Date Approved

5-9-2000

Embargo Period

6-20-2016

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.A. in School Psychology

Department

Educational Services and Leadership

College

College of Education

Advisor

Klanderman, John

Committee Member 1

Dihoff, Roberta

Subject(s)

Academic achievement; Mentally ill children--Education (Secondary); Private schools; Public schools

Disciplines

Educational Psychology

Abstract

This study was designed to measure the academic growth, in the areas of reading and math ability, between students who are classified emotionally disturbed and placed by the school district in private, out of district schools with similarly classified students who remain in district programs. Other indicators of academic success, such as attendance and frequency of suspension were also compared, statistically, between the two groups. Yet other factors, such as grade retention, counseling and student investment were compared loosely. Sixty high school students, (thirty from each setting) comprise the two groups. Previous academic testing from the 1997/98 school year was compared with current reading and math abilities, as determined from the administration of the Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT). Regarding the attendance and suspension rates, raw numbers were collected for the most recently completed school year (1998/99). The statistical package included an independent sample test of means on all data and indicated that, contrary to the researcher's hypothesis, there was no statistical difference in academic growth between the two groups for the two-year period in the study. However, absenteeism and frequency of suspension rates were significantly higher for the out of district group.

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