do more. From a state and federal level I

think some funds for districts to do what I am suggesting would lessen the

frustration of the districts for sure. (personal communication) 160

Theme #4: Educate students and parents at a young age on the importance of school attendance. A parent of a traditional school student stated,

We have to get more parents involved. The parents who are involved generally

have successful students. The state just needs to support the schools more with

more programs to send these kids to who won’t behave or come to school and

these same programs need to require these “parents” (air quotes) to grow up and

learn something too. Federally I don’t know what the national government can do

but I just wish they’d do something. (personal communication)

Another traditional school parent lamented education as the key and suggested increased focus at the lower grade levels on the matter of compulsory education.

Our district has to attack students and families at the elementary level to try to

make education important and enjoyable so that we can maintain that enjoyment

through middle and high school. At the state, federal, and even local level, the

laws need followed and administered so that the laws have teeth and parents and

students are held accountable. (personal communication)

A teacher in a traditional setting continued this theme, “From a district perspective we have to try to get parents to value their children and their education more especially at a young age” (personal communication). Additionally another teacher in a traditional setting cited benefits to compulsory education that are cited in this dissertation such as improved health and life expectancy for students. “The school district has to do more to educate parents on why sending your child to school is important” (personal communication). 161

Theme #5: Increased uniformity for compulsory education expectations and consequences. The final theme of this question addressed the notion of state control over educational issues rather than federal government control which leads to 50 different viewpoints on compulsory education. A teacher in a traditional school setting stated,

“We need to have the same expectations for all students to attend school across the country and emphasize and enforce them” (personal communication). A teacher of a non-traditional setting asked for federal assistance so that educators could uniformly look out for the best interest of school-age students.

I think our federal government has to step in and take ownership over education in

some ways. Not all. But some, and compulsory education laws is an area

because you have people just making money off the state and tax dollars through

alternative educational centers that aren’t looking out for the best interest of

students. (personal communication)

A teacher in the traditional school setting supports this theme with the following statement:

I think compulsory education has to be a federal program. Too many different

states doing too many different things. How can education be equal if all states

are doing something different? How can we allow this? With more consistency

at the federal level I think the state and district could do more and better.

(personal communication) 162

Question #6: Explain why you would or would not send your child to a non- traditional school (i.e. on-line or charter school; GED) to receive his or her education and meet compulsory education laws (requiring students to attend school).

Theme #1: Would not: My child(ren) are going to college. In one of the more ironic themes to come out of this research study, there was an overwhelming response to this question that individuals would not send their child(ren) to non-traditional schools because they want their children to go to college. The irony comes from the fact that even students who are currently in a non-traditional setting remarked on the fact they are aware or at least assume their presence in a non-traditional setting greatly reduces their chances of going to college, and they did not want that for their child(ren). As one non- traditional student who is also a teen parent put it, “I want my child to go to college so I wouldn't want her to go to online school. I want her to go to regular school like her mom and love school like her mom does. School is important. I hate it but even I know that”

(personal communication). One of the respondents listed in the “Other” category continued this theme with this statement, “My child is attending traditional schooling because he is going to college. I don't believe non-traditional settings prepare students for life beyond high school in an appropriate way” (personal communication). Even a comment stating the respondent would allow his or her child to attend a non-traditional school setting acknowledged that doing so meant the child would likely not attend college. “If my kid doesn't want to go to any colleges, then they can go to online school to graduate” (personal communication). 163

Theme #2: Would not: Sending a child(ren) to non-traditional school reduces future opportunities. Similar to theme one but more focused on a child’s future beyond schooling at any level, respondents felt that non-traditional schooling limited a person’s opportunities in life. As one non-traditional student put it, “I want my kids to go to regular school because I know it is better over there if you want to do good things with your life” (personal communication). A teacher in a traditional school setting highlighted her feelings about online schooling by stating,

I would never send my child to a non-traditional school because I want my child

to be successful in school and in life. Non-traditional schools may be able to

graduate students from high school but with what skill-set? Life requires more

than typing and reading a computer screen. (personal communication)

A teacher in a non-traditional setting sees the social growth value of the traditional school setting as a key reason to maintain enrollment.

My children do very well in their current educational system, and I would not take

them away from all the positive and negative social interactions they experience

in what would be, for them, the most real world conditions they can experience.

They need to know how to function in society. (personal communication)

A traditional school student continued this theme:

I would not send my kid to a non-traditional school because they need to be in a

well-rounded environment so they can develop their own thoughts and beliefs

about certain things. They have more experience going to a traditional high

school. (personal communication) 164

Additionally a traditional school administrator added,

Traditional school is not all about the education. It is also about the experiences

you develop with being around great educators and students. Students have to

develop social skills and learn to deal with conflict. The best way to do this is to

be around people competing in an educational setting. (personal communication)

Theme #3: Would: If there were bullying issues. The term “bullying” again was a consistent theme in response to this question that supplied support to the necessity of alternative school options to traditional schooling. A non-traditional student stated, “I would let my kids go to online school … if they were getting bullied or like if my child was handicapped, I’d want to keep them home so nobody made fun of them” (personal communication). A parent of a non-traditional student rationalized her decision to send her children to online schooling to avoid bullying by stating,

My kids learn different. My daughter got bullied a lot because of her disability

and that scar on her face. My son is dealing with anger issues and blacks out a lot

because of the sexual abuse with his cousin. My other two kids both have some

issues with learning but they'd never diagnose them with an IEP which I don't

understand because my other son can barely read. My kids need to go to school

for as limited a time as possible and then have the opportunity to go work or

something. My kids have issues with learning and from birth and then from some

family stuff and they don't trust no one and don't want to be around all those kids.

Kids can be mean. Why make them go suffer? That ain't right. You know what I

mean? (personal communication) 165

A teacher in a traditional school setting admitted that bullying would likely be the only reason he would consider non-traditional schooling for his children. “I suppose bullying issues may drive me to consider online options for my children if the bullying was so bad I feared my children may physically harm themselves” (personal communication). A school administrator in a traditional school setting admitted to considering non-traditional schooling for her children due to issues of bullying. “I have considered ECOT for my kids (because) … my kids have experienced bullies” (personal communication).

Theme #4: Would: If there were social and/or emotional issues. A parent who has two children and sent one to traditional school and the other to a non-traditional setting had a unique perspective supporting this theme.

I sent my child to online school because it was my only chance to graduate her

from high school. I would never send my child to anything but traditional school

if we were talking about college or career opportunities, but in instances where

high school graduation is the only goal then alternative routes and programs are

the way to go. I am sure there are other reasons. My daughter told me all the

issues with the kids in CAPA and Roweton and how they’d been abused

physically and sexually and emotionally by family members or bullying issues

and worse so if those things happened to my kids, I am sure I’d consider online

options. (personal communication) 166

A teacher in a traditional school setting responded with passion to the interviewer, who happened to be her principal, by commenting on a mantra used in the professional setting.

Emotional issues that were causing thoughts of suicide is a reason I'd consider

non-traditional schooling just to ensure I could keep an eye on my child and get

them the mental health they need. You always say that the most important aspect

of our students is their physical, social, and emotional well-being first and

foremost because if they aren't feeling safe they cannot learn. Right? Right?!

You didn't think I was listening when you said that all the time did you?! It is

true though. (personal communication)

Another teacher in the traditional school setting remarked on bullying, but only if the bullying was so bad that her child was considering self-harm, then she would consider a non-traditional school setting. “I suppose bullying issues may drive me to consider online options for my children if the bullying was so bad I feared my children may physically harm themselves” (personal communication). A physical condition such as teen pregnancy was brought up by another traditional school educator. “If my daughter would have gotten pregnant in high school, I would have considered it just for physical as well as emotional protection” (personal communication). The increase in school-related gun violence was also raised by another traditional school educator as a reason he would consider a non-traditional school setting for his children. “If there was a school shooting at the school my child attended, I can see me at least considering the option but outside of 167 fear for my child's physical safety, traditional schooling is the only option I'd consider”

(personal communication).

Theme #5: Would: If my child(ren) wanted to work and did not like school. A non-traditional school student highlighted this theme by stating, “School isn't for everyone and if my kids just want to work, I would let them do what I'm doing so they can get out of school” (personal communication). Continuing with the theme that school simply is not for everyone, another non-traditional student said, “If my kids want to just go to online school or whatever and graduate that is fine. As long as they are willing to work and aren't bad kids” (personal communication). Additionally the theme of students who were not going to college and instead simply wanted to work came up countless times from non-traditional as well as traditional school educators. Another non- traditional student provided a juxtaposition to what he viewed as expectations versus reality. “I think everyone wants their kid to go to normal school and get a diploma and go to college and be a doctor or whatever but that isn’t for everyone so if my kids aren’t smart like that or don’t like school and would rather work, I'll support them” (personal communication).

Question #7: Explain a situation in which you feel a student would need alternative based education and suggest the best possible alternative to traditional schooling for a student in the situation you describe.

Theme #1: Family issues (online learning is the best option). A non-traditional student speaking from firsthand experience supported this theme by stating, 168

When your life at home is terrible and you just need to graduate so you can work

and get a job and go somewhere else, I think it is okay to go to online schools or a

different school. But it is harder going to online school because you don't have

teachers pushing you to do your work as much. There are kids going to CAPA

and out to Roweton who have it a lot worse though. Kids who have gotten beaten

up or worse by their parents and cousins and stuff and now have all kinds of

mental issues. I think it’s hard to go to school when things aren’t right at home.

(personal communication)

Another non-traditional student who has been in and out of foster care said, “I think the biggest reason is crappy home situations where things happen to kids that shouldn't so they need a different type of school that lets them deal with that” (personal communication). Additionally a third non-traditional student supported this theme citing his life as the perfect example of why alternative placement and in particular online education are acceptable for student placement.

