Date of Award
6-1994
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Educational Leadership
First Advisor
Dr. Patrick M. Jenlink
Second Advisor
Dr. Uldis Smidchens
Third Advisor
Dr. John Geisler
Access Setting
Dissertation-Open Access
Recommended Citation
Busscher, Randall E., "A Study of Retention Intervention Programs Used in Rural Michigan Schools" (1994). Dissertations. 1804.
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/dissertations/1804
Comments
The purposes of this study were the investigation of the current status of information on retention policies and to determine what kinds of retention intervention programs were being used to improve academic achievement in rural Michigan junior high and middle schools. A survey questionnaire was sent to 235 rural Michigan junior high and middle school principals. This was a descriptive study. Data collected from the survey included both close-ended and open-ended items. A content analysis was conducted to identify emerging characteristics or patterns from the open-ended comments. The findings of this study indicated that most rural junior high and middle schools in Michigan that responded to the survey did have a grade retention policy. The most common characteristics of these retention policies were that principals were most often the person who was responsible for recommending retention and students with low academic achievement were most commonly dealt with individually by the schools, considered for retention if they have failed two or more core classes, or used a summer school program. Most rural junior high and middle schools that responded also had intervention programs that were used to help students improve their low academic achievement. The most common characteristics of these intervention programs were that most schools used them at the first indication of academic difficulty, that grades were an indicator for a successful intervention, contacting the parents and getting them involved, and tutoring. Most rural Michigan junior high and middle schools that responded communicate to parents when a student's academic achievement is below the minimum levels of academic competencies expected by letter on a weekly basis or by the grading period.