A critical analysis of potential dropouts in the Bay d'Espoir-Hermitage-Fortune Bay integrated school board in the province of Newfoundland

• Main Author: Duncan, Ronald Edward
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Memorial University of Newfoundland 1973
• Subjects: Newfoundland
• Online Access: https://research.library.mun.ca/4447/; https://research.library.mun.ca/4447/1/Duncan_RonaldEdward.pdf; https://research.library.mun.ca/4447/3/Duncan_RonaldEdward.pdf

This study of potential dropouts was carried out at the request of and with the cooperation of the Bay d'Espoir-Hermitage-Fortune Bay Integrated School Board in the Province of Newfoundland. The general objective was to initiate contact with students and teachers, and through their cooperation and assistance, obtain appropriate data relevant to the dropout situation within the schools under this Board which would then provide a factual basis for the Board to begin developing action plans to combat the problem. Out of this, 19 specific objectives for the study were developed. -- A review of the literature indicated wide areas of disagreement among researchers in the field. Differences in research design, sampling procedures and terminology made comparisons of some studies invalid. While writers did generally agree that low achievement was characteristic of the dropout, the reasons for this phenomenon were the source of many apparently contradictory research findings. Widespread agreement was found in the literature, however, when discussing socioeconomic factors and their affects on student motivation. The literature leads one to conclude that the most prevalent characteristics of the dropout are low levels of academic achievement and coming from families of lower socioeconomic status. -- Two assumptions were made in the conduct of this study. The first was that dropping out is a process, and as a result, the study of potential dropouts was a valid procedure for the purposes of this study. The second was that simply asking students if they were expecting to leave school before the end of Grade XI was an adequate way to identify potential dropouts. -- Two samples were used in the conduct of this study. In all cases, students considered potential dropouts were compared with a control group of potential persisters to ensure that the final conclusions would be based on factors which clearly identified one from the other. -- Data were obtained from questionnaires concerning attitudes toward school, family structure, ...