I.

CONTEXT AND RATIONALE

Learner attendance is one variable that has a significant impact on learner achievement.
Absenteeism is not only an indicator of low academic achievement but also a strong indicator of
diminished social and life success (Williams, 2010). Absenteeism makes it difficult to create a
solid foundation in terms of discipline and sense of responsibility. Therefore, it leads to problems
in work and discipline habits in future work life (Pehlivan, 2006). This leads to potential
consequences, such as unemployment or low income and inability to work at a regular job
(Eastman et al., 2007; Gentle-Genitty, 2008).
            Moreover, as absenteeism increases, learners are inclined to experience psychological
problems such as depression or behavioral disorders. They may also exhibit behavioral patterns
such as becoming involved in violence inside and outside of the school, teenage pregnancy,
quitting school and acquiring harmful habits (Gottfried, 2009; Eastman et al., 2007; Lannegrand-
Willems et al., 2012; Sinha, 2007; Williams, 2001; Robinson, 2009; Gentle-Genitty, 2008; Jeter,
2011; Casserly, Carpenter & Halcon, 2001). In other words, absenteeism for young people is
considered as a predictor of academic failure and leads to many other risk factors. If no
measures are taken, absenteeism may be the beginning of a process ranging from academic
failure to dropping out of school.
            In Kamora National High School, there is an alarming rate of attendance irregularities
such as absenteeism, skipping classes and tardiness among Junior High School learners.
Records from the guidance office disclosed that in a day, an average of 11 learners are absent,
23 skipped from their classes while 21 learners are late in attending flag ceremony.
Specifically, the drop-out rate of 4.65% in 2015-2016 decreases in the succeeding year
with 3.9%. However, there was a dramatic increase in 2017-2018 with 5.4% drop out rate.  Most
of these truant learners are males from first to second year classes. Based on the records of the
Guidance Designate, the common cause of truancy among learners are unprecedented weather
in which Kabayan is prone to floods and landslides. Second is the influence of their peers and
the transferees from other schools. They influenced the vulnerable learners to cut classes or get
absent twice or three times a week. Because of this influence, the learners eventually loss
interest in going to school. Lastly, other causes of absences of learners are illnesses, doing
household chores, the distance from their houses to the school and attending occasions such
as weddings and the like.
            Moreover, in the last three years, the cohort survival rate of 94% was high in school year
2016-2017, however, it decreased in the succeeding year with 85.89%. Similar pattern is
likewise reflected in the retention rate of the Junior High School. It was inferred by the teachers
that one reason for this low result is caused by the frequent absences of truant students
because they were not able to comprehend and assimilate all the competencies required of the
subjects and they could not beat the deadline of submission of requirements or others do not
submit any requirement at all.  Remedial classes are being conducted but still others are not
attending.  These truant learners do not realize the consequences of their absences, thus it is
critical to inform and remind them through counseling.
            Therefore, this calls for a discovery of appropriate interventions that could improve the
performance of our learners and the delivery of lessons by the teachers.

The study is based on the concept of Clark (2008) that learner's parent has a significant
impact on his attendance in school. Research indicates the following reasons for learner
absenteeism arising from the family: family's socio-economic level; family's need for learner to
work; parenting skills; psychological problems; support or neglect; alcohol or drug problems;
criminal (McCluskey et al., 2004; Clark, 2008; Reed, 2000); the lack of consistency; inter-parent
conflicts; family structure, such as a single parent; interest or control level for the learner's
behavior; parents have low education level; negative past school experiences; lack of
participation in school or not understanding procedures; and not providing environment for the
learner to do homework (Corville-Smith, Ryan Adams, & Dalicandro, 1998 ; Rood, 1989; Corley,
2012; GentleGenitty, 2008, Eastman et al., 2007, 2007; Reed, 2000).

On the one hand, the primary responsibility of parents is to ensure their children
regularly attend school. Conditions at home have a significant impact on children’s attendance
and on their promptness. Poor family control and lack of persistence is perhaps one of the most
important factors behind school absenteeism (Pehlivan, 2006). Family control can be defined as
parents' knowledge about their child's activities, friends and the information regarding his
whereabouts (Cetin & Cok, 2011). Disinterested families are often seldom concerned with their
children’s success or failure. They do not help in solving the problems at school and they rarely
attend parent-school meetings. These families are unlikely to create a disciplined environment
for children at home (Hallam & Rogers, 2008). According to Williams (2001), today's high school
learners are controlled less than their parents were in the past. As well as lack of control and
lack of monitoring, some parents ignore the excuses with less than a valid reason. In so doing,
they are supporting and justifying the absenteeism.

