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A gap analysis of homeless student school attendance in a large urban school district

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A gap analysis of homeless student school attendance in a large urban school district

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Content Running head: HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 1

A GAP ANALYSIS OF HOMELESS STUDENT SCHOOL ATTENDANCE IN A LARGE
URBAN SCHOOL DISTRICT

by

Nancy Gutierrez

A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION

August 2017

Copyright 2017 Nancy Gutierrez

HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 2
Dedication
I dedicate this to homeless students who face inconceivable barriers daily that many of us
as adults cannot even imagine. It is these students that have motivated me to start this journey
and to continue my work in this area. All students have a right to succeed and not all of them are
dealt the same hand. If we can help support our most vulnerable students to access an education,
we can help change the world.

HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 3
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank my committee chair, Dr. Mora-Flores for her support throughout
this process. I truly appreciated her consistent positive regard, regular feedback and her valued
expertise. I am fortunate to have spent time learning from her and she has not only been
extremely knowledgeable, patient and understanding but she has also modeled qualities of
leadership that I aim to use in my own career. I would also like to thank my committee
members, Dr. Veronica Garcia and Dr. Reynaldo Baca for their expertise and guidance on this
project. I also want to thank the USC Rossier School of Education for providing me the
opportunity to be a part of the first cohort of the Organizational Change Leadership program. I
have continued learning and gaining insight as an educational leader in this inaugural program
that I am grateful to have completed. I would also like to acknowledge all of the counselors,
social workers, and other support services personnel working directly with homeless students
and families. It is your work that helps our students overcome barriers that may be impeding
their ability to thrive in school and beyond.
I would like also like to take this opportunity to acknowledge that this journey would not
have been possible without the support of my first and most influential role model, my mother.
She has been an unwavering supporter my entire life and I owe everything to her. I learned from
her that girls could do anything, that they were strong, powerful and capable. I also learned that
life is not easy and often deals us difficult blows but that life is what we make of it. I thank my
mom for her caring, strength and support from childhood until today.
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 4
Table of Contents
Dedication 2
Acknowledgements 3
List of Tables 7
List of Figures 8
Abstract 9
Chapter One: Introduction 10
Introduction of the Problem of Practice 10
Organizational Context and Mission 11
Organizational Goal 13
Related Literature 14
Importance of the Evaluation 16
Description of Stakeholder Groups 18
Stakeholders’ Performance Goals. 19
Stakeholder Group for the Study 19
Purpose of the Project and Questions 20
Conceptual and Methodological Framework 21
Definitions 22
Organization of the Project 23
Chapter Two: Literature Review 24
Policy 25
Education 28
Achievement Gap 30
Gap Analysis Model 32
Stakeholder Knowledge Influences 33
Knowledge and Skills 33
Knowledge Types 33
Homeless Students Knowledge Influences 34
Homeless Students Declarative Knowledge Influences 34
Homeless Students Procedural Knowledge Influences 36
Homeless Students Metacognitive Knowledge Influences 37
Stakeholder Motivation Influences 39
Expectancy Value Theory 39
Homeless Students Expectations and Values 39
Goal Orientation Theory 40
Homeless Students and Goals 41
Organizational Influences 42
Organizational Culture 43
Communication 46
Change and Conflict 48
Conclusion 50
Chapter Three: Methodology 52
Conceptual Framework 52
Participating Stakeholders 55
Sampling Criterion and Rationale 55
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 5
Recruitment Strategy and Rationale 56
Data Collection and Instrumentation 57
Questionnaires 58
Interviews 58
Document Analysis 59
Data Analysis 60
Credibility and Trustworthiness 60
Validity and Reliability 62
Ethics 62
Limitations and Delimitations 65
Chapter Four: Results and Findings 67
Participating Stakeholders 67
Results 72
Knowledge Results 72
Motivation Results 73
Organizational Results 74
Findings 74
Knowledge 75
Attendance 76
Resources 77
Educational Awareness 78
Motivation 81
Metacognition 81
Utility Value and Focus 84
Expectations and School Environment 86
Document Analysis 91
Organization 93
Synthesis 95
Chapter Five: Discussion 99
Discussion 99
Knowledge Recommendations 105
Declarative Knowledge Solutions 108
Procedural Knowledge Solutions 110
Metacognitive Knowledge Solutions 111
Motivation Recommendations 113
Utility Value 115
Expectancy Value 116
Goal Orientation 117
Organization Recommendations 118
Culture Setting 120
Policies and Procedures 121
Resources 123
Integrated Implementation and Evaluation Plan 124
Implementation and Evaluation Framework 124
Organizational Purpose, Need and Expectations 124
Level 4: Results and Leading Indicators 125
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 6
Level 3: Behavior 126
Level 2: Learning 128
Level 1: Reaction 132
Evaluation Tools 133
Data Analysis and Reporting 136
Expectations 137
Summary 138
Conclusion 138
References 140
Appendix A: Informed Consent for Non-Medical Research 149
Appendix B: Information/Facts Sheet for Exempt Non-Medical Research 152
Appendix C: Recruitment Sheet 153
Appendix D: Questionnaire Questions 154
Appendix E: Interview Questions 156

HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 7
List of Tables
Table 1: Organizational Mission, Global Goal and Stakeholder Performance Goals 19
Table 2: Stakeholders’ Performance Goals and Knowledge Influences 37
Table 3: Stakeholders’ Performance Goals and Motivational Influences 42
Table 4: Summary of Knowledge Influences and Recommendations 106
Table 6: Summary of Organization Influences and Recommendations 119
Table 7: Outcomes, Metrics, and Methods for External and Internal Outcomes 125
Table 8: Critical Behaviors, Metrics, Methods, and Timing for Evaluation 126
Table 9: Required Drivers to Support Critical Behaviors 127
Table 10: Components of Learning for the Program 131
Table 12: Evaluation Tools: Level 1-2 Content 133
Table 13: Evaluation tools Levels 1-4 135

HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 8
List of Figures
Figure 1: Conceptual framework 54
Figure 2: Attendance dashboard 136
Figure 3: Program services used chart 137

HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 9
Abstract
Research shows that homeless students are more likely to score lower on standardized
tests, suffer from emotional or behavioral problems (Cutuli et al., 2013), often have lower
attendance rates (Coker et.al, 2009) and are even more likely to drop out of school (Institute for
Children & Poverty, 2003). This is detrimental not only to the student’s lives but is critical for
educators to address in order to meet school and district goals. This study is an evaluation of the
academic context that homeless students face in order to identify organizational gaps in a large
urban school district that can be remedied to address the existing gap. This study utilized a gap
analysis framework (Clark & Estes, 2008) to examine how the district could best address the
goal of improving homeless student school attendance, which is often linked with academic
progress and engagement. The framework was used in order to identify barriers in the areas of
knowledge, motivation and organization that impedes the school attendance of homeless
students, which led to, recommended solutions in these areas.
This qualitative study used mixed methods that included a questionnaire and interviews
with eight former homeless students in the school district of focus. Additionally, document
analysis was done to provide supplemental information about organizational elements. Findings
resulted in emergent themes about attendance knowledge, communication between the
organization and homeless students and parents, organization resources and goals, school climate
and students’ educational awareness. Research based solutions were identified based on the
themes from the findings centered around improving organizational communication and the
distribution and alignment of resources.

HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 10
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Introduction of the Problem of Practice
Homeless students do not perform as well as their housed peers consistently across a
variety of academic measures (Obradovic et al., 2009; Hendricks & Barkley, 2011; Fantuzzo,
Leboeuf, Brumley & Perlman, 2009). The No Child Left Behind Act put forth the McKinney-
Vento Homeless Assistance Act in an effort to address the issues of students experiencing
homelessness by providing protections for equal access to education as their housed peers. The
act requires school districts to remove any barriers to their academic achievement (The
McKinney-Vento Education for Homeless Children and Youth Act, 2001). However, research
indicates that despite the McKinney-Vento programs nationwide, students are not demonstrating
improved outcomes as a result (Hendricks, G., & Barkley, W., 2012). Homeless students are
more likely to score lower on test scores (Cutuli et al., 2013), more likely to repeat a grade
(Rafferty, Shinn & Weitzman, 2004), and more likely to drop out of school than their housed
peers (Institute for Children & Poverty, 2003).
Research further shows that homeless students experience numerous negative
consequences (Coker et.al, 2009). Homeless students face higher rates of exposure to violence,
family mental health or substance abuse issues, and higher transiency rates (Coker et al., 2009;
Morris & Butt, 2003). Homeless students face short-term consequences and long-term risks
(Cutuli et.al, 2013). Academic achievement affects homeless students’ probability of graduating
from high school (Hammond, Lindon, Sminck & Drew, 2007). Rafferty, Shinn, and Weitzman
(2004) note that in addition to increased school mobility and difficult school experiences
homeless students also have diminished plans for post-secondary education. A lower high
school graduation rate by homeless students negatively affects their lifetime earnings potential
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 11
(Shick & Palumbo, 2014) and reduces the likelihood of them breaking the cycle of poverty
(Olson, 2007 & Noguera, 2011). These consequences are also detrimental to society at large
(Culhane, 2008). Research has shown that continued poverty and homelessness contribute to a
loss in overall productivity, promotes higher spending on health and mental health care,
incarceration and any free or low cost social services (Holzer, 2010). Improving the outcomes
for homeless students will benefit not only these students but also, their schools and
communities.
Organizational Context and Mission
The proposed project site is a large urban school district that will be referred to as School
District. The School District is a large metropolitan urban public school district in the United
States serving students in a large urban geographic area. The District’s mission is for all youth to
achieve with the caveat that the School District is working together for all youth to achieve; not
some, but all. The mission is focused on the rights of District’s youth to gain an education that
prepares them for success. The District makes it clear that they must deliver on the promise to
educate every student to the highest quality. The vision behind the mission is that there are still
very much in the thick of the Civil Rights movement, and that education is the right that students
must be able to access; that every student should have the opportunity to earn a diploma. The
District’s mission is to promote maximum success for its varied socio-economic and culturally
diverse student population. The District’s core beliefs center around the District's Goals and the
established Performance Meter. The goals are for the district to work towards 100% graduation,
100% attendance, parent and community engagement and school safety. The performance meter
is a document that operationalizes the beliefs that are to “Start with students, Families are
partners, Success is in the classroom, Diversity is strength and Effective teaching, leadership,
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 12
and accountability are the keys to success”. The meter provides specific annual metrics that the
district strives for in each of the areas set forth as goals.
The School District encompasses portions of various cities, and is comprised of 1,270
schools with a total enrollment of over 600,000 students. The School District enrolls more than
640,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade. Elementary school enrollments range from
less than 200 students to more than 1100 students. Middle schools enroll up to 1800 students
and high schools enroll sometimes more than 3000 students. There are over 93 languages
spoken in District schools and 161,484 students are English learners. The majority of students in
the District are Latino (73.4%). The rest of the district is comprised of 10 % African American,
8.8% White and 3.9% Asian students. Approximately 80% of District students qualify for free
or reduced lunch. The district identified over 11,000 homeless students in the 2015-2016 school
year district wide.
In 2006 the school board of education for the District established their Homeless
Education Program to identify homeless youth, provide training and technical assistance to
school and community personnel and to facilitate enrollment and equal access to all school
programs for homeless students district wide. The resolution was also passed to ensure
compliance with the McKinney Vento Homeless Assistance Act in the federal No Child Left
Behind. Prior to 2006 the district had only identified one counselor as the homeless liaison and a
clerical staff to support the identification and facilitate access to needed support services, mainly
in the form of tokens for public transportation. After the school board passed the resolution, the
staff increased to a program coordinator, seven counselors, and six classified support staff. Due
to the volume of students identified in the District, activities were managed regionally and
services were mainly provided for crisis intervention. Additionally, since the staff was not able
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 13
to provide direct services, the district enacted a policy that required all school sites to identify a
school site homeless liaison to be responsible for ensuring their school site is in compliance with
the McKinney Vento Homeless Assistance Act and is able to facilitate the identification and
referral for needed services for homeless students and families. In the year following state
restructuring educational funding with the Local Control Funding Formula in 2013, the District
decided to use a portion of the funding for targeted student populations for the further expansion
of the Homeless Education Program. The program then grew to a coordinator, 17 counselors and
twelve classified support staff for the 2015-2016 school year. The expansion allowed the
program to expand their community partnerships with onsite counselors at least once a week at
county homeless resource locations and to expand support to schools in order to improve
compliance with the McKinney Vento Homeless Assistance Act.
Organizational Goal
The performance goal for this project was developed in light of the District’s mission that
all youth are achieving and the Pupil Services mission that all students are enrolled, attending,
engaged, and on-track to graduate. The District’s Homeless Education Program will address the
gap in performance for homeless students by focusing on improving homeless students’
academic participation in the form of attendance. Research indicates that attendance is
correlated with academic performance (Ginsburg, Jordan, & Chang, 2014). The overall
organizational goal for the district is for all groups of students to improve their rates of attending
at 96% of the time by 1% annually between 2015-2018 as noted on their district’s Local Control
and Accountability Scorecard. In 2012, the district had an overall 65% of students attending
96% of the time. The district has not set a specific separate goal for homeless students.
However, due to the lower attendance rates seen for homeless students, the Homeless Education
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 14
Program has set a goal to increase homeless students’ attendance rate 1% by 2018. The District
Superintendent established the Scorecard goal. The Homeless Education Program goal was
established during the 2014-2015 school year following strategic planning meetings with
program staff. The program has been granted additional funding for expansion and key areas of
improvement have been identified by staff as necessary in order for the Homeless Education
Program to begin focusing on improving student outcomes. An action plan has been developed
by Homeless Education Program staff to address areas of focus and to provide ongoing goals and
benchmarks for regular monitoring of progress. Achievement of the program goal will be
measured by the results of annual reviews of homeless student attendance rates through June
2018.
Related Literature
Decades ago, local initiatives responded to homelessness and began to evolve into state
and then national policies as the challenges of homeless families gained more attention. Federal
policy did not specifically address the needs of homeless families in particular until 1987, when
the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act became law (Public Law 100-77) which
mandated states to ensure homeless students have the same access to free, appropriate education
and included protections for their school stability during homelessness. In 1990, the act was
amended to include further state provisions to include removal of barriers to homeless students
educational enrolment and retention such as transportation (Public Law 101-645). In 2001 a
major revision was made with the reauthorization and the renaming of the McKinney Vento Act
and the act then became part of the larger No Child Left Behind Act in 2002. The McKinney
Vento Act was again re-authorized as part of the new Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA, Public
Law 114-95) in 2015. However as noted by the Institute for Children, Poverty and
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 15
Homelessness, the mandate remains inadequately funded (2015). Another factor is the national
and local focus on decreasing veteran homelessness that has shown significant decreases as a
result. However, this focus has shown that between 2009 and 2014 the number of family
members accessing shelters did not decrease and the lack of shelter beds has also not been
improving. Moreover, federal funding for low-income housing has plummeted since the 1980’s.
This indicates that a focus on decreasing family homelessness could reduce the number of
students that are forced to become homeless.
The first group of research studies on homeless students in the 1980s such as Molnar,
Rath and Klein (1990) focused on describing the scope and dimension of the homeless situation,
which resulted in findings regarding grade retention, absenteeism, behavior and emotional
problems and lower test scores. Studies examining student homelessness continued in the 1990’s
and results continued to show disparities between homeless students and their housed peers but
also sought to identify causes of academic problems (Masten, 1997). Some studies focused on
comparisons between homeless students and students living in poverty resulting in findings that
there were still differences between the two different groups of students (Obradovic et al., 2009).
Researchers also begin to consider the concept of a risk continuum that includes homeless
students, poor students and their housed peers (Rafferty, Shinn, & Weitzman, 2004). These
studies consider risk factors such as parental job loss, mobility, crowding, hunger, and poor
nutrition. Although some researchers have found evidence of resilience among some homeless
students (Huntington, Buckner, & Bassuk, 2008) there continues to be numbers of homeless
students who are not able to make up the gap between them and their housed peers. This
indicates a need to explore the reasons that these students are not able to succeed academically.
Another issue with research on homeless student is the issue of generalizability due to the
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 16
samples that have been used. Much of the samples have been of families and students in
shelters, which may be due to the difficulty of obtaining significant and representative samples
of other types of homelessness due to mobility and other factors. Research shows that the
condition of homeless students is more complex than perhaps was first imagined. The complex
nature of the situation requires further investigation to address the very unique educational needs
of homeless students in our schools.
The educational focus in the country is increasingly focused on academic test scores and
the role of scores in the evaluations of teachers. Addressing the district’s role in the
development and success of homeless students is therefore useful for numerous reasons one
being the lower academic performance by this group of students. The district has a vested
interest in understanding why specific groups of students are not performing well academically.
Additionally as an educational institution, there is a responsibility to educate all students. An
investigation of the gap between homeless students and their housed peers is beneficial to begin
the process of identifying root causes and possible solutions to address the gap. The district can,
not only help these students, but move forward with academic performance goals overall if the
gap can be diminished or even eliminated.
Importance of the Evaluation
The problem of homeless students in the K-12 system consistently achieving
academically lower than their housed peers is important because it is a critical component that
affects school outcomes, short term and long term individual student outcomes and contributes to
undesirable societal outcomes. Homeless students face short-term consequences but also, long
term risks such as lower attendance rates and lower grades (Cutuli et al., 2013). The No Child
Left Behind Act put forth the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act in an effort to address
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 17
the issues of students experiencing homelessness by providing protections for equal access to
education as their housed peers. The act requires school districts to remove any barriers such as
lack of school supplies, transportation, uniforms, or support services to their academic
achievement (The McKinney-Vento Education for Homeless Children and Youth Act, 2001).
The law requires that districts consider student-centered factors related to the child’s or youths
best interest, including factors related to the impact of mobility on the achievement, education,
health, and safety the youth (ESSA, Public Law 114-95). However, research indicates that
despite the McKinney-Vento programs nationwide, students are not demonstrating improved
outcomes as a result (Hendricks, & Barkley, 2012). It is critical to ensure that schools and
service providers have a positive effect on students faced with homelessness.
Without the examination of the causes, needs and interventions for homeless students
they will continue to struggle academically and persistently are at risk for numerous negative
outcomes such as poor attendance, poor academic outcomes, dropping out of school,
unemployment, lower lifetime earnings, and homelessness (Shick & Palumbo, 2014).
Additionally, research also indicates that missing school impedes academic performance and
eventually may result in the students dropping out of school (Balfanz et al., 2008; Hammond et
al., 2007). Not only does poor attendance undermine academic achievement, but also high
attendance rates generate funding for public school districts. In California, school districts
receive approximately $32 in Average Daily Attendance for each student in school. In the Large
Urban School District alone, thousands of students miss school every day. Balfanz et. al.
indicate that students who miss days or weeks of school have difficulty passing courses and
catching up to peers (2008). Attendance data for the District also documents a correlation
between attendance and proficiency. Students with attendance rates of 87% to 91% or less for
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 18
the school year were more likely to perform far below basic or below basic in reading (District
Office of Data and Accountability, June 2012). Therefore, it is not surprising to hear that the
National Conference of State Legislatures reports in April of 2016 that 75% of homeless or
runaway youth have dropped out or will drop out of school.
This area of research is critical not only for homeless students but also has a profound
impact on the community. Addressing the needs of homeless students and families can be
extremely cost effective. In 2009, The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA)
announced that the Homeless Cost Avoidance Study found that housing the homeless was a cost
effective solution in Los Angeles. The study demonstrated that the public cost for every type of
homeless person decreases dramatically when they are housed. The study found that 69 percent
of the savings for supportive housing residents are in reduced costs for hospitals, emergency
rooms, clinics, mental health, and public health. The benefits to the community are clear and can
begin with addressing the needs of homeless students in school and their academic outcomes.
Description of Stakeholder Groups
Stakeholders are critical to an organization and its goals. Two stakeholder groups are of
interest to this study due to their role in the achievement of the goals set forth. The primary
stakeholders of focus will be homeless students who attended K-12 education in the district of
focus. Homeless students themselves have a distinctive perspective to provide about their
experience in the K-12 organizational setting. Homeless Education Program Staff who work
directly and indirectly with homeless students across the district are the second stakeholder
group. Program staff are charged with ensuring that schools and district staff are in compliance
with federal and district mandates related to the education of homeless students. Additionally,
Program staff are also responsible for a variety of services for homeless students district wide.
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 19
Table 1 depicts the organizational goals for the stakeholder that is the main focus of this study,
homeless students.
Stakeholders’ Performance Goals.
Table 1
Organizational Mission, Global Goal and Stakeholder Performance Goals
District Mission
All Youth Achieving:
All students are enrolled, attending, engaged, and on-track to graduate
Organizational Performance Goal
Homeless students will improve their rates of attending at 96% of the time by 1% annually
by 2018.
District/School Staff Homeless Education
Program Staff
Homeless Students
By June 2018, the
district and Homeless
Education Staff will
support schools to
ensure that there is an
increase of at least 1% in
the number of schools
identifying their school
site liaison by 2018.
The Homeless Education
Program staff will
support schools to ensure
that the number of school
staff trained on how to
identify and support
homeless students will be
increased annually by 1%
by June 2018.
By June 2018, Homeless students will be
increasing their rates of attendance (1%
annually by 2018).

