Date of Award

12-2018

Type

Dissertation

Major

Doctor of Education

Degree Type

Ed.D

Department

Counseling, Foundations & Leadership

First Advisor

Michael Richardson

Second Advisor

Marguerite Yates

Third Advisor

Jan Burcham

Abstract

Researchers have indicated that secondary school students were more likely to be truant than primary school students which lead to students dropping out of school and becoming less productive citizens as adults. Researchers have also shown that participation in a school-based mentoring program can positively influence the students and help them make better life decisions. The purpose of this study was to determine to what extent a multi-year, looping, school-based mentoring program has on the attendance data, behavioral data, achievement data, and graduation rate of high school seniors at a rural high school in west Georgia. The researcher conducted a mixed methods study to analyze the relationship between a high school with a mentoring program and a high school without a mentoring program through attendance data, behavior data, test score data, and graduation percentage. For the quantitative portion, attendance data, behavior data, test score data, and graduation percentage were obtained and analyzed using descriptive statistics and t-tests. The overall findings were in favor of the school without the mentoring program or not statistically significant. For the qualitative portion, six individual teacher interviews were conducted at the school with the mentoring program to obtain data on their perception of the impact the mentoring program had on high school seniors. The overall findings were positive teacher perceptions of their impact on student attendance, behavior, test scores, and graduation. The mentoring program did not statistically impact student attendance, behavior, test scores, and graduation; however, the relationships and impact that the teachers had on the students could impact the students well into their futures.

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