Sport

The performance in school, both in terms of attendance and academics, of student athletes has long been the subject of debates and negative perceptions.  This study is made to examine the effects of school sports activities and programs in the performance of student athletes, particularly in terms of attendance.  It will also touch on the other aspects of student athletes performance in academic achievement, or lack thereof, and in their behavior in class.  This paper will later reveal that there are really no negative effects on student athletes  school academic performance and truancy.  The fact is, sports activities in schools promote students attendance and enhance better academic performance as will be shown in this concept paper.

Statement of the Problem
    This study is made to do a research on the common beliefs views, concerns, debates and worries as well as activities related to the effects on a student athlete who participates in interscholastic sports activities.  It is designed to determine the relationship between becoming a student athlete vis-a-vis truancy.  It will also try to determine if there are other negative effects, as commonly believed, e.g., ugly behavior in class and poor performance in academics. 

    In any high school or even middle school in the United States, attendance is of utmost importance.  This is never more apparent than in 2002 when the Compulsory Attendance Law (Missouri Dept. of Elementary  Secondary Ed.,2009) was enacted.  This statute provides that parents or guardians are required by law to ensure that the child under their custody is enrolled in school and attend it regularly.  The age of requirement differ slightly depending on the state.  The enactment of this law alone serves to signify the importance the nation is putting on educating children.  In the pursuit of attaining this goal, attendance becomes a must.

    Interscholastic sports activities and programs, on the other hand, are becoming too popular in schools that a huge number of the students become drawn to it.  It is recorded that yearly, there are no less than 70,000 students who join interscholastic athletics in public community colleges alone (Natl Junior College Athletic Assoc., 2008 Horton, 2009 ).  With the number of student athletes increasing, the more that academic performance, truancy and its relationship to school sports are questioned and debated about. 

    Since most schools impart to their students the importance of not missing classes and attaining a certain average in order to participate in the sports activities, Miami-Dade County Public Schools policy for example, ensure that sports activities serve its purpose and become beneficial to the student s welfare and not the other way around.

Definition of Terms
    The following terms and concepts will be used operationally in this concept paper
    Academic Achievement.  Student s school progress based on grade point average.
    Student Athlete.  An individual who attends community college privileged to receive a sports-related financial aid.
Truancy.  An intentional and unauthorized absence from school.

The Topic
    For decades now, teachers, coaches, parents and those concerned have been forming their own conclusions on questions related to the topic (Rhea and Lantz, 2004).  This concept paper is basically focused on the topic of the relationship between interscholastic programs of student athletes and its effects on the attendance as well as academic performance.  From this topic, questions such as whether or not said sports programs adversely affect the student s performance or is truancy a direct result of such sports activities may be asked.

The Research Problem
     It has become a common belief that sports activities serve as a bad influence to student athletes and has been the cause of truancy and poor academic performance.  Truancy is considered to be one of the ten biggest problems in schools in USA today. The rate of truancy in some cities reaches a high of 30 (De Kalb, 2004).  For instance in New York City, out of 1 million students, 150 thousand do not attend class daily.  In 2003, United States adolescents (Johnston, et. al., 2004), based on the national survey, showed 16 of 10th grade, 11 of 8th grade and 35 of 12th grade students were reoprted to be skipping 1 or more school days in a 30 day period (Henry, 2007).  In Denver Public School in 2004 to 2005, there have been chronic truants who had about 10 or more unexcused absences (Natl. Center for School Engagement, 2006).

    A study done in Minnesota showed that truancy actually indicates a more serious problem including alcoholism, family trouble, issues on mental and physical health, chemical or drug problems, gang involvement, neglect or peer pressure (Minnesota Dept. of Health, 2004).  Initial skipping of a class or two can grow worse.  It follows that grades are affected, as the student athlete becomes a truant.  Should sports programs be proven to cause these problems, then a need to revisit the benefits of interscholastic sports becomes imperative.

    While this is the common belief among many, evidences tend to go the other way.  In the first place, most schools come up with sports programs in school for the purpose of promoting student participation.  A student who participates in school sports activities will need to adhere to strict rules in attendance and academic standards.  This fact makes student athletes all the more conscious about their attendance and grades instead of what many people perceive, that sports make them skip classes and get poor grades.

Background and Justification
    Truancy is clearly a big problem that needs to be addressed and it spans the whole nation.  In Texas for instance, as reported by Channel 13 KTRK-TVDT (2010), high schools  truant rates are the highest in Houston (Dolcefino, 2010).  There are at least 4 Kempner student athletes just last March, 2010 that were found to be in a burglary spree during class hours.  What makes the matters worse is that these kids were marked present in their athletics class.

