Conditional success: Identifying the conditions which are perceived to influence urban elementary school student success

As schools become more accountable to public opinion, it is important to identify what all stakeholders view as student success. This study does not aim to identify academic strengths and weaknesses, but rather to identify those conditions perceived by parents, students, and teachers of an urban elementary school to promote success among students. By identifying conditions perceived to influence the success of students, schools can focus their ever-decreasing resources towards specific goals and objectives to foster successful schooling experiences for more students.;The researcher focused the study on 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders who attended an elementary school located in an urban setting in Northern California during the 2007-08 school year. The researcher did not include students from the lower grades due to their age levels and limited educational experiences.;The study design incorporated surveys tailored to student, parent and teacher sample group populations. A probability sample was used to administer surveys to ensure maximum participation eligibility. A stratified random sampling was conducted using survey responses to select focus group participants that reflected the diversity in the setting as well as within survey responses. Focus group interviews were employed to clarify and confirm the results revealed through the survey responses.;The researcher examined previous literature prior to commencing this study and identified themes used by earlier researchers. By going back over 100 years to examine studies conducted at all levels of elementary and secondary education, the researcher identified parent and community involvement in the educational process, student engagement within the educational setting, and teacher relationships and development as being major themes which were apparent from the studies.;The conclusions indicate that, although participants shared similarities in opinion as to what conditions influence student success, there were also marked differences. Perceptions of the parent and student participants of the study did not necessarily reflect those conditions evident in the literature review as being beneficial to student achievement. Further investigation is needed to determine causes for those perceptions.