I am the perfect example. I haven’t lived in the same house for more than a few

months as long as I can remember. Online education can follow me when I move

rather than me having to learn about a whole new school I will only be at for 5

months maximum. (personal communication)

The issue of home-related factors that hinder a child’s ability to attend school or do well in school when they do attend was the most evident recurring theme regardless of the classification of the respondent to this question. A teacher in a non-traditional setting supplied the following response: “A student that has no support at home and gets picked 169 on at a traditional school for their socioeconomic status. Due to getting picked on they act out and get in trouble” (personal communication).

Still another non-traditional student supplied an example when extenuating home circumstances may require a non-traditional educational route for students.

When you have to take care of your family. My grandma lives with us and I have

to help her all the time. Like even eat. And then there is my brothers and sisters

and cousins. Do you think all those kids at your school have to make sure their

grandma and cousins and sisters and brothers eat and go to bed and stuff? Some

people have stuff at home that is more important. (personal communication)

Theme #2: Medical issues (online learning is the best option). A school administrator in a traditional school setting, who is staunchly in support of traditional schooling for students, even sees the viability of non-traditional schooling when medical issues arise.

Medical issues that requires smaller settings is one reason I can see alternative

schooling as a better option than traditional schooling. Outside of defined

medical conditions I do not see a situation where it is beneficial to the student to

go to a non-traditional school. (personal communication)

A non-traditional student cited herself as an example of this theme: “I have ADD so if a kid is like me, normal school just isn't going to work so that is a perfect example.

If someone has medical issues they need different options” (personal communication).

Physical issues that require medical attention was a universally agreed-upon reason for a students to attend non-traditional schooling, but emotional issues were also 170 not lost on respondents. As one non-traditional student put it, “There are some really evil people who have done evil things to kids” (personal communication). A teacher in a traditional school setting continued the theme, “Emotional issues. Sexual abuse cases.

Really any case where intense therapy is needed. I think online education, but one where the child still must go to some sort of school or assistance from a professional, is the best scenario” (personal communication). A traditional school student who claimed experience with students who had social issues and thus eventually went to online learning because of these issues stated, “A student would need to attend a non-traditional school if the student had a social disorder. The best possible alternative is to attend an online school or a school that is known for improving social lives of students” (personal communication).

Physical issues such as teen pregnancy was also mentioned numerous times as a potential reason for non-traditional education.

Sometimes, teen mothers could benefit from alternative based education similar to

what has been instituted at CHS in the form of CAPA, an alternative pathway to

graduation that allows students to come in at flexible times but also benefit from

individual tutoring by professionally licensed staff members. (traditional school

teacher, personal communication)

Overall, any medical emergency or situation that forced students to miss school was seen as an acceptable reason for students to turn to non-traditional educational settings. “If a student has a medical emergency that requires the student to miss a lot of school, online or home schooling would be an alternative to keep the student caught up” 171

(personal communication). A traditional school administrator supported this theme by commenting, “Students with physical disabilities and emotional issues are prime candidates for alternative-based programs” (personal communication). Most traditional school educators who responded saw this theme and this theme alone as the reason for a student to attend non-traditional schooling. “Outside of defined medical conditions I do not see a situation where it is beneficial to the student to go to a non-traditional school”

(traditional school teacher, personal communication).

Theme #3: Academic issues (online learning is the best option). As one non- traditional student put it, “When school doesn't work out and a kid is getting bad grades, you have to do something different. What are you going to do just let the kid fail?”

(personal communication). In instances where academic issues arise due to disability, poor attendance, lack of effort, or any other variable that impacts student achievement, the overwhelming theme from all respondents was that there needs to be some sort of alternative to traditional schooling even if all admit traditional schooling is the best option. A non-traditional student who battles a severe learning disability stated, “When the student doesn't learn right and doesn't do good in school, there has to be another way to go to school so he doesn't get in trouble and get his family in trouble” (personal communication). In a raw and emotional response, a third non-traditional student fought through tears as he discussed his learning disability: “When you have a kid like me who doesn't read good and doesn't (long pause) don't understand things very well then it is better to do work online so I can just go at my own pace and not be embarrassed all the time” (personal communication). A teacher in a non-traditional setting supports this 172 theme and the feelings of the three non-traditional students by commenting on developmental stages and how they differ with each individual student.

I believe, educators often disregard the fact that learning progresses through

stages of increasing complexity, concrete to abstract. If a child is going to be

successful you can't expect to introduce curriculum in a sequence that doesn't

match their development. Education should also consider a variety of learning

styles and interests. (personal communication)

Theme #4: Bullying issues (online learning is the best option). A traditional school student cited personal safety as a rationale for attending non-traditional schooling.

“If a child was getting bullied at school it would be better for them to be in a environment they felt comfortable in, such as being around family at their house” (personal communication). Another traditional school student supported this theme by stating, “A student that is being bullied and feels unsafe in the traditional school environment may want to use online or home schooling because that is where they feel safer” (personal communication). A teacher in a non-traditional setting cited experience with numerous students who were bullied thus turned to non-traditional education. “If a student feels they are constantly bullied or picked on and just cannot function in a normal school setting, then an alternative setting would be better for the student to receive their education” (personal communication). A teacher in a traditional school setting stated,

I think bullying is a key reason and in these cases an institution where a child can

get therapy to overcome damage done by bullying while still keeping up with 173

their education would be the best fit. I will never say sitting at home on a

computer is an acceptable educational option. (personal communication)

Additionally another traditional school teacher supported this theme with this statement:

If a child is bullied to the point of threats of suicide or has ailments that lead to

thoughts of suicide or if a child becomes pregnant then I understand turning to

non-traditional schooling. Online education is fine as long as there is a

professional there to assist the child in their education. (personal communication).

Theme #5: Work issues (online learning is the best option). Often this theme was tied in with family issues, the leading theme from this question, as well as medical issues, the second leading theme from this question, as respondents seemed to believe that situations where students needed to support their family monetarily (such as issues with teen pregnancy or when parents were ill) would be an acceptable reason to turn to non- traditional schooling. A school administrator from a traditional school setting supported this theme. “I suppose if a girl gets pregnant or you have a kid whose parents are sick and they need to stay home to take care of them or get a job to support the family, there does have to be options available” (personal communication).

174

Question #8: Explain what you feel are the key differences between the education a student receives at a traditional school (i.e. public or private school) and the education a student receives at a non-traditional school (i.e. on-line or charter school; GED).

Theme #1: Teacher quality. As one non-traditional student put it, “No teachers makes it hard to learn now that school is online” (personal communication). Other quotes were more elaborate, but in essence this quote encapsulates the leading theme from this question. To the interview respondents, teachers make a huge difference in the quality of education being provided. “Teachers, man. I do miss my teachers. With online school you just read and do the assignments if you feel like it and hope you pass. I don't think I really learn anything” (non-traditional student, personal communication). A parent with a child who was a non-traditional student and a child who went to traditional schooling supported this theme as well.

The educators, man. You guys are awesome and I hate my daughter missed that.

To this day my son talks about you and his teachers like you are some of the

greatest people in his life and my daughter doesn’t have that. She also really

didn't gain the skills to deal with difficult people. My son can deal with anyone

and do it with a smile. My daughter just breaks down if anyone is mean to her.

She never developed emotional maturity. That thick skin you get from dealing

with people. (personal communication)

Another parent of a non-traditional student agrees: “The teachers really are great and work really hard and I know my kids aren't getting that with online school where 175 they are just reading and answering things. I think that is the biggest thing” (personal communication). A teacher in a traditional school setting adds,

Teachers. Teachers. Teachers. I am trained to educate students and improve

their lives through education. Is a computer trained to do that through

understanding and meeting the needs of human emotion? Also, how is a child

supposed to grow socially to deal with people if they are educated behind a

computer or in isolation? (personal communication)

In one of the more impassioned responses another traditional educator exclaimed,

Are you serious? I’d love to hear a non-educator answer this question. The key

difference is the classroom teacher, the principal who cares about the individual

student, and the support all the staff employed by the district provide. This is

more of a family atmosphere than many of our students have at home. Many of

the reasons these students struggle academically is because they have an awful

home life. So the answer is to have them spend more time in that toxic

environment? Traditional schools give students a safe haven with professionals

who care and are trained. (personal communication)

One of the more unique responses came from a traditional classroom teacher who had also been a part of non-traditional schooling as a teacher of record for an online school.

It all comes down to the highly qualified classroom teacher. In an online setting

that HQ teacher is downgraded to an HQ grader. How would I know? I graded

for an online school for a decade. There is no education coming from a teacher in 176

that setting. We are only grading stuff and sending it back with maybe a few

comments. In a true school setting we work with a student and the student

develops more than just education growth but also social skills that are necessary

in life. (personal communication)

Theme #2: Education quality. As a teacher in a non-traditional school put it,

The education at a traditional school is more in depth and prepares a student better for college. The students learn in multiple ways and have more academic resources as well as choices to their schedule. The education with non-traditional schools is typically about credit recovery and just getting caught up. (personal communication)

A teacher in a traditional school setting supports this theme by stating, “The key difference is rigor. Traditional schools have higher standards and expectations” (personal communication). An administrator from a traditional school setting continues this theme as she said, “The education at a traditional school is more difficult and better prepares a student with the skills they learn at a traditional school. In a non-traditional school the courses are ‘water downed’ so that the state can move the students toward graduation”

(personal communication).

A non-traditional student seemed to have a personal realization in answering this question as he had a lengthy pause during his response and after as it appeared he was contemplating what he felt his decision to go to a non-traditional school setting meant.

Students who go to normal school get to go to college if they want because the

teachers teach them what they need to know. Here we are just trying to make sure 177

we stay out of trouble and do enough to graduate high school. Ain’t nobody

going to college out here. (personal communication)

Another non-traditional student had an honest assessment of what he felt the key difference between the two educational settings is for students.

I know the education that kids get at the normal school is ten times better than

what we get with online school but the big secret maybe people don’t realize is

this—that we don’t care. We hate school and just want to try to graduate or even

just exist here until we are 18 so we can drop out. (personal communication)

A common aspect of this theme was the goal of the individual student. All respondents were quick to point out that students in a traditional setting were setting themselves up for college or other opportunities; whereas, a non-traditional student’s only goal was high school graduation. “Kids who go to regular school are trying to go to college. Kids who are going to alternative school are just trying to stay out of trouble and maybe graduate high school” (non-traditional student, personal communication).