In Detroit, Free Press columnist Brian Dickerson (March, 2010) reported that a typical high school student in Detroit has 46 days missed classes in 2009.  District revenues are affected by truancy since school funding is connected to enrollment.  The solution being considered to solve this problem is to withhold from students their class credit after a certain number of absences and to make parents accountable for it by slashing their public assistance. 

In Arizona, as well as in many other states in the country, school attendance is the law (www.hennepinattorney.org, 2008).  After a certain number of absences from class, the number of which depends from state to state, the student may be cited for delinquency and may need to go through legal proceedings in the Juvenile Court.

The facts above show that the problem of truancy exists and needs immediate solution.  Given that the people involved in this problem are students and people who are concerned about their future, this concept paper becomes highly important.  This study will test if there is indeed a connection between said truancy and poor academic achievement.  Furthermore, should a connection be found, tests will show if said connection is negatively affecting student athletes school performance or vice versa.

Deficiencies in the Evidence
The deficiencies this problem may encounter would be the lacking number of literature that will clearly connect truancy, as well as poor academic performance, to interscholastic sports programs and the participation in it by student athletes.  In the same way, there is not much written work that would prove conclusively that sport activities are not the culprit to the problem of truancy and even poor performance in class.

Audience
The effect and benefits of this concept paper, whether positive or negative, is mainly towards the student athletes.  A negative result on the topic will dictate that participation in sports will only do more harm than good and they would be better off not joining school sports activities.  On the other hand, a positive result will show interscholastic sports programs are in fact beneficial to student athletes and promote good performance in class particularly with regards to attendance and academic achievements.

Purpose of the Study
    The purpose of this study is to test and explore the hypothesis that student athletes are more likely to commit truancy due to their participation in various interscholastic sports programs in their school.  This concept paper also aims to test other underlying hypotheses that are connected with the topic, i.e., academics are negatively affected by participation in schools sports,  student athlete behavior are worsened by the fact that players are treated like heroes and to suggest possible solutions to the problem of truancy in majority of the schools in the United States.


    There are plenty of studies and researches done to examine the relationship between student athlete s participation in school sports activities and overall performance in school.  Most of these researches are generally divided into two types, one that positively considers school sports and its relation with school achievement and the other being the negative view that interscholastic sports activities are actually the culprit in the student athlete s truancy, poor grades and bad behavior.  This study is basically focused on learning the relationship of sports and truancy.   The study also extends further to include the correlation between sports and academic performance as well as the athletes  disciplinary behavior and issues. 

    For a better view of both sides on the subject, below are varying literature that discusses either the positive or the negative views, beliefs and opinions people have about student athletes and attendance in class as well as school performance as a whole.

Positive Studies on Interscholastic Sports Participation
    In a year 2000 study made by Mark Stegman in a  world class school  in Nebraska, it was shown that the subject school has 21 sport events offered to students.  in the same school, records would show that graduates are not happy ending up with just a high school diploma and would go on to continue college.  In the same school, Stegman conducted a survey and found out that sports participation does not hurt attendance and academic performance of athletes.  Instead, it instills in them self-discipline, physical fitness, teamwork, and goal setting.  All these have instead helped students will all the areas of their lives while in school (Stegman  Stephens, 2000).

    It is quite surprising to note that in many findings, such as one made by Stegman, based on intensive and in depth researches, sports have a positive impact on student athletes. Instead of common belief that it promotes truancy, low or failing grades and bad behavior, students who participate in sports are found to do the reverse. Instead of negative effects, what sports can do to student athletes are quite the opposite, i.e., better grades, better attendance and good behavior.  Some of such negative feedbacks about student athletes are found in the next topic.


Negative Views on Interscholastic Sports Participation
    The common opinion many people, including teachers, coaches, parents, students and other adults about students athletes are far from positive.  In fact, in a study made of 538 athletes and non-athletes, only 15 gave a positive perception with 59.1 of students and 33 of school professors giving them a negative perception (Simmons, 2010).  Some of the common misconceptions and more appropriately, insults, thrown on these athletes are the following  stupid unless otherwise proven, dumb jocks, truants, afforded too much favors they do not deserve, drops classes all the time, low IQ, etc.  They are in fact the butt of many jokes (Jokes.com, 2005).  These remarks and comments have no doubt placed a heavy burden on students who participate in sports.  They should not only excel in sports but also in academics and should be able to attend classes as well as sports activities.

    This study is designed to either dispel the aforementioned perceptions or strengthen them, depending on the findings and results.

    If done quantitatively, it will be difficult to find any negative effects in student participation in school sports activities.  However, contrary views remain to be present.  A study held in 2004 produced results linking sports participation to aggressive responses among student athletes as compared to non-athletes (Rhea and Lantz, 2004). 

