Teacher Education, Educational Leadership & Policy ETDs

John Pinto

Publication Date

10-24-1969

Abstract

Statement of the Problem

It was the purpose of this study to investigate the effect of a public school attendance counselor on (1) school attendance and (2) school achievement for a group of Navajo elementary school children grades 4-6. Two null hypotheses were set up to be tested:

1. There are no significant differences in attendance between those schools with an attendance counselor and those schools without an attendance counselor.

2. There are no significant differences in school achievement between those schools with an attendance counselor and those schools without an attendance counselor.

Procedure

The sample consisted of a total of 524 Navajo elementary students, 280 girls and 244 boys, from grades 4-6 of eight public elementary schools in western New Mexico and southeastern Arizona. School records were analyzed for attendance figures; the California Achievement Tests, Elementary, Form W, were administered as a measure of achievement. An eighteen-item structured interview questionnaire was designed to investigate the attitudes of a random sample of sixty-five parents. A random sample of forty-four grandparents was selected from the parents interviewed to ascertain their attitudes toward education. An· eight-item questionnaire was administered to the attendance counselors of the participating schools.

Results

Analysis of variance revealed significant differences (p <.01) for the total sample in favor of schools with an attendance counselor over those without such counselor for both days present and days absent. Significant differences were found at all three grade levels on the measure of days absent (p <.05); however, the only significant difference in days present was in the fifth grade (p <.05). Therefore, the null hypothesis relating to attendance was rejected. Using the ten measures of the California Achievement Tests, Elementary, Form W, significant differences (p <.05) were found between those schools with an attendance counselor and those without an attendance counselor on nine measures in the fourth grade, ten in the fifth grade, and six in the sixth grade. Reading scores were consistently low for all three grades, and general educational retardation tended to be cumulative. Thus, the null hypothesis relating to school achievement was rejected. The results of the study revealed the superiority of at age students compared to overage students on both measures of attendance and achievement. There were no significant differences between the attendance of boys and girls; few sex differences were found in achievement; however, those which did exist were in favor of the girls. The parent interview questionnaire emphasized parental influence as the major cause of the poor school attendance of Navajo children, followed by bad weather, illness, and lack of clothing. Parents thought that education was important for a variety of reasons, but mainly to get a good job and a concomitant higher standard of living. The majority of the grandparents interviewed favored education, as they had been handicapped by their own lack of schooling. The attendance counselor questionnaire showed that the respondents believed their role was favorably viewed, that home environment was the principal contributing factor in poor school attendance, and that the most difficult part of their job was impressing upon parents the importance of an education and regular school attendance.

Conclusions

A definite relationship was shown between school attendance and achievement. Thus, everything else being equal, the child who attends school regularly is more likely to master academic material and show greater school achievement than his counterpart who attends sporadically. The results of this study validate the work of the public school attendance counselor, as improved attendance and a consequent rise in achievement were found in schools employing such counselor.

Document Type

Thesis

Language

English

Degree Name

Elementary Education

Level of Degree

Masters

Department Name

Teacher Education, Educational Leadership & Policy

First Committee Member (Chair)

Miles Vernon Zintz

Second Committee Member

James Gordon Cooper

Third Committee Member

Leroy Condie

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