An Examination of School Re-enrollment Procedures for Juvenile Offenders Re-entering Urban School Districts in Southern New England: Implications for School Leaders.

摘要

This research study examined school re-enrollment procedures of former juvenile offenders re-enrolling from secured supervised settings to urban mainstream secondary public schools and alternative schools and programs in two urban school districts in Southern New England. This study further profiles the characteristics of former juvenile offenders' lack of school involvement with respect to truancy, school suspension and expulsion, learning, behavior, and emotional disabilities, as well as family, economic, and social disadvantages. The purpose of this research study was to evaluate perceptions of the effectiveness of the school re-enrollment process to determine which elements of it enhanced or disengaged former offenders from secondary urban schools. Stufflebeam's (CIPP) evaluation model was used as a framework for the study (Stufflebeam & Shinkfield, 2007).;A one-phase, concurrent mixed-method design employing nameless state education agency (N=578) archival educational data, standardized open-ended interviews (N=19) from school administrative and school support personnel, and school re-enrollment (registration) documents (N=2) were used to gather the data.;The interviews were analyzed using the hand-coding method to develop common themes based upon school administrators and school support personnel perceptions of school re-enrollment procedures (Creswell & Piano Clark, 2007). The qualitative findings from the interviews provided thick descriptions of school administrative and school support personnel perceptions suggesting there were no systematic re-enrollment methods in place to measure and evaluate the academic, social, and behavioral outcomes of all former juvenile offenders (Creswell, 2003; Patton, 2002). The quantitative findings employed grouped frequency distributions and chi-square analyses for grade, gender, ethnicity, disability, English proficiency, economic status, school district, and successful school re-enrollment. The data were analyzed and the findings are reported in tables and narrative with respect to the perceptions, structures and processes needed to foster successful school re-enrollment. The use of descriptive statistics, thematic analysis of interview transcripts, field notes, and re-enrollment documents were triangulated to aid significant findings in prioritizing and reporting the outcomes (Creswell & Clark, 2007).;The statistical and significant importance of the findings of this study may be useful in supporting and sustaining efforts to strengthen school reenrollment procedures of mainstream urban school districts throughout Southern New England.