Examining At-Risk Youth Population - Research Proposal Example

? Research Proposal Research Proposal Introduction The focus of this study is to examine at-risk youth in an effort to determine the reasons why so many young people are dropping out of school prior to graduation. In so doing, various programs targeting at-risk youth will be studied in an effort to determine which ones are proving the most effective. The question of how and in what ways these at-risk program are meeting the intended purpose of raising the graduation rate of at-risk high school students within the target area will form the basis for this study. It is important to first determine whether or not certain programs are effectively serving the at-risk student population in the area. Exemplary programs that effectively accomplish this goal can be seen as a model for others educational agencies in the area to follow. Due to the explosive growth of the at-risk population over the past few decades, it is now time to reflect on the successes and failures of various initiatives and policies designed to reverse the trend and help young people in this population graduate. Providing a wide range of educational options to at-risk youth is a relatively new concept in American education, but one that is gaining momentum nationwide. Educators and other interested stakeholders are now working hard to determine the types of programs that, if properly implemented, can help at-risk youth to be successful. The knowledge gained from this research study will be useful in providing much needed information to the public and private educational sectors. This study will, therefore, provide information that individuals associated with educating at-risk youth can use to implement more effective programs that reach this population in a positive way. Statement of the Problem The problem is that high school students around the country are dropping out of school at alarming rates (Bracy, 2006). Society increasingly perceives that public schools are not living up to the expectations and needs of communities across the country. Recent years, therefore, have seen a dramatic increase in the number of intervention strategies and programs designed to keep young people in school. Programs such as charter schools, community programs, and family involvement have been explored, among others, as possible areas to focus on moving forward (Snell, 2005, p. 270). Many strategies being implemented today focus on the needs of students at-risk of dropping out of school prior to graduation. Community members and concerned stakeholders, namely the public at large, sincerely hope that these new initiatives will provide a much needed spark to the role that education plays in society and, in particular, to the at-risk student population. Significance of the Problem This proposed study is important because it will examine avenues that local and state governments can explore to encourage young people to graduate high school. Because many areas of the country have historically encountered great difficulty in this area, various programs have been introduced and developed over time to help address the problem. Current data indicates, however, that these programs are not having much, if any, impact on graduation rates in many areas (Quach, 2005, p. 71). This study will then focus on discovering those initiatives that proving effective and can serve as models for future at-risk education in other localities across the country. American society has long feared the implications of an uneducated populace. The purpose of the educational system in this country has been predicated on the premise that teachers prepare young people to become positive contributors to society (Sadker & Sadker, 2010). The significance of this reality is that educated people tend to offer their community more valuable services and skills and are less likely to exhibit negative behaviors. Currently, however, America is suffering from high drop out rates and some states are beginning to see a significant decrease in the number of at-risk youth going on to attend post-secondary school. This study is significant because it will examine various avenues that educators can explore in order to encourage at-risk youth to finish school. The implications of this study can indeed apply globally, as educational institutions worldwide are looking for ways to more effectively reach their at-risk population. As such, the focus of this study will be entirely on the at-risk student population in a particular geographic location, applying conclusions that could be implemented across a broad spectrum. Research Questions and Hypothesis The following research questions, consisting of one primary and two secondary questions, and hypothesis form the basis for this proposed study. Research Question: What are the underlying factors why increasing numbers of youth in the inner cities of America are at risk of dropping out of school? In addition, the following two secondary research questions will form the foundation for this project: 1) What programs today are proving effective at keeping at-risk students interested and motivated enough to stay in school through to graduation? 