“The Jewel Tracker”

An Action Research
Presented to Dr. Cherry Mae L.. Limbaco
Schools Division Superintendent
Division of Bukidnon

In Partial Fulfillment
Of the Requirements of Teachers
In San Miguel Elementary School

By

GLOMELA S. LOFRANCO
Teacher I
San Miguel Elementary School
Manolo Fortich I
Rationale

Truancy refers to pupils’ unexcused absence from school. A major problem faced

by schools across the country. Although the problem is prevalent the attention given on

this issue has been less. One of the obstacles faced by pupils and teachers,

inconsistency of attendance in class. Concern about truancy typically focuses on these

unexcused absences. However, any school absence excused or unexcused as well as

missed classes and hardy arrivals can affect students negatively. Despite good parental

care and proper supervision of the school, some children are good at staying out of

classes while lessons are going on. Some of the pupils may leave their houses in the

morning for school but aren’t found in the school. This problem has not only become a

threat in the Grade 5 Zamora class but the whole school as well. Irregular attendance of

pupils at lesson has been a problem from the baseline of formal education.

Why should we care about truancy? Truancy is a social problem around the world

(Maynard, McCrea, Pigott, & Kelly, 2012). In our view, it is riddled with multiple

challenges. Most of all, there is a battle to determine whose role it is to respond to

children identified as not attending school when authorities and/or their parents believe

they should be attending. Unclear also is the appropriate response to such behavior. The

major critique is that many persons, who do not succeed or fail to take advantage of the

equalization opportunity provided by the educational system, have limited participation.

Subsequently, those with little education and already disadvantaged are further alienated

from society (Toby, 1957). Levin reported that “when some citizens received

considerably poorer education than the norm for the society, not only will those persons

suffer [and be excluded from the main stream, due to a lack of participation in the legal
economy], but the larger society will suffer too” (p. 4). Sadly, students who are truant are

likely to engage in delinquent behaviors and deviant practices, making it a social problem

and a public health concern. School connectedness – or lack thereof – is also a factor in

truancy (Barry et al., 2011; Reid, 1999, 2005), resulting in students’ disengaging from

formal systems, like school (Barry et al., 2011; Lawrence et al., 2011; Maynard, Salas-

Wright, Vaughn & Peters, 2012; Reimer & Dimock, 2005)

Truancy truly affects the academic performance of a pupil. When a student has

attendance, achievement and behavior issues they likely increase their risk of dropping

out of school. Moreover, pupils engaged on this frustrating phenomenon would surely

get low or if not failing grade, which needs urgent solution. These realities encouraged

the researcher to innovate an intervention that would help pupils who are at risk of

dropping out from school.

Schematic Diagram

Pretest Post test

Intervention using
Longitudinal
The JEWEL Tracker
Evaluation

Figure 1. Schematic Diagram of the Study

Research Intervention Material

The Jewel Tracker is an intervention to reduce truancy of pupils. This innovation

aims to help pupils who are at risk of dropping out gain

This is an intervention material named “The Jewel Tracker “since every child are

precious jewels in the eyes of every parent. This material is a sign-in sheet with a prize

which is used three times a day. First, before the flag ceremony will start the class beadle

will let the class in the line to write their names and sign in the form, this is done during

this time to monitor the truants’ presence right after the flag ceremony. Because most

likely truant pupils run away from class during this time. Second is right after recess

since this is also a peak time for cutting classes. Third is after the lunch break. In this

light, the tracker form will be evaluated every Friday. The pupils who perfectly signed in

the tracker form obviously haven’t missed a single session so those pupils will be given a

star which calls for a prize. Two stars in a week deserve a toy and ten points credited in

all subjects. In a month, the accumulated six stars deserve school supplies and food stuffs

and points.

Quasi experiment will be used by the researcher to get a meaningful comparison

of the research.