Stakeholder Group for the Study
The achievement of improved attendance for homeless students must involve all
stakeholders however this study will be focused on homeless students themselves. The focus of
this dissertation will be mainly on homeless students in the district because they have the most
direct knowledge of their individual situation and factors involved. The goal will be to address
the gap in performance for homeless students by focusing on improving homeless students’
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 20
academic participation in the form of attendance. The examination of homeless students who are
and are not attending regularly will provide insight on the factors involved and possible
interventions that would improve student attendance.
The District’s Organizational Performance Goal for homeless students was set as a part
of strategic planning for the Homeless Education Program in alignment with district goals. The
district has set goals in a variety of areas that include 100% graduation, 100% attendance,
improving academic proficiency for all students, improving parent engagement, and improving
school safety. The district has developed a scorecard to measure progress towards district goals
in the areas that are being targeted. The district scorecard includes metrics of measurement for
attendance for all students that will be used to compare homeless students to their housed peers
and to their current attendance rates.
Not meeting the goal could lead to funding reductions especially in light of the new state
Local Control Funding Formula incorporating homeless student targets and accountabilities.
Additionally, homeless students already demonstrate lower test scores, grades and attendance
than their housed peers which are often correlated to overall academic performance, graduation
rates and post-secondary options. These factors in turn have the ability to affect lifetime
earnings potential for students. Therefore, not meeting the goal for homeless students has the
possibility of affecting their life trajectories.
Purpose of the Project and Questions
The District’s Organizational Performance Goal for the Homeless Education Program is
to increase homeless students’ attendance rate 1% by 2018. It is especially critical to understand
the barriers to regular school attendance faced by homeless students due to correlations to
academic participation and success. Therefore, the stakeholders of focus for this study will be
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 21
homeless students. There is a goal, supported by program staff, that program staff will
implement attendance interventions into their regular job duties in order to focus on the
organizational goal. Homeless Education Program staff will implement attendance interventions
into their monthly activities and foster the development of similar activities by school site
homeless liaisons. The purpose of this project is to conduct a gap analysis to examine the issues
related to the root causes of homeless students’ academic participation in the form of attendance.
There is clearly a related contextual issue of homelessness in the city and county that cannot be
controlled by school or district staff. Therefore the focus of the study is on the gaps in
organizational practice or areas that impair student’s ability to take advantage of organizational
resources that can address their needs. The analysis will focus on causes for any of these matters
due to gaps in the areas of knowledge and skill, motivation, and organizational issues. The
analysis will begin by generating a list of possible or assumed causes and then by examining
these systematically to focus on actual or validated causes. While a complete gap analysis would
focus on all stakeholders, for practical purposes the stakeholder to be focused on in the analysis
are homeless students.
As such, the questions that guide this study are the following:
1. What are the knowledge and skills, motivation and organizational causes that are barriers
to achieving the goal of 1% improvement of attendance for homeless students?
2. What are the knowledge and skills, motivation and organizational solutions to address
those barriers?
Conceptual and Methodological Framework
This project will adapt the gap analysis model proposed by Clark and Estes (2008) that
describes organizational goals and identifies the knowledge; motivation and organizational
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 22
influences for the evaluation of the organization. Qualitative methods will be used for data
gathering and analysis. Evaluation will concentrate on organizational issues related to the gap
in performance for homeless students by focusing on homeless students’ academic
participation in the form of attendance. Data will be gathered with district attendance data,
document analysis, surveys, and interviews. Students who were homeless during K-12 in the
district of focus will be surveyed, interviewed. This project will also include a literature
review and content analysis. Specific recommendations based on the review of literature will
be broadly discussed and assessed.
Definitions
Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) is a 2016 US Act of Congress that was created to replace
the No Child Left Behind Act.
Homeless is defined in the educational setting as a student who is living in a nighttime residence
that is not fixed, regular or adequate. Homelessness in this context includes students living in
motels, hotels, shelters, transitional housing, in cars, parks, garages, trailers, unaccompanied
youth or temporarily doubled up with another individual or family.
The Homeless Education Program is a district program in the Large Urban School District that
is designated with the responsibility of serving homeless students and ensuring schools are in
compliance with federal and district mandates for homeless students.
Local Control Funding Formula is a California passed in 2013, which aimed to revolutionize
how school districts receive state funding. The Local Control Funding Formula, or LCFF, gives
school districts the autonomy to decide which programs and services to spend state funding on
based on their local district needs.
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 23
McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act of 1987 is a United States federal law that provides
federal money for homeless programs defines homeless children and ensures protections for
homeless children in public education.
No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is a 2001 US Act of Congress, which reauthorized the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act; including the Title I provisions applying to
disadvantaged students.
School Site Homeless Liaison is a school staff that serves as a liaison for the District’s
Homeless Education Program. District policy requires that every school site principal designate
a school liaison that will take the lead at the site for the school being compliant with federal laws
and district policy related to homeless students. The liaison must attend or participate in an
online training module annually and support homeless students and families at their school site.
Organization of the Project
This study is organized into five chapters. Chapter one describes key concepts and
terminology discussed in regards to the education and achievement of homeless students in the
K-12 public educational system. The organizational mission, goals, stakeholders and the
framework for this study were introduced. Chapter two reviews current literature surrounding
the scope of the study. Topics of homelessness, interventions, policy, accountability and
correlated factors will be addressed. Chapter three details the knowledge, motivation and
organizational influences to be examined as well as methodology when it comes to the choice of
participants, data collection and analysis. In Chapter four the data and results are described and
analyzed. Chapter five provides recommended interventions to address issues noted for
homeless students based on data and literature in addition to an implementation and evaluation
plan.
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 24
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
Homeless students are more likely to score lower on test scores (Cutuli et al., 2013), more
likely to repeat a grade (Rafferty, Shinn, & Weitzman, 2004), and more likely to drop out of
school than their housed peers (Institute for Children & Poverty, 2003). Despite legally
mandated services and rights for homeless students nationwide, students are not demonstrating
improved outcomes as a result (Hendricks & Barkley, 2012). Schools and service providers have
a vested interest in the success of students faced with homelessness because their purpose is to
educate all youth. There is a sizeable amount of research that describes the situation faced by
homeless students nationwide. In the last few decades there has been growing research into the
influences of homelessness on children, families and their educational progress. This chapter
outlines literature about homeless students, their families and their academic advancement. First,
homelessness will be defined in the educational setting and there will be a description of the
national, state and local policies related to homeless students. Second, there will be a review of
studies analyzing the experiences of students and families with a description of what research has
found out about their needs and barriers. Third, there will be a description of the achievement
gap seen between homeless students and their housed peers nationally and locally. Fourth, there
will be a brief description of research identifying elements correlated with academic success or
conversely, those associated with dropping out of school to establish a foundation for this study’s
focus on student attendance. Additionally, there will be an explanation of what educational
programs exist for homeless students and what research has found about how school programs
can support homeless students and influence their educational development. Finally, there will
be an overview of the gap analysis model to explain why and how this framework will be used
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 25
primarily to examine knowledge, motivation and organization properties surrounding the issue of
homeless students’ academic progress in this studies’ context.
Policy
The context of students experiencing homelessness in the United States is influenced by
policies, nationally and locally. According to recent reports, homelessness has become a
national crisis for students with increasing numbers in the past two decades. For instance, The
Institute for Children, Poverty and Homelessness (2015) in the American Almanac of Family
Homelessness describe the current state of homelessness across the country. Three decades ago
the response to rise in the number of homeless children began as local initiatives and have grown
into national priorities and policies. The first initiatives began as calls for shelters and affordable
housing but now include expanded approaches in the communities that include education, health,
childcare and employment services to serve homeless families. The almanac notes the growing
number of homeless families across the country as an 85.1% increase in the number of homeless
students between 2006 and 2013. They also describe that the majority of the increase was due to
a 122.4% rise in the number living doubled up with other families (Institute for Children,
Poverty and Homelessness, 2015). The National Alliance to End Homelessness also found that
between 2010 and 2011, 40 states reported an increase in the number of poor people living in
doubled up households (2013). The National Association for the Education of Homeless
Children and Youth also found that public schools identified 1.3 million McKinney Vento
students in the 2013-2014 school year, an 8% increase nationally over previous year and a 100%
increase since 2007 (2014). In the report, Americas Youngest Outcasts The National Center on
Family Homelessness cited that in the United States there were 1 in 50 children in 2006, 1 in 45
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 26
in 2010 and 1 in 30 in 2013 (2014). While these statistics are notable, federal policies also cause
some confusion when defining what homelessness is in different contexts.
Educational and federal policies define homelessness distinctly with different criteria
which causes complications for parents, students, families, agencies and schools when
identifying students, providing services and making referrals to other programs for homeless
students and families. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 defines homeless students as (1)
lacking a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence; (2) living in a residence that is a
public or private place not designed for human beings (e.g., car, park, abandoned buildings); (3)
living in a shelter providing temporary living arrangements (including hotels and motels),
congregate shelters and transitional housing; (4) an individual who resided in a shelter or place
not meant for human habitation and who is exiting an institution where he or she temporarily
resided (Pub. L. No. 107–110, 115 Stat. 1425). Whereas, the federal housing definition of
homeless is defined as (1) individuals and families who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate
nighttime residence, including those who reside in an emergency shelter or a place not meant for
human habitation or who are exiting an institution where they temporarily resided; (2)
individuals and families who will imminently lose their primary nighttime residence; (3)
unaccompanied youth and families with children and youth defined as homeless under other
federal statutes; and (4) individuals and families fleeing violence against the individual or a
family member by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (Federal Register, 2011).
Different definitions create a disjointed and inconsistent view of the state of homeless
nationwide. This contradiction also leaves a large group of students and families that school
districts are required to address through a federal mandate that are not eligible for federal
homeless resources available to other families.
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 27
Consequently, housing policies, laws and market elements can likewise influence the
available resources for homeless students and families. The Institute for Children, Poverty and
Homelessness identifies related areas of policy importance and provides state rankings in these
areas that include affordable housing and other policies supporting homeless families in the areas
of child care, domestic violence, and food insecurity (2015). Moreover, Americas Youngest
Outcasts ranks California as 49
th
in housing adequacy (shelter space, affordable housing, and
action plan for homelessness statewide (2014). Additionally, both state and federal regulations
related to the implementation of the McKinney Vento Homeless Assistance Act require school
districts to annually identify homeless students.
School districts report consistent challenges with the identification process for homeless
students in schools. Fitzgerald, Shelley, and Dail note that there are difficulties in recording
incidents of homelessness, reporting techniques are described as challenging and that the
challenges with the definition can lead to either underreporting or over reporting of homeless
families (2001). Similarly, Biggar notes definitional and counting problems precluded an
accurate count of homeless in the US as early as 1996 (2001).
All of these issues contribute to the complexity of the issue of homeless students in
public schools beginning with their simple identification to provide the mandated support
services and removal of barriers. The state of homelessness nationally and locally plus related
policies are critical to understanding the environment in which school districts must carry out
federal mandates to remove educational barriers to success for homeless students. Since research
indicates that there has been a dramatic rise in the number of homeless students in the nation and
specifically in California, this creates a growing need for services and interventions in schools.
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 28
Education
Homeless policies, laws, and regulations can impact the lives of homeless students and
families in different areas such as health and socioeconomic development in addition to their
access to and success with education. Within the educational field there is a robust focus on the
dropout rates at urban high schools and the factors involved or correlated with dropout rates
specifically addressing the reasons why some of our students are not graduating from high
school. Balfanz notes that graduation rates in the US are estimated to be on average between
70% and 80% nationally and some schools with graduation rates are as low as 50% or less
(2010). Studies have focused on graduation rates and an exploration of factors associated with
dropping out of school so as to better address these issues and improve graduation rates and
eliminate schools with extremely low graduation rates. For instance, Henry, Knight and
Thornberry examined the effects of school disengagement in 8
th
and 9
th
grades on subsequent
dropout. Their findings indicate that school disengagement was related to dropout (2012).
Although dropout numbers have been on the decline since the late 1960’s, the dropout
rates have been referred to as a crisis in recent years because there has been a demonstrated
disparity across race and ethnicity. Factors that have been examined in relationship to dropping
out are absenteeism, low levels of school engagement, low parental education, work or family
responsibilities, problematic behavior, school transfers and schools with overall lower
achievement (Child trends Data Bank: High School Drop Out Rates, 2015). For instance,
Wagstaff, Combs, and Jarvis (2000) did a study based on student, staff and administrator
interviews in addition to attendance data. Their findings indicated that students were less likely
to attend school when they perceived that they had fallen behind with schoolwork or could not
balance competing demands. Moreover, their findings also found that there were issues with
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 29
school climate and curriculum that the authors mentioned damaged student motivation and
caused many to feel isolated (Wagstaff et al., 2000).
The school dropout conversation is particularly relevant to the academic trajectories of
homeless students due to the exceptionally low graduation rates noted by some researchers for
homeless students. Although there is little research on the graduation rates of homeless students’
statistics noted in America’s Youngest Outcasts 2009 report, in California, the high school
graduation rate for homeless children is reported as less than 25%. The report indicates that
more than 75% of homeless youth in California are not graduating from high school. This rate of
drop out can be calculated as a loss in lifetime earnings of $5 billion dollars, and the loss of
contributions to Californian society of $3.2 billion (2009). The focus on dropouts also has led
researchers to identify correlated factors such as student engagement that could be valuable
avenues for further research.
Student engagement was found to be related to dropouts in a study by Balfanz, Herzog
and Douglas (2007) where they used data obtained from a large longitudinal study that followed
almost 13,000 students from 1996 to 2004. The data used was from survey data, observations
for 2,334 fifth to eighth grade students from six high poverty, high minority middle schools in a
Philadelphia school district. They examined poor attendance, misbehavior, and course failures in
sixth grade. Their results indicated that these factors could be used to identify 60% of the
students who would not graduate. Findings indicated that there were warning flags predictive of
school dropout. The warning flags found were attending school 80% or less of the time during
sixth grade, failing math in sixth grade, failing English in sixth grade or receiving an out-of-
school suspension in sixth grade. Researchers noted that their findings supported the assertion
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 30
that students need to attend school regularly, behave, and try to succeed in school to graduate and
not drop out of school.
The growing drop out crisis also provides an opportunity to focus on specific subgroups
to identify areas to support and intervene with students to prevent them from dropping out of
school. School districts can take the opportunity to focus on subgroups that are impacting their
school and district outcome scores. This focus can prove beneficial in addressing not only
individual factors but also systemic factors that can support and improve the academic
performance of these subgroups such as homeless students.
Achievement Gap
In light of this focus it is important to acknowledge the evidence of an achievement gap
between homeless students and their housed peers that is relevant to addressing the barriers to
academic success for these students. One of the elements of this gap is a demonstrated disparity
in the attendance rates of homeless students in comparison to their housed peers. The National
Coalition for the Homeless reports that while 87% of homeless youth are enrolled in school only
77% attend school regularly (2007). Students identified as homeless and highly mobile
demonstrated lower means in attendance than other groups of students (Cutuli et al., 2013).
In 2013 Fantuzzo, LeBeoeuf, Brumley and Perlman conducted a population-based
inquiry into homelessness. Their study used a comprehensive model to study the characteristics
of homelessness in a large urban setting. Their beginning sample size was from an integrated
database that identified over 10,000 third grade students as homeless. The study examined the
timing of their first homeless episode, the frequency of homeless episodes, reading and math
proficiency, truancy, school engagement problems, receiving free or reduced lunch, prenatal care
and any child maltreatment. The study findings indicated that frequencies of homeless episodes
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 31
are described as significantly related to truancy. The odds of truancy in

third grade were
described as 1.31 times higher for children with two homeless episodes versus one. Children
with more than one homeless episode were more than 31% more likely than students with only
one homeless episode to be truant. The odds for truancy did increase with three or more
homeless episodes. However, there was no significant difference between two homeless
episodes to three or more (Fantuzzo et.al, 2013). This suggests that once a student experiences
two or more homeless episodes the risk for truancy has already been established.
The Institute for Children, Poverty and Homelessness in 2015 released a report based on
their examination of New York City Schools that identify homeless students and more closely
looked at the attendance patterns of these students. Their report indicates that homeless
elementary students in New York missed an average of four weeks of school (19 days), which is
a week and a half, more than low-income students and two weeks more than other students.
Homeless students were chronically absent at almost twice the overall citywide rate (36%
compared to 19%). Chronically absent homeless children (missing 20 or more days of school)
repeated the same grade at over three times the rate of homeless students who missed fewer than
five school days in a school year. This is especially significant because chronic absenteeism is
correlated with lower test scores, an increased risk of being held back and higher dropout rates
(Gottfried, 2014, Balfanz, 2014).
Homeless students acutely face academic challenges in various areas of academic
achievement. For instance, Rafferty, Shinn and Weitzman studied school experiences and
academic achievement of 46 adolescents in comparison with 87 housed adolescents who
received public assistance. Researchers found that formerly homeless students had repeated
more grades than their housed peers and also had a poorer overall school experience. However,
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 32
it is notable to mention that the study also conducted Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children
(WISC-R) tests on both groups of adolescents and found no significant statistical difference in
students underlying ability or intelligence as measured by this test (2004). Therefore, it is
important that school districts are mindful of the achievement gap between homeless students
and their housed peers so that they can develop, target and incorporate strategies that support
homeless students.
Gap Analysis Model
This study focuses on analyzing the achievement gap between homeless students and
their housed peers with a specific focus on school attendance. The framework developed by
Clark and Estes (2008) is used to identify and analyze the root causes of lower achievement for
homeless students. This model was used to understand the problem of lower homeless student
achievement in schools because of the focus on analysis to increase performance. Gap analysis
is a problem-solving model that can ultimately support the larger goals of the organization by
focusing on individual performance goals. Clark and Estes note that it is important to identify
the organizational goals to make the connection between high-level goals and individual
performance goals (2008).
Clark and Estes describe a six step process in which they describe the need to identify
goals (organizational and individual) and then to determine performance gaps that can be
analyzed to determine causes related to knowledge, motivation or organizational elements. Then
solutions can be implemented in these areas and the results should be regularly evaluated in
order to revise goals. A key concept that the authors describe is the importance of setting goals
and measuring the distance between the goals and current performance. This close examination
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 33
of a gap in performance fits well with the need to analyze the gap in achievement for homeless
students in order to develop suggested solutions to close this gap.
Stakeholder Knowledge Influences
Knowledge and Skills
This section will provide a brief review of literature focusing on knowledge related
influences critical to the achievement of homeless students. Student knowledge is relevant in
this discussion because in the literature regarding drop out and academic achievement for at risk
students there is mention of the importance of student engagement. Sminck and Reimer and
others suggest strategies related to student engagement such as mentoring can support students’
improved attendance and dropout prevention (2005). Therefore, incorporating individual student
strategies informed by learning theory that engage students in school with augmented
information and activities around attendance may be an effective strategy to improve student
attendance and academic achievement. A review of relevant research about different types of
student knowledge will be analyzed to garner any useful information for homeless students
learning and achievement that will also contribute to the identification of constructive
interventions or solutions.
Knowledge Types
Research indicates that the category of knowledge, as is described in Bloom’s taxonomy
(Bloom, et al. 1956) can be broken down into different knowledge types. Krathwohl investigates
the taxonomy and provides a structure for the knowledge dimension that includes four categories
(2002). The four categories that Krathwohl describes are factual knowledge, conceptual
knowledge, procedural knowledge and metacognitive knowledge (2002). Factual knowledge
includes knowledge of terminology, specific details, or elements. Conceptual knowledge
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 34
includes knowledge of classifications or categories, principles, generalizations, theories, and
models or structures. Procedural knowledge includes knowledge that comprises subject specific
skills, techniques, methods or when to use any of these types of skills. Metacognitive knowledge
includes strategic knowledge, self-knowledge, or knowledge about cognitive tasks (Krathwohl,
2002).
Homeless Students Knowledge Influences
Literature will be examined that is relevant to the knowledge of homeless students, which
is the chosen stakeholder to examine. The literature was chosen due to the knowledge influences
discussed and their relevance to the established stakeholder goals for homeless students. This
section is organized into separate sections for different types of knowledge influences;
declarative, procedural and metacognitive, that each includes a brief discussion of the
significance to homeless students and their specific situations.
Homeless Students Declarative Knowledge Influences
Research indicates that homelessness is commonly associated with low attendance rates,
lower achievement, and social stigmatization (Moore, 2011). Therefore it will be useful to
examine research surrounding the knowledge that students have in regards to attendance and
academic achievement. Although research has not focused on homeless students specifically to
examine knowledge or motivation related to school attendance, there is research that more
generally examines student knowledge and motivation that can provide some reference for this
study. There is some evidence that when students do not know or believe that their behavior (i.e.
studying, attendance) is linked to achievement, they may be less motivated and also more likely
to not succeed in school. In a general study, Legault, Green-Demiers and Pelletier found through
a survey of students that a significant number of the respondents indicated that studying was not
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 35
valuable to them and that they had no good reason to study (2006). Their research consisted of a
series of three studies that explored student motivation which included examining student beliefs
about their ability, effort, value and characteristics of given task(s), social supports, academic
outcomes, and self-esteem. Adolescents aged 12-18 completed questionnaires during class or
were chosen from a larger survey (10,000 students) that displayed some characteristics indicating
differing levels of motivation. The results indicate that the intention to drop out was associated
jointly with low ability belief and lack of academic values. In another general study of students,
Moore (2004) examined 307 students in different class sections. The study provided the same
information to students about class attendance in the syllabus. However in half of the sections,
students were given a more in depth explanation of the relation between attendance, given the
opportunity to examine a graph about attendance and academic performance. These students
were also reminded weekly at the beginning of class about the connection between attendance
and academic performance. Students' expectations and attitudes about class attendance and
course grades were obtained by administering a written survey at the beginning of the first day of
class in each section. Students were also surveyed during the last class. Moore found that a
significant number of students surveyed believed that their absences would not affect their
grades. These results indicate students did not demonstrate knowledge about the correlation
between absences and academic success as in the previous study discussed. The study’s findings
demonstrated this correlation, as students with better attendance reflected higher grades and even
described their classes as being easier. Also the study demonstrated that educators could
improve the academic performance of some students by emphasizing the relationship of
attendance and grades (Moore, 2004). These studies support the idea that attendance is a
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 36
predictor of academic success and that it could be an important factor for educators to focus on
to improve students’ academic success.
Homeless Students Procedural Knowledge Influences
Another knowledge influence that is noted in research that is relevant to the homeless
student stakeholder is the concept of procedural knowledge. Research studies that are relevant to
the homeless student stakeholders are those that concentrate or focus on students in low socio-
economic status or other high-risk groups. The following research focused on Latino students
from poor neighborhoods and students at risk of dropping out of school. Halx and Ortiz discuss
in some depth, the concept of students having a disconnect between education and its actual
benefit (2011). The authors describe students as merely having a superficial assumption of the
benefit of education. The authors note that the students did not comprehend the beneficial
process of education in a comprehensive way. For example, they described a specific student,
Jose who saw education merely as a way to secure parental approval. The student did not see the
inherent benefit of education or how the process of pursuing an education could lead to academic
and other successes. Similarly, Quiroz described several students who failed to show an
understanding of the critical connections between school and work (2001). The author noted
specific examples of eighth graders who indicated immature career plans and vague ideas about
work and understanding of paths to careers. Students demonstrated a lack of awareness of the
necessary pathways for achieving their career or work goals that were realistic. The author notes
that even students with more practical goals appeared confused with the process involved in
achieving their goals (Quiroz, 2001).
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 37
Homeless Students Metacognitive Knowledge Influences
Metacognition is an important variable to consider with any student and can provide
information relevant to homeless students. Phillips found through a survey and interviews with
students in alternative school settings that students themselves described their own metacognitive
understanding of their success (2011). Students attributed their newfound success to discovering
and taking school seriously. They described how they were previously not succeeding but when
they began to take school seriously they began to do better when they began to think that school
was important. The students realized the implication of their own thoughts and their effects on
their behaviors and outcomes (Phillips, 2011).
Table 2
Stakeholders’ Performance Goals and Knowledge Influences
District Mission
All Youth Achieving:
All students are enrolled, attending, engaged, and on-track to graduate
Organizational Global Goal
All groups of students will improve their rates of attending at 96% of the time by 1% annually by 2018.

