Chapter 1: Introduction
Education is one of the most appreciated element in life and most often than not, people struggle to put in their best to ensure that they achieve the best from education. Parents strive to take their children to school so that they get a quality education and even input a lot of resources such as finances and time so that their children can have the best education can offer. Teachers are also trained in different institutions that enhance their qualification so that they produce skilled individuals who can teach students professionally and help build their future through the subjects they teach them. This research will examine the importance of going to school and how it relates to learners’ academic performance.
1.1 Problem of the statement
The school is believed to be a factory that manufactures men out of boys and women out of girls. It acts as sharpening sword that creates a new product out of an existing one. The school is a learning institution that brings people from different backgrounds and merges them to form a unit of learners who are ready to accommodate each other, share ideas and knowledge throughout the learning period. This is what school is made up of. It is one fundamental institution in life that makes education be considered nowadays as a rite of passage; people have grown to embrace and value education for what it brings (National Centre for Education Statistics, 2009). In the contemporary world, there are schools in different levels; there are pre-school, middle and tertiary levels public or privately owned.
According to Chang and others, (2012) school helps learners discover themselves regarding their capabilities, skills and talents; they get to build their confidence from school such that they learn to face life challenges head on without fear. Career ambitions are developed as learners get to discover what their aspirations in life are and how to channel their efforts towards achieving their career goals. Additionally, the school trains learners to value each other and inculcates the spirit of teamwork in them through different team building activities that they engage in. Gottfried (2011) acknowledges that attending school on a regular basis for learners sometimes comes out of serious commitment and sacrifice. For one to value attending his or her classes without failure, there must be a force pushing for that.
The popular belief is usually that bookworms are the ones known to be regular class attendees since their academic performance is much greater to them than anything. However, contrary to popular beliefs, even poor performers find it necessary and encouraging attending classes regularly so as to better their grades. Romero & Lee (2007) argue that most students who don't attend classes most often are forced by circumstances. According to the National Centre for Education Statistics (2009) the distance between school and the place of learning may be a hindrance to attending class, health reasons, suspension or even discontinuation from school may deter learners from attending classes.
Nonetheless, some absentees view school as a punishment and would look for any probable reason that would buy their not going to school, some do it intentionally and would pay a dime so as to escape school. Gottfried (2011) further agrees that this greatly affects their performance as they miss a lot while they are away from school. Nobody would consider them when exam time comes and evaluation is done on a free and fairground irrespective of your class attendance status. A lot of research has been conducted to examine the relationship between class attendance and academic performance and this research will dig deep in these key areas and unravel the gaps between these two variables.
Chapter 2: Literature review
Studies have been conducted in the past about the relationship between school attendance and academic achievement, most having been done for tertiary institutions. It has been noted according to work cited by various researchers that in psychology colleges, classes with a weaker attendance policy tends to register below average performances. Gamble (2004) revealed that students with a higher tendency of attending classes regularly are a full letter higher than their counterparts who are sporadic. Policies should be implemented to control the rates of absenteeism in schools. In another quantitative research conducted in a school environment, the results achieved were mixed.
Attendance significantly and positively affected performance in Louisiana in elementary and secondary schools. In this research, attendance was quantified as a percentage of students who went to school regularly. His work was therefore beached on the average school attendance and average performance per student. Other studies on these two variables have established that attendance has a significant effect on academic performance. For instance, Gottfried (2009) concluded that individual performance cannot be gauged from class attendance but the average class attendance. Another research work conducted in Ohio indicated that there was statistically weighty connection between school attendance and academic achievement in 4th to 12th grade.