Research Questions

This research aims to reduce truancy, thereby decreasing the likelihood of dropout

and serious future offenses among Grade Five- Zamora pupils of San Miguel Elementary

School and to answer the following questions:

1. How can we best motivate pupils with poor attendance problems to return to class? st
 2. How can the intervention tool help truant pupils to stay in the classroom?

3. Is there significant outcome of the research to the respondents?

Hypotheses

If the researcher continuously and religiously uses this intervention material the

researcher is then able to increase attendance among pupils in the experimental group over time.

Scope and Limitation of the Study

This research is limited to the pupils of Grade Five Zamora at San Miguel Elementary

School. This study will be conducted during the first semester of school year 209-2020.

Research Methodology

This chapter describes the methods and procedures used in this study. It discusses

the research design, the research locale, the respondents, the research instruments,

validation and its administration, data gathering and the statistical treatment.

Research Design

Quantitative data such as attendance and grades, based from school form 2 and

class records will be used. In the qualitative data the researcher’s observation and

anecdotal records and interviews will also be used in the pretest. Both quantitative and

qualitative data will be collected to take it as the “baseline” for the basis to measure the

outcome variable in the posttest.

Research Locale

This research will be conducted at San Miguel Elementary School which is located in

Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon. It was opened in 1951. As of school year 2019-2020, it has a

total enrolment of 468 pupils with 24 teaching staff and a school principal.

The Respondents

The respondents of the study were the four male pupils of Grade Five Zamora

Class this school year 2019-2020.

Research Instrument

The instruments used in this study are the quasi experiment or the pre and posttest

time series. It also used quantitative and qualitative data. To know the significant result

whether it is enormous enough to be meaningful, it also uses longitudinal evaluation.

It has ten statements evaluated by the principal and was then administered to the

respondents after using the sign-in sheet with a prize. Table 1 presents the rating scale

used for each statement and verbal description.

Table 1

Rating Scale and Verbal Description for the Longitudinal Survey

1 2 3 4 5
Not at all helpful Somewhat Very helpful
helpful

1 2 3 4 5
Not at all helpful Somewhat Very helpful
helpful

Data Gathering Procedure

The researcher conducted the pretest last June 10, 2019 since it was already noted

that the four boys had to escape classes with the evident patterns, right after flag

ceremony, after recess or after lunch break. This observation and record tracking

motivated the researcher to innovate such intervention material. The Jewel Tracker then

was created. From July1 2019 the posttest period, the pupils started using the sign- in

sheet with a prize. Then the evaluation was done in the first week of October 2019.

Statistical treatment/Plan for Data Analysis

To have a valid and reliable analysis and interpretation of the respondents’

pretest-posttest scores, the data gathered were subject to the following statistical

treatment.

1. (number of class periods skipped in the month prior to SISWAP intervention)

(total number of class periods in the month prior to SISWAP intervention).

2. (number of class periods skipped in the last month of SISWA participation)

(total number of class periods during that month).
 Table 2

Range and Verbal Description on the Weighted Mean for the Longitudinal Evaluation

Survey

Range Verbal Description

3.50-4.0 Not at all helpful
2.50-3.49
1.50-2.49 somewhat helpful
1.0-1.49 Very help

Ethical Issues

Parent- teacher conference was conducted to inform the parents and for them to

be aware about their children.

Results and Discussions

This chapter deals on the results and findings of the study.

Table 3 showed the summary result of the attendance of Grade Five Zamora pupils

during the pretest and posttest.

Table 3

Respondents’ Attendance during Pretest and Posttest

Descriptive
No of School PRE TEST Rate
Days
attendance %
June- 14 6 43 Poor
POSTTEST
July - 22 19 86 Good
Very
Aug- 20 19 95 Good
Sep- 21 21 100 Perfect
Oct- 14 14 100 Perfect

Attendance
Rate 95 Very Good
 The table shows that the pupils’ attendance during the pretest was only 43 percent

with 95 percent as achievement rate. This result was very meaningful. However, to

further improve pupils’ attendance this intervention material must be implemented. The

result implies positive effects of The Jewel Tracker intervention for the pupils.

