The effects of academic tutoring and self-esteem building on at-risk students in the middle grades

This study investigated the effects of academic tutoring and self-esteem building on the dropout rate of at-risk students in the middle grades in a south Georgia middle school. Increasing dropout rates create a subsequent burden on the taxpayers since dropouts earn approximately ;Research conducted for the study suggested that it is not student background but the school's response to the student's background that determines a student's success in school. The study site had 447 students who dropped out of school in 1992.;Based on data collected from students' records, absenteeism among at-risk students who eventually drop out of school often starts as early as third grade; by the fifth grade, future dropouts are absent twice as often as those who go on to graduate from high school. By ninth grade, they are absent three times as often. Therefore, a decrease in absenteeism was used in this study as a valid measure of dropout prevention.;Another indicator for being at risk for dropping out of school was referrals for disciplinary problems. An objective of student support services in the study site is to reduce the number of referrals to the principal's office by 10% in two years. Therefore, the study was designed to make an intensive effort to involve students in activities in school and outside the regular school schedule to keep them in school throughout the middle grades.;Findings of the study revealed that as a result of academic tutoring and self-esteem building, students improved their grade-point averages and their self-esteem scores. In addition, attendance data revealed a decrease in absenteeism; also, the number of disciplinary referrals for students decreased.;It was concluded that the school must continue to implement programs for at-risk students in order that the percentage of students completing high school will increase. Also, it was recommended that the project be replicated to include additional students, impacting the school system's objective to decrease the dropout rate by two percent each year until the year 2000.