Stakeholder Goal
By June 2018, Homeless students will be increasing their rates of attendance
(1% annually by 2018)

Assumed Knowledge Influence Knowledge Influence Assessment Learning Solution Principle
Declarative (indicate whether
factual and/or conceptual
knowledge):

• Homeless students need to
know absence policies, laws
and district goals, definitions
of excused absences,
truancies, and the district’s
scoring rubric for attendance.

• Attendance knowledge surveys

• Behavior that is reinforced is
strengthened (Daly, 2009)
• Learning is enhanced when the
learners working memory
capacity is not overloaded
(Kirshner et al., 2006).
• Information learned
meaningfully and connected with
prior knowledge is stored more
quickly and remembered more
accurately because it is
elaborated with prior learning
(Schraw & McCrudden, 2006)
• Feedback that is private, specific
and timely enhances
performance (Shute, 2008)
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 38
Table 2, continued
District Mission
All Youth Achieving:
All students are enrolled, attending, engaged, and on-track to graduate
Organizational Global Goal
All groups of students will improve their rates of attending at 96% of the time by 1% annually by 2018.

Stakeholder Goal
By June 2018, Homeless students will be increasing their rates of attendance
(1% annually by 2018)

Assumed Knowledge Influence Knowledge Influence Assessment Learning Solution Principle
Procedural:
• Homeless students need to
understand the effect that
attendance, academic
achievement, graduation and
lifetime earnings can have to
and how that happens.

• Interviews of previous
homeless students to find out
how they or if they made
connections between
attendance, graduation and
lifetime earnings.
• Information learned
meaningfully and connected with
prior knowledge is stored more
quickly and remembered more
accurately because it is
elaborated with prior learning
(Schraw & McCrudden, 2006)
• Self-regulatory strategies,
including goal setting, enhance
learning and performance
(Dembo & Eaton, 200); Denler,
et. al, 2009).
Metacognitive:
• Homeless students need to
know how they are
performing in attendance and
achievement.
• Interviews of previous
homeless students to identify if
they were aware of their
attendance and academic
achievement.
• Self-regulatory strategies
including goal setting,
enhance learning and
performance (Dembo &
Eaton, 2000; Denler, et al.,
2009)

In light of the knowledge influences affecting students it is useful to examine these
influences on homeless students who are the stakeholder of focus for this project. Table 2
describes the context that homeless students face in this organization, which includes, the
organizational mission and goal. Additionally, a specific stakeholder goal is identified in
alignment with the organizational goal. Table 2 also summarizes knowledge influences affecting
homeless students and learning principles relevant to these influences and proposed solutions to
these influences.
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 39
Stakeholder Motivation Influences
This section will provide a brief review of literature related to motivational influences
relevant to the stakeholder goal for homeless students. Research indicates the importance of
examining student motivation when focusing on student achievement. Usher and Kober note
that student motivation can be influenced and that many aspects of motivation are not fully
understood (2013). Therefore, a review of expectancy value theory and goal orientation theory
will be discussed from literature references and in terms of how they could apply to homeless
students.
Expectancy Value Theory
Expectancy Value Theory is a comprehensive theoretical model linking achievement-
related choices to two sets of beliefs: the individual's expectations for success and the importance
or value the individual attaches to the various options perceived by the individual as available
(Eccles, Wigfield, & Schiefele, 1998). Eccles indicates that utility value is determined by how
well a task fits into an individual's goals and plans or fulfills other basic psychological needs
(2006). The expectancy-value model focuses attention on two fundamental motivational
questions: “Can I do the task?” and “Do I want to do the task?” Additionally researchers such as
Eccles believe that people need to feel that they are considered valuable contributors to their
social groups and institutions. This need is likely to become especially salient during
adolescence and is related to engagement (Eccles, 2006). All of these issues can be useful in the
focus on homeless students and their specific motivation.
Homeless Students Expectations and Values
Timberlake & Sabatino describe a study of homeless children and specifically
demonstrate results that school attendance is a critical variable in improving homeless children’s
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 40
self-esteem and sense of loneliness (1994). A key factor in expectancy value theory deals with
the question of whether individuals feel that they can do a task or whether they want to do a task.
Issues of self-esteem may be relevant to the motivation of homeless students as well. For
instance in a study of “student voices” in alternative school settings, Phillips finds that students
feel learning is valuable when it is personally relevant and therefore worth learning (2011).
Students in alternative school settings have similar academic characteristics as homeless students
such as changing schools multiple times, not experiencing significant academic success, or
lacking in credits. The students’ perspectives are a useful reference and provide insight on how
students connect value to learning and become more motivated.
Goal Orientation Theory
Goal orientation theory examines the reasons why students engage in their academic
work. In this framework, goals are described as mastery or performance goals. Students' goals
can be conceptualized at differing organizational levels personal or classroom (Yough &
Anderman, 2009). Researchers describe students’ performance goals as characterized by
motivation that is extrinsic or motivated by goals related to external outcomes. Mastery of goals
are described as motivated by the goal of learning a specific task and focus on the learning of the
skill, task, or topic. Yough and Anderman (2006) describe students who are mastery-approach
oriented as being interested in truly mastering an academic task and may try to avoid
misunderstanding the task. The authors describe performance-approach oriented students in
contrast, as interested in demonstrating that they are more competent than other students (Yough
& Anderman, 2006). Analysis of student motivation can be especially helpful when working
with homeless students who are highly at risk of having poor attendance, academic achievement
and dropping out of school.
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 41
Homeless Students and Goals
The importance of setting goals and success seem inherently linked together. Research
literature tends to agree that success in different formats is more likely achieved if goals are set
(Martin & Elliot, 2015). In a recent study of over 1,000 students Martin and Elliot found that
personal best goals predicted higher motivation and engagement a year later (2015). Even
studies specifically with homeless students and families have shown that students succeed at
higher rates when they are focused on goals or their future. This is clear in an earlier study by
Epel, Bandura, and Zimbardo (1999) that examined whether self-efficacy or time perspective of
homeless individuals affected coping strategies to obtain housing or employment. Their findings
indicated that individuals who demonstrated higher future orientation had shorter durations of
homelessness and were more likely to enroll in school and report gaining positive benefits (Epel,
Bandura, & Zimbardo, 1999). These findings suggest that promoting students’ goal and future
orientation could promote positive outcomes. Other research also suggests the importance of
focus on student perceptions of their future and what they are learning. In an early discussion of
student motivation and the future, Husman and Lens present evidence that supports the theory
that a student with very limited or negative view of the future is also likely to be less motivated
They also suggest that if students do not see how learning is related to themselves or their
futures, there is very little motivational benefit (1999). This suggests that an important
component for students is a connection to their own personal experience. Table 3 reviews the
goals of the study and the assumed motivational influences.
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 42
Table 3
Stakeholders’ Performance Goals and Motivational Influences

Organizational Influences
This section will provide a brief review of literature about organizational influences
related to the achievement of homeless students. A review of relevant organizational theories
will be analyzed to identify and examine organizational elements that could influence the
achievement of homeless students and contribute to the identification of constructive
interventions or solutions. The goal is to set up a contextual backdrop of the organization to
District Mission
All Youth Achieving:
All students are enrolled, attending, engaged, and on-track to graduate

Organizational Global Goal
All groups of students will improve their rates of attending at 96% of the time by 1% annually by 2015-2018.

Stakeholder Goal
By June 2018, Homeless students will be increasing their rates of attendance (1% annually by 2015-2018).

Assumed Motivation Influences

How Will It Be Assessed?

Motivational Solution Principle
Utility Value –
Students need to see the value in
coming to school every day.

Students need to see the value of
getting their high school diploma.
Interview question:
“How, if at all, are district attendance
goals important to you as a student?”

Interview question
“Can you describe any pluses or
minuses of getting a high school
diploma? “

Rationales that include a
discussion of the importance and
utility value of the work/learning
can help learners develop positive
values.
Goal Orientation –
Students should want to complete
high school and have a plan or goal
post graduation such as college,
technical training, military, or
career.
Interview question
“In terms of how you view your life,
how important is attending school?”

