The effects of interdisciplinary teaming and parent contacts on the academic achievment, motivation, attendance, and supervision rate of students identified to be at-risk of repeating the ninth grade

Abstract

A Quasi-experimental Pretest - Posttest design was used to determine whether interdisciplinary teaming, positive parent contacts, negative parent contacts, and gender had an effect on the academic achievement, motivation, attendance, and suspension rate of students identified to be at-risk of repeating the ninth grade. Participants in this study were 100 students identified to be at-risk of repeating the ninth grade, on the basis of poor academic performance during the eighth grade year. Fifty of these students participated, through an application process, in the treatment group. Students were selected for the program because they had poor grades and had been referred by counselors, teachers, or parents. This treatment group received interdisciplinary teaming of the four core subject areas (math, science, English, and social studies) and frequent parent contacts during the ninth grade year.

An additional fifty students, composing the control group, were selected by a matching process on the IOWA Tests of Basic Skills composite score, composite grade point average from the eighth grade, subject area grade point average in the core subjects (math, science, and English), and gender. Students in the control group followed a traditional departmentalized schedule during the ninth grade year.

Statistical analysis included descriptive statistics, analysis of covariance, and multiple regression analysis techniques. Positive parent contacts emerged as having a statistically significant role in accounting for the variance in academic achievement and attendance. Additionally, negative parent contacts were found to have a significant effect on suspension rate.

Through the implementation of interdisciplinary teaming, the traditionally departmentalized high school may be reorganized so as to provide the frequent contact with parents that is necessary to produce an effect on academic achievement and attendance. Although teaming itself was found only to have a significant effect on attendance, there are other advantages to teaming that go beyond the scope of this study that would certainly be worth investigating.