Chap 1

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High School Department

CHAPTER I
THE PROBLEM AND ITS SCOPE

Rationale
Students who are always late in class not only lose valuable instruction for themselves, they also disturb class, interfere with lessons in progress, and disrupt other students’ concentration. As schools try to meet state and federal requirements of No Child Left Behind, student academic achievement becomes a crucial part of that standard. However, schools are faced with challenges that may hinder overall student success. Some secondary schools are struggling with student tardiness and absenteeism.
Educators agree that prompt and regular school attendance is an important key to a student’s success. Students should be taught to demonstrate respect for staff and for peers, and one way to do this is to practice prompt and regular school attendance. It cannot be denied that every now and then, students may miss some school activities and lessons. But it becomes a problem if the student will be away from school for many days. Going to school regularly is crucially important for a student’s education and social skills.
Chronic absentee students are placed at a disadvantage both socially and academically. They miss out on critical stages of social interaction and development with their peers and at the same time impacts negatively on their academic progress. This can result to low self-esteem and
ASIAN LEARNING CENTER-PAJO BRANCH High School Department dissatisfaction that could well have precipitated non-attendance in the first place. School absenteeism is an alarming problem for administrators, teachers, parents and the society in general, as well as for the pupils in particular. Unaccepted absence has a negative effect on peer relationship which could cause absence. Many students are tardy because they had turned tardy to be a habit. A tardy mind student intends not to care much of education.
The students not wanting to be there in the class makes them to be tardy. Being on time is not only a duty for students, but also a part of good manners, respect, good reputation, influential, and useful. Tardy all the time to class shows careless and a waste of time. Punctuality is a trait parents should instil in their children. Not only will this be valuable during the elementary and secondary school years, but it will also serve your children well in school and beyond, when punctuality is up to them alone. Education is generally believed to be a force for improving one’s life’s outcomes.
It’s clear that in order for students to benefit from the educational process they have to attend and actively participate. School absenteeism and tardiness are frequently cited and on-going serious concerns by educators. The success of the school in carrying out its primary charge of educating and socializing students is contingent on students attending school regularly. Student absenteeism has been a problem for years. State departments of education and school boards across the country have developed policies, procedures, and programs aimed primarily with the objective of reducing and preventing student absenteeism and tardiness. Educators have long emphasized the importance of class attendance.
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It has been observed that most schools face the problem of discipline, absenteeism and lateness among students. Nowadays, attitudes of students are constantly changing. Undoubtedly the school faces some problems due to student lateness. Furthermore punctuality is a culture that we inculcate in the student and thus prepare him for later life. In this project, a lot of literature research work has been done on the topic of lateness, punctuality and students attitude towards punctuality. Timing is everything. Being punctual is great, being early is even better. When we arrive early or on time, we give the impression that we are in control and manage things well. By showing up on time, we allow other people to get things done on time as well. It is important for the students to be punctual at school, for the smooth running of the school.
Being late at school spoils one’s image. Showing up on time is the discipline of a school. It also indicates the respect for other people. Punctuality is a great way to make a positive personal impact. Absenteeism in one angle view point is one of the most common causes of degrading performances of the students. Especially to those who are included in the advance intelligence curriculum, absenteeism causes a great lose and may result to giving up an aimed position. Indeed lateness and absenteeism is of great concern in schools, as it disturbs the smooth running of classes. Lateness is an act of indiscipline. A student’s attendance may be the grounds of the results of his or her learning performance.
School administration and faculty may also affect the absenteeism rate of their student, and so as the population of those who practice absenteeism affect the administration and the school itself. ASIAN LEARNING CENTER-PAJO BRANCH High School Department

