Date of Award

Summer 2025

Document Type

Open Access Dissertation

Department

Educational Studies

First Advisor

Suha Tamim

Abstract

Youth participatory action research (YPAR) is a collaborative research approach that empowers students to examine issues affecting their lives and communities. This action research aimed to investigate the relationship between students’ attendance and academic success on middle school students, focusing specifically on eighth-grade students based on the theoretical framework of the critical race theory (CRT) in education and the self-determination theory (SDT). Three research questions were explored related to the impact of students’ attendance on their academic success: 1) What do students consider factors that lead to their poor attendance? 2) How do students feel they can be supported in the school environment to increase their attendance? and 3) How do students feel their participation in YPAR influenced their decision to attend school?

A study was conducted with 13 students participating in the research that involved a survey, semi-structured interviews, weekly focus group meetings, and journal reflections. Qualitative analysis revealed that the main factors motivating students to attend school were peer and teacher interactions, teacher support, and an engaging learning environment. During the five-week intervention, students focused on goal-setting and identifying the challenges of accomplishing their weekly goals. This study illustrates how YPAR effectively amplified student voices in addressing challenges while promoting active participation in creating solutions. Participating in this YPAR study helped to understand why students miss numerous days while evaluating how teachers could increase student motivation. Through self-efficacy, students realized they could change by being motivated to improve.

Rights

© 2025, Quennella Smith

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