The South Carolina laws that mandate regular school attendance place the responsibility on parents to ensure compliance. South Carolina still uses punitive measures to address chronic absenteeism, meaning schools can refer students to law enforcement to face criminal truancy charges and jail time. Their parent(s) can also face criminal…

The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a predictive relationship between the number of years a student is enrolled in an elementary school with a campus-wide character education program (CWCEP) and their academic achievement, attendance, and behavior during their high school years. This study examined whether students enrolled in…

The purpose of this study was to provide a qualitative approach to measuring the relationship between social capital and school attendance. The qualitative data was gathered via a survey and interviews of Schoolville School District (SSD) administrators. Social capital is a topic that continues to grow in regard to families, communities, and…

This dissertation presents an in-depth examination of the effectiveness of implementing a noticing routine on 11 second-year high school students struggling with attendance. The study was conducted in a traditional high school in the largest Northeastern state school district and included qualitative and quantitative data collection methods. The…

Chronic absenteeism negatively affects millions of U.S. students each year, and there has been little improvement in the past 2 decades despite the efforts of educational organizations nationwide. The purpose of this qualitative project study was to examine the perceptions of different stakeholders regarding how the factors that contribute to…

The problem addressed in this study is that chronic absenteeism of special education students impacts school performance, graduation rates, and future employment opportunities. The purpose of the phenomenological study was to document the lived experiences of parents of high school special education students as chronic absenteeism of their special…

This study is a journey through the academic lives of 4th-grade Black males in one Central Arkansas school district. This study aimed to investigate certain behavioral variables that may impede the learning and achievement of fourth-grade Black males in Central Arkansas. In the study, groups were established by ethnicity and gender and their test…

The transition from middle school to high school is known to be one of the most critical times in a student's educational career. Ninth-grade students walk into larger schools; for some physical, emotional, and social developmental stages initiate; many encounter new demands of more rigorous academics; opportunities for participation in various…

This dissertation in practice focused on the use of Motivational Interviewing in the school environment between school staff and families. More specifically, this program evaluation sought to see if the use of Motivational Interviewing by school staff could improve parent participation rates in student attendance improvement conferences (SAICs).…

Community Partnership Schools™ are designed to serve as a positive resource center in their community, staffed with dedicated professionals committed to student success and community well-being (Coalition for Community Schools, n.d.; Ellis, 2016). Following the education model created at the University of Central Florida (UCF), the first…

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the type of grade configuration and racial climate of a school on the academic performance and discipline of middle school aged students. Specifically, this study was concerned with the predictive power of the type of grade configuration (stand-alone middle school vs. non-transition…

Suspension from school removes students from the educational environment and interferes with school progress by decreasing prospects of gaining academic and social skills. Suspension also negatively affects school attendance and is an indicator of future disciplinary problems. To address problem behaviors that can lead to school suspensions,…

Jade County Public Schools has provided school-based therapeutic day treatment in its public schools for more than 10 years. This program was adopted by the school system to provide an intervention in the school and classroom to address the challenging behaviors of students with emotional and behavioral disorders. Currently, three human services…

This study was conducted to determine if a growing, urban school district was adequately addressing the academic, social-emotional and behavioral needs of students identified as homeless under the McKinney-Vento Act. McKinney-Vento eligible students were compared to non-homeless virtual twins. Each twin was created through averaging three…

This study was conducted to determine if a growing, urban school district was adequately addressing the academic, social-emotional and behavioral needs of students identified as homeless under the McKinney-Vento Act. McKinney-Vento eligible students were compared to non-homeless virtual twins. Each twin was created through averaging three…