There are so many fruits that the root of absenteeism can produce depending to the situation of the respondent. Hence, this research will be conducted. It has been observed that many students arrive late at school. Often it is noticed that almost the same students every time. It also happens that though the students live in the region nearby, he does not have travel using transportations, is still late at school. Students seem not to consider punctuality to be important. Despite academic qualifications the school also prepares the child for adult world. Punctuality is related to productivity, discipline and behavior. Hence, minimizing lateness among students means that we are building the culture of punctuality in the adolescent which he will use in later life, that is, in a work place. It is for those reasons that the researchers decided to do a related study because they find out that the high school students of their school are prone to tardiness and absenteeism.
The main aim of the study will be able to find out possible causes of tardiness and absenteeism among students, their effects on teaching and learning and suggest solutions to the problem for secondary schools in Asian Learning Center. To determine the causes of student absenteeism in secondary level and to find out the cause and effect of absenteeism and tardiness on teaching and learning on regular and irregular attendees. Furthermore the study aims to devise strategies that schools could adopt to reduce student absenteeism in secondary schools. Investigate what are the reasons and factors that cause them to be late. The researchers wanted to find out the main reason why tardiness and absenteeism are habitually done by most of the students nowadays.
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This study is also geared the impact of absenteeism on students in general education in attempt to create a more productive approach to handling the attendance issue amongst students in special education.
Since this study is to examine the impact of tardiness and absenteeism have on academic achievement of the high school students in Asian Learning Center. This study will provide training about our tardiness, what causes it, the presumptive consequences of being tardy and solutions to overcome or at least help the high school students of Asian Learning Center regarding their problem of being late and absent in school.

Theoretical Framework Student absenteeism has been a topical issue in education systems worldwide. Even in countries where education is free and compulsory at all levels, absenteeism remains a major concern. Studies have shown that countries like United Kingdom (UK) (Reid, 1985), Holland (Boss, Ruijters and Visscher, 1992), Australia (Rothman, 2004), Germany (Wagner, 2004) Lithuania (Liudmila, 2005), United States of America (USA) and Canada (Williams, 2008) have been trying to solve student absenteeism problem since the early 1970’s and 1980’s. In the early 1970’s, student absenteeism was observed to emerge from family, individual and social factors (Reid, 1985, 2005). However, in the 1980’s studies shifted focus to schools and found that institutional factors were another cause of student absenteeism. The diversity of findings

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influenced changes and witnessed intervention programs aimed at reclaiming the interest of students programmes aimed at reclaiming the interest of students in schooling.Studies in Europe (Dekalb, 1999; Wagner, 2004) reported that society was concerned with the problem of absenteeism. They argued that education enables successful personal integration in society and facilitates the realization of life opportunities. However, they also found that students who attend school irregularly are poorly socialised and are more likely to drop out of school. This shows that absenteeism may lead to development of social ills as school drop outs are likely to be unemployed, poor and engage in crime and drug abuse among others. Higher rate of absenteeism in primary schools in SEED raised questions as to whether similar trends could be observed in secondary schools. Further, student absenteeism could have detrimental effects if unchecked because education is an indicator of development. Alicia Smith (AliciaSmith.com) says punctuality says a lot about you. You care. Showing up and on time is one of the best ways to show someone that you care about them. You respect others. Arriving on time shows that you respect others. Respect is the foundation for creating great long-term relationships. You are professional. Being on time is a fundamental tool for anyone who wants to be perceived as being the very best. You are confident. When you show up on time, it’s a sign that you are confident to take on whatever might lay before you. Tardiness can imply that you aren’t confident, or that you are hesitating to deal with a person or situation. You are open to others. Punctuality says, “I’m ready” -- to be involved with
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whatever is set before you. People who aren’t ready often show up late or not at all. You have an edge. Being punctual gives you an edge in business. The early bird truly does get the worm. Timing is everything. Being punctual is great; being early is even better! You’re in control. People choose to do business with those they like, know, and trust. They like doing business with people who are in control. If you always arrive early or on time, you give the impression that you are in control and manage things well. You have a standard for excellence. Punctuality is but one standard of excellence. It implies that you are in control of your life and shows that you respect yourself and others. You keep things in flow. Other people are affected by what you do and don’t do. If you don’t show up or deliver as promised, you adversely affect others. By showing up on time, you allow other people to get things done on time as well.
Absenteeism can also cause social repletion especially when a class is composed of a great number of students. This habit can cause a dilemma to the school administration when big figures are involve and may decrease the school’s performance. On the other hand, contamination of sickness and disease can be avoidable because of the absences of a person (Marbuger, D., 2001). The student body is the greatest contributor to the success or the ground falling of the school. An individual who have habitually made absences in class may have lost the chance of learning. He or she might have less chances of getting an aimed position.
The school who plays an important role to a child’s motivation has known the impact of absenteeism to a student and to the school performance itself. The chronic spread of absenteeism and tardiness may have roots that affect the attendance of an individual. “A constant doing may
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lead to a constant result, just like Domino” (Asia Child Data Trend, 2008). Coping up is never easy, especially when there is a lot of work to be done. Some teachers are also considerate that slows down the run of class discussion.
One of the main causes of being tardy is the residences, some students are suffering from heavy traffic and some are living in far places that cause them to be late and sometimes being absent. Physical illness is also included, because of this, students cannot come to school because they are sick and because of that they can’t catch up the lessons that the teacher taught when he/she is not present. Financial, family problem, being bullied, and last having a lost love ones is only the minor thing of being tardy and absent but the most common problem of the students is playing computer games.
Almost all of the students are being addicted to computer games and because of that students choose to play computer games rather than going to school and some of them cut classes because of addiction. These causes results to having a low grades to those students and having low performance in school. It causes stress to those students that makes them unfocused. But every problem has its solution. First is having a time management, to those students who lived in a very urban places where traffic occur can sleep early and wake up early so they can travel to school before traffic happens.
Being physically fit is an important matter, being healthy can help prevent diseases and being sick. Avoid addictive things such as computer games. For parent, they can let their