Sheldon (2007), used the same data tested in Ohio and discovered that classes with high rates of daily attendance were positively correlated with students' performance in maths and reading tests. All these studies focused on attendance at a combined level rather than concentrating on students individually. This research will address the gaps existing within the empirical studies. It is to note that studies that have been conducted on education under the K-12 courses have only majored on analysis of attendance and academic performance at an aggregated level. Even though they have given an insight on how class attendance and achievement are related in evaluating the overall academic performance of a learner, the aggregated information used provides limited chances for variability than individual-level data. It is therefore not easy to use amassed data to make conclusions on student's performance (National Centre for Education Statistics, 2009). The data is subject to environmental fallacy upon which inferential statistics were drawn based on a wide metrics of a school. This study will take a different approach in handling the two variables and make inferences from individual and multi-dimensional levels thus providing more detailed information.
Chapter 3: Methodology
This chapter gives details on methodology, data collection methods that will aid the completion of this study, and the data analysis and interpretation part. The research will employ a case study design. The main advantage of case study designs is that it allows the researcher to particularly test theoretical models by relating them to real world situations (Strang, 2015). A case study design allows for an in-depth study of a given situation rather than conducting a sweeping statistical survey. Theories and concepts related to how school attendance affects performance of students are what are going to be tested. It should be noted that the responses of a case study are more realistic than a mere statistical survey. Furthermore, given the nature of study, any other research design is likely to jeopardize the students’ performance. Case studies offer the researcher a great deal of flexibility (Strang, 2015). For instance, in the course of the study, the research can take a different direction given on the findings, response to questions and the development of new ideas not captured in the initial hypotheses. Therefore, the independent variable is going to be a school while the dependent variable is academic performance.
3.1. Target population, sampling procedure
My target population will comprise learners and teachers. Seeking information from these two groups will help in understanding the scope of the study as all of them are either directly or indirectly affected by the study topic. Getting a sample from these categories of personalities will ensure adequate gathering of varied information thus giving a better platform for data analysis.
3.2 Sample size
The sample size is the number of participants in the research. To attain the desired sample size, the researcher will use Glenn’s formula. The researcher will also include a systematic sampling procedure for determining individual respondents. The process will include selecting the Kth number of students and teachers from each selected stratum from the learning institutions. The criterion will ensure that respondents are chosen from all levels of education right from elementary to college level. This technique will cover all elements in the study hence providing a good ground for comparison. The sample size was calculated as indicated below:
p= P/(1+P(e)2)
Where P is the total number of participants 1000
e= the fringe for fault (0.1)
The sample size was, therefore,=
1000/(1+1000(0.1)2) ≅97thus having a total of 100 respondents for the research when space is provided for extra respondents
3.3 Research instruments
When using a case study design, the data collection process is one of the most significant steps in the entire study. It requires precision, meticulousness and being systematic. In other words, the data collected should be evidence enough to test the hypotheses, theories and concepts about the topic of study. Therefore, the survey method will be employed as the data collection method. In this case, the questionnaire will involve both qualitative and quantitative approaches which include the use of close-ended and open-ended questions. Questionnaires usually help in the collection of valid and correct information. They enable respondents to give detailed information about a given topic of concern. According to Zang (2014), a quantitative research method has questionnaires and structured surveys for customers that are useful in the provision of raw data and statistics that aid in the research. The collection of data through the use of questionnaires involves three procedures that include: designing a questionnaire, issuing the questionnaires, and collecting them from the respondents.
This research will utilise the use of questionnaires as they aid in the provision of correct answers that are by their feelings. It is also ideal because of confidentiality reasons. The questionnaires will be distributed to learners who have been chosen to participate in the different learning institutions however the parents and teachers will be interviewed to maximise on the time limit and even be able to get relevant information from them. This research will ensure strictness, the values and ethics of research are taken into consideration. Obscurity and aspects of discretion will be implemented to bring into awareness the respondents of their safety during the contribution to the research. The protection of the respondents will be taken care of and an additional assurance of protection from maltreatments through avoiding disclosing information about them (Thomas, Nelson, & Silverman, 2015). It will also be important to seek their consent before their participation in the research, as this will ensure that they participate willingly and wholeheartedly. No respondent will be subjected to forced participation.