Interview prompt:
“What goals did you have for after
high school?”
Are they any different now?
Focusing on mastery, individual
improvement, learning, and
progress promotes positive
motivation.
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 43
explore the question of whether there are any unidentified deficiencies in the District to support
homeless students.
Organizational Culture
Research has shown in a variety of studies that the importance of culture in organizations
is an important factor to take into consideration. Schein describes organizational culture as a
collection of shared assumptions by individuals in an organization (2004). Schein (2004) goes
on to stress the importance of understanding cultural norms to navigate an organization, even
warning that if leaders do not examine culture within the organization that culture will manage
them. Therefore, the school organizational culture is an important variable to examine in this
specific context.
Researchers have found that certain school environments more effectively promote
student engagement than others, such as what was found in a study by Wang and Holcombe,
which examined parts of longitudinal student data to examine the relationship between the
student perception of the school environment and their academic achievement. Wang and
Holcombe (2010) studied an urban sample of 1,046 seventh and eighth grade students from the
Maryland Adolescent Development in Context Study, an ongoing longitudinal study of more
than 1,000 adolescents, their families, and their teachers. Their study was done to investigate
which features of school environment from a student’s perspective, best support or undermine
school engagement and academic achievement during the middle school years. Wang and
Holcombe examined face-to-face interviews and self-administered questionnaires collected
during seventh and eighth grades along with students’ academic grade point averages, school
engagement at eighth grade and perceived school environment at seventh grade. Results
indicated student’s perceptions of their school environment in seventh grade contributed to
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 44
school engagement in eighth grade. Student perceptions in seventh grade influenced their school
participation, identification with school, and use of self-regulation strategies in eighth grade and,
in turn influenced student’s academic achievement in eighth grade. Researchers suggested that
their findings supported the claim that school climate could serve as a protective factor against
school disengagement and promote school success (Wang & Holcombe, 2010). Some studies
even more specifically examine how specific groups of students respond to different school
climates and organizational culture.
Conchas (2001) interviewed Latino high school students in different high school
academies to show how institutional mechanisms mediate school engagement. The study was
part of a larger comparative project of an urban high school in California. The urban high school
had similarities to the district of focus for this study, consisting of a majority of low-income
students. Conchas (2001) focused on interviews, focus groups and observations of 26 Latino
students who were both low and high achieving in different high school academies or in the
general school program. Students in academies that had cultural and institutional processes
based on common vision, goals, and cooperation fostered healthier and better relations and
student optimism. For instance, students in the medical academy appreciated the collegial
environment to work on teams and the promotion of positive competition and peer support by
academy staff. Conchas states that the culture of each program was important in determining
how they viewed academic success (2001). Few studies focus on the engagement of homeless
students related to school organizational culture, however there is some examination of
organizational culture and engagement in a related context.
In a study of transition aged youth and their engagement with mental health service
providers, Kim et. al examine the impact of organization characteristics. Kim and the other
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 45
researchers used a cross sectional survey research design and collected survey data from 279
practitioners in metropolitan Ohio. Their findings revealed organizational culture had significant
effects on the continuation of mental health services (Kim et. al, 2014). These results, along
with other research findings indicating the importance of school culture to student engagement,
suggest that the organizational school culture as perceived by students in this study is relevant to
their academic engagement and possible success. In the specific context for the study,
organizational culture could influence the environments in which homeless students are
educated.
Specifically for homeless students, a school’s culture can influence how homeless
students are treated and processed in a school environment such as the scheduling of classes. If a
school for instance, does not have a trained staff on how to identify homeless students
appropriately or how to identify appropriate educational rights, students could be misinformed,
not given eligible services or scheduled into the wrong classes. If a homeless student is not
identified and is in high school, has moved schools numerous times and the staff is not aware
that the student is entitled to graduate under state graduation requirements this could result in the
student being enrolled in classes he does not need to graduate, or possibly not even being able to
graduate at all. Rumberger et.al found that highly mobile students in high schools were
sometimes placed in classes that did not contribute to graduation or were different than what they
were taking in their prior school (1999). Some of the schools’ cultures allowed for these
decisions to be made and resulted in different experiences for homeless students at different
schools (Rumberger, 1999).
Based on students’ experiences in their environment, an assumed organizational
influence related to these cultural elements is that there is some resistance and a cultural distrust
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 46
of authority figures by students who may have had to change schools numerous times and deal
with a variety of organizational cultures from teachers, students and other school officials
(National Coalition for the Homeless). Students’ interaction with this institutional culture could
influence their behavior. For instance, as Asby indicated that students who had difficulty fitting
in socially could be disruptive to their class or school (2010). The influence of school culture or
climate is the focus in a 2009 study by MacNeil, Prater and Busch. The study compared student
outcomes across schools while examining each of the schools on 10 organizational dimensions.
The study examined 29 schools in a large suburban school district in Texas. Test scores were
collected from the state for over 24,000 students and organizational scores were collected from
district teachers at each of the schools for a total of over 1,700 teachers surveyed. The study’s
findings indicated that exemplary schools were found to possess healthier climates than
acceptable schools (MacNeil, Prater & Busch, 2009). Therefore, the school culture and climate
as perceived by homeless students will be considered in the analysis of this study to provide a
relevant organizational context for their experience in the school setting.
Communication
Numerous studies on organizational theory have provided evidence in favor of the
important role of communication to the wellbeing and success of an organization (Berger, 2014).
Berger also comments that despite research evidence supporting the need for effective
organizational communication many organizations do not focus on communication for their
benefit (2014). In regards to this study’s context, the efficient use of organizational
communication can provide supportive or detrimental influences for homeless students. Students
face a variety of organizational systems in a large urban school district. Students face individual
school and teacher communication in addition to district communication. Especially considering
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 47
that many homeless students are highly mobile and encounter multiple schools. With each move
comes another school, another office, diverse staff, rules, guidelines and communication
systems.
If communication is important for all organizations, homeless student and parent
communication may be even more critical considering their potential educational gaps. A focus
on communication with staff and stakeholders could prove useful for schools and the district to
effectively support homeless students. Particularly as research has found that regardless of
student’s background, ethnicity or socioeconomic status parent involvement at home and in
school has a positive effect on student grades, attendance and behavior (Walker, 2003).
Furthermore, when parents maintain frequent contact with their child’s school the child will
achieve at higher levels (Bempechat, 1990). This can be a strong supportive factor for homeless
students. Suggesting that an organization that can help foster or nurture this parent connection
with school and district while acknowledging that homeless families may face daily challenges
for basic needs that can be overwhelming.
Parents who are homeless often spend much of their time finding food, shelter,
employment or other daily basic needs that may distract parents from focusing on their child’s
educational needs or deter them from consistent communication with teachers and/or counselors
(Julianelle & Foscarinis, 2003). An assumed organizational influence is that parents and
students are overwhelmed by trying to resolve complications related to accessing basic needs and
juggling responsibilities. This struggle for daily basic needs may keep parents from investing
effort into focusing on their educational progress or goals.
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 48
Change and Conflict
Organizational theory also has a focus on organizational conflict and change that is also
relevant to this context. Alper et al. suggest that organizational teams can be prepared to make
use of autonomy to deal with problems and conflicts so that they are productive (2000). Schools
can develop and strengthen or dampen autonomy within an organization, which in turn can
influence the students, which they serve. For instance, if an organization capitalizes on the
autonomous creativity of their programs and staff they may be more likely to successfully meet
the challenges that homeless students face due to their housing uncertainty.
In order to address performance disparities, schools and districts are charged with
identifying homeless students annually. This task is a challenging undertaking in any context but
involves distinct complications in the district. The Homeless Program coordinator has been in
charge of two other programs for the last decade and Program staff are often required to support
the other two programs when needed. Additionally, the goals for the program and the size of the
district necessitate that schools most often serve as the direct providers to homeless students.
Hentschke and Wohlstetter (2004) note “the accountability relationship only works when both
parties are sufficiently capable and willing” (p.18). In the district, levels of commitment to the
goal of identifying and serving homeless students at the school level may differ. Schools or
personnel may not see program objectives as a priority in their specific setting or school site in
relation to other school priorities. There are no direct school consequences for not being in
compliance with district or federal mandates (District Policy Bulletin 1570.3 and 6718.0). There
are also no strong incentives for schools to comply with program recommendations or guidance.
If goals are not aligned for all stakeholders at all levels of the district, homeless students may not
be identified or served appropriately.
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 49
Educational institutions also face systemic challenges such as the fact that in many areas
there are extremely limited resources available to implement the McKinney Vento Homeless
Assistance Act reauthorized by the new federal educational law ESSA (Every Student Succeeds
Act). The federal law requires all school districts to address and educational barriers of homeless
students, for example, transportation, clothing, and school supplies. However, without sufficient
funding, schools and districts find it challenging to adequately address the barriers that homeless
students present. As a result, many districts are serving only a portion of their estimated
homeless student population (NN4Y National Coalition for the Homeless). Therefore school
districts must become adaptable and creative with available funding and resources to meet the
needs of their students.
Kezar describes adaptation as how an organization modifies or alters in order to adjust to
changes in the external environments (2001). Educational organizations need to be adaptable to
changing needs from homeless students since their challenges are varied from trauma, family
issues, behavioral, basic needs, academic and social (NN4Y National Coalition for the Homeless,
2007). Some of the adaptations that need to happen to support homeless students are those
regarding student transfers, enrollment, and scheduling for academic progress and success.
Homeless Coordinators indicate that a slow transfer of school records along with differing course
requirements from school to school cause complications for homeless students with grade
promotion or graduation (NN4Y Policy Study Associates, 2002).
Another change theory focuses on human resources such as Bolman and Deal. Bolman
and Deal emphasize that individuals play a critical role in adjustment to change focusing on
individual development, overcoming fear, and focusing on training (1991). An assumed
influence is that there is a lack of role models for homeless students within their settings that can
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 50
provide support through the changes that homeless students face at school and at home. As
noted earlier, Rafferty, Shinn, and Weitzman (2004) indicate that in addition to increased school
mobility and more challenging school experiences homeless students also have diminished plans
for post-secondary education. They also face higher rates of exposure to violence, family mental
health or substance abuse issues, and higher transiency rates (Coker et al., 2009; Morris & Butt,
2003). Therefore as research has shown that homeless students face short-term consequences
and long-term risks (Cutuli et.al, 2013) successful homeless role models may be lacking.
Schools that can change adeptly and focus on individual development, creating positive student
connections to staff or school could be valuable in addressing a lack of role models for these
students. It is in this area of establishing direct supportive connections for students and adapting
to student needs that the districts school site homeless liaisons may be indispensable.
Conclusion
The literature reviewed in this chapter provides a context for the setting of homeless
students in K-12 public schools. This section began with an examination of the current state of
homelessness, drop-out rates, and the presence of an achievement gap between homeless
students and their housed peers along with the barriers to academic achievement associated with
this gap. The goal of this analysis was to examine the root causes for the gap in academic
achievement, in the form of attendance, between homeless students and their housed peers
through a gap analysis framework. The framework provides a structured process to pinpoint
assumed influences and a plan to move towards possible solutions to address the root causes of
the identified gap. This review of the research has led to the focus on specific factors in three
different areas; Knowledge, Motivation and Organizational influences that could be related to the
outcomes of homeless students, specifically in school attendance. The research was used to
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 51
establish variables, assumed influences, which will be validated through a process that will be
described in chapter three.
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 52
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY
This study focused on examining the achievement gap identified in the literature between
homeless students and their housed peers. Research suggests that students are not performing as
well their peers and are more likely to drop out of school (Obradovic et al., 2009; Hendricks &
Barkley, 2011; Fantuzzo, Leboeuf, Brumley & Perlman, 2009), which is detrimental to students,
schools and the community at large (Culhane, 2008). In an effort to investigate the unique
perspective of students themselves, this study examined former students who faced being
homeless during their K-12 academic career. In this chapter there is a discussion of how the
study was conducted, what data was collected, the methods used to collect the data and the
process that was utilized to analyze the data.
Conceptual Framework
Merriam and Tisdell describe a theoretical framework as permeating the entire process of
research from the questions derived from literature and practice to review, analysis and findings
(2016). The framework used for this study focuses on analyzing the achievement gap between
homeless students and their housed peers. Research literature described in chapter one and two
describe evidence that homeless students are not performing to the same levels as their academic
peers (Obradovic et. al, 2009). The district identified 11, 481 homeless students during the 2015-
16 school year and out of the 553 homeless seniors identified only 240 were on track to graduate
(School District Pupil Services, Homeless Education Program, June 2016). Although there are
cases of students who are succeeding despite their challenging situations, as evidenced by the
group of seniors that graduated and went on to colleges, universities, vocational training
programs and even the military. However, this still leaves a large group of students who are not
succeeding academically despite the existence of federally mandated supports in compliance
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 53
with the McKinney Vento Homeless Assistance Act now part of the Every Student Succeeds Act.
The framework developed by Clark and Estes was used to identify and analyze the root causes of
lower achievement for homeless students. This model was used to understand the problem of
lower homeless student achievement in schools because of the focus on analysis to increase
performance. Certainly a more simple solution would be for society to provide housing for
families and students who lack fixed or adequate housing to avoid any related challenges with
education. However, in the absence of immediate available housing solutions for many of the
families that are served by the district it is necessary to identify strategies to address the
educational needs of the students. Gap analysis is a problem-solving model that can ultimately
support the larger goals of the organization by focusing on specific performance goals. Clark
and Estes note it is important to identify the organizational goals to make the connection between
high-level goals and individual performance goals (2008).
Clark and Estes describe a six step process in which they describe the need to identify
goals (organizational and individual) and then to determine performance gaps that can be
analyzed to determine explanations related to knowledge, motivation and organizational
elements. Proposed solutions can then be implemented in these areas and the results regularly
evaluated in order to revise goals. A key concept the authors describe is the importance of
setting goals and measuring the distance between the goals and current performance. This close
examination of a gap in performance fits well with the need to analyze the gap in achievement
for homeless students in order to develop suggested solutions to close this gap.
This study focused on identifying the knowledge, motivation and organizational elements
related to the success of homeless students specifically in school attendance. The gap analysis
focused on identifying knowledge related influences critical to the achievement of homeless
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 54
students. Additionally, motivation of homeless students for regular school attendance and
academic success is examined. Finally, relevant organizational theories were analyzed to
identify and examine organizational elements that may influence the achievement of homeless
students and contribute to the identification of constructive interventions or solutions.

