An Examination of Student Reengagement District Administrative Procedures: An Action Research

Jared Louis Hoadley

Changes in Washington State law require all school districts to adopt policies and procedures concerned with student reengagement. This dissertation describes the action research undertaken in the Mead School District to address requirements of the new law to successfully reenter students after being absent due to exclusionary discipline. The study followed Lewin’s (1946) action research principles and was comprised of four cycles of inquiry. Participants in the study included seven secondary school administrators and one high school counselor. Participants reviewed and incorporated research and theory on student engagement, parent involvement, and student advocates, and high reliability organizing to frame and assess protocols and checklists developed to reflect best practices. Specifically, a Student Pre-reengagement Planning Sheet, a Student Reengagement Checklist, and accompanying standardized protocols were generated and have been submitted for adoption by the district. The Student Pre-reengagement Planning Sheet is a series of questions to be completed by the student and their parent or guardian prior to the reengagement meeting with the student, parent(s) or guardian(s), and school personnel. There are nine sections in the Student Reengagement Checklist. Each section attempts to address the student’s academic, relational, and behavioral schooling needs: Section I includes information on the student’s graduation date, current credits, and demographic information; Section II requests for a recollection of the student’s discipline infraction and asks for the parent’s and student’s ideas to avoid a recurrence of the violation; Section III requests for the student’s positive and negative personal relations at school; Section IV requests the student to disclose their most difficult academic subjects; Section V requests teachers to list the most critical missing or incomplete assignments; Section VI includes the student’s plan to minimize the drama when returning to school; Section VII is a check-in plan to meet periodically with school personnel; Section VIII is for stakeholder signatures (i.e., student, parent or guardian, administrator, and student advocate); Section IX is for adding additional documents, such as Safety or Section 504 plans. This study includes an interpretation of the action research process and personal reflections of the researcher. Additionally, the study’s significance, limitations and recommendations are presented.

An Examination of Student Reengagement District Administrative Procedures: An Action Research

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