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RESEARCH ON PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT IN REGULAR AND SPECIAL EDUCATION ON THE SPIRIT LAKE RESERVATION
Longie (1995) conducted research on absenteeism on the Spirit Lake Nation Reservation, in which he collected the attendance records of all students in eighth grade through their senior year of high school. He compared attendance to academic achievement test scores and high school graduation rates. The study also included interviews with parents and school personnel of regular education and special education students. Important findings from this study were: |
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Native American students, on the average, miss many more days of school than non-Native students, even if they are attending the same schools. The average Native American student missed over a month of school days in the eighth grade alone! |
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Parents’ involvement is critical, but often absent, in addressing chronic attendance problems. This was found to be even more true in the classrooms these Native American students attended, because the teachers were often not prepared to deal with problems of poor attendance and low academic achievement. |
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Students who eventually dropped out of high school could be identified as early as the eighth grade based on their attendance records. Dropouts missed twice as many days of school in the eighth grade as did non-dropouts. |
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There was a significant negative correlation between number of absences and standardized achievement test scores for Native American students only. |
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Click here for further information on this study of absenteeism and parental involvement |