2) What community initiatives need to be developed to help local educational institutions identify at-risk students and propose strategies aimed at providing intervention strategies aimed at keeping young people in school? Hypothesis: The at-risk population in America continues to grow because of changing family dynamics and a lack of effective programming options aimed at keeping young people in school. Definition of Terms Since there are many plausible definitions for some of the key words used in this proposed study, it is necessary to be clear. For the purposes of this study, key terms are defined as follows Charter schools: “Schools that can be created by parents, teachers, and/or members of the community. [They are] granted the autonomy to operate outside the bureaucratic rules that govern traditional public schools in exchange for an increased level of accountability for student achievement” (Ericson, 2010, p. 4). Leadership: Leadership is (a) the personal traits of the leader such as intelligence, values, and physical appearance; (b) the leader’s use of power, control of rewards, and delegation of authority; and (c) the organizational situation the leader is in (Bossink, 2004). At-risk student: A learner who is: Living in an unstable school district, a member of a low-income family, having academic difficulty, from a household where both parents are not high school graduates, from a second language household, from a single-parent household, suffering from low self-esteem, or who is actively in pursuit of a full-time job or marriage (Rozycki, 2008). Assumptions As will be discovered, the implementation of many at-risk programs is granted approval with the hope that the quality of education for at-risk students in their respective communities will be improved. These programs are created with the best of intentions and educational leaders have every intention of seeing them succeed. Yet, many obstacles are encountered throughout the process. Educational leaders are often frustrated with a lack of community support and they suffer from a deficiency of financial and human resources to tackle the problem. The assumption is that, for a program or initiative to succeed in its goal of helping at-risk students be successful and graduate, they must first serve the purpose of re0inventing the educational services being offered to these students. Therefore, it is assumed that at-risk programs will continue to be a primary focus on educational service agencies nationwide as they continue to research new innovations that work. Limitations This proposed study will have limitations due to the geographical boundaries of the study. The time and resources are simply not available to focus on a broad population, so a smaller sampling size must be implemented and then conclusion be generalized from there. While this will provide an accurate picture of at-risk programming options in the specific area, it will not be able to be definitively applied to other locations. Delimitations This study will confine itself to surveying only educational stakeholders in the general vicinity of the researcher. The work will focus on the perception of current at-risk programs and initiatives in order to gain a perspective as to which programs for this population could prove to be beneficial in the future. This study will seek to accomplish these objective by utilizing a qualitative research method. Review of Related Literature At-risk students are typically referred to as being individuals in the 10th-12th grades that fall into a category that would cause members of society to consider them at-risk of not finishing high school. These factors vary, but some of the following would need to be present in order to receive the label of being at-risk: Living in an unstable school district, being a member of a low-income family, exhibiting signs of academic difficulty, coming form a household where both parents failed to finish high school themselves, coming from a second language or single-parent household, suffering from low self-esteem, or being a young person who is actively in pursuit of a full-time job or marriage (Pollard & Tomlin, 2005, p. 5). As this study is in its infancy stages, these factors will be weighted heavily to determine which programs are effective at reaching young people that fall into one of the aforementioned categories. This review is intended to portray current views presented in educational journals regarding education at-risk youth. As with most important social issues, the reader should take notice that there are staunch proponents of certain programs, as well as equally devoted opponents. The seriousness of this issues, however, demands that educators take a hard look at implementing programs that are not only effective in reaching at-risk youth, but can be used nationwide in the long term. Such programs include after school tutoring programs, mentoring initiatives, and the wide spread founding of college preparatory schools designed to challenge at-risk students to strive for academic excellence. As these studies are examined, the researcher should look for ways that these programs, and others, can be improved. Programs that are proving are effective should be shown as such, while others should be disregarded as not being helpful to reach this population of students. A primary concern of at-risk students is safety. A fundamental principle of at-risk programs, therefore, should keep this reality in mind. It is interesting to note that poor and minority students list this as one of their primary concerns. Kleitz, Matland, Tedin, and Weiher (2011) recently studied factors leading families to allow their children to pull out of traditional schools and pursuer alternate educational placement options. They found that 850 out of 1,110 students no longer felt safe a public school environment (p. 848). The study went on to point out that most parents covered by the survey desired educational excellence for their children, but felt that their neighborhood schools were not doing enough to reach students determined to be at-risk. One trend that these same authors noted was that a higher percentage of black and Hispanic students tend to gravitate toward alternative schools (Kleitz, Matland, Tedin, & Weiher, 2011, p. 849). While alternative schools have shown some success in reaching at-risk youth, they tend to stigmatize students and end up having an even higher than average drop out rate themselves. An implication that can be seen from this study is that fact that many at-risk students drop out of school due to safety concerns, attempt to enter alternative schools, but find it difficult to find adequate transportation. As such, they are more likely than normal to drop out of the system all together. This demonstrates a