Table 4

Respondents’ Attendance during Pretest and Posttest

Descriptive
PRE TEST
Respondent No of School Rate
s Days attendanc
%
e
1 June- 14 6 43 Poor
POSTTEST
July - 22 19 86 Good
Very
Aug- 20 19 95 Good
Sep- 21 21 100 Perfect
Oct- 14 14 100 Perfect

Attendance
Rate 95 Very Good
Table 5

Evaluation Questions

Possible Causes Not a Cause Definitely Not A

Cause

1 2 3 4 5

Pupils come to school prepared to do school work 1 2 3 4 5

(e.g., they don't have books, papers, pencils;
haven't completed their homework, etc.)

Pupils have the social skills necessary to be 1 2 3 4 5

successful in a school environment
(communication, cooperation, following rules, etc.)

Pupils the basic skills that will enable them to learn 1 2 3 4 5

(e.g., reading, writing, math, etc.)

Pupils have coup behavioral and/or emotional 1 2 3 4 5

problems that interfere with learning.

Pupils have adequate health care and are often 1 2 3 4 5

home sick.

Pupils are motivated. 1 2 3 4 5

Pupils do not feel safe and secure at school. 1 2 3 4 5

Parents are taking responsibility for getting their 1 2 3 4 5

children to school.

Parents are involved with school in general. 1 2 3 4 5

Parents are involved enough with their child's 1 2 3 4 5

academics (e.g. homework, preparedness. etc.).
Conclusion and Learning Implications

Conclusion

There was a meaningful result of the experiment based from the pre and post test

Further, the respondents expressed their positive view and appreciation on the

material.

Therefore, the intervention was proven to be effective and helpful to the pupils.

Learning Implications

1. It is recommended that teachers innovate interventions to help pupils especially

those who are at risk of dropping out.

2. It is highly recommended also that this innovation must also be implemented to

the whole school.

REFERENCES

Sia CC. The medical home: pediatric practice and child advocacy in the
1990s. Pediatrics.  1992; 90:419–423. Abraham Jacobi Award address,

Schorr LB. Within Our Reach. Breaking the Cycle of Disadvantage. 1988

New York, NY: Anchor Press/Doubleday

Brewer EJ Jr, McPherson M, Magrab P, Hutchins VL (1989) Family-
centered, community-based, coordinated care for children with special health care
needs. Pediatrics. 83:1055–1060.
 Time Table/Gantt Chart
Activities June July August September October November December January
1 23 1 2 3 1234 1234 1234 1234 1234 1234
4 4
Pre- Implementation Stage
1Close
attendance
monitoring
2. Compilation
of anecdotal
and observation
records and
pictures
Implementation Stage
1. Parent
teacher
conference and
information
drive
Post Implementation Stage
1. Tabulating
the result
2. Analyzing
the result for
the
effectiveness of
its purpose.

Cost of Estimates

School Quantity Unit Unit Cost Total

Supplies Cost

A4 bond
Paper 5 ream 200.00 1, 000.00

A4 Folder 10 pcs 15.00 150.00

Clear
Short White 32 pcs 7.00 224.00
Folder
Over-All Total P1, 374.00

Plan for Dissemination and Advocacy

The result of the study will be disseminated to the internal and external

stakeholders of the school. The study will give baseline data for policy review, planning

and enhancement and for the implementation of the program. The result will also serve as

baseline for the existing problem in the school. The findings shall be presented to the

school head for verification and recommendation of adapting it to other schools in the

district. after using the board game. Table 1 presents the rating scale used for each

statement and verbal description.

the pretest and posttest of the Dolch Sight Words, the WORDerful Bees Board Game and

Pupils’ Perception Survey Questionnaire. Dolch Sight Words are words popularly used

by teachers in assessing the level of reading ability of their pupils. WORDerful Bees

Board Game was developed by the researcher to enhance the reading fluency of the

pupils especially in dealing with the sight words. Pupils’ Perception Survey

Questionnaire was designed to measure the pupils’ observation and opinion towards the

use of board game. It has ten statements evaluated by the master teacher and was then

administered to the respondents after using the board game. Table 1 presents the rating

scale used for each statement and verbal description.