Theme #3: Future opportunities. A respondent classified in the category of

“Other” attempted to characterize the difference in future opportunities for students of the differing educational settings.

Education in a traditional setting prepares students for college or at least for social

interaction in the work force. Education in a non-traditional setting is just about

trying to achieve minimum expectations for graduation and I can’t see where

anyone is being prepared or anything but getting a high school diploma and then

very likely living off government assistance. (personal communication) 178

A non-traditional student bluntly understood from his viewpoint that the two different educational settings mean the difference between a career and a job.

“Opportunities. You go to regular school and you get to go to college. You go to online school and the best you do is graduate high school and get some job” (personal communication). Another non-traditional student again supported this theme:

“Traditional school students are going to graduate and go to college or the army. Students in the other schools might graduate but aren't going to college but they might join the army if they are allowed” (personal communication).

Theme #4: Friends/socialization. A non-traditional school student responded with the socialization piece as the key difference between the two educational settings.

I think the biggest thing is you miss out on being a part of the school. Like I

follow you on social media and watch you interact with all the kids and I love

that. I think you are like the best principal on the planet. But you have never

once tagged me in a post or messaged me and I wish you would. It would make

me feel like I am a part of the school. I think you and the teachers are awesome

and really do a great job getting kids ready for college and jobs and I know I am

missing that. So is anyone else who doesn't attend there. But also with online

school, I don’t have to deal with all those mean kids that made my life hell in

middle school.

Even more to the point, another non-traditional student responded, “No teachers.

No friends. No sports. Nothing is really fun in the online school” (personal communication). A traditional school teacher agrees, “People and opportunities. You 179 will never get the type of education and social growth necessary to be successful in life being educated behind a computer. Life will require more of you than that” (personal communication). A traditional school administrator remarked on the socialization piece as well. “Human beings, man. Human beings. Traditional students have to interact with others. Even others they can't stand and that is life. Not hiding behind a computer do the minimum amount to ‘succeed’” (personal communication).

Theme #5: Flexibility. A teacher in a non-traditional school does see scheduling rigidity in a traditional school as a negative for students who eventually look to a non- traditional setting for schooling.

Traditional school education provides a more structured learning environment

with, perhaps, less creativity as an educational component. Online charter schools

provide freedom to schedules and release the student from the negatives

associated with peer pressure and social expectations. (personal communication)

A non-traditional student agrees,

The key difference to me is how personal things are with online education. I

work when I want to work and how fast I need to work. In regular school

everything is at the teachers pace. In online school it is at my pace. (personal

communication)

Citing opportunities to work another non-traditional school student stated, “In regular school you have to be there for like 8 hours like a job where in online school you get to go for only like 4 hours so you can then get a real job if you want or take care of your brothers and sisters at home” (personal communication). 180

Question #9: Provide your overall feelings and experiences with non- traditional schooling (i.e. on-line or charter school; GED), and/or traditional schooling

(public or private school).

Theme #1: Educational quality. As one non-traditional school student put it, “I learned a lot more in regular school” (personal communication). Another non-traditional student stated, “In regular school I got a great education. In online school I get a crappy education” (personal communication). A teacher in a traditional setting remarked,

“Students need the academic and social growth provided by the traditional school setting.

To allow non-traditional schooling to be a long-term option is to doom those students to failure maybe not in school but in life” (personal communication). Still another teacher in a traditional setting highlighted traditional education by degrading non-traditional education, “Non-traditional schools aren't as successful in preparing students for graduation from high school, college entry or success, or life” (personal communication).

A third traditional school teacher continued this theme, “Non-traditional schooling is a farce, there to take advantage of loopholes in compulsory education laws. If we are doing what is best for students educationally then we must ensure students are attending traditional schooling” (personal communication). A traditional school student championed the education he is receiving, “I love traditional schooling. It is amazing. I learn more everyday with the people I love to be around. I would not trade it for the world (personal communication). A teacher of a traditional setting again questioned the rigor and validity of online curriculum as a tool to promote traditional schooling: “As a grader of online student work, I found that the online curriculum was lacking and 181 students knew how to work the system so that they could pass” (personal communication).

Theme #2: Future opportunities. A parent of a traditional student highlighted this theme: “If you want to make something out of your life, go to regular school. If you want to avoid becoming something in life, go to non-traditional school” (personal communication). A non-traditional student saw the non-traditional and traditional education divide one of socioeconomic level: “Regular school works out for popular kids. Rich kinds of kids. Kids that are going to college and are going to be teachers or whatever. But online school is better for poor kids who aren't going to college and are just going to work at Wal-Mart” (personal communication). Another non-traditional student supported the previous claim: “Online education is built for students just trying to graduate and do their time. Regular school is built for students trying to go to college”

(personal communication). A teacher in a traditional school setting remarked,

“Traditional schooling supplies opportunities and opens doors. Non-traditional schooling closes doors and limits opportunities for the future” (personal communication). Another teacher in a traditional school said, “Traditional school students can go to college, get job skills, and will be productive citizens. Non-traditional school students will struggle to make ends meet with jobs or welfare assistance and likely have children that perpetuate this struggle” (personal communication). A third traditional school teacher provided a bleak outlook on life for non-traditional students regardless of whether or not they actually graduate from high school: “A student who doesn't attend traditional school is 182 doomed to a lesser existence because they will be less skilled and productive in life regardless of whether or not they graduate high school” (personal communication).

Theme #3: Options. A non-traditional student highlighted the lesser of two evils factor when promoting non-traditional education: “I hate school regardless but only having to go 4 hours and 4 days a week beats going 5 days a week for 6 or 8 hours”

(personal communication). Another non-traditional student discussed his family and the need for flexibility and options in his education due to his family responsibilities.

Normal school is just too strict. I didn’t do well with that because I couldn’t go to

school before my brothers and sisters because I needed to get them ready and get

them on the bus. Because of that I was always tardy to school and then in trouble

and then they’d suspend me for being late or whatever. They’d kick me out of

school for not coming to school. What is that? It doesn’t make sense. (personal

communication)

Additionally a non-traditional school student stated, “I want to work and being in online school allows me flexible hours” (personal communication). A parent who had one child attend traditional school and another attend non-traditional school added his unique perspective. “I have had great experiences with both as a parent so I feel like you wrote this question for me. Having options is great because every kid is different and the needs of every kid is different” personal communication).

A parent of a non-traditional school student lauded educational options while lamenting that had these options been available when she was in school, perhaps she’d have graduated from high school. 183

Regular school is really great and the teachers are really great but it isn't really

great for everyone. You have to have options. I may have graduated high school

if they'd had all this when I was in school. Wouldn't that have been great?

Maybe then I could get a better job for all these kids or whatever. But online

school is a better option for people like me and kids like mine. They aren’t going

to college. Not ever. Lucky if they go to school and graduate so online is the best

option. Wish that option would have been there for me. (personal

communication)

Theme #4: Teachers quality. A parent of a non-traditional student remarked not only on the educational quality great teachers provide in traditional schooling but of the example they set for her children while also passing judgement on her own family.

My kids learned more and I think were better people when they were going to

school because they were around good people and now they just aren’t around

good people anymore. Hell, they are around me and my fam all the time. You

know we aren’t good people. You’ve been taking my whole family to court for

the past 10 years! (personal communication)

A teacher in a traditional school setting cited technology as a good and bad aspect of education in today’s society:

Traditional schooling is a fabulous aspect of society. Everyone gets a free public

education. The onset of advanced technology has been great but one of the

drawbacks has been these non-traditional schools that think you can replace a 184

teacher with some online curriculum to read and respond to. (personal

communication)

Another teacher in a traditional setting who has graded for online schools discussed the difference in grading and teaching.

I grade assignments for students on VLA. Very impersonal. When a kid doesn’t

understand, I can type a response with an example. Not the same as seeing me do

it. Kids enjoy learning from others and enjoy seeing new faces in their lives. It

motivates them and encourages them to understand that there is a whole great big

world out there if they are interested. Some parents do not encourage them to

branch out and dream. Traditional school provides that outlet. (personal

communication)

Theme #5: College (traditional school) vs. job (non-traditional school). A parent who had one child attend traditional school and another attend non-traditional school added his unique perspective:

I think both programs are great and it comes down to what you want for your

child. If you want college and career opportunities, you have to stay in traditional

schooling. If you want just a high school diploma and to get on with life, then

online options or other options are there. (personal communication)

A school administrator who has children in the traditional school setting but has also looked into non-traditional schooling saw advantages and disadvantages to both systems. 185

There are positives and negatives to any and all educational situations but it

comes down to this: if you are just trying to graduate high school, then an

alternative pathway to graduation in a non-traditional setting may be enough to

accomplish this task but if you are trying to go to college or at least better ensure

success in high school to graduate, then the traditional school setting is necessary.

(personal communication)

Question #10: Provide your overall feelings and experiences with compulsory education laws (requiring students to attend school).

Theme #1: Laws are necessary. A non-traditional student commented on the need for compulsory education laws. “It is good we have to go to school because I don't know what all those kids would be doing if they didn’t have to go to school. That wouldn’t be good at all” (personal communication). Another non-traditional student said,

“The laws are needed for sure because I think at least 200 kids would drop out right now if they were allowed and that isn't good for them or anyone” (personal communication).

A third non-traditional student in line to graduate with his graduating class in May 2016 remarked, “The laws are necessary. Honestly I hate them and they got me in a ton of trouble at home and with the courts but if I hadn’t gotten caught I wouldn’t have graduated. Kids like me need to be made to go to school or we won’t” (personal communication). A teacher in a traditional school setting commented on the necessity of the laws only because of poor parenting. “The laws are necessary because we have too many deadbeat parents who aren’t doing what is right for their children” (personal communication). Another traditional school teacher also commented on the necessity of 186 the laws to counteract bad parenting and protect students. “The laws are necessary because without them, students who don't know any better will miss out on education because of suspect or absent parenting” (personal communication). A teacher in a non- traditional setting commented on who is targeted by the compulsory education laws.

