Barriers to Learning: A Report From the 2002 Arizona Youth Survey

• NCJ Number: 206476
• Author(s): R. Steven Harrison Ph.D.; Steve Ballance
• Date Published: April 2004
• Length: 19 pages
• Corporate Author: Arizona Criminal Justice Cmssn
• Sale Source: NCJRS Photocopy Services; Arizona Criminal Justice Cmssn
• Publication Format: Document (Online)
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Downloaded on August 9, 2004.

Annotation

Utilizing the results from the 2002 Arizona Youth Survey, this report attempts to identify the barriers that could impede the ability of students to learn in an academic setting.

Abstract

Students in Arizona face unique challenges that can prevent them from succeeding in an educational environment. Identifying these challenges is essential to developing strategies to prevent these challenges or barriers from adversely affecting student achievement. This report attempts to answer the question, “what are the specific challenges or barriers facing youth in Arizona that prevent students from learning?” To answer this question, the 2002 Arizona Youth Survey was utilized. The survey was created utilizing the Communities that Care model which examines the risk and protective factors as they relate to academic achievement and supports evaluating current school barriers to learning by examining issues such as substance abuse, academic failure, school dropout rates, and violence. A total of 12,203 valid surveys from 8th, 10th, and 12th grade students in Arizona were obtained. The survey showed that students who did poorly academically exhibited more risk factors and less protective factors than students who did well in school. Students who performed poorly academically were far less likely to report a high level of family attachment, opportunities for pro-social involvement, or rewards for pro-social involvement than did students who received higher grades. Substance abuse, engaging in antisocial behavior, feeling unsafe at school or unsafe while going to and from school, being suspended from school, being absent from school, believing that school work was not meaningful or important, not enjoying school, and moving or changing schools had a direct correlation to poor academic performance. It is important that both policymakers and parents recognize underlying conditions that both negatively and positively affect the ability of children to perform in the school environment. Tables, figures, and appendices A and B