Date of Award
2004
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Fischler Graduate School of Education and Human Services
Advisor
Karen Kimball
Committee Member
Lucille Beisner
Committee Member
Maryellen Maher
Keywords
academic achievement, absenteeism, afterschool tutoring, attendance, family education, family health, health, hygiene, Ohio, pediculosis, public schools, school district policy, school exclusion, school health services, school nurses, social workers, student absenteeism, student attendance, student health, students, urban schools
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to improve attendance and achievement by combating the pediculosis problem at an urban public school in Ohio. The study involved 37 students who were absent an abnormal amount of time due to the impact of pediculosis on their health. Of these 37 students, all were excluded from school at least once, and 14 of the students mis sed 2 or more days. One student missed 47 days and another missed 70 days of instruction due to pediculosis. During the 2001-2002 school year, approximately 5 to 10 students were excluded every day due to pediculosis and the school district policy regulating it. As a result of these exclusions, attendance was below state expectations. The struggle to meet Ohio test score standards was much harder than anticipated.
Several interventions were attempted and policy changes were suggested to alleviate the need for the affected students to miss so much school. These included family education about pediculosis, an afterschool tutoring program for students struggling academically, the acquisition of monies for a school nurse and social worker to work with affected families, and rewording the school district’s exclusion policy for students with pediculosis. Unfortunately, for the most part, they were ineffective with the targeted population. The results of the implementation did not show a significant difference in the academic achievement of students with high absenteeism.