Academic achievement, employment, age and gender and students' experience of alternative school.

Poyrazli, Senel ; Ferrer-Wreder, Laura ; Meister, Denise G. 等

Some academic schools are designed to serve students who are suspended or expelled from their home schools for disruptive behavior (Loy & Gregory, 2002). By removing these students, a better learning environment is thought to be provided to the remaining students, while the students who are sent to alternative schools are provided with special intervention to correct their problem behaviors so that they can also continue their academic progress, and perhaps return to their home schools.

Alternative schools are the most widespread dropout prevention program in the United States (Souza, 1999). One in every eight students overall and one in ten students between the ages of 16 and 24 in the United States fail to complete high school (Laird, DeBell, & Chapman, 2006; McMillen & Kaufman, 1997). Research indicates that students vulnerable to dropout include those who are members of ethnic minority groups (Griffin, 2002), students exposed to poverty (e.g., Barrington & Hendricks, 1989; Suh, Suh, & Houston, 2007), and students with low grade point averages (Egemba & Crawford, 2003; Griffin, 2002; Suh et al., 2007).

Much is known about the factors that contribute to school dropout (Renihan & Renihan, 1995). However, it is as important to determine why many students continue their education, including those who graduate despite formidable challenges. Epstein (1992) examined students who were sent to an alternative school. Students who completed high school and/or attended college reported that the alternative school environment was caring, life-skills oriented, and intellectually stimulating, all of which contributed to their success. An alternative school is more likely to achieve its educational goals if the learning can take place in an understanding and caring environment where a sense of community is fostered (Hatzichristou, Lambropoulou, & Lykitsakou, 2004; Schorr, 1997).

Students who are forced to leave their mainstream schools and are sent to an alternative school may still show successful academic performance (Staton, 1990; Taylor, 1986-1987). Thus, it is imperative to attempt to create an environment for alternative school students that will increase opportunities for interpersonal and educational success. Key ingredients to creating positive learning environments may include focus on students' sense of membership in the school community and their perceptions of other important people within the school. Students' experience of the alternative school environment was indexed in the present study by two constructs, namely students' sense of school membership (i.e., "sense of belonging" see Goodenow, 1993; McMahon & Washburn, 2003) and students' perceptions of important adults in the school environment (e.g., "teacher, administrator, or counselor fairness, helpfulness" see Saunders & Saunders, 2001).

When students are separated from their mainstream schools and sent or strongly encouraged to enroll in an alternative school, they may develop resistance toward the new school (Sekayi, 2001). Therefore, it is important for the new school to anticipate and intervene with this resistance to keep it from interfering with students' achievement of their educational goals. A positive alternative school experience may help the students attain a higher level of academic achievement, which in turn may prevent dropout. A longitudinal study conducted by Gold and Mann (1982) provided evidence that as students' assessment of their schools became more positive, their academic performance tended to improve.

Loy and Gregory (2002) said that "students perceiving themselves as important" in their alternative setting is crucial for these schools to achieve their goals (p. 117). However, it is important to consider that alternative school students' perception of school may be negative which will increase their problem behaviors and/or chances of dropping out. To address this problem, Carley (1994) designed a study to help marginalized students redefine their membership in the school community. Students were asked to re-create a story of how they would like to be perceived by the school community. Then, through group work, they were given the opportunity to interact with their schoolmates and teachers, and to feel important. This opportunity helped them gain a more positive perception of their schools. At the conclusion of the study, the teachers generally indicated that the students' attitudes were more positive and that their behavior had improved. Other research has also shown that there are often important differences in the perspectives of different school stakeholders (e.g., staff, students, administrators) and that considering the student perspective in addition to that of the adults might be critical to creating a positive learning environment (Souza, 1999).

Gender, Age, and Students" Experience of School

Within this consideration of the students' experience of school, there is also the question of how this perspective might vary among students on a number of dimensions. One is that of gender which has been found to be correlated with high school completion rates but, interestingly, not with dropout rates. In instances when gender has been found to be relevant, females tended to fare better than males in their high school completion rates (e.g., Suh et al., 2007).

A limited amount of research focused on whether gender makes a difference regarding students' alternative school experience. Loutzenheiser (2002) interviewed a group of female students attending an alternative school. The girls described their previous school experience negatively, reporting that they had been treated as if they were invisible by teachers and the administration and that they noticed attention was paid to students who had higher levels of academic achievement or who were popular. On the other hand, they described their experiences at their alternative school positively, stating that they liked being greeted by their teachers and administrators every day and that the school personnel knew their names. They felt they were part of their school community. There is little research on whether these kinds of perceptions differ or are shared by female and male alternative school students, and if there is any variation in perception according to students' age. In fact, a literature search found no empirical studies regarding student's age and perception of an alternative school environment. Thus, it would be interesting to explore the possible relationships among gender, age, and students' perceptions of their alternative school experience.