.

Research Questions

This research aims to identify the main reason of absences among Grade 2-

Lindaban pupils through home visitation. It is important to identify the reason so that

teachers may able to gather more information about her pupils’ to cope-up with the lesson

they have missed and to lessen pupils’ absences and to have good rapport with parents, so

they may extend a helping hand voluntarily for the sake of the welfare of their children

and importantly to answer the following questions:

1. What is the effect of conducting home visitation to Grade 2- Lindaban pupils?

2. Is there any positive effect of home visitation among the pupils?

3. Can this practice help reduce pupils’ absenteeism?

Scope and Limitation of the Study

This study is limited to the effect of home visitations to absentee pupils.The

conduct of the “Reach for the Star “” is an intervention to be conducted to the Grade 2-

Lindaban puils of Manolo Fortich Central Elementary School. This study will be

conducted during the first semester of School Year 2019-2020.

Action Research Methodology

This chapter describes the methods and procedures used in this study. It discusses

the research design, the research locale, the respondents, the research instruments,

validation and its administration, data gathering and the statistical treatment.
Research Design

This study will use the descriptive correlational research method. The descriptive

correlational research method involves recording, analyzing, interpreting, and describing

of data gathered. The results of independent and dependent variables will be interpreted

to determine the significant difference before and after the intervention was done.

Research Locale

Manolo Fortich Central Elementary School is situated in the heart of Manolo

Fortich town, Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon. It was opened in 1945. As of school year 2019-

2020, the total enrollment reaches to 1948 pupils with 72 teaching staff including the

Alternative Learning System and a school principal. It has three curriculums; namely

General Education Curriculum, Special Education, and the Special Science Curriculum..

The Respondents

The respondents of the study were the four pupils of Grade 2- Lindaban Class at

Manolo Fortich Central Elementary School of the current school year 2019-2020.

Research Instrument

The instrument used in this study is the pre and post attendance sheets. Deped

School Form 2 (SF2) is used to monitor and keep track of the pupils’ attendance daily.

“Reach for the Star” is an intervention used to improve the progress of the absentees’
attendance. Survey Questionnaire was designed to identify the reasons and gather more

information about the pupils’ frequent absence. It has ten statements evaluated by the

guidance counselor. Table 1 presents the rating scale used for each statement and verbal

description.

Table 1

Rating Scale and Verbal Description for the Pupils’ Perception Survey

Rating Scale Verbal Description

4 Strongly Agree (SA) Agree to a very great extent
3 Agree (A) Agree to some extent
2 Disagree (D) Disagree to some extent
1 Strongly Disagree (SD) Strongly disagree to some extent

Data Gathering Procedure

The researcher conducted the pre monitoring last June 3, 2019 of the attendance

of the pupils. The researcher found out that there were four pupils who were frequently

absent. In a week the four pupils only attended 2 full days. This result motivated the

researcher to conduct an intervention that would help the pupils gain interest and

motivated to come to school every day. “Reach for the Star” then was conducted. From

the first Saturday July 2019. Then, post monitoring was conducted to determine the

progress of the pupils’ attendance. Finally, to gather pupils’ view on their absenteeism,

the survey questionnaire was administered.

Statistical treatment/Plan for Data Analysis

To have a valid and reliable analysis and interpretation of the respondents’ pre

and post monitoring, the data gathered were subject to the following statistical treatment.
 1. Frequency, percentage, and mean were used in establishing the improvements of

the pupils in pre and post monitoring and their views and opinion about the

intervention.

2. T-test to find out if there is a significant difference with their attendance.

Ethical Issues

Parents were properly notified of the home visits.

Results and Discussions

This chapter deals on the results and findings of the study.

