Date of Award
2003
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Fischler Graduate School of Education and Human Services
Advisor
Dean F. Damon
Committee Member
Kathy Hollywood
Committee Member
Barbara Packer
Keywords
academic achievement, academic intervention, attitudes toward school, California high school exit exam, career technical education, career technical programs, computerized instructional programs, continuation high schools, continuation students, control groups, disadvantaged youth, dropout prevention, dropouts, educational technology, experimental groups, high-risk students, retention rates, school retention, Skills Tutor Program, student achievement, student attrition, student characteristics, student retention, student support programs, technology-assisted instruction, vocational education, youth at risk
Abstract
The focus on standards and the California high school exit exam has had an impact on all students, especially students who are already having a difficult time in school. For the past 3-year period, 1999 through 2002, students from a bay area continuation high school had a retention rate of less than 25% in career technical programs.
The purpose of this study was to determine if the Skills Tutor Program (Achievement Technologies, 2000), a computerized instructional program, would assist continuation students to stay in school by helping them to enhance their academic performance and attitudes toward school.
The population for this study consisted of 68 continuation students enrolled in the career technical center. At the beginning of the 2nd semester, the 68 students were divided randomly into 2 groups. In this research design, 1 group was identified as the experimental group. The experimental group received additional support in academic areas using the Skills Tutor program. The 2nd group was identified as the control group. The control group did not receive additional academic intervention. At the end of the quarter, in April 2003, the data were analyzed to see if the experimental group who received intervention demonstrated greater gains in academic achievement than the control group who did not receive additional assistance.
The results of the study supported academic intervention for continuation students in career technical programs. In addition, continuation students who enrolled in the career technical programs demonstrated an increase in their retention rate during the 2003-2004 school year as compared to the 2002-2003 school year.