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children play computer for weekends with a proper schedule to prevent addiction and lastly being wise On the next page, Figure No.1 presents a schema of the study which generally elaborates the causes and effects of tardiness and absences. Absenteeism alone when a large part of the school population is involved may not only cause a problem to the school but also to the local administration (Williams, L., 2001). When absences or tardiness are done, it can pull down even the highest scores. That is why the results of absenteeism are to be identified as so the solutions can be formulated to materialize the aims of the school and the individuals.

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Figure No.1 Schema of the Study ASIAN LEARNING CENTER-PAJO BRANCH High School Department THE PROBLEM
Statement of the Problem
The main topic of this research is the common factors affecting the habitual tardiness and absenteeism of the high school students and the effects that have impact on the academic performance of Asian Learning Center, S.Y. 2014-2015.
The factors causing students to be late at school will have been studied. The researchers will have tried to see whether the students have any notion of time management. Moreover, they will have tried to see whether the students are aware of the importance of the punctuality culture. The data will be obtained, will have been analyzed and interpreted.
Thus a summary of the findings will have been made and some recommendations related to student lateness will have been produced. Specifically, the study will seek to answer the following:
1. What is the most concentrated factor and effect among the respondents as to:
1.1 Tardiness
1.2 Absenteeism
2. What would be the possible recommendations to be proposed for the high school students in Asian Learning Center most specifically the respondents to minimize or to eradicate tardiness or absenteeism?

ASIAN LEARNING CENTER-PAJO BRANCH High School Department Significance of the Study
In many ways, whether in a tiny scale or in a wide range scale the findings of this research will benefit the following individuals in their own respective fields: The Students. The students would be able to go to school on time. They would become more responsible. This study will help the students to attend their class regularly since this will provide them factual information about the benefits that they can acquire in attending school. Once an individual will know the impact of his doings, he or she will find ways and means to lessen the damage done. It will let this individual know the scope of his abilities and the right way of directing things especially when he would realize the effect of his habitual absences to the school body. To those students who do not have the knowledge on this aspect, they will be given chance to think, and may join the population which influences the declining of absences ratio. The Parents. Parents could encourage their children to go to school on time. The parents are the direct and the baseline in communication in relation to their child’s regular truancy. Knowing the impact of absenteeism and tardiness to their child’s learning performance, a parent will be at the concerns of convincing their child to attend school and protect them from the primary causes of their absences. Teachers and Principals. The teachers who serve as the parent when a child is in school will be able to formulate ideas on how to reduce the number of students who skip classes or who
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habitually commit absences. They will be the keys of motivation and inspiration of their students. They could help each other in implementing plans in helping the students to go to school early. The Researchers. Through this study, the researchers would be able to know effects of tardiness and absenteeism in Asian Learning Center high school students and thus apply the recommendations which will be proposed for they themselves are not free from committing absences and tardiness. The Future Researchers. Their proposed study will benefits and will help the future researcher as their guide. The study can also open in development of this study. They would be able to use these data for them to get the ideas and references if they are planning to conduct the same study.

