TITLE: An investigation into the attendance and absenteeism of fifth form students at the North

Union Secondary School

 Table of Contents

Title page……………………………………………………………1

Introduction ………………………………………………………………2

Method of data collection………………………………………….…...3

Presentation and Analysis of data………………………………………..4 - 7

Discussion of Findings……………………………………………………8

Conclusion………………………………………………………………….9

Appendix ……………………………………………………………………10
 Title page

An investigation into the attendance and absenteeism of fifth form students at the North Union

Secondary School.

1
 Introduction

The North Union Secondary School is a rural institution located on the windward side of

St. Vincent. The institution holds approximately four hundred and fifty students (450) with five

(5) grade levels. School commences at 8:15. Every Monday at assembly the principal would

express his disappointment and amazement with the number of students arriving late and usually

needs to purchase a late pass. He would regularly state that the fifth formers are prime suspects

of constant late coming and absenteeism which has led to many of them being behind on their

school work in preparation for CXC.

To this effect, this SBA will seek to determine the level of absenteeism and late coming

among the fifth form students of the North Union Secondary School. This research will be

carried out under the following objectives:

❖ To calculate the average attendance of the fifth formers on a weekly basis.

❖ To find out which day of the week has the most frequent attendance.

❖ To find out which fifth form class has the best attendance and late coming record.

❖ To determine the student’s perspective on how late coming and absenteeism

affect/impacts their academic performance.

2
 Method of data collection

This investigation was conducted during the month of October 2018; in the first

term of the year school year 2018/2019 using two data gathering techniques.

Firstly, the method of examining Records was used to collect information on the

fifth form students attendance and punctuality. At the end of each day for the month of October,

the researchers collected the class registers from each fifth form teacher. Using a tally table the

researchers recorded information relating to the name of the class, number of persons in the

class, number of absence, number of presents and number of late. To be objective in the analysis

of the data, students’ real names were not recorded. This method of was most appropriate as it

saved time as the data was already being recorded by the form teachers, thus making it more

accurate, credible and valid.

In addition to that, questionnaires were used to get a more in depth look at the

problem of constant late coming. The names of each of the students in the four fifth form were

entered into Microsoft excel, and a sample of five students from each class was generated using

the appropriate functions and given a questionnaire to complete accounting for a total of twenty

respondents. This method was quite effective and appropriate because it allowed for the

collection of a larger amount of data at one time and allowed the respondents to express reasons

for their late coming.

The data collected from this researched were stored as both hard copy and soft

copy. Hard copy information was stored with the teacher in a designated area in the staff room,

while each member of the group was emailed a soft copy of the data. Using Google docs set up

by the teacher, the researchers were able to work collaboratively while securing the information

on cloud storage.

3
 Presentation and Analysis of Data

Figure 1: A Line graph showing the average punctuality of the fifth formers on a daily basis for

the month of October.

30

25
Average Frequency

20

15
Late
10 Absent

0
MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY
Day of the Week

4
Figure 2: A Table showing a summary of the students’ punctuality on a weekly basis for the

month of October.

Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4

Class
Late Absent Late Absent Late Absent Late Absent
11E1 35 5 21 6 9 7 3 2
11E2 34 1 43 6 32 8 12 0
11E3 9 6 23 5 12 5 4 0
11E4 27 13 49 91 21 11 7 1
TOTAL 105 25 136 108 74 31 26 3

5
Figure 3: A Pie chart showing the students’ perspective on how late coming and absenteeism

affects their academic performance.

25%
Agree
40% Strongly agree
Disagree
5% Strongly Disagree
Not certain
10%

20%

6
Figure 4: A Bar chart showing the ratio of male and female that were absent and late during the

month of October.

50
45
40
35
30
Frequency

25
Late
20
Absent
15
10
5
0
Male Female
Gender

7
 Discussion of Findings

The researchers found out the attendance and absenteeism in each fifth form. The highest amount of

absenteeism was found in the class of 11E3/11E4. Symbols such as strokes and circles were used to

represent lateness and absenteeism on the register. Red strokes were used to represent lateness, while

black stokes represent present and early and the circles represents absent. When compare with the other

classes it was notice that 11E3/11E4 had more red strokes and circles than the other classes. Meanwhile,

11E1 was the class with the least red strokes and circles. Therefore, it can be said that 11E3/11E4 has the

highest rate of absenteeism and late coming, whereas, 11E1 has the lowest rate of absenteeism and late

coming. This implies that late coming and absenteeism is a major problem in fifth form.

8
 Conclusion

Based on the investigation it can be concluded that 11E1 has the highest attendance rate while

11E4 has the highest absenteeism rate.

9
 Appendix

Questionnaire

1. How often do you come to school late?

Never ___ Everyday ___ 1-2 days per week ___

2. What fifth form class are you in?

11E1 ___ 11E2 ___ 11E3 ___ 11E4 __

3. Why do you come to school late?

Difficulty getting Transportation ____ waking up late ____ pick and choosing of vans ____

I don’t like school ____ other ____

4. How often are you absent from school?

Never ____ Once per week ____ twice per week ___

5. What are the reason(s) for your absenteeism?

I don’t have any money ____ I don’t care for school ____ Illness ____ I don’t complete
assignments ____

6. How often do you purchase a late pass?

Everyday ____ Twice a week ___ never ____

7. Do buying a late pass encourage students to come early?

Yes ___ No ___

8. Do you think coming late or absent impact/affect your school work? If yes ,
Yes ____ No ___
How __________________________________________________

9. What do you think the school should do to deter late coming?

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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