These laws are necessary. Without compulsory education laws, understand that

alternative pathway options would be obsolete because these students would

simply dropout of school and stay home. Compulsory education laws aren’t there

for 80% of students because it is understood by most that education is necessary.

The laws are in play for the 20% that don’t value education and must be forced to

value it even if that value is nothing more than avoidance of punishment. As a

country we must do a better job of gaining an overall understanding of what is

going to be expected in this country and what the consequences of breaking those

laws are but the laws are necessary. (personal communication)

Theme #2: Laws work. A non-traditional student who perhaps knew the compulsory education laws as well as anyone interviewed commented on stretching the law right to the point of breaking it and then stopping for fear of consequences.

I wouldn’t be in school without it so it works! I think there has to be punishment

in place if people don't do what they are supposed to do. I wouldn’t be going to

school if I didn’t know my parents and me would have to go to court if I missed a

bunch. Just do what I have to do but I do know exactly how many days I can miss

in a semester and still be okay with the school and courts. If you check my 187

records, I guarantee the last 3 years I've missed exactly 14 school days. (personal

communication)

A parent of a non-traditional student was grateful for the laws commenting on how well they work.

The laws are necessary. They work. They worked for me and for our family. If

they weren’t there, my daughter wouldn’t be a high school graduate. I know that.

It is a fact. I didn't even know these laws existed until my daughter stopped

wanting to go to school and we missed like 11 days in a row or whatever and I

was suddenly in school for truancy hearings. The laws work and they provide

options and I am thankful for that. (personal communication)

A teacher in a traditional school setting continued this theme as well. “Overall, the laws are necessary and work. I wish they worked better but they do work. I know a lot of students who have been in my class over the years getting an education only because they were made to legally” (personal communication).

Theme #3: Increase punishment on those breaking the laws. A traditional school administrator stated, “In their current form compulsory education laws do little to ensure school attendance due to the weak repercussions that students and parents face for violating this legal expectation” (personal communication). This theme was consistent among respondents. Most who responded that compulsory education laws need changed did so remarking on the fact it is the consequences for violations of the laws not the laws themselves that need changed. A traditional school teacher with experience with chronic absenteeism in his classroom commented, “I think the truancy laws need to be more strict 188 and penalties need to be more punitive” (personal communication). A traditional school student continued the theme: “The Compulsory Education Laws are not as strict as they need to be because students are not receiving the most advanced education if they attend a non-traditional school and cause them to not have the ability to reach their full potential” (personal communication). A teacher in a non-traditional setting provided asked for increased penalties to better prepare students not just for school but also the workforce. “I believe that students should be required to attend school and I think that the penalties for missing should be greater. The guardians as well as the students should be held accountable. In my opinion a child that doesn't go to school becomes an adult that won't work” (personal communication).

Theme #4: If students are working they should be allowed to drop out of school.

A traditional school student who commented on having his education disrupted by students who did not want to be there and wanted to work instead had an interesting viewpoint: “I don't think students should be forced into education they obviously don't want and that they don't think that will better them in the future when looking for a job”

(personal communication). A non-traditional student responded,

If I don't want to go to school I shouldn't have to. I am old enough to work and if

I can and can pay my bills why does it matter. The laws are stupid and the

punishment I got for not going to school was to not go to school so that isn't much

of a punishment. Going to online school is exactly what I wanted if I couldn't

drop out so the laws are just dumb. (personal communication)

Another non-traditional student stated, 189

If you are willing to work I don't understand why you keep having to go to school

once you can drive. I like to work and I'm good at it. Why can't I spend my time

there? School is important. Everyone knows that. But if I can work and support

myself and eat and stuff, why do I have to keep going to school. Seems like I

should be able to sign myself out of school or take some test to just graduate once

I can drive and get to work. Is that possible?

Theme #5: Need to better educate families and students on the laws and consequences. A consistent theme amongst a variety of respondents was the fact that many families simply do not value education; thus, compulsory education laws and consequences are lost on them. The need to improve communication between families, students, educators, and lawmakers is a consequence-less and non-punitive answer to how to impact compulsory education laws. As one non-traditional student put it, “I wish some kids had better parents who cared then maybe the laws wouldn't need to be there anyway” (personal communication). A parent of a non-traditional student remarked on rewriting compulsory education laws and educating parents on the importance of the laws, not just working around them:

These laws are outdated. I mean we worked around them by just going to

different online schools until you cared enough to ask us to go to your online

school at CHS and that has worked really well. I still don't know if they will

graduate but we haven't been to court in a few years now and things are going

better for us. When them laws were written, though, nobody was thinking about

going to school on computers. They probably need rewritten to make sure people 190

like us don't abuse the system because I know the laws and I know how to work

them. I might not be the smartest or have 10 college degrees but I know how to

work around these laws. (personal communication)

A respondent from the category of “Other” had an interesting comparison in response to this question:

Because there are families that simply do not value education, it is important to

have laws and consequences. I think all the law is doing is making those that

don’t value education at least give their children a shot at changing their future.

You hear the term “cycle of poverty” all the time and I think that cycle would be

never ending if these laws didn’t exist. But, for those families that do want better

for their children and value education, compulsory education laws aren’t

necessary and are just there for those who need a punishment hanging over their

head in order to do the right thing. I compare it to drunk driving laws. People

still drink just like people still don't value education like they should. The hope

is, by having the laws, less people drink and drive just like the hope is, that by

having the laws, more people send their kids to school despite not valuing

education. Does that make sense? It is the hope that despite knowing we won’t

change people’s thoughts or behaviors, perhaps they think twice and do the right

things so those of us doing the right things are not negatively impacted by their

poor decisions. I hope that didn’t sound like elitist or anything. (personal

communication)

191

Summary

Comparative achievement and growth data over a three-year span (2013-2016) between students in non-traditional school settings (CAPA, Roweton, and Home) and students in a traditional school setting in one Ohio school district yielded significant results. In terms of achievement, students in the traditional school setting had an 87% passage rate on state required graduation assessments over the span of the three-year study. On the other hand, students in a non-traditional school setting had a 39% passage rate on state required graduation assessments over the same span of the three years.

Broken down by the different types of non-traditional school settings over the span of the three-year study, CAPA students had a 42% passage rate on state required graduation assessments; Roweton students had a 6% passage rate on state required graduation exams; and Home non-traditional-based students had a 68% passage rate on state required graduation tests. In terms of growth, students in the traditional school setting earned an average of 7.6 credits out of 8 attempted credits over the three-year span of the study. In contrast, students in the non-traditional setting earned an average of 3.7 credits out of 5.3 attempted credits over the same three-year time frame. Broken down by the different types of non-traditional school settings over the span of the three-year study,

CAPA students earned an average of 3.8 credits out of 5.1 attempted, Roweton students earned an average of 3.7 credits out of 6.1 attempted, and Home non-traditional based students earned an average of 3.7 credits out of 4.7 attempted. Additional variables of note impacting the above achievement and growth data finds that 353 total students and an average of 118 students per year over the course of the three-year study took the ACT 192 from a traditional school setting. Not a single student from a non-traditional setting took the ACT or any other aptitude exam required by most colleges for acceptance into higher education. Furthermore, on average over the three-year span of this study traditional students missed 2.6 days of school while students in the non-traditional setting missed

20.4 days of school.

As part of the analysis, the means and standard deviations (SD) of the responses to each statement on the compulsory education survey were calculated. The item that received the highest level of agreement from respondents was statement nine, “High dropout rates of high school students are a local, state, and national concern,” with a mean 4.35 (SD= 0.744). The item that received the second highest level of agreement from respondents was statement eight, “There is a difference in academic achievement and/or growth of students attending non-traditional schooling (i.e. on-line or charter school; GED) after dropping out of traditional high school (i.e. public or private school) versus those who continue to attend a traditional high school,” with a mean of 3.79 (SD=

0.946). Using the interpretive scale, statement nine and would fall in the “strongly agree” range, and statement eight would fall in the “agree” range. The item with the lowest level of agreement was statement seven, “Students who choose to attend non-traditional schooling (i.e. on-line education, charter schools, GED, etc.) receive the same quality education as a student attending traditional schooling (i.e. public or private school),” with a mean of 2.45 (SD= 1.300). The item with the second lowest level of agreement was statement five, “Compulsory Education Laws (requiring students to attend school) are not effective and should be repealed allowing for educational choice amongst families and 193 school-age children,” with a mean of 2.49 (SD= 1.066). The response to both items fell within the “neither agree nor disagree” range. Overall, the response to most items fell within the “agree” or “neither agree nor disagree” range on the interpretive scale. Only one item fell outside those parameters, and that was statement nine which fell in the

“strongly agree” range. Not one item fell in the areas of “disagree” or “strongly disagree.”

Following coding processes established in Johnny Saldana’s The Coding Manual for Qualitative Researchers, themes developed from the qualitative interview data created in the structured interview setting. Using a combination of In Vivo Coding and

Descriptive Coding from the Elemental Methods for cycle one and Pattern Coding in second cycle, coding themes from the perspectives respondents were established

(Saldana, 2016, p. 68-76, 234). Five major themes per question were established with some themes consistent regardless of question. Such themes as “Academic Issues,”

“Lack of Parental Involvement,” “Family Issues,” “Bullying Issues,” and “Work over

School” were all established as rationales for students to turn to non-traditional schooling rather than continuing in the traditional school setting. Furthermore, such negatives to non-traditional schooling as lack of “Future Opportunities,” reduced “Educational

Quality,” and limited “Teacher Quality” were all established themes while a positive theme determined was the “Options” provided in a non-traditional setting for at-risk students.

As shown in Chapter 4, the quantitative data collected, Likert scale survey information gathered, and structured interview material provided all establish sufficient 194 data for analysis within this research study. Through the process of coding and decoding, themes emerged from the data that allow support or show dissimilarities to the quantitative data shown in the research findings. These relationships will be discussed in

Chapter 5 of this study.

