Degree Name

EdD (Doctor of Education)

Program

Educational Leadership

Date of Award

12-2011

Committee Chair or Co-Chairs

Pamela H. Scott

Committee Members

Cecil N. Blankenship, Donald W. Good, Eric S. Glover

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the intervention program Graduate on Time as related to the number of high school dropouts in a rural northeast Tennessee high school. Graduation rates and dropout rates were gathered from Report Card information from the Tennessee Department of Education website. Archival data for the students in this study were obtained from the STAR student management data system. Former students in the Graduate on Time program were surveyed for their perceptions about the program.

The population for this study consisted of 96 students who were enrolled in the Graduate on Time program from the 2007-2008 school year through the 2010-2011 school year at Johnson County High School in Mountain City, TN. Participants in the program were made up of 56 males and 40 females. The ethnic breakdown of the participants in the program consisted of 97% White, 2% Hispanic, and 1% African American. Over 85%, or approximately 82 students, qualified for free- and reduced-price meals and were considered low socioeconomic students in this study.

This quantitative study was guided by 5 quantitative research questions, with 1 qualitative research question consisting of a participant survey on perceptions of the Graduate on Time program. In Chapter 3 each quantitative research question had 1 null hypothesis. Two research questions were analyzed by using the Chi-Square test for independence and 3 research questions were analyzed by using a single sample t-test. The qualitative part of this study examined student's perceptions of the Graduate on Time program.

The results of the Chi-Square test showed there was no significant difference in the graduation rate or the dropout rate of those students who participated in the Johnson County High School Graduate on Time program and the graduation rate or the dropout rate of nonparticipants. However, there was a statistically significant difference between the retention rate ofGraduate on Time participants and the retention rate of nonparticipants. From the results of this study, it was revealed that the students' perceptions did affect their success rate in the Johnson County High School Graduate on Time program.

Document Type

Dissertation - unrestricted

Copyright

Copyright by the authors.

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