Employment and Students' Experience of School

Another interesting dimension on which students might vary in their experience of alternative school is if they are employed while attending school. A literature review revealed no publications on this subject. In the mainstream literature, employment tends to be associated with positive youth development. For example, George, Cusick, Wasserman, and Gladden (2007) studied how participation in an internship work program might affect high school students. They found that participating in this type of after-school program was related to lower absenteeism, fewer course failures, and higher graduation rates. Another study conducted by D'Amico and Baker (1984) indicated that part-time employment was related to a reduced probability of dropping out and above average school performance.

Purpose of Study

Compared to mainstream students, children and adolescents who attend alternative schools are understudied in a variety of ways. The purpose of this study was to contribute to the small yet increasingly important evidence base on alternative school students by exploring the relation of academic achievement, employment, gender, and age to students' experience of an alternative school. "Experience" was indexed by students' sense of school membership and perceptions of key adults in the school environment. A better understanding of students' experience of the school environment may provide useful information to those involved in creating educational contexts that encourage student retention and success.

Setting

The study was conducted in a school district where only 29% of the students who started middle school would graduate from high school. The students attending the alternative school had been referred as a result of classroom behavior problems, aggression, poor attendance, academic difficulties, and poverty. These characteristics were similar to those of at-risk students in alternative schools as defined elsewhere (e.g., Fuller & Sabatino, 1996).

Students at this alternative school were evaluated every eighteen weeks to determine whether they were ready to go back to their mainstream schools. If they were, they would be sent back; if not, they would be kept for another 18 weeks and then be re-evaluated.

METHOD

Participants and Procedure

Participants of this study were 102 secondary alternative school students in the 6th through 12th grades. Their ages ranged from 12 to 19 years (M = 15.19, SD = 2.13). Forty-two percent were girls, 58% were boys. A quarter of the students reported working at a job related to fast food, cleaning, car wash, and meat production. In terms of race-ethnicity, 70% were African American, 12% bi-racial, 7% Latino/a, 4% White, and 7% noted "other."

After obtaining consent forms from parents or legal guardians, the students were approached for the study. Those who agreed to participate were administered the surveys in a classroom. At least two individuals from the research team were present to answer any questions.

Measures

A Demographic questionnaire was used to collect information regarding students' age, gender, and grade, and whether they held a job.

Academic achievement. Students were asked to indicate what grades they usually get in school, based on an 8-point scale that ranged from 0 "mostly Fs" to 8 "mostly As."

Student experience of alternative school: Sense of school membership. A five-item Psychological Sense of School Membership Questionnaire (PSSM) was used as an index of students' experience of their alternative school (Goodenow, 1993; McMahon & Washburn, 2003). Sense of membership is defined here as the degree to which students feel they belong to their school environment. Developed by Goodenow (1993), the items on the scale range from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). A sample item is "I feel proud of belonging to my school." The scale's internal consistency has ranged from .77 to .88. Scores on the scale have been correlated with self-reported school motivation which provides support for the instrument's construct validity. The scale showed adequate internal consistency in the current study (alpha = .51).

Student experience of alternative school: Perception of teachers, administrators, and counselors. This survey was used as another index of students' experience of their alternative school. A 5-item scale was used to measure students' perception of their teachers, another 5-item scale to measure students' perception of their counselors, and a 4-item scale to measure the perception of their administrators in their alternative school setting (Saunders & Saunders, 2001). The items range from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree), with reported internal reliability levels for the teacher scale, administrator scale, and counselor scale as .83, .90, and .92, respectively (Saunders & Saunders, 2001). Sample items are: "teachers here really care about me," "administrators treat me fairly," and "my counselor helps me solve problems I have in school." The internal consistency levels, alphas, for these scales in the current study were: perception of teachers scale, .88; perception of administrator scale, .92; and perception of counselors scale, .92.

RESULTS

Table 1 shows the means and standard deviations for the interval study variables. Due to the exploratory nature of the study. Pearson's product moment correlation analysis was used to determine the associations between the study variables (Table 2). Before data were analyzed, the variables of gender and whether or not the student was employed were dummy coded so that they could be entered into the correlation analysis.

Results showed that students' sense of school membership correlated with their perception of teachers (r = .52, p < .01), perception of counselors (r = .44, p < .01), and perception of administrators (r = .42, p < .01). Students who had a more positive perception of their teachers, counselors, and administrators also reported a greater sense of school membership.

Academic achievement correlated with whether the student was employed (r = -.24, p < .05). Students who worked at a job reported higher grades than those who did not.

Results also revealed associations between perception of administrators and students' age and gender. Male students (r = -.33, p < .01) and older students (r = -.21, p < .05) tended to view administrators more negatively as compared to female or younger students.