Research Questions
    Due to the fact that sports programs now play a major role in most schools in the United States and affect the lives of numerous high school students, participation to it has become invaluable.  It is therefore important to understand the importance of sports participation of these students.  Given the topic in this concept paper, the research questions are as follows (a) Are interscholastic sports programs the cause of truancy in class (b) Is academic achievement affected by sports activities in schools (c) Is there a relationship between sports programs and student athletes  school performance in terms of attendance, academics and behavior


Participants
    The study is based on a comparison done between student athletes and non-athletes in an urban high school.  The comparison will be gauged via a survey of the two most important personalities in the lives of the student athlete, their teachers and coaches.  The comparison will be done through a mixed method research.  Teachers and coaches will be asked to comment openly on their views about the impact of school sports activities in the lives of the students, particularly in attendance, behavior and academics.

    Less than 10 questions will be asked of all the teachers handling the second year high school students in the subject school and all the coaches of all sports events in the said school.  Each question may be answers by 1 to 5, which is the interval scale that will show the teachers  or coaches  agreeability, with 1 being the most negative effect and five the positive.  An essay part of the questionnaire will be answered by the subjects with their views on the effect of interscholastic sports activities to the lives of the student, their attendance, their behavior in class and their grades.  They will also give a comparative feedback on the difference in performance between the athlete and the non-athlete.

Instruments  Procedures
This type study design is basically that of a survey.  The questions answerable by a scale of 1 to 5 that will serve as the rating of the opinions, beliefs and views of the teachers and coaches on the effects derived by students through sports participation on their overall performance, i.e., attendance, academic achievement and disciplinary behavior and other negative or positive effects.  Also in the survey form is a question that will investigate the time demanded of student athletes for comparison with those who do not participate in sports.  Lastly, a question in essay form will be included that will inquire about the views of the students  mentors on how sports programs are related to the students  overall performance in school.

This survey can only be possible if permission from the concerned school will first be obtained from the institution s head.  This can be done through a formal letter of request which will include among others the guarantee that all teachers, coaches and who will be subjected to the survey will be extended anonymity and privacy.  The identities of the individuals involved as well as the school itself will remain confidential.

Only when the permission is granted will the survey form and questionnaires will be distributed to those targeted to join the survey.  An instruction of returning all questionnaires in the school administrative office will be given out and once complete, the tabulation and analysis of the answers will ensue.

Validity
    Validity is attained in this study through the formation of questions to be included in the survey that are representative of all tested areas.  Moreover, to ensure credible and accurate random sampling that is representative of the whole, sufficient samples are to be surveyed.

Procedures
The information and data are to be selected, collated, organized and coded for a more comprehensive review.  Procedures will be based on the replies given in the questionnaires.  The quantitative data included in the survey will be manually tabulated through percentage calculation.  The qualitative data, on the other hand, will be grouped according to common subjects or themes to get the result.
This procedure will be done to determine the connection between the participation of students in sports activities in school and truancy, as well as its effects of student academic achievements.

Preliminary Results
    The result immediately shown by the survey conducted on the coaches and the teachers for students, both athletes and non-athletes, under their mentorship is a positive.  The feedbacks show that those who participated in school sports are less likely to skip classes than those who do not attend sport activities.  The athletes also perform better in class in terms of grade and behavior.

    The collected data showed that interscholastic sports programs and activities, instead of producing negative effects on the student athletes as some people perceived have instead resulted into positive effects on the different aspects of the life of the student.  Their attendance is better than those who are not into sports, their grades are relatively higher and their behaviors are well within the protocol in school. 

Limitations
    Given the fact that the data collected for random sampling is only from a single school, the study becomes demographically limited.  The abilities, achievements and activities by the students in the subject school may not be representative of other schools across United States.  Moreover, though the relationship derived between sports programs and truancy, as well as academic achievement, came out positive, the basis of the results may not be as strong as other methods.  The opinions of coaches and teachers may not be sufficient.  Other variables may be the reason for the exemplary achievement and school performance of the student athlete such as proper upbringing, family support, encouragement from family and friends, etc.  Given the fact that the study compares the performance of the student athlete and the non-athlete, the mentioned factors may very well lead to successful school life even if they do not participate in interscholastic sports programs.

    It is quite apparent that there is indeed a connection between interscholastic sports activities and student athletes  performance in class, particularly to truancy, as well as behavior and academics.  However, instead of negative effects, what the sports can provide these students are better attendance in classes, better grades and good behavior.

    These results are basically attributable to the policies student athletes need to adhere to be able to become eligible to participate in said sports activities.  This is how big an importance they give to sports and the effect on their overall school performance become enhanced.  Both qualitative and quantitative data collected support these conclusions.