195

Chapter 5: Conclusion and Recommendations

Introduction

For this study the definition of compulsory education refers to a period of educational attendance required of all students (USLegal, 2016, para. 1). While this working definition is used for this paper, if one were to pick up the compulsory education laws and requirements of each of the United States’ 50 states, one would find differing language, definitions, requirements, and alternatives for compulsory education. Even those few who yield the power to potentially change education through policy development often see education as a state issue and not a federal province citing the

United States Constitution for support. United States Congressman Brad Wenstrup (OH-

02) stated:

State and local school boards have principally overseen and directed our primary

and secondary education in the American system. Education policy is developed

at the state level and remains in that domain, and I support this system. It is

inherent in the 10th Amendment, which acknowledges the authority of states to

make decisions that best serve their citizens. This federalism protects both the

authority of the states and the liberty of the American people to ensure that

government is responsive to local challenges. Today, all states have some form of

compulsory attendance laws because state legislators recognize the value of

education in our civil society. (personal communication, December 17, 2015)

While Congressman Wenstrup is accurate that all states in the United States have some form of compulsory education, the expectations and opportunities state-to-state 196 have such vast differences that educational equitability nationally is difficult to obtain.

Because education is seen as a state and local entity in this country, the federal government does not provide a set definition or expectation for all states to follow in regards to compulsory education. This lack of uniformity allows for widespread variances among the states in regards to compulsory education laws. States are left with decisions to make regarding when children should start school, how long they should attend school once they start, when they should be allowed to leave school, and if programs such as charter schools, online schools, and alternative schools like homeschooling meet the requirements of compulsory education. Oversight, accountability, judicial proceeding, school funding, and quality of education are all issues that arise because of the requirement of compulsory education; and with the variance in laws and expectations, each state defines differently how these issues are handled.

The overall purpose of this study was to explore the system of compulsory education in the United States through a case study focusing on one Ohio school district and its issues with compulsory education, alternative educational options, and educational equitability. Specifically, the study was guided by the following research questions:

1. Are current compulsory education laws effective in ensuring equitable quality

education is provided to all school-age students?

2. Is there a difference in the academic achievement and/or academic growth of

students attending online school after dropping out of traditional high school

versus those students who continue to attend traditional high school? 197

3. What are the characteristics of students who drop out of high school to attend

online school?

4. What are teachers’, parents’, students’, and school leaders’ (administrators)

experiences, perceptions, and beliefs about students who drop out of traditional

high school to attend online or non-traditional school?

5. What are the students’ experiences and perceptions about the current school

system, and what makes some students feel the need or desire to drop out of

traditional high school and seek alternative educational options?

6. What ways can the United States as a nation improve its compulsory school

attendance requirements?

Through this study, data examined found a distinct difference between the academic achievement and academic growth of students attending online school after dropping out of traditional high school versus those students who maintain attendance within the traditional high school setting. This statement is supported by both quantitative and qualitative data provided in Chapter 4 and offers implications for compulsory education laws in the United States as well as opportunity for recommendations for improvements and further study to improve educational equitability for all students nationally.

Implications of Findings and Researcher Recommendations

This study has contributed to the literature examining compulsory education in the United States by examining and finding a difference between the academic achievement and academic growth of students attending online school after dropping out 198 of traditional high school versus those students who maintain attendance within the traditional high school setting within one Ohio school district. Despite the finding of differences in academic achievement and academic growth between students attending non-traditional schooling versus those attending traditional schooling, compulsory education expectations set forth by the state of Ohio were met by all school-age students.

This research will add to the literature on compulsory education by focusing on alternative pathways to satisfying this legal requirement for school-age children.

Although the topic of compulsory education has been debated and researched for many years, there is surprisingly little research focusing on alternative educational options like online schooling to satisfy compulsory education requirements. These findings offer researchers information on educational equitability or lack thereof in meeting compulsory education laws through various forms of educational options.

Implication one. Based on the first and second research questions guiding this study, quantitative and qualitative data from this research found that current compulsory education laws are not effective in ensuring equitable quality education to all school-age students. Furthermore, large discrepancies were found in the academic achievement and academic growth between students maintaining a traditional pathway towards high school graduation and those school-age students who took advantage of alternative non- traditional pathways.

Over a 3-year span, students in the traditional school setting of the one Ohio school district researched nearly doubled the amount of credits attempted (27 to 15.9) and more than doubled the amount of credits earned (25.87 to 11.2) when combining the 3- 199 year averages and totaling the data, then juxtaposing the information found to their same- aged school peers in the non-traditional setting. Not only did traditional school students get more opportunities, but these students also took advantage of those opportunities and earned significantly more credit towards graduation at a much higher rate than students in a non-traditional setting. A clear gap in academic growth towards high school graduation exists between traditional school-age students and non-traditional school-age students according to this study.

Additionally, students in the state of Ohio must pass state assessments in order to graduate from high school; and students in the Ohio school district researched who maintained attendance in traditional schooling passed these state exams with a 3-year average of 87%. Students in the non-traditional pathway of online education passed at a combined 3-year average of 39%. Once again, students in the traditional school setting are more than doubling the educational achievement rate of their same-aged school peers in a non-traditional setting. A noticeable difference in academic achievement in an effort to obtain high school graduation exists between traditional school-age students and non- traditional school-age students according to this research.

Furthermore, the data clearly shows that despite a reduction in expectations to comply with compulsory education laws students in a non-traditional setting still missed drastically more schooling than students in the traditional school setting over a 3-year span. Taking the averages of the 3-year study and combining them, non-traditional students in the online school setting missed nearly 10 times more school than did their same-aged peers attending traditional schooling (20.32 to 2.58 unexcused absences). 200

The implications based on this research are clear: students who drop out of traditional schooling in order to take advantage of alternative pathways to graduation through nontraditional schooling are less likely to grow academically and earn necessary credits towards graduation and are less likely to even attempt as many credits as traditional students, are less likely to achieve academically towards graduation, and more likely to be absent from school. The totality of this data implies that students who are allowed to meet compulsory education expectations through nontraditional schooling are far less likely to graduate from high school or even attend school throughout the school year and thus are at much greater risk to drop out of school. As noted earlier in this study, failure to attend and complete years of schooling means individuals will earn less money over their lifetimes, have increased health issues, are less aware of societal issues, and ultimately have a shorter life span as opposed to individuals who have additional years of schooling (Chapman et al., 2011).

Recommendation one. Regardless of academic setting, schools must require students to, at minimum, attempt an equal amount of credits so that course work diversity is attainable. Currently in one Ohio school district, moving into a non-traditional setting means you will have less opportunity to take a variety of course work thus limiting academic exposure and reducing a student’s ability to obtain credits towards graduation.

By limiting academic options and reducing credit earning opportunity, this school district is also decreasing the likelihood of high school graduation for students who choose the non-traditional pathway. There are minimums placed on students in terms of how many credits they must earn to move to the next grade level in high school and the overall 201 credit goal students must earn to graduate; therefore, it should not be unreasonable to expect students to attempt a minimum amount of credits per year in order to increase academic exposure and opportunity.

Implication two. Considering questions three, four, and five together that helped to guide this research study, there is a clear issue with self-efficacy and motivation as well as perception when dealing with students who choose to drop out of the traditional setting to attend non-traditional schools such as online charters. As the qualitative data provided clearly defined, the students perceptions of themselves and others perceptions of them likely have a direct correlation to not only the students’ choice to drop out of traditional school to attend a non-traditional pathway but also the students’ academic achievement and growth. The reduction in expectations due to the student’s decision to choose the non-traditional pathway, others perceptions of the student’s abilities and intentions, and the student’s own experiences with education in the educational setting all impact a student’s academic opportunities and potential success.

Go back to the teenagers you know. If you put them in front of computers, told

them to read a bunch of stuff and absorb it, gave them assignments with future

deadlines, and mostly left them alone to do all of this, how soon do you think it

would be before they were texting friends, watching videos and doing everything

teens do instead of doing their homework? (Rosenfeld, 2016, para. 18)

Recommendation two. Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory helped to establish self-efficacy as an important aspect of student achievement but stopped short of examining how self-efficacy can be internally manifested in an individual who attributes 202 external causes as the reasoning behind personal impact. Lyttle-Burns (2011) cites mostly external factors (involvement of family, community, and school) as the elements necessary to work together to better ensure student success. The last piece of the Four

Elements of Student Success (Figure 1) is individual student effort. Individual student effort is an internal characteristic that without question is impacted by external factors but can be established within, despite external influences. How might educators better promote individual student effort by tapping into internal motivation? Initializing or increasing internal motivation is a key piece of Weiner’s attribution-based theory of motivation and, if studied and implemented, could impact everything from educational quality and attainment found in schools to compulsory education requirements for school-age children.

Compulsory education laws are in place to ensure not only the legal rights of all students regardless of socioeconomic status, gender, race, ethnicity, or region but also to compel these students to attend school and value education. Obviously these laws are an external motivating factor for students. Depending on the individual student, there can easily be a perception that school is happening to them rather than being there for them.

This begs the obvious question: how might educators internally motivate all students to value education thus making the external motivation of compulsory education obsolete?

Weiner’s attribution-based theory of motivation could assist educators in establishing or increasing internal motivation in students by conceptualizing the way individuals react to results. 203

The attribution theory is a theory based on how people determine the cause of specific results. A visual framework for individuals who internalize control thus establishing greater self-efficacy and those who externalize control subsequently limiting self-efficacy has been created and cited below by Weiner (Figure 2). According to

Weiner (2008), making these attributions to internal or external locus of control is necessary for a person to alter the behaviors that have led to negative outcomes due to lack of ownership placed on personal actions or abilities (p. 154). School-age students’ failure to attend school would be cited as a negative result according to compulsory education laws. Weiner cites the importance of the phenomenon of the locus of causality when considering compulsory education which places the cause of the result either within a person’s control or attributes it to the outside environment beyond a person’s control.

Too often compulsory education is attributed to a law outside a person’s control; thus, education is hard to internalize for many.

