The Relationship Between School Belongingness And Drop Out Rates

Abstract

The present study investigated the relationship between several measures of
school belongingness and drop out rates for 22 high schools in a Midwestern state.
Measures of school belongingness were taken from students' responses to the adapted
version of the Center for Disease Control for the Department of Health and Human
Service's Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS). Results indicated that the relationship
between items addressing school belongingness (i.e., the student's feeling comfortable in,
being respected in, feeling that school contributes to his or her experience in an important
way, and feeling connected to the larger school community) and drop out rates were not
statistically significant. However, statistically significant relationships were found
between school belongingness and parents helping with homework, as well as with
students' level of school enjoyment. Additionally, enjoyment of school correlated
significantly with parental help with homework and with interest in coursework.
Limitations and implications of the present research are discussed.

Date of Award	2011
Original language	American English
Awarding Institution	Eastern Illinois University
Supervisor	Linda Leal (Supervisor)