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Studies have traditionally focused on student factors or characteristics to explain why students disengage from school, thereby pinpointing "students at risk." My study focused on school factors that contribute to student disengagement, making "schools at risk." The literature on school factors revealed that school policies and practices, lack of subject relevance, and lack of connectedness contribute to student disengagement. What is missing from the literature is student voice.
My initial conceptual framework was that, while students bring with them personal characteristics, various school factors contributed equally to student disengagement. For a total of 17 hours, I interviewed ten students who had disengaged from the traditional high school but had graduated from an alternative high school. In addition, I also interviewed parents of eight of the students, for a total of 12 hours.
To verify my framework, I asked interviewees to share their educational stories. My four research questions guided the conversation:
(1) What school factors contributed to the students' school and learning engagement?
(2) When did these students disengage from school, and which school factors contributed to this disengagement?
(3) What were the negative outcomes of student disengagement?
(4) What can we learn about the decision to attend the alternative school and their experiences there to identify additional school factors that contributed to student disengagement?
My analysis utilized the constant comparative method. The answer to the first question was that teacher characteristics, subjects/co-curricular areas, and class size contributed to student engagement. In answer to the second question, teacher characteristics, school policies, transition times, and class size contributed to student disengagement. The negative outcomes of disengagement (question three) were low self-concept, stressful home relationships, general disappointment, and disrupted friendships. The fourth question yielded the following factors that kept students engaged at the alternative school: structure of the day and class, relationship with the teacher, individualized instruction, and smaller class size.
My conceptual framework changed because of the interviews. Connectedness, or the relationship between the teacher and student, was the main overriding school factor affecting student engagement or disengagement.