The School Administrator. Knowing the effects of absenteeism to a student, the school administration is the one primarily affected. Their concerns can then be discussed with the student body and so as the student body sharing their troubles to the administration. Through a conference, the administration might be able to arrive to solutions which can be applicable on different situations. The DepEd Authorities. The Department of Education main goal is to be able to produce productive citizens of the community. Absenteeism is one of the factors that disturb the stableness of this goal. When the results are evident, the DepEd authorities together with the
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different school administration may arrive to a step by step planning to kill the rodents of absenteeism or tardiness.

Limitation of the Study
While conducting this study, the researchers noticed the following limitations that may have a direct effect in the validity of the findings. Firstly, this study focuses on the solutions of being tardy or absent in school, excluding other causes of low performance in school. Secondly, the researchers only have limited experience to handle this issue. However, there will be a proper guidance by their thesis adviser. Thirdly, there will be no guarantee that the respondents would answer appropriately the questionnaires. The personal information needed for the study is Gender, Age, and cause of absences and tardiness such as self-inquiry and family problem. The effects of absenteeism to student’s learning and school performances are enumerated in determining the answers of the respondents. Lastly, the focal point of this research was to survey the perception of the high school students in ALC only towards the common factors affecting the habitual tardiness and absenteeism, not including the other schools in Lapu-Lapu as a whole. DEFINITION OF TERMS Absenteeism- The regular truancy of a child; the habit of having absences. Marked by long duration or frequent recurrence of absent. A tendency to be away from work or school without a good reason: the practice or habit of being absent from work or school.
ASIAN LEARNING CENTER-PAJO BRANCH High School Department Adversely-unfavorable or antagonistic in purpose or effect: adverse criticism. Being or acting in a contrary direction; opposed or opposing: adverse winds. Attitudes- a settled way of thinking or feeling about someone or something, typically one that is reflected in a person's behavior. The way you think and feel about someone or something. Chronic absenteeism-is typically based on total days of school missed, including both excused and unexcused absences. This is critical because the evidence indicates that it’s how many days a student misses that matters, not why they miss them. In other words, the detrimental impacts of missing school occur if a student misses because of illness, suspension, the need to care for a family member, or any other reason. In this regard, chronic absenteeism is not the same as truancy. Conduct- the way that a person behaves in a particular place or situation. The way that something is managed or directed. Consequence – something produced by a cause. A result or effect of an action or condition. Contingents- depending on something else that might or might not happen. Intended for use in circumstances not completely foreseen. Devise- to invent or plan (something that is difficult or complicated). To form in the mind by new combinations or applications of ideas or principles ASIAN LEARNING CENTER-PAJO BRANCH High School Department Educators- a person (such as a teacher or a school administrator) who has a job in the field of education. Federal- of or relating to a form of government in which power is shared between a central government and individual states, provinces, etc. Focal- having central or great importance. Fundamental- forming or relating to the most important part of something. Relating to the basic structure or function of something. Habitual – common or usual or done or doing constantly or as a habit. Precipitate- Cause (an event or situation, typically one that is bad or undesirable) to happen suddenly, unexpectedly, or prematurely: Presumptive- giving grounds for reasonable opinion or belief. Being an embryonic precursor with the potential for forming a particular structure or tissue in the normal course of development. Precocious- exceptionally early in development or occurrence. Having or showing the qualities or abilities of an adult at an unusually early age Prompt – being ready and quick to act; being on time. Punctuality – the quality, state, or habit of being on time. It is the characteristic of being able
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to complete a required task or fulfill an obligation before or at a previously designated time. "Punctual" is often used synonymously with "on time". Arriving or doing something at the expected or planned time. Tardiness - the quality or habit of not adhering to a correct or usual or expected time. Slow in moving, acting, or happening or doing something late. Inculcate- to cause (something) to be learned by (someone) by repeating it again and again. Truancy-is typically defined as a certain number or certain frequency of unexcused absences. Any intentional unauthorized or illegal absence from compulsory education. It is absences caused by students of their own free will, and usually does not refer to legitimate "excused" absences, such as ones related to medical conditions. Truancy numbers typically underestimate total absenteeism.