The Impact of the Samantha Academy of Creative Education (SACE) on Students Placed At-Risk at a Suburban High School in Southwest Texas

摘要

Reducing student dropout is of extreme importance to the United States. The lossin revenue as well as in human terms is huge. Several problems exist concerningstudents placed at-risk for dropping out. These include no agreed upon method ofcalculating drop out rates, differing opinions on the causes of school dropout, and abody of literature that is sparse concerning educational approaches for keepingstudents placed at-risk in school. This study examined the impact of the SamanthaAcademy of Creative Education (SACE) on the students placed at-risk and theteacher perceptions of the SACE program by the teachers working in the program at asuburban high school of Southwest Texas.The population of this mixed-methods study consisted of secondary generaleducation students from a large suburban high school in Southwest Texas who hadbeen placed at-risk. One of these groups consisted of students that participated in theSACE program while the other group consisted of a similar group of students notparticipating in SACE. Statistical tests were conducted to determine if a difference existed between the two groups with regard to graduation rate, attendance rate, andcore grade average. Perceptions of the SACE program by the teachers that workedwithin the SACE program were gathered.Results indicate that student placed at-risk who participated in the SACE programhad higher core grade averages, higher rates of graduation, and higher rates of attendancecompared to students placed at-risk within the same high school who did notparticipate in SACE. Teachers perceived that the SACE program was efficacious forstudents placed at risk because of three broad themes. This study further demonstratedthat effective programs aimed at helping students placed at-risk can bedeveloped within the context of a regular high school setting. Recommendations forfurther research and implications for practice were provided.