Learners’ reasons for poor attendance and lack of progress

Learners were also asked to comment on what made it difficult for them to attend and make progress in their programs. Their two main barriers to good attendance, like those the practitioners cited, were (1) family responsibilities, and (2) health concerns. The two main negative influences on their rate of progress were (1) problems with the course, and (2) health concerns. Problems with the course included difficulty understanding and learning the material, subjects that were not interesting or up to date, and insufficient time to finish the work. Learners were asked how much they thought their attendance affected their rate of progress. Only 60% (36 out of 60) said attendance affected their progress ‘a lot’. 24 learners felt that it affected their progress ‘somewhat,’ while 4 felt it didn’t affect their progress ‘very much’. Learners were also asked to describe their attendance as ‘very good’, ‘good’ or ‘not very good’. There was a strong correlation between their attendance and how they saw attendance affecting their progress. For example, 23 learners reporting very good attendance felt that attendance affected their rate of progress ‘a lot’. 24 learners with good attendance felt that attendance affected their rate of progress ‘somewhat’. While this finding is not conclusive, it indicates a need for programs to explore learners’ attitudes about attendance more carefully.

Learners’ perspectives on attendance and progress are further discussed in Feature # 5 of the Protocol.

Summary Highlights

The three key indicators practitioners use to show that a learner is at risk appear to be reliable ones. Attendance and progress are both concrete and measurable. Practitioners and learners cited mainly situational reasons for learners’ poor attendance such as family responsibilities, personal health, work responsibilities and problems with transportation. These observations were generally confirmed by other studies:

Family concerns constitute the majority of reasons why adults must give up their educational goals. Child care problems, a lack of transportation, or financial problems are the major reasons adults surveyed gave for leaving educational programs before completion. (West Virginia Adult Education Association, p. 6)