204

Figure 2: Attribution Theory

Source: Weiner, 2010

Some attribution theorists believe it is human nature to seek out the causes of events, but Weiner’s portion of the attribution theory states that people do not try to figure out the causes of all events; instead, only events with unexpected, important, or negative outcomes will most likely lead a person to reflect on the causes of the outcome

(2000, p. 2). Weiner’s Attribution Theory suggests the locus of causality (internal vs. external) as well as the locus of stability (stable vs. unstable) will ultimately determine whether or not an individual views the cause of a situation under his or her own control or places cause on the outside environment. Locus of causality refers to causes an individual distinguishes as either internal (causes within a person such as effort) or external (causes outside of a person such as the difficulty of instructions supplied to a task). Locus of stability references the likelihood causes are to change over time. In

Weiner’s theory, causes are either stable (one’s ability which will not change much over 205 time) or unstable (luck is a prime example because it will likely change over time). The way in which an individual attributes a cause will establish his or her reaction to future causes as well based on his or her learned behavior from previous experiences (Weiner,

2008, p. 154). This notion leads into Weiner’s theories on motivation.

As earlier stated in regards to compulsory education, if a school-aged student does not value education due to his own experiences (Intrapersonal Theory of Motivation) or based on the experience of or examples set by others (Interpersonal Theory of

Motivation) then the likelihood of compelling the student to do any more than physically attend school because it is the law is increasingly difficult. Student motivation to attend school that is based solely on the legal expectation of compulsory education laws is lacking in the area of personal motivation, and Weiner’s suggestions provide a two- pronged attack at changing the motivation from external to internal based on motivational theory.

Weiner (2000) states that for a person’s motivation to increase or simply be maintained, this individual must expect to succeed or at minimum value success (p. 6).

Intrapersonal Theory of Motivation cites the stability of the causation of a result as a mitigating factor in an individual’s future actions. If a person perceives causes of failure to be stable, then he/she will anticipate the same outcome in the future, meaning there is a less likely chance the individual will want to make another attempt fearing the same result. It is the person who believes the cause is unstable and perceives that the outcome will be different in the future who will be more willing to try again despite the recent failure. Apply this to schooling, and one can see the importance of students having 206 healthy Intrapersonal Theory Motivation where they feel their efforts can impact and change results. A student who cites uncontrollable, external stability to a situation is defeated and thus less likely to want to make attempts in the future. Individuals with an unhealthy Intrapersonal Theory Motivation would not be compelled to come to school for any reason other than legality after initial or consistent failure at school. Weiner (1972) cites ability as a stable attribute; thus, these individuals reference external responsibility as a rationale for individual production (p. 208). “Learned helplessness is an appropriate label for the low achievement syndrome, since persons low in achievement motivation do not perceive that effort influences outcome” (Weiner, 1972, p. 210). Herein lies an important lesson for educators: a focus on effort at a young age to change outcome may be an important factor in combating negative perceptions of school where at times learned helplessness due to prior experiences of failure can overcome a student, rendering compulsory education laws necessary to even get a student to some form of schooling.

According to Hereli and Weiner (2002), other people’s perceptions of success and failure impact a person’s concept of success and failure and ultimately a person’s emotional reactions to such successes and failures. This statement is what Weiner’s

Interpersonal Theory is based on as external perception is the focus of this motivational theory. The creation of goals, determining causation through the attribution theory, and decisions on future behaviors are not individualistic decisions because these decisions are made in context of the world around us. External factors such as involvement of family, community, and schools cited in Lyttle-Burns’ (2011) work are respected in this motivational theory. In much the same way Intrapersonal Theory is considered, it is not 207 the action but the causation and reaction that are most important to an individual’s motivation in the future. If individuals base factors of a result on external uncontrollable causations, the likelihood of the person continuing the act or trying again are limited; whereas, if a person internalizes the causation making it possible to change the outcome, the likelihood of continuation or future effort is greatly increased.

Considering these two motivation theories, how a school uses this information to better promote not only student achievement and growth but also compulsion is an interesting thought. One thought may be to grade effort of students instead of, or as much, as mastery. Weiner (1972) states individuals high in achievement motivation need to attribute failure to lack of effort (p. 208). Effort is an unstable, causal attribute, meaning it is volatile, based internally, and under the control of the individual (Weiner,

1972, p. 208). These individuals are high in internal motivation; thus, education is viewed as necessary, rendering compulsory education laws archaic and unnecessary.

Individuals low in achievement motivation credit failure to lack of ability not lack of effort (Weiner, 1972, p. 208). Effort: This seems to be the key term in relation to motivation theory and ultimately the attributional theories established. Driscoll (2005) research strongly encourages teachers to focus on teaching students to recognize that their learning is unstable and thus within their control. Focus on effort. Effort is within our control, unlike ability, which is for the most part considered stable and uncontrollable.

Based on Weiner’s theory, compulsory education laws are in place to ensure school-age children or parents of school-age children who see causality as external, stability as unstable, and thus place blame for failure on task difficulty and achievement 208 on luck, understand that school-age children have legal expectations to attend school and have the opportunity for education. While the laws are necessary, the challenge for schools and educators nationwide is to consider ways to engrain internal causality and stability in students so that education goals, not laws, are necessary to compel student attendance at school.

Effort is considered unstable and within an individual’s control in Weiner’s

Attribution Theory thus placing ownership of potential outcomes in the student’s control.

Because of this notion, the researcher supplies hypothesis one that the best way to build internal locus of control is to have educators focus on teaching students at a young age that their learning depends on their efforts. Hareli and Weiner (2002) state that educators should not only focus on effort but also ensure that students are attempting suitable tasks.

If a task is found to be too difficult, a concept can still be learned by providing a more appropriate task to the student’s ability level or interest so that effort can still determine ultimate success. Based on this information, this researcher supplies hypothesis two where differentiation of assignment based on student ability and interest to better ensure it will be effort, not ability, dictating success is the best way to build internal locus of control at a young age and then cultivate it throughout the student’s school-age years.

Siegel and Shaughnessy (1996) interviewed Weiner who not only suggested individuals tend to enjoy activities they are good at but also that students need ample opportunities to practice tasks that often result in negative educational outcomes. When students supply effort to a task and fail, the teacher must change the task in order to better ensure the 209 student attributes the failure to task difficulty and not his or her own ability (which would likely stymie effort and reduce self-esteem).

Obviously so much of the building of internal locus of control into young school- age children in the hopes educators can continue to help cultivate it is based on the premise that students are in school having a human connection to educators trained to provide them necessary educational opportunities. A computer-based model of education would lack the personalization necessary to differentiate assignments to ability level or interest; thus, the educational model would be ability-based not effort-driven. Consistent failure, according to Weiner’s Attribution Theory, will provide the students the causation that they lack the ability (stable and uncontrollable) which will reduce self-efficacy, effort, and self-esteem. This leads the researcher to the third and final hypothesis and that is that school-age students need access to a trained professional educator regardless of the educational setting (traditional or non-traditional) to better ensure that hypothesis one and two included in recommendation two can be enacted in the school-age child’s best interest. This allows for a classroom environment even in a non-traditional setting, human interaction between school-age students and their peers and their teachers, and allows for a socialization factor in education that could foster differentiated instruction based on student ability and interest. This researcher understands that, based on the research, mitigating factors in the lives of school-age students require non-traditional educational pathways such as online schooling to exist; but the call for improved oversight and expectations placed on these students, schools, and educators is paramount to better ensuring educational equitability and opportunities for student success. 210

Establishing ownership of actions, self-worth, goal-setting, and effort equaling achievement at a young age have research-based importance in Weiner’s Attribution

Theory model in an effort to avoid the learned helplessness cited above. Despite the assertions made by Lyttle-Burns and Weiner, this researcher suggests the setting in which compulsory education is satisfied has an impact on student success, achievement, and growth regardless of the strength of the community, family unit, and even the student’s personal self-efficacy. This suggestion calls attention to the fact that compulsory education laws regardless of locus of causality, stability, and personal self-efficacy has great importance to a school-age student’s educational and personal experience, success, achievement, and growth.

Implication three. In order to address question six, the final question guiding this research study, which calls into question what our country can do better to improve compulsory school attendance requirements, one must first come to terms with the fact that education is a state right with only federal oversight and recommendations tied to funding. While it is difficult to ignore the fact that other countries (namely China for this study) have applied compulsory education laws from a federal level with great success in better ensuring educational equitability, the United States maintains that individual states will continue to control educational issues independent of one another. Despite information regarding compulsory education in United States of America that has only further been complicated by the onset of new alternative educational programs like online charter schools, thanks to recent worldwide technological advancements, federal reaction has been slow and dated relying on legislation passed in large part before online charter 211 schools were even a possibility. United States Congressman Brad Wenstrup (OH-02) stated:

Any decision to change compulsory attendance laws should not come from the

federal government. State-based laws make the school system sensitive and

accountable to the specific needs of children in each state. If a state’s compulsory

attendance law is not successful, that state has the responsibility to change

it. Parents and local communities will be the first to recognize the deficiency, and

federal intervention in education lacks this nuanced responsiveness. Our schools

and students are better served when we replace one-size-fits-all federal mandates

with the local control of teachers, administrators, and parents. (personal

communication, December 17, 2015)

But, at least the state in which this study was done (Ohio) is struggling to account for online schools in terms of educational equitability. The aforementioned educational online schooling giant in Ohio, ECOT, is being challenged by the Ohio Department of

Education (ODE) regarding the amount of time roughly 15,000 students the school serves actually spend logged on doing work (O’Donnell, 2016, para. 3). The ODE audit centers on ECOT receiving over $108 million in state funding although students in the school are coming nowhere near the required 920 hours of schooling that state law demands for a school to be fully funded for a student (O’Donnell, 2016, para. 4 & 9). Initial reports from an ODE March 2016 audit have shown that ECOT students are only logging on for about an hour per day (Siegel, Candisky, & Bush, 2016, para. 33). ECOT has refused to hand over the necessary data to show how often students logged onto their educational 212 system and for how long stating that the ODE request is an attack on school choice and turning over the data would result in the potential for “tens of millions” in lost funding and the possible closing of ECOT if ODE moves forward with this expectation (The

Columbus Dispatch, 2016, para. 10). “ECOT, according to federal data, has the worst graduation rate of any public school in the United States” (The Columbus Dispatch,

2016, para. 4). Despite this fact, ECOT has been provide nearly $400 million in state funding since 2012 (The Columbus Dispatch, 2016, para. 3). ECOT has maintained that their students are getting a “minimum 920 hours of ‘learning opportunities’” and that it is the opportunity to learn not the duration of computer log-ins or actual time in school that the state should be funding for online schools (Siegel et al., 2016, para. 4). As

Rosenfield (2016) states, “Too many important people are making money from what can only be described as one of the biggest education scams pushed upon taxpayers in recent years” (para. 12). The CREDO report states, “200,000 online schools in 26 states. . . means taxpayers are now spending upwards of $1.2 billion annually for these failing charter schools” (Rosenfield, 2016, para. 6).