Figure 1. Conceptual framework
The goal of this analysis was to examine root causes that can be addressed by the district
for the gap in academic achievement for homeless students through a gap analysis framework.
The framework provided a structured process to pinpoint assumed influences and a plan to move
towards possible solutions to address appropriate root causes of the identified gap. The study
was able to identify solutions that could mitigate inherent challenges experienced by homeless
students and families to better support their academic participation and success. Figure 1 shows
a graphical representation of the conceptual framework used for this study.
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 55
Participating Stakeholders
The purpose of this research was to determine the root causes involved in the gap
between the academic performance of homeless students and their housed peers through the
exploration of topics related to the knowledge, motivation and organization that could influence
homeless students’ academic performance. The focus of this study was on examining the
experience, context and perception of the homeless student in the K-12 setting. This qualitative
study concentrated on interviewing former students who experienced homelessness during their
K-12 academic career. Often the district has taken surveys and garnered feedback from school
personnel on topics related to the identification, performance and resources available to homeless
students. However, the student perspective had not been explored or analyzed to compare to the
adult perceptions surrounding them. Interviews with former students provided a broader
understanding of the student perspective that is not possible by interviewing school district staff
or even parents. It was important to find out what students themselves described and perceived
in their setting and what this meant to them and in the context of the overall organization. This
depth of perspective on the organization better informed the development of intervention
strategies to address this achievement gap.
Sampling Criterion and Rationale
For the purposes of this study, academic achievement was associated with regular and
consistent school attendance. This investigation focused on recent students from the last five
school years who were no longer attending district schools either because they graduated or left
school without a high school diploma and had lower than 96% attendance. This target
population included students who were expected to graduate during the 2014-2015 or the 2015-
16 school year. It was important to interview both students that had successful experiences
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 56
despite being homeless and students who were not successful either with attendance, academics
or at graduating to get a wider range of experience and perception of the organization, their
knowledge and motivation. Additionally, interviewing former students allowed for participants
to have some distance from their experience in the organization and not feel the impact of
currently experiencing crisis or organizational challenges. Finally, the interview of former
students also provided students with more direct knowledge of the world after high school and
their age allowed for an increased likelihood of maturity and ability to reflect on their academic
experience.
Recruitment Strategy and Rationale
Former district students were recruited for self-administered pre-interview surveys and
multi part interviews from locations throughout the district through a purposeful convenience
sample as described by Merriam and Tisdell (2016) and Patton (2105). A purposeful selection of
a sample of eight participants were chosen with three who graduated or had good attendance and
three who did not or had poor attendance. The purposeful selection was used to identify
participants who could provide the most insight and with whom the most can be learned
(Merriam & Tisdell, 2015). The pre-interview survey included demographic and concrete
questions that lend themselves to short or concise answers that are more easily and quickly
answered individually. This process allowed for time during the interviews to focus on open-
ended questions and sufficient time for participant response, descriptions and researcher probing
to illicit pertinent responses. Participants were surveyed and interviewed based on their
willingness to participate in the study. It is important to include students from throughout the
district due to the disparate geographic region that the district covers. The experience of students
at the north end of the school district could be distinct from those at the south peninsula of the
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 57
district. Therefore, volunteers were recruited in all areas of the school district. Additionally, a
small purposeful sample was chosen to ensure that participants are in fact willing participants to
share personal information about their homeless experience during their K-12 academic career
and that they were able to describe their experience with some detail. Ensuring that students did
experience homelessness in the given district ensured that their perceptions were applicable to
the study. Finally, a small sample size was chosen to allow for voluntary participation that was
participant initiated and to conduct in depth interviews and time to analyze the data being
collected.
Students were recruited through a letter and flyer posted and distributed at youth
homeless service agencies throughout the district of focus. Participants were compensated with a
$5 gift card for their participation in the survey and each of the interview parts. A letter
explaining the study and the need for student input and dialogue on the subject of the experience
of housing difficulties in school and attendance was provided to past students who graduated or
were non-grad students. The recruitment letter was sent out via social service staff that work
with homeless students in the district of focus.
Data Collection and Instrumentation
In order to address research questions related to attendance during K-12 academic careers
of homeless students, participants were interviewed one on one with open-ended questions that
allowed participants to share freely without distractions, embarrassment or any stigma associated
with the identification of being homeless and to avoid participants responses being influenced by
each other. Also, due to the sensitive nature of the issue of homelessness the interviews were
held in three parts to allow time for the interviewer to develop rapport with each participant.
Questions included items on the knowledge, motivation and organizational factors related to
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 58
academic performance of homeless students specifically in the area of attendance. In addition,
all participants were given brief surveys with close-ended questions prior to the interviews to
gather supporting information on knowledge, motivation or organizational factors related to
academic performance, specifically attendance. Finally, document analysis was used to support
or compare to interview and survey findings related to attendance influences in knowledge,
motivation or organizational factors.
Questionnaires
A brief questionnaire was given to participants prior to their interviews to capture basic
demographic information and specific information related to attendance and the organization that
is more easily captured through close ended questions. The questionnaire was brief only 10
questions to avoid participants being cognitively overloaded and for the simple purpose of
gathering basic socio-demographic data quickly and efficiently (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016).
Answers were used to corroborate any interview answers or to provide any related knowledge
that can provide background to interview answers. Questions were tested on homeless students
at community agencies in the district of focus to ensure that the questions were clear,
understandable and provided reliable results.
Interviews
Interviews were conducted with eight former students in the district of focus who were
homeless at some time during their K-12 academic experience. As Merriam and Tisdell discuss
the number of interviews were reviewed for any redundancy as was recommended by Lincoln
and Gupta (1985). Interviews were semi-structured with open-ended questions to allow
participants to describe their perspective, feelings, and thoughts in detail regarding any issues
surrounding the topics that were asked about during interviews. In order to ease participants into
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 59
discussing sensitive information about their homeless experience the interviews were held in
three parts of 20 minutes each. The first part was a more general interview to allow participants
to get comfortable with the interviewer, the interview process and the research questions. The
second part consisted of some questions regarding the district. The third part consisted of
questions that asked participants to provide personal reflections regarding their own knowledge,
motivation and how any organizational factors may have mediated their own experience. Four
participants opted to do the interview all at once instead of in three parts.
Document Analysis
In order to provide another data point the study included a review of district documents to
compare with statements provided by students in interviews or surveys and to provide
supplemental information that participants could not provide about the district. Homeless
program materials, training materials, district policies related to homeless students and school
information was collected from publicly available sources such as the district and program
websites. District policies and program documents were analyzed for organizational context and
influences. De-identified overall homeless student data from the district and materials were
analyzed for knowledge and motivational influences. Participants were also asked if they would
provide a copy of their high school transcripts or any high school report cards for review to
discuss their academic trajectory during high school and to compare to participant interview
responses. Due to time constraints, participants were unable to provide report cards or
transcripts but were able to discuss their grades, credits and academic trajectory during high
school to their best of their recollection.
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 60
Data Analysis
Due to the small sample size of fewer than 20 participants, questionnaire responses were
reviewed only to assess agreement or disagreement with any interview responses. For
interviews, data analysis began during data collection as interviews were being conducted.
Memos were written after each interview to collect thoughts, concerns, and initial conclusions
about data in relation to the conceptual framework and research questions collected immediately.
Interviews were immediately transcribed and coded as they were each completed. Responses
were recorded on a smartphone and uploaded immediately for transcription without any
participant identifying information. Emerging topics were recorded and coded according to
student responses. These topics were grouped into themes to be analyzed further. Responses by
theme were recorded in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and analyzed. The researcher used
themes and quotations from interviews to show connections to the research and findings. Open
coding was employed, looking for empirical codes and applying a priori codes from the
conceptual framework. In a second stage of analysis codes were aggregated into axial codes.
Finally, data analysis resulted in pattern codes and themes most relevant to the conceptual
framework and research questions. Documents were reviewed and analyzed for evidence
consistent with the conceptual framework and assumed influences in knowledge, motivation and
organization.
Credibility and Trustworthiness
Merriam and Tisdell describe the importance of describing a qualitative study, even
calling it imperative for researchers to invoke confidence in the conduct of the investigation and
results of the study (2016). As the authors indicate, the nature of this focus on detailed
descriptions regarding the way data is collected, analyzed and interpreted bears on the level of
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 61
credibility and trustworthiness of a study. Therefore in this section there is a detailed description
of the way data collected, analyzed and interpreted as Merriam and Tisdell recommend to allow
readers to evaluate whether procedures have been followed faithfully and establish
trustworthiness in the study and any findings will be discussed. Additionally, Merriam and
Tisdell discuss that the credibility of the study is very much related to the credibility or values of
the researcher (2016).
This study was conducted by a former coordinator of the program with extensive
knowledge of the district but no longer any direct ties for any conflicts of interest. Additionally
the relationship between interviewer and participants will be separate from the district or
program since both individuals will no longer be directly tied to the district. Merriam and
Tisdell (2016) also mention that another component of the credibility of the researcher is being
objective but also sensitive to any participant experience by having any resources available that
may surface. The interviewer, familiar with the participant population is able to empathize with
participants as needed and provide any appropriate resources if the need arose during an
interview.
In order to address other issues of credibility, this study took into consideration questions
brought forth by Merriam and Tisdell to assess reliability and validity issues such as when will
the researchers stop collecting data (2016). As Merriam and Tisdell indicate interviews were
collected as long as participants were willing and the results began to show some consensus or
patterns in the findings (2016). This was done as long as it was feasible for the participants and
researcher in terms of time and available volunteer participants. Moreover, Merriam and Tisdell
indicate that to ensure trustworthiness in qualitative research issues of validity are important such
as the use of triangulation or multiple data collection methods to support findings (2016).
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 62
Validity and Reliability
Merriam and Tisdell mention an issue of checking whether findings are congruent with
reality and suggest the use of triangulation, or the use of multiple data collection methods to
“cross-check” findings (2016). Therefore, data collected through questionnaires or interviews
were compared with district data whenever a comparison is available. In addition interview
answers were compared to questionnaire answers for any consensus as well to promote
reliability, consistency in answers regarding specific topics and questions. Maxwell (2013) also
recommends researchers check for interpretation with participants during interviews referred to
as respondent validation or member checks to improve internal validity. Therefore, in this study
the interviewer paraphrased statements or answers to participants to check for understanding and
any missed meaning. Additionally, written outcomes were shared with participants for member
checking to ensure that their meanings are accurate. Maxwell states that member checking is the
single most important way to rule out misinterpretation (2013). In order to improve any
possibility of transferability, Merriam and Tisdell recommend that the researcher provides rich,
thick description so, as much detail as possible was included in the data section to provide
context of the interviews (2016). Moreover, Maxwell contends that another form of improving
validity is to search for any discrepant or negative cases, which was done when any patterns in
responses are found to see if there are differing opinions among respondents (2013).
Ethics
This study focused on interviewing that can provide meaning through the personal
narratives of students who experienced homelessness in K-12 education. The interviews were
done with former students of the district that the author served as program coordinator to allow
the participants not to feel a direct obligation since they are no longer participants in the program
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 63
or the district. Whenever researchers’ interviews are conducted it is important to consider ethical
procedures due to the collection of the data through personal one on one conversation. The
Belmont Report that has provided a strong basis for guidelines involving human subjects
indicates that research conducted should follow basic ethical principles of respecting people,
ensure that the research is of benefit and to take into account justice or the distribution of a
service, intervention, etc (1979). This study took into consideration the ethical issues described
in a checklist by Merriam and Tisdell which note the importance of explaining the purpose of the
inquiry and methods, including reciprocity for participants, avoiding promises, doing a risk
assessment, acknowledging and respecting confidentiality, informed consent mental health and
data collection (2016).
As described, informed consent is critical in research studies and these forms were given
to all participants at the commencement of interviews. Informed consent is a process in which a
participant is voluntary agreeing to participate in research. Participants agree to participate after
understanding the research being done and any potential risks involved so that they can make an
informed decision about their participation. As described by legal requirements, participants are
required to be given enough information to provide a truly voluntary and informed consent
(http://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/humansubjects/guidance/45cfr46.html). In order to protect the safety
of any participants study protocols were submitted to the University of Southern California
Institutional Review Board (IRB). Bogdan and Biken describe the Institutional Review Board as
a group that exists in all colleges and universities to review research proposal and weighing the
risks for participants against any gains for society (2007). The study will follow all IRB and
University rules or guidelines regarding the protection of participants and their rights or welfare.
The protection of participant’s information has been considered even prior to volunteering.
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 64
Former youth identified as homeless were recruited anonymously through recruitment flyers at
community agencies that work with current and former K-12 students identified as homeless.
Young adults who were interested in participating in the interviews contacted the researcher
directly to volunteer. Their identifying information was not collected at any time during the
recruitment or interview process.
Each participant signed a consent form and was told that their participation was strictly
voluntary. As Bogdan and Biken note one of the guidelines for researchers is insuring
individuals are participating voluntarily with an understanding of the nature of the study and any
dangers (2007). Additionally, participants were informed that their identities were not collected
with the interview and that they would remain anonymous. Participants were also informed that
audiotapes of the interviews were taken during their interviews but no confidential identifying
information was collected. Participants were also be provided an opportunity to review any
notes or audiotapes to ensure their confidential information was not recorded and that responses
were recorded accurately. Due to the sensitive nature of the topic and the stigma of being
identified as homeless for young adults, their preference to not answer any questions and to
withdraw from the study at any time was respected. Participants were provided with a small
incentive for participating in the interview ($5 gift card) that was chosen in a smaller
denomination to not provide a large influence to their participation. Participants were also
reminded that they would still receive the incentive even if they did not answer all of the
questions posed during the interview or during the pre-interview questionnaire so that they did
not feel coerced to answer any questions that were uncomfortable.
Researchers often note that two important threats to validity of qualitative conclusions are
any researcher bias that influences data collection, analysis or findings in general (Maxwell,
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 65
2013). These biases may skew the collection, procedures or interpretation therefore this study
seeks to identify how the researchers’ values or expectations may have influenced the conduct or
conclusions of the study. Patton describes the credibility of the researcher as one of the essential
components to ensure the credibility of qualitative research (2015). The researcher in this study
has a history of working with homeless youth and is empathetic of their situation due to her
personal background form a low-income family. However, every effort was made to safeguard
that questionnaire and interview questions were phrased in an objective manner that did not
guide the participants to answer in a specific manner. The questions were pilot tested with
homeless and non-homeless students in addition to being reviewed by homeless and other district
staff for comprehension, clarity, objective or non-guiding questions and any pre-disposition to
either describe their situation favorably or unfavorably. The researcher also changed work
locations prior to the data collection and no longer has any direct stake in the outcome of the
interviews or any related evaluation of the program, organization or the participant’s experiences
related to them. Patton’s Ethical issues checklist also includes the topics discussed in this section
such as purpose, reciprocity, promises, risk assessment, confidentiality, informed consent, and
data access/ownership (2015).
Limitations and Delimitations
One of the limitations of the study was the size of the sample that was small and not
randomly selected. Therefore, it is challenging to make generalizations based on a small sample
size. Additionally, there is no way to control for participant honesty and transparency.
Therefore, interviews were conducted with former students from different areas in the district to
look for redundancy (Lincoln & Gupta, 1985) or any discrepant cases (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016)
to increase the chances of reliable information from participants. Also, District data reviewed
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 66
was not that of any interview participants so it could not be correlated to their own personal
experiences. However, member checking and document analysis was used to corroborate any
information that was available.

HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 67
CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS AND FINDINGS
This study focused on homeless students due to the achievement gap seen between
homeless students and their housed peers. The specific focus here is on attendance due to
correlations between academic participation and success. This study also aims to improve
homeless student attendance in the coming years with insight gained from the data collected.
Therefore, a student perspective is essential to the development and implementation of an
effective plan for attendance improvement for homeless students. In order to understand barriers
to improving school attendance for homeless students in a large urban school district, this study
chose to interview young adults who experienced homelessness in the district of focus.
Interviews were done to gain a student perspective on any barriers to regular school attendance
they faced. The interviews were preceded by short questionnaires and overall both are designed
to gain information to answer the main research questions:
1. What are the knowledge and skills, motivation and organizational causes that are barriers
to achieving the goal of 1% improvement of attendance for homeless students?
2. What are the knowledge and skills, motivation and organizational solutions to address
those barriers?
Participating Stakeholders
Recruitment was conducted in various agencies that partner with the district and serve
formerly homeless young adults. Ultimately, interviews were completed with eight young adults
who experienced homelessness in the district of focus. One of the interviews was not included
because the participant did not become homeless until after leaving the district. Therefore, the
questionnaire and interviews reviewed are of seven participants who did experience
homelessness during their time at the district of focus. Interviewees consisted of four female and
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 68
four males. In regards to ethnicity, there was some diversity as well with two African American,
one Hispanic, one Asian and three mixed race participants. Additionally, all participants but one
indicated that English was their primary language. The last participant indicated their primarily
language was Spanish, however the interviewee was still fluent in English and felt comfortable
conducting the interview in English. Brief biographical descriptions are provided below of the
participants to provide some background information and their experience with homelessness.
Each of the participants was assigned a random pseudonym in order for them to remain
anonymous.
Participants
The participants consisted of seven young adults who had diverse backgrounds and
experienced homelessness in different periods of their lives. Each of them had their own story of
homelessness and school that is briefly described to provide context to the findings organized
into themes in the following sections.
Jon is a 24-year-old male who became homeless during sophomore year (10
th
grade) and
was homeless off and on that school year. He lived with his father and grandmother in a large
urban neighborhood with a population of mostly Hispanic and African American families. Jon
did not have a relationship with his mother due to her history of substance abuse and his father
passed away during his sophomore year of high school. After his father’s death he was left
living with his aging grandmother who had a difficult time controlling him due to his
increasingly defiant behavior and disinterest in school He described himself as angry after his
father died when him and his grandmother had to deal with homelessness and grief from his
father passing away. Jon indicated that his interest in school quickly faded after the death of his
father and he became more immersed in his peer group. He said he just didn’t want to listen to
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 69
his grandmother and couldn’t be talked to. Jon quickly admitted that he stopped going to school
and by the time his grandmother realized he had completely dropped out.
Michael is a 23 year old male who became homeless during his sophomore year (10th
grade) when his mom kicked him out of the house. He describes the time he had to deal with
homelessness in high school from sophomore year through graduation as a blur. Michael said
that his first year of high school and the first half of his sophomore year were fairly successful
and that he did well in school. However, once he had to worry about where to sleep every night,
figure out how to get something to eat and where or how to do even do any homework he lost
focus on school. He enjoyed school because it provided some stability and a place to socialize
and feel connected to people but, that he didn’t see himself as a student so much anymore.
Michael says he only kept coming to school because he craved the social connections but still at
that point felt always like two steps behind everyone else at school due to his homelessness. He
did discuss how he ultimately discovered a few people at school who helped him get through his
senior year.
Maria is an 18-year-old female who became homeless with her mom and siblings during
her first year of high school (ninth grade). She indicates that she never really was into school
because she was always around the gang life, with her mom being in the gang. Maria says that
she also had trouble at school socially and she found it hard to keep up. Additionally, Maria
describes how her mom lost custody of her and her siblings when she was in elementary school.
Maria discusses the difficulty with having to move from house to house and then after coming
back to her mom losing her grandmother. Once her grandmother passed away they again had to
worry about moving from place to place because they did not have a place to call home. She
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 70
says that after they became homeless she totally lost focus on school and was only focused on
the gang life, wanting to be with friends and do drugs.
Linda is a 19-year-old female who became homeless during her senior year when her
mom kicked her out of the house. She described having difficulty focusing on school as well
because she would have to travel long distances to get to and from school depending on where
she could stay at night. Linda also describes how even before her mom officially kicked her out
there were times when things at home were so difficult she could not go home for weeks or
months at a time. She would miss a lot of school due to these times of upheaval at home. Linda
also described how some of the people at school, her dean in particular helped support her
through her senior year so that she could graduate.
Ricardo is a 20-year-old male who became homeless at the end of his first year of high
school when his parents separated. His mom and his siblings lost their housing and he began to
lose interest in school partly because he was falling behind. He says that he slowly stopped
attending school and his mom noticed this and because they had a hard time finding housing she
felt it would be best to send him to stay with family in Mexico temporarily. Ricardo described
the situation as unsettling but that he was happy to be more independent away from his mom.
He says he was more successful and interested during elementary school and even into middle
school when there were activities he could be involved in besides just the academics like theatre.
However, there was less of that when he got to high school and as he began missing school more
he got more and more behind.
Diane is a 19-year-old female who grew up in between two different states because her
parents moved back and forth often due to family ties. She discussed always changing schools
throughout all of her academic career beginning as early as elementary school. Diane spoke
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 71
longingly about wanting to know what it would be like to grow up in community where she
knew everyone and could establish long-term connections which she never experienced. She
indicated that her family had issues with homelessness off and on during elementary school,
middle school and high school when they would have to stay with family or friends. There were
times where the family was somewhat stable for a year or so but then they would move again and
often run into complications looking for or keeping their housing. In elementary school she
indicates she always tried to go to school but, that because she kept moving around she quickly
fell behind and felt like she never lived up to her potential. Diane said that she feels like only
now going back to school, is she working on trying to catch up with what she wasn’t able to
learn while in school.
Jim is a 23-year-old male who describes a very difficult childhood with adoptive parents
that were often neglectful and abusive. Although he did not want to discuss the details of his
abuse he spoke of becoming homeless in middle school for a short period of time and then
running away from home when in high school. Jim discussed how he wanted to do well in
school but that having his adoptive parents move him around so much made it difficult. He did
mention that he always tried to have good attendance at school and wanted to make his teachers
proud of him especially when they took particular interest in his progress. However, Jim lost a
lot of trust in adults at school when he shared with a teacher information about his abuse and he
felt that he was not believed. After running away and getting back into school it was difficult to
focus on school. He indicated that not until he was able to get more stable after he turned 18 was
he able to get back to school and is now trying to work on getting his diploma.

HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 72
Results
In the first part of the study all participants were asked to complete a questionnaire with
nine questions. The questions were to gain information about declarative knowledge participants
were able to demonstrate regarding attendance and the presence of school site staff to provide
support to homeless students. The first questions (one to four) asked about basic demographics
to identify, gender, ethnicity, primary language and parent’s level of education. The next four
questions asked about attendance knowledge and the last question asked about whether
participants were aware of school based personnel available to support homeless students at
schools they had attended.
Knowledge Results
The identified achievement gap being examined in this study within the gap analysis
model first leads us to examine questionnaire results of the interviewee’s attendance knowledge.
Attendance questions asked participants what the districts attendance goal for students was and
provided eight different multiple-choice answers to choose from including an “other” that they
could choose and fill in their own response. Results indicate five out of seven participants were
not able to accurately describe the district's attendance goals. Another knowledge question asked
participants what options constituted an excused absence from school. Participants were
provided with six options to choose from. Only three options were actually valid excuses for an
excused absence from school (medical appointment, sick, court). Four participants did know
medical appointments were excused absences. Three participants did know a court appearance
was an excused absence. However, four participants indicated having a parent note would
excuse school absences. Also, only two participants indicated being sick would count as an
excused absence. None of the participants chose babysitting or car problems as excused
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 73
absences. This indicates at least some knowledge of allowable reasons for missing school but
does not indicate a full understanding that a parent note does not make an absence excusable.
This information is useful because there has not been a lot of prior research into the attendance
knowledge exhibited by homeless students. Understanding that homeless students may have a
peripheral knowledge but not an in-depth understanding of attendance information could be
relevant moving forward. The question arises that if homeless students had a more complex
understanding of attendance knowledge could this contribute to their perspective and possibly
motivate action to improve regular school attendance.
Motivation Results
Another important factor in the gap analysis model is student motivation, which is key to
identifying barriers to a proposed outcome. Although the questionnaire does not directly ask any
questions about motivation there are several questions that are relevant to this category. One of
the questions asks whether students are aware if school attendance is legally required. The
answers to this question provide contextual information from the former students that could have
influenced their motivation. For instance, all but one of the interviewees knew that school
attendance was required by law, which could motivate students if the law is an effective deterrent
or motivator. Another question that is relevant to motivation is the inquiry into the educational
level completed by their parents. Six out of seven of the participants had parents who graduated
from high school and four of them also had at least one parent with some college. The last
question related to motivation is the question that asks students what attendance goal there is for
students in the district they attended. If students understand or feel there is an expectation for
school attendance, this could motivate their behavior. Six of the seven interviewees indicated
their school district had the goal for students to have 90-100% attendance. As previously noted
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 74
Philips found that if students found learning personally relevant they would put more value in
learning (2011). This suggests that if this information (parents’ exposure to higher education, the
law, expectations of school) is personally relevant they may put value on it and it could affect
their motivation to attend school.
Organizational Results
The gap analysis framework finally leads to an examination of the organizational
elements involved in the context faced by homeless students. The questionnaire provides some
information that provides information about whether students were aware of available personnel
to support homeless students at all schools. This provides some insight into perhaps how well
the organization communicated this information to homeless students. The question was asked
whether participants knew if there was someone at their previous school that supported students
or families identified as homeless. The participants were able to answer yes, fill in the person’s
name or title, or choose don’t remember or did not know there was anyone at the school site.
The questionnaire results indicate that all of the interviewees did not remember, weren’t sure or
definitely did not know there was someone at school who specifically was there to help homeless
students. This information suggests that the message about this available support at school sites
did not make its way to the students who needed it.
Findings
Interviews with former students who experienced homelessness during their education in
the district of focus presented some themes that can be categorized in terms of the current gap
analysis framework, knowledge, motivation or organizational factors. The framework and the
proposed research questions are used to organize the information provided by interview data.
The research questions were to identify causes or barriers in the areas of knowledge, motivation
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 75
and organizational that could impede proposed outcomes. Therefore, interview data is organized
in the knowledge, motivation and organizational categories to categorize the themes that
interviewees presented in terms of the framework and to provide reference for proposed
outcomes. The gap analysis framework led to the first research question; what are the
knowledge and skills, motivation and organizational causes that are barriers to achieving the goal
of 1% improvement of attendance for homeless students? What gaps in knowledge or
motivation do homeless students have that could impede improvement? More importantly, what
are the gaps in organization practice that can address the needs of homeless students to promote
this improvement? In the area of knowledge, interview data demonstrated that attendance
knowledge was basic and not complete. Findings will be described that illustrate the level of
knowledge and understanding demonstrated by interviewees about attendance and available
organizational resources. In the area of motivation, interview data demonstrated that students
described a lack of organizational relationship or trust, which didn’t provide the opportunity and
affected their ability or comfort level to share their situation.
Knowledge
A critical component of the gap analysis framework involves the knowledge influences
on the stakeholder (homeless students). As mentioned in earlier chapters, homeless student
attendance knowledge is especially pertinent to student engagement, which is in turn related to
students staying in school, attending school regularly or dropping out (Sminck & Reimer, 2005).
Therefore, findings were examined to illustrate the level of homeless student attendance
knowledge and knowledge about program services available in the school and district. The
findings are organized into three sections, to illustrate the findings about attendance, resources
and their educational awareness.
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 76

