Rizikos veiksniai, lemiantys šalinamų iš pagrindinės mokyklos nepažangumą
Risk Factors Resulting in Low Academinc Acievement and School Student Dropout

Summary/Abstract: Low academic achievement, non-attendance, repetition of the school year and cases of dropouts from school reveal the insufficient efficiency and poor functioning of the school education system. Those factors can also be viewed as potential pre-conditions for low educational standards, future unemployment and cases of social exclusion. The arms of the study were to identify the reasons and scale of low academic achievement as well as to pinpoint the roles of school and family in providing support to learners. The target group included 488 students from Forms of secondary and basic as well as youth schools, first-level vocational schools, and the "street children"; all members of the target group were from Vilnius. The method used in the research was semi-structured interview. The data obtained were processed according to the Programme SPSS PC 10.1. The conclusions of the study can be stated as follows. The first signs of problem cases in terms of poor attendance and academic under achievement can be noticeable as early as in the primary level of schooling, which becomes more evident in Forms 5 and 6. The key risk groups for possible future dropouts were identified in Forms 1, 4 and in Forms 5 to 8. The inclination for non-attendance max especialy evident in Form 5. The most frequently mentioned reasons for non-attendance as pointed out were: poor preparation for lessons, fear of tests and negative assessment. Boys had more discipline problems whereas girls more frequently pointed out insufficient clarity in teacher's explanation of the subject taught. More than one fifth of all respondents emphasized that they had needed extra support since primary level, two fifths needed similar support in Forms 5 and 6, and one third of respondents — in Forms 7 and 8.

• Details
• Contents