need for further research in this area. As an increasing number of minority students become at-risk of not graduating, it would be fruitful to determine that specific reasons why so many of them are not perceiving any benefit from remaining in the neighborhood public school. This could provide such institutions with the knowledge that they need to provide more effective programming options that can accomplish the vision of increasing graduation rates amongst the at-risk student population. Lin Qiuyn recently conducted research to evaluable the effectiveness of alternative programs designed to reach out to at-risk youth. She examined four key aspects of the school environment: Student demographics, student achievement, school funding, and teacher efficacy and empowerment. Qiuyun (2009) discovered through her research that alternative schools were proving themselves ore effective in 3 out of these 4 key areas (p. 166). As she dove deeper into her into her own analysis, however, she came to the conclusion that, “Alternative education programs are not as successful as what has been claimed by the politicians” (Qiuyun, 2009, p. 169). This demonstrates the need for more field research to be conducted, such as is this intention of the study, in order to determine which viewpoints are more valid. Methodology The purpose of this qualitative research study is to determine what characteristics are inherent in successful at-risk programs with in the geographic location of the researcher. This particular study is important to consider because at-risk programs are still in their refinement stages. As such, it is important to talk to the experts involved in at-risk education in order to gain an accurate picture as to the state of existing programs for this particular population of students. A qualitative approach is appropriate for this study because it enable the research to see and hear first-hand why certain programs are working, why others are not, and what ideas leaders in the field have moving forward. From the outset, this qualitative research study will involve contacting experts in the field of at-risk education. The aim is to elicit recommendations about exemplary programs or initiative that should be explored and considered more in-depth. Once such programs are identified, leaders of those various initiatives will be contacted for possible participation in this study. The actual number of participants involved in this study will be limited to between twenty and fifty individuals, due to time and other considerations. There is evidence that indicates that a panel of this size will be reflective of the general population that is being and studying. As such, the information gathered will be comparable with panels of a similar size (Snyder-Halpern et al, 2009). Implementing a panel size of 20 participants does have several advantages. These include the easy accessibility of data collection, anonymity, and the reality that the researcher can easily condense comments made by each panel member to form succinct statements. One disadvantage to this strategy lies in the fact that it could be difficult to find enough members willing to be involved in the panel. Also, this strategy does make it important that the researcher be able to collect accurate interview results in a relatively short period of time, which could be another disadvantage. The interview would be administered online and would include 6-8 open-ended questions. Each participant will be emailed the interview and asked to respond on their own time, but to submit their answers in a timely fashion. In addition, the researcher will email follow-up questions based upon the initial responses. No names will be used in the study and all results will be coded by participant number. This ensures that the interviewees will remain completely anonymous. Once all results are returned, the researcher will then begin the data analysis stage of the study. Conclusion As this proposal has shown, an interview method combined with a current literature review is an appropriate research strategy to employ for this study. It is the hope that this method will produce a consensus from a panel of concerned educators that focus on the at-risk student population. This strategy will also allow the panel member to remain anonymous in this type of environment, which should all them the freedom of sharing their true experiences and opinions without fear of recrimination. Participants will remain anonymous because their only contact with the study will be with the researcher. References Bracey, G. W. (2005). The 15th bracey report on the condition of public education. Phi Delta Kappan, 87(2), 138-153. Erikson, K. (2010). Teachers’ Attitudes and the success of school choice. Policy Studies Journal, 32(2), 209-224. Lin, Q. (2011). An evaluation of charter school effectiveness. Education, 122(1), 166-176. Mertler, C. and Charles, C. (2011). Introduction to educational research (7th ed.). United States: Pearson Education, Inc. Pollard, R., & Tomlin, M. (2005). The use of expert teachers to improve education. Education, 116, 3-9. Qiuzyun, K. (2009)Customization and the common good. Educational Leadership, 59(7), 6-11. Retrieved April 12, 2007, from the EBSCO host database. Quach, L. H. (2005). A paradox of care: Re-examining education for students with diverse needs. Educational Foundation, 19(1), 67-85. Rozycki, L. A. (2008). Organizational environments and the emergence of charter schools in the united states. Sociology of Education, 78(1), 1-26. Sadker and Sadker. (2010). Making choice work. Educational Leadership, 59(7), 5-15. Snell, L. (2005). Defining the education market: Reconsidering charter schools. Cato Journal, 25(2), 267-277. Snyder-Halpern, R., Thompson, C., & Schaffer, J. (2011). Comparison of mailed vs. Internet applications of the Delphi technique in clinical informatics research. Proceedings of the 2001 AMIA Annual Symposium. Bethesda, MD: American Medical Informatics Association. Read More