Table 3

Showed the summary result of the pre and post monitoring.

Pre Monitoring Post Monitoring

Days of classes: 17 days June 2019 Days of Classes: 23 days July 2019
Respondent Pupil Pupil Pupi3 Pupil 4 Pupil 1 Pupil 2 Pupi3 Pupil 4
1 2
Attendance 8 4 8 5 18 17 18 16
Average of 0.47 0.24 0.47 0.29 0.78 0.74 0.78 0.69
Attendance
for the
month
Percentage 47% 24% 47% 29% 78% 74% 78% 69%
of
attendance

Table 4

T-Test of the Pretest and Posttest Mean

 Respondents Pretest Posttest Gain Remarks
Score
P1 0.47 0.78 0.31
P2 0.24 0.74 0.5 Significant
P3 0.47 0.78 0.31
P4 0.29 0.69 0.4

Table 4 shows that there were significant increases of on the pupils’ attendance.

Table 5.

Pupils’ Perception on School Attendance

1. Arrive at school on time. yes

2. I know my school’s attendance policy. yes
3. My parents know when I am tardy yes
4. I feel pressured to skip class from my friends yes
5. My school’s attendance policy is effective. yes
6. My parents/guardians know when I have skipped school yes
7. I think my school administration cares when I miss school yes
8. I think my teacher(s) care when I miss school. yes
9. I feel safe at school yes
10. My school has consequences for being truant yes
11. My school rewards students for good attendance yes
12. I am worried that my absences will affect my chance to graduate. yes

Table 5 shows that pupils have already a positive discernment about coming to school

regularly and that home visitation has positive effect on their attendance.

Conclusion and Recommendations

Conclusion
 My first principle of teaching is that the teacher must care deeply about her pupils

and be fully invested in the pupil’s learning.

Therefore, the success of the pupils’ learning depends largely on the teacher’s

effort on discovering the pupils’ problem and never ceases to search for solutions and

interventions.

Recommendations

The researcher recommends home visits as a method to develop a collaborative

and child-directed relationship between the home and the school. It has been found that

home visits provide an opportunity for teachers and families to build relationships and

expand teachers’ knowledge of each student’s home life and cultural background. Home

visits provide a foundation for establishing family engagement with the school. Over

time, researcher has shown that children whose parents are involved in their education

tend to do better in attendance, grades, and graduation rates.

REFERENCES

Sia CC. The medical home: pediatric practice and child advocacy in the
1990s. Pediatrics.  1992; 90:419–423. Abraham Jacobi Award address,

Schorr LB. Within Our Reach. Breaking the Cycle of Disadvantage. 1988

New York, NY: Anchor Press/Doubleday

Brewer EJ Jr, McPherson M, Magrab P, Hutchins VL (1989) Family-
centered, community-based, coordinated care for children with special health care
needs. Pediatrics. 83:1055–1060.
 Time Table/Gantt Chart
Activities June July August September October November December January
1 23 1 2 3 1234 1234 1234 1234 1234 1234
4 4
Pre- Implementation Stage
1. intensive
monitoring f
pupils
attendance
2Investigate on
pupils situation
3. Planning and
implementation
of home
visitation
Implementation Stage
1.Dissemination
of information
for home
visitation
2. Weekly
home visits

Post Implementation Stage

1. Tabulating
the result
2. Analyzing
the result for
the
effectiveness of
its purpose.

Cost of Estimates

School Quantity Unit Unit Cost Total

Supplies Cost

A4 bond
Paper 3 ream 200.00 600.00

A4 Folder 10 pcs 15.00 150.00

Clear

Short White 32 pcs 7.00 224.00

Folder
__________________________________________________________
Over-All Total P 974.00
Plan for Dissemination and Advocacy

The result of the study will be disseminated to the internal and external
stakeholders of the school. The study will give baseline data for policy review, planning
and enhancement of a more comprehensive implementation of the program. The result
will also serve as baseline in addition to the existing absenteeism problem.