3.4: Data Analysis and Interpretation
The objective of the study will be used to analyse and explain the data collected so as to define the relationship between the research variables. The targeted group for this study will involve students or learners from different institutions including their parents and teachers. Before analysis, interpretation of the data, the questionnaires will be tested first for mistakes and oversights to minimise the occurrence of errors. Both inferential and descriptive statistics will be used to analyse the data. Furthermore, the data analysis phase of a case study designed research majorly involves the opinion of the researcher. Descriptive statistics are used to bring the data into a presentable, understandable and manageable form. Specifically, the Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet and SPSS software will be used to compute the data statistically. Once the data has been presented in a manageable and understandable form, the researcher will build a narrative around it to aid the interpretation. At this stage, the researcher uses numerical information and examples to keep the data accurate and concise. Notably, case studies are aimed at provoking reasoned debate rather that particularly dealing with facts the way scientific studies do. It is because, in a case study design, always, there are no wrong or right answers (Thomas, Nelson, & Silverman, 2015).
Chapter 4: Results and Discussions
4.1 Research limitations
Obtaining findings from a qualitative research is often difficult since it involves coming across different people with different characters and attitudes. That said, the research may present various challenges that include consolidation of the data from the primary subjects, providing a practical demonstration of findings that are easily understood by the reader and provision of information that is partiality free. The set objectives will guide the research to help in the minimization of bias occurrence and data misinterpretation.
Through this strategy, the researcher is sure of collecting only information about the research objectives and this ensures there is no deviation from the study’s aim hence no room for errors.
Chapter 5: Conclusion and recommendations
The art of loving school if inculcated in students by teachers, will help realise a society that is development-oriented besides having learning institutions producing substantial individuals in the society. When students and pupils are guided and taught the importance of going to school attending all classes, they will grow to value education and not consider it as a punishment or an obligation they are performing to please their parents, guardians or teachers. They will learn to uphold education with respect and be self-driven. Such qualities will improve their academic performance in areas where they are weak. It is going to a school where learners get to know their weak areas and can look for assistance from their teachers or fellow colleagues at school who are good in those areas. It is, therefore, necessary to continue implementing policies of minimising absenteeism. While this process should involve all educational stakeholders including parents, the government, NGOs and the society as a whole, the scope of research on the topic as well as the process should be widened to discover new initiatives to ascertain school attendance.
6.0 References
Chang, H., et al. (2012). Student Achievement Starts with Attendance. California School Board Association Annual Education Conference, November 29, 2012. Print.
Gamble, Z. P. (2004). The effect of student mobility on achievement and gain-score test results (Unpublished doctoral dissertation), University of Tennessee, Memphis, TN.
Gottfried, A. M. (2011). The Detrimental Effects of Missing School: Evidence from Urban Siblings. American Journal of Education, Vol. 117(2): 147-182
Gottfried, A. M., (2009). Evaluating the Relationship between Student Attendance and Achievement in Urban Elementary and Middle Schools. American Educational Research Journal, Vol. 47(2): 434-465. Print.
National Centre for Education Statistics, (2009). Every School Day Counts: The Forum Guide to Collecting and Using Attendance Data. Retrieved on 25 April, 2016 from www.nces.ed.gov/pubs2009/attendancedata/chpater1a.asp
Romero, M. & Lee, Y., (2007). A National Portraits of Chronic Absenteeism in the Early Grades. New York, NY: The National Centre for Children in Poverty.
Sheldon, S. (2007). Improving Student Attendance With School, Family, and Community Partnerships. The Journal Of Educational Research, 100(5), 267-275. http://dx.doi.org/10.3200/joer.100.5.267-275
Strang, K. D. (2015). The Palgrave Handbook of Research Design in Business and Management. Palgrave: Macmillan.
Thomas, J., Nelson, J. & Silverman, S. (2015). Research Methods in Physical Activity (7th ed.). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
Zang, W. (2014).Research of Information Security Quantitative Evaluation Method.AMM, 513-517, 369-372. http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/amm.513-517.369