II.            ACTION RESEARCH QUESTIONS

 
            The main purpose of the study is to determine the effect of parents on guard to the
attendance and academic performance of grade 8 truant learners on all subject areas in
Kamora National High School.
            Specifically, it will seek answers to the following questions:
1.  What is the attendance rate of students before the implementation of the
intervention?
2.  What is the attendance rate of students after the implementation of the intervention?
3.  Is there a significant difference on the rate of attendance of learners before and after
the intervention?
4.  What is the general average of learners in the second semester after the
implementation of the intervention on all subject areas?
5.  Is there a relationship between the attendance rate and general average of learners
in all subject areas after the intervention?
6. To what extent do teachers implement the strategies to enhance participation of
parents in the implementation of the intervention of their children?
7.  How do parents respond to the interventions employed by the guidance office to their
truant children?

III.           PROPOSED INNOVATIONS, INTERVENTION AND STRATEGY

            The researcher planned parents’ involvement in counseling in assessing their children’s
activities as interventions that would enhance the performance of the truant learners for the
school year 2019-2020. The results of the attendance of the students will be compared to that of
their last year’s attendance.  Parents guarding their children will be monitored by the assigned
teachers. Hence, this study will be using (Reid’s (2006) five stage model in intervening
attendance of truant students.
To be specific, stage one would be for students who attend school and classes 92% of
the time or more, and require little to no support. During this time, direction instruction
will be used to educate students on the importance of attending and graduating from school.
Concrete statistics should be shared with students in class pertaining to the
At stage two, students who will be attending school and classes 85 – 92% of the time will
be given an initial warning letter informing to the legal guardian(s) and reminding them of the
importance of making regular school attendance, their legal responsibilities, and the
consequences of failing to fulfill them. However, also at stage two, the guidance counselor or
the student’s adviser, would begin the check phase. This phase would consist of compiling the
student’s records of tardiness, both unexcused and excused absences, behavioral referrals,
grades, and accrued credits. Once all of the data has been collected, an immediate meeting
would be scheduled with the student and the guidance counselor, and a discussion about
these risk factors would be initiated.
If the student’s attendance will continue to drop to stage three, attending only 75 –84%
of
school and classes, the student and his legal guardian(s) will be asked to attend an
attendance panel. The attendance panel would be comprised of three key staff members: the
principal or assistant principal, the adviser of the student, and the guidance counselor. At this
time, the student’s attendance, academic progress, and behavior will be discussed. Legal
guardian(s) will be warned of the next two stages and what would happen if their child’s
attendance does not improve. The student and his legal guardian(s) will be asked to sign the
record of the discussion and the agreed upon an action plan before leaving the meeting. At this
time the student would also be assigned a mentor. The mentor’s responsibility will be to provide
the student with feedback on his current progress, discuss school and its associated benefits,
and to initiate problem solving strategies that the student could use to examine his potential risk
factors as well as both his short and long term goals.
If the student’s attendance drops to stage four, attending 65-74% of school and classes,
then the student and his legal guardian(s) would be asked to attend a school board panel. The
panel would consist of the principal or assistant principal, a
teacher, a PTA representative, the student’s mentor and either the guidance counselor of the
school. The agenda is similar to that of stage three; however, at this point the legal guardian(s)
would be issued a warning and a follow-up meeting would be scheduled. Also at this time, a
functional behavior assessment would need to be initiated by
either a general education teacher, or his special education teacher. Once the functional
behavior assessment is completed, the hypothesis for student behavior must be shared with
the teachers, principal or assistant principal, and mentor, and be confirmed by the student and
legal guardian(s). Next, a new action plan would be developed and the follow-up meeting
would ensue, so that the student and his legal guardian(s) could be supplied with and sign the
new action plan.
If the student’s attendance drops to stage five, attending 65% or less of school and
classes, then the student and his legal guardian(s) would be asked to attend a Board of
Education panel meeting. At this meeting, the Board of Education, parent(s), and student
explore all of the possible reasons and context for the repeated absences. An absolute final
warning is issued and the student’s attendance is strictly monitored over the next six weeks.
The student’s attendance during this period is expected to be at 100%. As soon as the child
allows his attendance to drop, the LGU along with the school board will be contacted for
consideration of possible prosecution. The goal is to end the truant behavior as quickly as
possible, and not allow the student to reach stage five.
In terms of strategies, the study will adopt the New Jersey Tiered System of Supports
(NJTSS) to improve attendance of truant students. The following tiers are
Tier 1: Universal Attendance Strategies (All students)
a. Clarify attendance expectations and goals;
b. Educate and engage students and families about the impact of attendance on
achievement;
c. Ensure accurate data collection and reporting and monitor attendance data; and
d. Recognize good and improved attendance.
Tier 2: Intervention Strategies for Students At-risk for Chronic Absenteeism (Students missing 5-
10%)
a. Tier 1 plus: Develop personal connections with students who are currently, or in
danger of being chronically absent;
b. Support families facing additional barriers to daily school attendance and increase
engagement;
c. Develop a mentoring program in your school; and
d. Identify resources available to improve chronic absenteeism rates among various
student populations.
Tier 3: Intervention Strategies for Chronically Absent Students (Students missing 10% or more
of school)
 a. Tiers 1 and 2 plus: Utilize student support staff to identify individual barriers to
satisfactory attendance;
b. Offer students opportunities to reengage with the school community and reconcile
credits and curricular content they may have missed due to missed classes;
c. Offer students and families alternative educational structures to best accommodate
barriers to school attendance.
 
