Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

2000

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Morris, John D.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine whether at-risk elementary school students enrolled in an after-school program offering resiliency training would be positively affected both academically and behaviorally. Survey results and literature reviews indicate that the issue of at-risk, neglected, or abused students is the number one issue facing society and has moved it to the forefront of educational prominence. Although there is a substantial amount of literature on the subject, most is not research based and is focused only on the pathology or risk factors with which children have to cope, rather than on controlled, evaluative studies that could assess success or failure of specific strategies or programs. The researcher evaluated students from two Florida elementary schools identified by the Florida Department of Education as "critically low performing schools." The students in the population were identified as critically low academic achievers and/or those demonstrating aggressive behaviors. The key characteristics of students targeted were academic performance and behavior in school. The schools identified in the study, in addition to having low academic achievement and a high level of behavior problems, also had demographic issues that contributed to the needs of the school population. The researcher targeted appropriate activities and behaviors necessary to evaluate the programs within each of the schools selected. Although results of the statistical treatment failed to reveal significant differences among the hypotheses tested, resiliency enhancement is still a viable means by which academic or behavioral gains can be made with students. The researcher suggests that additional evaluative activities be incorporated into future studies. It is recommended that further analysis to determine the specifies of problems facing individual schools be more qualitative. It is also suggested that increasing the sample size to increase the power of the analysis will rule out the inconclusiveness of the analysis. Previous research indicates that although students may make academic or behavioral gains, they may still be far from the absolute levels of performance that are recognized as being significant. This research has also established that the imperative for growth and development exists and develops naturally in the presence of certain environmental attributes. Other conclusions and recommendations for further study were offered.

Extent

79 p.

Comments

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2000.|College of Education|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Thesis (Ed.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2000.

Identifier

FADT12636

Format

pdf

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