ERIC Number: EJ1432569
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024
Pages: 17
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0313-7155
EISSN: EISSN-1837-6290
Engaging the Early Adolescent: What Do Stakeholders Say about the Keeping Kids Engaged in School Program?
Anne Coffey; Shane Lavery; Leigh Sinclair
Issues in Educational Research, v34 n2 p459-475 2024
The level of engagement of students in schooling has long been associated with the type of educational outcomes achieved. This relationship is very apparent during early adolescence. It is during this developmental period that young people navigate the transition between primary and secondary school and may disengage from schooling. The Imagined Futures' "Keeping Kids Engaged in School" program is an intervention program designed to promote early adolescent students' desire to stay connected with school. The research explored how students and their parents/caregivers, and key school informants from four participating Government schools in Western Australia perceived the program. Two forms of qualitative data were collected from four focus group interviews with 24 students in Years 5 to 8 who had participated in the program and one-to-one interviews with five of their parents/caregivers and five key school informant staff members. Results indicated that participants from all four schools strongly endorsed the value of the program. The research had a particular focus on honouring the voices of the young people to whom the program was directed. It is their endorsement of the program that is of particular import.
Descriptors: Early Adolescents, Learner Engagement, Intervention, Student Attitudes, Parent Attitudes, Program Effectiveness, Grade 5, Grade 6, Grade 7, Grade 8, Student Motivation
Western Australian Institute for Educational Research Inc. 5/202 Coode Street, Como, Western Australia 6152, Australia. e-mail: editor@iier.org.au; Web site: http://www.iier.org.au/iier.html
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education; Grade 5; Intermediate Grades; Middle Schools; Grade 6; Grade 7; Junior High Schools; Secondary Education; Grade 8
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A