Because of the new phenomenon of online education meeting the requirements of compulsory education as a type of alternative education to traditional schooling, the Ohio school district which was examined in this study lost a combined $614,361.71 to 9 different online schools in fiscal year 2015 according to the Ohio Department of

Education Community School Transfer Summary provided by a Virtual Community

School of Ohio representative (personal communication, January 27, 2016). Over half

($324,804.64) of the funding lost in this school district due to online education was lost 213 to ECOT. This yearly loss of over $500,000 and the majority of that loss in funding going to ECOT is consistent over the 3 school years this study examined according to these ODE Summaries for the fiscal years 2013-2016 (personal communication, January

27, 2016). It is because of funding losses like the ones just described that school districts around Ohio, including the school district of focus in this study, are creating their own online learning academies to cater to students and families who choose the online route to education as opposed to obtaining education through the traditional school setting.

Decisions made based on financial ramifications to school districts and not on what is best for students and their education are just some of many issues that have been raised in recent years due to the new phenomenon of online-based educational programming. It is through compulsory education laws that school districts and states could take a stand to ensure decisions made at the local and state levels are made with the student’s education, not financial, incentives in mind.

In Ohio, per the Ohio Revised Code 3321.01, students must attend school between the ages of 6 and 18, but there are exceptions to this rule which cause potential variances in the educational equality provided to school-age children (Ohio Compulsory,

2015). The exceptions to these attendance requirements in Ohio include the following:

1) If the child received his or her high school diploma prior to the age of 18, he or she is no longer required to attend school. 2) If the child is over 14 years old and lawfully employed for necessary work, the child no longer has to attend school. 3) If the child has a physical/mental condition that does not permit attendance at school, the child does not have to attend school. 4) If the child is being instructed at home, the child does not have 214 to attend school (Ohio Compulsory, 2015). If a child is homeschooled, thus satisfying compulsory education requirements, the child must be instructed by a person qualified to teach in required areas; and approval must be granted by the superintendent of the district of residency (Ohio Compulsory, 2015). If the homeschooling is challenged based on religious reasons, the precedent set by Wisconsin v. Yoder (1976) is used to determine religious-based exemptions based on a 3-pronged test: 1) Are religious beliefs sincere?

2) Will the application of compulsory education law infringe on the right to the free exercise of religion? 3) Does the state have an overriding interest? (Ohio Compulsory,

2015). Penalties on parents for noncompliance to Ohio’s compulsory education laws include a possibility of up to a $500 fine or 70 hours of community service; and if the parent/guardian refuses to pay or to comply with community service requirements, imprisonment of 10 to 30 days is a possibility (Ohio Compulsory, 2015). The state of

Ohio has a working definition of alternative educational programming found in Ohio

Revised Code 3313.533:

The purpose of the alternative school is to serve students who are on suspension,

having truancy problems, experiencing academic failure, disrupting class, or

exhibiting other academic or behavioral problems specified in the resolution, or

who have been discharged or released from the custody of the Department of

Youth Services under section 5139.51 of the Revised Code. (Pororwski et al.,

2014, p. B1)

To understand the compulsory education laws of a given state is to understand the exceptions that allow variances in the quality of education provided to school-age 215 children. While this case study examines one state (Ohio) and one school district within the state, variances, albeit different variances, would be found in all states; and those variances would impact the educational equality provided to that states’ school-age children.

The implications are dangerously simple. If the federal government fails to react in some uniform way to assist states in improving compulsory education laws to include the new phenomenon of non-traditional schools such as online schooling, then the gap in student achievement and growth due to lack of educational equitability will only continue to grow at the individual cost of school-age students and the long-term monetary cost to our nation in terms of health care costs, social services such as welfare, and even an increase in mortality rates of citizens at a younger age.

Recommendation three. In the simplest terms, the federal government and state governments simply need to react to the new phenomenon of non-traditional schooling such as online charter schools so that compulsory education laws take into account these alternative pathways in a way that can better ensure education equitability. Aspects of enrollment, communication, resources and funding requirements must be considered by state policy makers to ensure taxpayers are not responsible for funding substandard education to school-age students. Recommendations out of the Review of The Policy

Framework For Online Charter Schools provides a framework for better oversight and accountability on online schools while also leaving open the option for students to choose non-traditional schooling. This researcher supports these recommendations. 216

In terms of data transparency and accountability the report suggests that more

accountability is needed: Imposing additional data reporting requirements may

make sense given the high risk of disengagement among online charter students.

Online schools could be required to create a supplemental and comprehensive

pre- and post-course assessment plan that demonstrates how they intend to

measure individual student performance and growth within a given period of time.

(Miron, 2016, p. 5)

Additionally enrollment policies could be amended to allow states to get a handle on online schools.

Online schools might be required to better inform parents and students. State

policies could eliminate open enrollment requirements and require schools to

establish criteria for admission in order to ensure quality and effectiveness.

Online charter schools could also be required to provide information to

prospective students and parents. The report even goes as far as to softly suggest

that enrollment caps be used “to manage growth early on and ensure that they

have adequate personnel and resources to provide the support necessary for

students.” (Miron, 2016, p. 5)

Colorado and Florida recently made changes to state legislation regarding enrollment and funding with online schools. In Colorado the state funds per month rather than per year, and in Florida the state started funding based on course completion for online schools. Both changes were effective in reducing their respective states overall funding to online charter schools (Rosenfeld, 2016, para. 32). The state of Illinois 217

“issued an all-out ban on opening new schools for several years in order to ensure that existing laws and administrative rules reflect the unique characteristics of online charter schools” (Rosenfeld, 2016, para. 33).

Overall, recommendations from this researcher based on the data provided in this study support many of the recommendations made in the aforementioned studies as well as mimicking actions by other states in terms of funding. In the state of Ohio, increased accountability measures must be put into place to ensure that students can be successful in the non-traditional setting. Schools set up as online schools must have necessary resources to support the type of learners they are accepting to better ensure success. The state should consider legislation to protect not only taxpayers but students as well by further promoting course completion in tying funding to courses completed like the state of Florida has with online schools. Finally, the state of Ohio should put a hold on the creation of new online schools until they can properly assess situation like the one they are dealing with in terms of ECOT. Non-traditional schooling is necessary for students who need alternative pathways, but the state cannot continue to support a system that pays agencies for giving students the mere “opportunity” to learn.

Recommendations for Further Research

The findings of this study offer opportunities and implications for future researchers who may be interested in compulsory education, online education, and/or school funding. This study could be replicated among a larger population of traditional and non-traditional schools in Ohio, or even across the nation to provide a more comprehensive look at compulsory education laws and educational equitability. In order 218 to draw inferences from this study to apply statewide or even nationally, additional research must be done to see if similar results are replicated using additional school districts and even additional states. Empirical data collected from other populations could allow school leaders to make more informed decisions on how to best serve students attempting to pursue non-traditional routes towards high school graduation. The data could also serve to better inform legislators on how to govern the new phenomenon of online education statewide or even nationally.

Because the study limited the scope of research to manageable data points, future research could include additional variables related to compulsory education and educational equitability such as the school setting, exposure to curriculum (online and/or educator-based), exposure to same-aged peers, exposure to educators, opportunities to use educational tools, class size, mental health services, court involvement, socioeconomic status, gender, age, and post-high school educational opportunities. Each of these variables impacts student learning, and research considering these factors would deepen understanding regarding the differences between traditional and non-traditional learning opportunities and outcomes for students.

Additionally, this research failed to look into charter schools other than online charter schools as well as true homeschool options available in the state of Ohio; thus, inferences are difficult to produce in terms of those educational settings. Research that included these non-traditional pathways would strengthen the traditional versus non- traditional school setting comparison.

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Summary

Chapter five provided the implications of research findings, researcher recommendations tied to those implications, as well as recommendations for possible topics for future research that would strengthen and add to this study’s findings. This research concluded that compulsory education laws are dated and have failed to properly consider the new phenomenon of online schooling; and because of this, a gap in educational equitability, student growth, and student achievement exists between traditional schooling and non-traditional schooling with non-traditional schooling producing limited results. The results of this study should be used as a basis for additional research in the area of compulsory education and online schooling.

Compulsory education laws are without question necessary but must be updated and improved in order to maintain proper accountability for all educational options for school-age students. “Education is one of the most valuable gifts any individual can receive. It is a possession that can never be taken away. I agree that it benefits every student to remain in school for the duration of high school unless extenuating circumstances exist” (Wenstrup, personal communication, December 17, 2015).

Ultimately, it is clear based on the research that non-traditional schooling is a necessary option, but increased oversight and accountability is necessary in order to provide the same educational quality as traditional schooling.

