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Principal's perceptions of why students are at risk and the programs available to serve them in rural Nebraska high schools
Abstract
The primary purpose of this study was to determine what percentage of rural high school students in the selected school districts in Nebraska were "at risk", what was being done to help these students and if these efforts were successful in meeting the needs of the students who were at risk. The findings were compared with the results of the Phi Delta Kappa Study of Students at Risk (Frymier, 1992), which involved more than 21,000 students in 276 schools across the nation. Principals in selected Nebraska rural high schools were surveyed using an instrument developed by Frymier (1992) for use in the Phi Delta Kappa Study of Students at Risk. The instrument contained 24 criteria that were indicators of at-risk students. Twelve principals were interviewed by telephone concerning the programs, or lack of programs, offered in their school or community for at-risk students; the principals' perceptions of what worked and what did not work in their schools were solicited during the interviews. The criterion, "Student's father or mother works as an unskilled laborer, or is unemployed," was perceived to contribute to the largest number of at-risk students in the rural schools surveyed. Principals in the study perceived the second highest ranked indicator of at-risk students was, "Student does not live with real mother and real father, or parents got divorced during the past year." This criterion was ranked as the greatest indicator of at-risk students in the Phi Delta Kappa Study of Students at Risk (Frymier, 1992). The criterion, "There is evidence the student has been drinking alcohol during the past year" was perceived by the principals to be the third ranked indicator of at-risk students. Several programs to help at-risk students were noted by the principals during their interviews. Because it is important to understand the problems and the realities of young people more precisely, teachers and administrators must continue their search for ways to be more creative and more effective in their efforts to help at-risk students. Recommendations for further research on at-risk students in rural Nebraska high schools and the programs that were perceived as helpful were presented.
Subject Area
School administration
Recommended Citation
O'Mara, Kenneth Lee, "Principal's perceptions of why students are at risk and the programs available to serve them in rural Nebraska high schools" (1995). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI9528828.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI9528828