DISCUSSION

This study was designed to explore associations between academic achievement, employment, gender, and age in relation to students' experience of an alternative school. Results indicated that students who had a more positive perception of their teachers, counselors, and administrators also had a greater sense of school membership. Students' perceived relationships with school personnel, therefore, seem to be a key ingredient in defining a positive alternative school environment. As Loy and Gregory (2002) pointed out, if the school personnel can be flexible, take time to get to know the students and their learning styles, show interest in their life stories, and focus on their strengths, they can have a more positive learning experience and develop a sense of belonging to their school. When a student feels more connected to school, it is more likely that they will have fewer absences and look forward to going to school (Souza, 1999).

Results also indicated that male students and older students had a more negative perception of administrators as compared to the female and younger students. While one speculation in regard to this finding is that the administrators might be utilizing tougher disciplinary measures for male or older students. However, the type of data gathered here did not allow us to determine why these groups of students had this negative perception. Future research should include qualitative studies in which both genders and different age groups are interviewed to determine the contributing factor(s).

Another finding was that students who worked at a job reported higher grades than those who did not work. This may imply that students are academically more successful if their time outside of school is structured. Thus, providing students opportunities for volunteer work or extracurricular activities may help them achieve a higher level of academic success.

In contrast with previous literature (e.g., Gold & Mann, 1982), this study found no relation between academic achievement and sense of school membership. This could be due to the way information about academic success was collected. Students were asked to state what grades they "usually" get. Therefore, some of the students may have reported what they tend to get in general rather than specifically the grades they have been getting in their alternative school. Future research should collect varied indicators of students' academic success in their alternative school and compare them with their sense of school membership.

A key issue in this study is to better define students' positive, perceived alternative school experience. From the findings of this study, perceptions of personnel may be important. One aspect of school life that may be missing from many alternative schools is the opportunity for students to gain work experiences and participate in school-related extracurricular activities. This may be a promising area of study in that Fuller and Sabatine (1996) found that the majority of alternative school students they studied did not participate in extracurricular activities. Getting these students involved in these activities, may be an additional way to foster a sense of school belongingness for these students.

While the results of this study offer many important implications, they should be approached cautiously. The generalizability may be limited to secondary alternative school students in semi-urban school settings. Since the study was cross-sectional, we could not examine how these students' school experience may change over time. Longitudinal studies, however, may provide such information. In addition, due to the correlational nature of the analyses, no causal conclusions should be drawn. Finally, since the study sample was primarily African-American students, comparisons among different race or ethnic groups could not be made.

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The authors greatly acknowledge the assistance and guidance of the faculty, staff, and students at the school in which this study was conducted. Partial support for this project was provided through funding from the Penn State Children Youth and Families Consortium.

Senel Poyrazli, School of Behavioral Sciences and Education, Penn State Harrisburg; Laura Ferrer-Wreder, Department of Psychology, Barry University; Denise G. Meister, School of Behavioral Sciences and Education, Penn State Harrisburg; Larry Forthun, University of Florida; J. Doug Coatsworth, Human Development and Family Studies, Penn State--University Park; Kamini Maraj Grahame, School of Behavioral Sciences and Education, Penn State Harrisburg.

Requests for reprints should be sent to Senel Poyrazli, Ph.D., School of Behavioral Sciences and Education, Penn State Harrisburg, Middletown, PA 17057. E-mail: poyrazli@psu.edu Table 1. Means, Standard Deviations, and Range for Interval Variables M SD Range Age 15.19 2.13 12-19 Academic Achievement 5.38 1.91 0-8 (Mostly Bs (Mostly Fs - and Cs) Mostly As) Sense of School 14.5 4.32 5-23 Membership Perception of Teachers 2.96 1.10 1-4.8 Perception of 3.27 1.21 1-5 Counselors Perception of 2.81 1.14 1-5 Administrators Table 2. Bivariate Correlations among Interval and Dummy-Coded Variables 1 2 3 4 1. Age -- 2. Cinder .11 -- 3. Employment -.14 .00 -- 4. Academic .00 .03 -.24 * -- Achievement 5. Sense of School -.04 -.20 -.05 .18 Membership 6. Perception of -.19 -.10 -.O1 .07 Teachers 7. Perception of -.02 -.05 .03 .09 Counselors 8. Perception of -.21 * -33 ** .03 8.00 Administrators 5 6 7 8 1. Age 2. Cinder 3. Employment 4. Academic Achievement 5. Sense of School -- Membership 6. Perception of .52 ** -- Teachers 7. Perception of .44 ** .41 ** -- Counselors 8. Perception of .43 ** .71 ** .40 ** -- Administrators Note: Gender and Employment were dummy coded to be entered into the correlational analyses; 1 = Female, 2 = Male; 1= Employed in a job, 2 = Not employed in a job. * p < .05, sep < .01