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Appendix A: Ohio University IRB Approval Letter

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Appendix B: Ohio University Pre-Proposal Approval Letter

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Appendix C: Ohio University Consent Form

Title of Research: A Mixed-Methods Exploration of a Phenomenological Case Study of Compulsory Education

Researcher: Jeffrey R. Fisher, Ed. S., Doctoral Candidate, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio You (and/or your child) are being asked to voluntarily participate in research. For you (and/or your child) to be able to decide whether you (and/or your child) want to participate in this project, you (and/or your child) should understand what the project is about, as well as the possible risks and benefits in order to make an informed decision. This process is known as informed consent. This form describes the purpose, procedures, possible benefits, and risks. It also explains how your personal information will be used and protected. Once you (and/or your child) have read this form and your questions about this study are answered, you will be asked to participate in this study. You (and/or your child) should receive a copy of this document to take with you.

Explanation of Study: The purpose of this study is to examine one Ohio School District and its issues with compulsory education, alternative educational options, and educational equitability. This study will examine the data found to discern whether there is a difference between academic achievement and academic growth of students attending online school after dropping out of traditional high school versus those students who maintain attendance within the traditional high school setting. If you (and/or your child) agree to participate, you (and/or your child) will be asked to sign this consent form, complete questionnaire, and complete a form with open ended questions. Participants may also be asked to participate in a follow-up question session at a later date, either in-person or by phone by the investigators, so the investigators can get a better understanding of the participants’ point of view with regards to compulsory education, alternative educational options, and/or educational equitability. Participation in this study today is voluntary and will last approximately 15-20 minutes. Follow-up participation is also voluntary and may last up to one (1) hour and will be audio recorded for data transcription.

Risks and Discomforts: There are no known physical risks associated with this project which are greater than those ordinarily encountered in daily life. There is the possibility of reputational risk if names were ever linked to actual responses but the researcher will do all he can to ensure this does not happen by using a thorough system of confidently measures.

Benefits: By participating in this study, participants will help students, parents, educators, educational leaders, and legislators better understand compulsory education requirements and may help stakeholders begin to proactively address potential or perceived inequities 235 in educational opportunities that satisfy compulsory education requirements. Participants will also help provide educators and scholars a comparative analysis of educational opportunities provided to students in the United States based on a conceptual framework that may alter the way researchers view and analyze compulsory education requirements.

Confidentiality of Records: Your (and/or your childs) information will be kept confidential by the researchers. All identifiable information collected (audio recordings, questionnaire, and open ended questions) will be kept secure and stored at the primary investigator’s home in separate storage boxes to ensure the master list and data set list are not stored together. All information will be kept confidential and ultimately destroyed on May 1, 2017. Additionally, every effort will be made to keep your study-related information confidential; however, there may be circumstances where this information must be shared with:  Federal agencies, for example the Office of Human Research Protections, whose responsibility is to protect human subjects in research.  Representatives of Ohio University (OU), including the Institutional Review Board, a committee that oversees the research at OU. Contact Information: If you have any questions, regarding this study, please contact the investigators or advisors below.

 Jeffrey R. Fisher, Ed. S., Doctoral Candidate, 421 Yoctangee Parkway, Chillicothe, Ohio 45601, (740) 600-4115, [email protected].  Dr. Krisanna Machtmes, Doctoral Advisor, College of Education, Education Administration Program, Room S201A Lindley Hall, Athens, Ohio, 45701, 740- 593-1323, [email protected]  Dr. Dwan Robinson, Assistant Professor, Educational Studies, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio, 45701, (614) 419-8698, [email protected]  If you have any questions regarding your rights as a research participant, please contact Chris Hayhow, Director of Research Compliance, Ohio University, (740) 593-0664, [email protected] By signing below, you are agreeing that:  You (and/or your child) have read this consent form (or it has been read to you) and have been given the opportunity to ask questions and have them answered;  You (and/or your child) have been informed of potential risks and they have been explained to your satisfaction;  You (and/or your child) understand Ohio University has no funds set aside for any injuries you might receive as a result of participating in this study;  You are 18 years of age or older or if you are under the age of 18 your signature is accompanied by the signature of your parent/guardian; 236

 Your (and/or your child’s) participation in this research is completely voluntary;  You (and/or your child) may leave the study at any time; if you (and/or your child) decide to stop participating in this study, there will be no penalty to you (and/or your child) and you (and/or your child) will not lose any benefits to which you (and/or your child) are otherwise entitled. Signature______Date______Printed Name______If under the age of 18; Parent/Guardian Signature______Parent/Guardian Printed Name______

237

Appendix D: Ohio University Interview Protocol Form

My name is Jeff Fisher and I am a doctoral student pursing a doctoral degree at Ohio University. I am here to conduct a study related to compulsory education and alternative educational programs. There are two phases to this study and meeting. The first is a survey which will be administered in this meeting on compulsory education and alternative educational programs which will be administered at this time either in electronic or paper/pencil form. The second is an interview on compulsory education and alternative educational programs. To begin with, I would like for you to sign an Informed Consent Form allowing me to conduct and tape record our interview and allowing me to administer the survey. As you know, you have approved this study. Please be assured that this interview and survey are confidential. Your information will be kept confidential by the researchers. The researchers ensure the information will be stored at a secure location and destroyed by May 1, 2017. Additionally, every effort will be made to keep your study-related information confidential; however, there may be circumstances where this information must be shared with:  Federal agencies, for example the Office of Human Research Protections, whose responsibility is to protect human subjects in research.  Representatives of Ohio University (OU), including the Institutional Review Board, a committee that oversees the research at OU. I would like to talk to you today about compulsory education laws that require school attendance by school age children (in the state of Ohio these ages are 6-18) and alternative educational programs which allow school age children to meet the requirements of state compulsory education laws without attending the regular setting of public schools. By talking to you and other stakeholders, I hope to learn more about the perceptions individuals have about laws that require school attendance for school age children and programs outside of the public school setting that meet these legal requirements. Do you have any questions for me before we begin?

Interviewee: ______Email: ______Phone Number: ______Gender: ______Female ______Male Age: ______Years

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Appendix E: Survey on Compulsory Education Part I

1. I am a... (Check all that apply)* o traditional student (i.e. public or private school) o non-traditional student (i.e. on-line or charter school; GED) o parent of a traditional student (i.e. public or private school) o parent of a non-traditional student (i.e. on-line or charter school; GED) o teacher at a traditional school (i.e. public or private school) o teacher at a non-traditional school (i.e. on-line or charter school; GED) o school administrator at a traditional school (i.e. public or private school) o school administrator at a non-traditional school (i.e. on-line or charter school; GED) o Other (politician, community member, grandparent of a school age child, etc.)

2. Compulsory Education Laws (requiring students to attend school) should be created at the federal level for all states to implement to best ensure school attendance for school age children. o Strongly Disagree o Disagree o Neither Agree nor Disagree o Agree o Strongly Agree Comments:

3. Compulsory Education Laws (requiring students to attend school) should be left to the individual states to decide what is best for each state's respective school age children. o Strongly Disagree o Disagree o Neither Agree nor Disagree o Agree o Strongly Agree Comments:

4. Current Compulsory Education Laws (requiring students to attend school) locally, statewide, and nationally do enough to compel students to attend school. o Strongly Disagree o Disagree o Neither Agree nor Disagree o Agree 239

o Strongly Agree Comments: 5. Compulsory Education Laws (requiring students to attend school) are not effective and should be repealed allowing for educational choice amongst families and school age children. o Strongly Disagree o Disagree o Neither Agree nor Disagree o Agree o Strongly Agree Comments:

6. On-line, charter, and other non-traditional forms of education (i.e. schools other than traditional public and private schools) are acceptable alternatives to traditional school and should allow parents/students to meet state requirements for Compulsory Education Laws. o Strongly Disagree o Disagree o Neither Agree nor Disagree o Agree o Strongly Agree Comments:

7. Students who choose to attend non-traditional schooling (i.e. on-line education, charter schools, GED, etc.) receive the same quality education as a student attending traditional schooling (i.e. public or private school). o Strongly Disagree o Disagree o Neither Agree nor Disagree o Agree o Strongly Agree Comments:

8. There is a difference in academic achievement and/or academic growth of students attending nontraditional schooling (i.e. on-line or charter school; GED) after dropping out of traditional high school (i.e. public or private school) versus those who continue to attend a traditional high school. o Strongly Disagree o Disagree o Neither Agree nor Disagree 240

o Agree o Strongly Agree Comments: 9. High dropout rates of high school students are a local, state, and, national concern. o Strongly Disagree o Disagree o Neither Agree nor Disagree o Agree o Strongly Agree Comments:

10. There are successful systems in place to react to high dropout rates of traditional high school students (i.e. on-line schools, charter schools, GED, etc.). o Strongly Disagree o Disagree o Neither Agree nor Disagree o Agree o Strongly Agree Comments:

241

Appendix F: Survey on Compulsory Education Part II

2. What are the characteristics of students who drop out of traditional high school (i.e. public or private schools) to attend non-traditional school (i.e. on-line or charter schools; GED)? Comments:

3. What are your perceptions and beliefs about students who drop out of traditional high school (i.e. public or private schools) to attend non-traditional school (i.e. on-line or charter schools; GED)? Comments:

4. What do you think are the students’ experiences, perceptions, and beliefs about the current school system and what makes them feel the need or desire to drop out of traditional high school (i.e. public or private school) and seek non- traditional educational options (i.e. on-line or charter school; GED)? Comments:

5. How can this school district, our state, and this country improve Compulsory Education Laws (requiring students to attend school) expectations to increase school attendance and reduce dropout rates of school age children? Comments:

242

6. Explain why you would or would not send your child to a non-traditional school (i.e. on-line or charter school; GED) to receive his or her education and meet compulsory education laws (requiring students to attend school). Comments:

7. Explain a situation in which you feel a student would need alternative based education and suggest the best possible alternative to traditional schooling for a student in the situation you describe. Comments:

8. Explain what you feel are the key differences between the education a student receives at a traditional school (i.e. public or private school) and the education a student receives at a non-traditional school (i.e. on-line or charter school; GED). Comments:

9. Provide your overall feelings and experiences with non-traditional schooling (i.e. on-line or charter school; GED), and/or traditional schooling (public or private school). Comments:

10. Provide your overall feelings and experiences with Compulsory Education Laws (requiring students to attend school). Comments:

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Appendix G: CCSD Superintendent Approval Letter

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