Factors Affecting Achievement at a Junior High School on the Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota

Download or read book Factors Affecting Achievement at a Junior High School on the Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota written by Jamu Saiduddin and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Abstract: This study examined the challenges facing a representative Native American School located in Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota. The study also investigated the relationship between school achievement (SAT Science score) and the scores on the Resiliency measure. Past research on Native American education system has been focused on identifying risk factors associated with school failure and school dropout. It is now recognized that certain innate traits in children and certain factors in the environment enable children to cope with the problems in life and succeed. This quality has been designated as Resiliency. The Resilience of the student was measured by using the "Resiliency Instrument" developed and validated by Cynthia Jew. The Resiliency questionnaire comprised of sixty items. The items were placed on a five point scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). The items on the questionnaire were grouped into four subscales for analysis, based on their appropriateness to the subscale. The subscales used were: Positive attitude; Independence; Goal; and Empathy. Pearson product-moment r, t-test, Regression, and ANOVA were used to analyze the data. A demographic questionnaire was administered to obtain background information. Seventy eight junior high students participated in this study. A questionnaire was given to teachers in the same school to obtain their perception of the challenges faced by the school (17 teachers participated). The results indicate that the Goal subscale was positively associated with achievement. Resilient individuals have the ability to cope with their problems and focus on the future, and they prepare to attain the skills necessary to accomplish their goal. A relation was also seen for Positive Attitude subscale and achievement. There was a positive correlation between achievement and attendance, and a negative correlation for Incident reports (as a measure of disciplinary action) and achievement. There are a number of factors that impact on the academic achievement of Native American students. Some of these are school related such as inadequate preparation, and lack of resources to enhance the learning process. Others are environmental factors outside the realm of the school such as family, community, and the economic situation.