The purpose of the current exploratory-descriptive retrospective study was to examine the demographic, school-related, and psychosocial risk factors among at-risk elementary school children (N = 12644) assessed at low and high levels of risk for continuing truancy. The sample was enrolled in 16 statewide program sites of a community-based truancy prevention program in Louisiana, which provided a letter and attendance monitoring for low-risk participants and intensive case management for high-risk participants. Intercorrelations among risk factors and referred services and on-time grade attainment were assessed for a subsample of the high-risk children (n = 6088). Binary logistic regression analyses were conducted to determine which correlates among the demographic, school-related, and psychosocial risk factors and services best predicted on-time grade level at 3 years out among a subsample of the high-risk children (n = 2864). Model fit to the data was modest. Findings showed that race and grade at program admission were significantly associated with on-time grade attainment at 3 years out. African-American participants were less likely to be on time for grade than participants not of African-American ethnicity. Participants in kindergarten were less likely to be on time than children in higher grades of elementary school. Children assessed as unmotivated by their teachers were less likely to be on time for grade at 3 years out than children who were not assessed as unmotivated. Other findings showed that participants who completed educational services were less likely to be on time for their grade than participants who did not receive educational services. Implications for social work practice, education, and research are discussed.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LSU/oai:etd.lsu.edu:etd-04202011-140606 |
| Date | 20 April 2011 |
| Creators | Rhodes, Judith L. F. |
| Contributors | Lemieux, Catherine M., Lim, Younghee, Livermore, Michelle M., Page, Timothy F., Jolly, Jennifer L. |
| Publisher | LSU |
| Source Sets | Louisiana State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-04202011-140606/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached herein a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to LSU or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below and in appropriate University policies, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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