IV.          ACTION RESEARCH METHODS
a.    Research Design
The study will utilize the mixed methods’ in order to look into the effectiveness of the parents on
guard in improving the learners’ attendance and academic performance. Mixed methods is a
research approach whereby researchers collect and analyze both quantitative and qualitative
data within the same study (National Collaborating Centre for Methods and Tools, 2015). Mixed
methods research requires a purposeful mixing of methods in data collection, data analysis and
interpretation of the evidence. The key word is ‘mixed’, as an essential step in the mixed
methods approach is data linkage, or integration at an appropriate stage in the research
process. Quantitative data will be collected to assess the attendance and academic
performance as well as the extent of participation of parents to the intervention. Qualitative
narrative data will be collected to gain insight into on how parents respond to the interventions
employed by the school to their children.
b.    Participants of the Study
The participants of this study will be drawn from the high school learners at Kamora
National High School during the school year 2019-2020. The selected sample of learners will
include only Grade 8 with at least 11 absences in the first semester. These students will be
considered to have excessive absenteeism and will be referred by teachers to the guidance
designate for assistance in improving their attendance. In many cases the absences of learners
in the sample population exceeded 11 days in a semester.
The focus of this review is on interventions for chronically truant students; thus
we were interested in identifying studies in which the participants had a significant
attendance problem rather than being at risk in some other way.
c.    Data Gathering Methods
The data collection processes will be a combination of quantitative in nature to acquire
answers for the study’s research problem. These data collection processes were global
literature on the topic, site observation, document analysis, and face-to-face interviews
(McMillan, 2012:271). Document analysis will also be utilized in order to provide pertinent
information such as learner’s demographics, achievement, school and class sizes, and special
programs necessary in the study. 
Three types of data collection will be utilized to provide for analysis. Reading
peer
reviewed literature on truancy will be used as corroborations on the results of this study.
Second, student information from surveys, academic records, and attendance records
will provide student specific data. Lastly, teacher surveys that will provide teacher
specific data.
The researcher will seek permission from the Schools Division Superintendent, Benguet
Province as well as the School Principal of Kamora National High School to conduct the
research to selected Grade 8 learners. Meetings will be conducted with the parents/guardians of
the selected participants of the study to explain the purpose of the study and to ask their
consent. The researcher then will coordinate with the Grade 8 teachers for the mechanics of the
study.
d.    Data Analysis
The data gathered from the respondents will be treated with descriptive and inferential
statistics. The descriptive statistics includes the percentage, averaging and weighted mean
while inferential statistics uses the t-test for two dependent mean and t – test for two
independent mean. Pearson-product moment will be used to determine the relationship
between the attendance of learners and their academic performance.
 
e.    Ethical Issues
Consent from the participants in the research is significant. The participants have the right to
withdraw from the study at any stage if they wish to do so. Participants will be fully informed.
The informed consent will be obtained having the necessary forms. The principle of informed
consent involves providing sufficient information and assurances about taking part to allow
individuals to understand the implications of participation and to reach a fully informed,
considered and freely given decision about whether or not to do so, without the exercise of any
pressure or coercion. School Head’s consent on the conduct of the study will be sought.  The
use of offensive, discriminatory, or other unacceptable language needs to be avoided. Privacy
and anonymity or free of personal identification information of respondents is of a paramount
importance. Computerized data encryption will be employed. Maintenance of the highest level of
objectivity in discussions and analysis throughout the research will be observed.