Attendance
One of the assumptions early in the study was that students did not know absence
policies, laws and district goals, definitions of excused absences, truancies, and the district’s
scoring rubric for attendance. This was assumed to be detrimental because this basic
understanding is fundamental to being able to meet district goals and regular school attendance
has been shown to contribute to academic success. Therefore, this lack of basic attendance
knowledge was seen as a detriment to homeless students being able to improve their regular
school attendance. Interview data showed that students were not aware of any details of district
or school attendance goals and were only able to describe attendance goals in the broad sense.
For instance, several students just answered that they didn’t really remember any discussion of
attendance goals in school. Although, one former student was able to answer vaguely, he was
not able to really remember any of the attendance knowledge. He describes his recollection:
“Um, I think I remember hearing 85% or 75%, and maybe some daily announcements about
coming to school something about not being late I don’t really remember.”
These interviewees described minimal details and not much memory about the details of
any school attendance goals from their educational careers. Additionally, what former students
did remember was not often positive. As another former student also remembers the general idea
of attendance goals as a process where they would dole out recognition or awards he also did not
describe the practice as positive. He describes his recollection below,
Well, you know you’d get like awards or recognition for good attendance but I think it
really just…. Well I think it picks people out, puts people on the spot even they don’t
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 77
want to be exposed, it makes a lot of people look bad and they hold grudges or talk
smack.
The interviewee describes the attendance recognition process but was not able to identify why
students were recognized, what the criteria for recognition was but, was able to describe the
context of the recognitions for other students when these recognitions or awards were made. He
describes a social context in which students who were recognized for positive attendance
achievements were faced perhaps with possible negative connotations. Either way, former
students validated the assumption that homeless students did not have the full basic attendance
knowledge about district goals.
Resources
Another assumption made was that homeless students did not know about program
resources and that this information was necessary for them to access these resources within the
organization. Interviews supported this assumption with all interviewees indicating in one way
or another that they were not aware of resources available to students in their situation. Some
found out through their situation and some did not find out until much later. Former students
indicated “I didn’t know about any programs until much later” and “I never was really taught
about the services” with one former student even stating, “I had no idea that services even
existed”. Some of the former students even went further, describing what it could have been like
or what might have helped if they had known about services such as the two interviewees below.
One student states, “I just didn’t know that there were resources at the time. If I would have
known like that there were resources” and another is much more specific about what would have
helped during her time of need by stating, “Maybe if the school had provided bus tokens or at
least a bus pass like they should have like a school pass like so it’s only able to be used for
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 78
school.” Particularly telling is how one former student reflects back upon their lack of
knowledge at the time and their current information indicating, “They didn’t have any of that…
now I’m hearing other schools have that but not mine did not.” In fact, one of the former students
even came to learn about a specific position in the district but still mentioned that this knowledge
came much later describing their understanding as, “I had no idea about any of it, I had no idea
about a homeless liaison until I came to this church and I didn’t even know what it was.” All of
their statements support the assumption that there are homeless students in the district who are
not aware of the resources available to support and assist them. Without this knowledge it is
difficult for these students to access the resources that can support their academic participation
and success as intended by the laws and protections that have been put in place.
Educational Awareness
The last area of knowledge to be discussed is the assumption made that homeless students
need to understand the relation between attendance, academic achievement, graduation and
lifetime earnings. It was assumed that for any change in outcomes to be made in school
attendance, students would need to understand the connection between their immediate actions in
attendance and their short and long-term outcomes such as grades, credits, graduation and how
this could affect their lives after school. Interview data supports the assumption that homeless
students did not always have a clear understanding between their actions such as avoiding school
or being late and their outcomes while they were in school. A clear example is one student who,
when asked if he thinks a high school diploma is important or not states, “I mean it’s like
neither… you know it is important and it isn’t to some people…I think if I knew I could have
done that I would have.” Another former student echoes a similar feeling and makes an argument
that the basic stuff is learned pretty early on in school suggesting that the rest of school may not
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 79
be as necessary but, still describing a peripheral understanding of one reason why a high school
diploma might be useful. The students specifically says,
There is that possibility of being able to make more money...I think past the fifth grade is
like the max you need to learn, I think to know like the basic stuff…It does show like on
your resume that you’re not a quitter…it’s a good tool…a lot of jobs require it.
Even students who did indicate that they felt it was important could not clearly describe how
their actions (attending school or not, being on time or tardy) were connected to academic
performance, graduation and future lifetime options. For instance one former student states,
“With a HS diploma yeah you know I’d probably be able to get into college right? You know
work around my situation…I’d like to learn something”
The interviewee does seem to have a feeling that the diploma could lead to college but is not
convinced even if there is some understanding that it could help their situation now. Moreover,
even two students who expressed an interest in graduating or the importance of education did not
describe how their own actions such as missing school or being late to school affected their
pursuit of an education or the diploma. One of the students plainly describes their feelings about
graduation,
I knew that graduating high school was a must...I knew I couldn’t not graduate, at least I
felt that way…I think society a lot of the important things in society like as far as looking
for a job, applying for college…anything to want you at least need to finish high school.
Another student goes further and describes why education was perceived as important to them,
Education especially seen from a cultural point of view like I’m Mexican right? To see
like the struggle of some people in your life because of not having education. You know
it’s a big impact on me. I think it’s very important, you know education.
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 80
Both students felt it was important but did not fully connect their behavior or actions such as
attendance to grades, finishing high school or their future success after high school.
One interviewee was even able to describe the importance of understanding the why behind
making good choices such as going to school and performing academically. She describes it
using a military metaphor, “It’s weird it’s almost like you’re a soldier you know they tell you to
go …its different than knowing why you’re doing something.” Other students expressed similar
sentiments and explained that in retrospect that they now understand the importance more due to
their experiences since their school careers. For instance one former student describes their
school experience,
Tons of fuel from outside telling us to go to school; presentations, bullet points,
speeches…but I had to get to that later through experience trying to realize how hard it is
that I really realized how important getting a high school diploma is to getting a degree
and just for getting a job.
Another former student describes their newfound understanding stemming from very specific
experiences after high school,
Without an education, like jobs I really want so that I can get settled, I’m not really
qualified for; I have to settle for what I can get, like I work with people now that have
really bad critical thinking skills I think I could really do their job but I just have to deal
with it because I don’t have that piece of paper.
He understands that his experience with limited job options is due to his missing diploma and has
accepted the consequence that he now faces. Another interviewee also explains that his
understanding is now different and even goes further to describe how he wishes he had made
different choices,
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 81
Getting a diploma is for making money…to have fun…now I think that I was wrong, I
wish I would have stayed in school because if I had stayed I would’ve had a diploma,
could have gone on to college…and I’d be making more money…possibly wouldn’t be
homeless.
He describes how he feels that if he had made different choices in school his current situation
would be different with options to go to college and improved income opportunities in addition
to the possibility that he wouldn’t be homeless anymore if things had been different.
Motivation
As discussed in previous chapters, student motivation can be influenced but, there are
many aspects of motivation that have not been studied (Usher & Kober, 2013). Therefore in the
area of motivation it was important to focus on themes related to homeless student motivation
that could influence student attendance. In this section of the findings, themes will be presented
to highlight the areas of motivation that were found in the interviews. The themes within the
motivation category that were found are organized into metacognition, utility value and focus,
expectations and school environment.
Metacognition
In the area of motivation, it was assumed that homeless students need to know how they
are performing in attendance and achievement, in essence to be able to self-evaluate in order to
motivate themselves to act. Interviews demonstrated that students mentioned very little detail
about their attendance talking about it in broad strokes only. They also didn’t understand the
importance or become motivated until later after some experience when they became more self-
aware of their own learning. This supports the assertion that students are more motivated when
they are aware of their own learning (Quiroz, 2001). Interviewees demonstrated this by
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 82
describing broad unrealistic goals with no concrete plans, while also describing an evolving
understanding of their own perspective.
Most interviewees described their own attendance with no detail and had a difficult time
characterizing their achievement in this area. For example, a few students described their
attendance in only a few words such as, “It was horrible, I ended up getting in” or “I was never
there” or “I tried to always be in school”. Even students who tried to explain did not provide
many details or a complex understanding of their own attendance. A student describes how her
attendance was in elementary school but does so in very general terms.
When I was in elementary school I was always there, like unless I was you know I can’t
even say when I was sick because sometimes you know when I was sick I would take
medicine and still go to school.
This demonstrates that the former students did have a judgment about their attendance but
couldn’t describe any significant details about their attendance performance or any related
factors. The interviewees mostly demonstrated that they had a superficial understanding of their
own attendance behavior.
Furthermore, several students described their goals for themselves very simply with even
two interviewees expressing having a desire to be astronauts and not even realizing that it
required a lot of science, college, or any specific steps needed to make this happen. For instance
one former student describes a very basic understanding of goals for herself that were unrealistic
and indicated no specific plans,
When I was younger I thought I would be on the street… a street thug…much earlier I
wanted to be an astronaut…now I want to be a photographer…I found out recently that I
only have to make up certain credits.
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 83
Another former student describes her experience much more emotionally and is able to explain
just how difficult it was throughout,
Once I went through that part of my life I realized, oh my goodness if I was only able to
have a normal life…like if I had gone through school normally now I would not be
struggling. It was really emotional and sad. You feel really remedial…you feel like your
confidence is like…well it just hurts and like you can’t have a good future.
Her understanding and feelings while emotional expressed an evolving understanding of why
perhaps it was too difficult to have the perspective necessary to self-evaluate while going
through homelessness.
Even more simply described by a former student who was able to see that her own goals
were not realistic or true. She describes her thoughts on what she would say when people asked
her what she was going to be,
I was going to be...I kind of did something really generic like oh I want to major in
business or something like that but did I really understand that major and did I really get
it? No. It was just that people kept asking me and I’d feel awkward.
One interviewee describes her perspective on her learning as a feeling of being lost and without
direction, “I felt- I guess I felt lost. I guess me feeling lost and not having any solid direction,
it’s the same feeling helpless.” Her description supports the suggestion that homeless students
while experiencing homelessness may not have a significant connection with evaluating their
own learning and progress and connect this to realistic goals for themselves. The former
students were able to describe how this level of self-evaluation did develop such as this
description of how his experience led to an evolution of maturity, “You know that time in my life
I’m not sure that I was mature enough to make the best decisions in my life but I felt that those
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 84
years I lived definitely helped me see that.” A more specific description was given by a former
student, on how this evolution of understanding, led to more positive choices. He describes how
his feelings stood in the way but with a more complex understanding of the value of things, he
changed and his actions changed: “I don’t think I was depressed but I just didn’t see any real
value in life…now I am actually going back to trade school to get certified as an electrician.”
The former students seemed to understand that while they were going through school and were
homeless they were overwhelmed by their situations for a variety of reasons and acknowledged
that their goals were not especially realistic at the time. Their answers reflected how
metacognition was only developed after they left high school and began to reflect on what they
had experienced at the time.
Utility Value and Focus
A subsequent assumption that was made about motivation was that some homeless
students did not see the value in coming to school every day or the value of getting their high
school diploma in comparison to meeting their immediate basic needs. The assumption was that
students who are experiencing homelessness lack a focus on school because of their focus on
their basic needs. This was supported by interviews with former students. They described this
lack of focus on school in many different ways even noting some examples of what contributed
to this.
All interviewees generally described not being focused on school. Some described it
very briefly such as one who just said, “School was just ok…I had a lot of problems…I had a lot
of issues with myself so I wasn’t really focused.” Another former student described why they
weren’t focused in a general sense and made a distinction about being there physically but not
really there mentally:
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A lot of things were happening in my life and even if I was physically present…my
thought wasn’t just school and things were getting harder now so you know it wasn’t the
same thing…I was still going to school. I was there in my body but not mentally
anymore.
She understood that there was just a lot going on in their life that it was difficult to stay focused
on school even while attending school. Another former student went on to explain how this lack
of focus made it difficult to relate to teacher expectations:
I think like because school was like a secondary focus I feel like it was kind of hard to
really consider myself a student…if I can’t relate…then it’s impossible for me to even
take into consideration what the teacher has to say about getting work done in class
because it doesn’t feel applicable at all.
He discussed how his focus made it difficult to consider himself a student because of what he
was going through and what he focused on. Similarly, a former student not only described a lack
of focus but how this led to her being in her own world and then not listening to anyone:
I wasn’t really paying attention, I wasn’t focused, I was just into the gang life, I just like
wanted to go out and do drugs and just hang out with my friends…I was in my own
world people couldn’t talk to me or convince me to go to school.
Her lack of focus on school and other things in her life led her to block out or not be open to
anyone who might have wanted to convince her to go to school.
Additionally, interviewees also described how another factor also contributed to their
lack of focus on school. The fact that many of them described moving around a lot was noted as
a reason why they felt there was a lack of focus and made things challenging for them. One
former student just simply states that he “kept moving year after year” however another
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interviewee describes why it was hard: “It was hard because being back and forth into a whole
bunch of different schools like I had a lot of gaps…they weren’t very understanding.” He
indicated that moving multiple times led to gaps in school and that school personnel was not
understanding of his situation. Several other students in very similar statements repeated this
same sentiment. They indicated their families moved them from school to school and echoed
that this caused stress for them as they tried to acclimate to each move.
Finally, their focus on basic needs was described as well as what they were worried about
and interfered with their school experience. One former student puts it bluntly that he “had to
worry about where to sleep”. Another interviewee explains that the school experience was
stressful because of their circumstances: “I think my school experience was a little more stressed
trying to figure out what I’m going to do the next day…because of certain homeless situations.”
Student’s experiences demonstrated that yes, homeless students were clearly focused on their
basic needs, which interfered with their ability to focus on school.
Expectations and School Environment
An assumption was also made that some homeless students do not think that students in
their situation are predicted to come to school every day, to do well in school or be successful in
life. It was assumed that homeless students face challenging school environments that perhaps
do are not supportive or nurturing. Challenging or uncomfortable school environments could
prove detrimental to homeless students, their participation, motivation and ultimately their
academic success. Interviews supported the assumption that homeless students were faced with
uncomfortable school climates that did not demonstrate high expectations for students in their
situations. Interviewees not only described negative school environments but also went further
to describe feelings of alienation and stigma. In fact, former students even were able to describe
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specific strategies used in school that were detrimental to their experience. However, some
students were more self-reflective and were able to see what it could have been like if school was
a more positive school environment.
Many interviewees discussed how school was generally a negative climate especially
facing their homeless situation. One student plainly stated, that she didn’t feel comfortable and
explained specifically why:
I never felt comfortable…it was a lot of people in general students, teachers…when I
went to teachers they were very uncooperative…they did not teach classes, it was just
like a very disruptive environment to learn in…it’s just like they didn’t care.
She feels uncomfortable due to a variety of reasons but ultimately just gets the impression that no
one cares about her. Other former students describe the impression they got from their school
environment such as the student, who explains how they felt among many students with
problems: “At school we had so many kids with all sorts of things going on, I felt like I was just
one of a million that was kind of going on for teachers.” Another student echoes this feeling by
explaining why they didn’t feel comfortable saying anything or sharing their experience: “I
didn’t think it was something I could tell somebody…it felt like my needs weren’t super
special…like it wasn’t something to ask for.” The experience at school made the former student
feel like their experience was not something they could share and that they shouldn’t be asking
for assistance or support. Additionally, a few former students explained that they felt school
personnel or staff may not have felt equipped to handle their situations and that might be the
reason behind their reticence to ask about their situations. One student stated flat out that their
situation was seen but that they didn’t know how to respond. However, another student provided
a more in depth explanation of how they felt about teachers’ ability to see homeless students. He
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describes how it is almost impossible to believe that school staff don’t see homelessness in front
of them:
There’s definitely a huge issue that people don’t even address or even notice. Like-oh
this kid is homeless? How can you tell he’s homeless? You don’t see all these bags he’s
carrying around like he’s got his backpack there’s no paper in it! Like what’s going on
here…well something’s off…I think it’s easier to ignore it because then what do you do
with that kid? There’s no set course or parameters for how do you address this. How can
you help this child? Like I think one of the things that stopped me from sharing what I
was going on for me was nobody could do anything for me. And I knew nobody could
do anything for me, so what was the point of talking about it? Nobody could do anything
about it.
The student ends their description with their response to the environment indicating that their
impression was that no one knew what to do and couldn’t help so, there was no point to saying
anything.
Another theme that arose from the interviews was that the negative school environment
often was described as creating a sense of alienation or that they felt stigmatized and could not or
would not share their situation as a result. One interviewee captured this feeling in her
description:
Like I kind of got isolated...kind of exiled me…everybody knew each other and the
teachers…like they had a lot more compassion and understanding for them than for
me…it was just this community…it was weird because I’ve never experienced that ever
in my life, I’ve never been in one place like more than a year.
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She discusses how her experience left her feeling isolated because she did not feel like she was
ever part of the community. Another former student explains why she didn’t talk to anyone:
I didn’t really tell anybody I just kept it to myself because there’s always people to judge
because I know I got that from a few people who would just look at me weird or say
comments you know, just people.
She also alludes to a fear of how people will judge her, this stigma was more clearly noted by
another student who describes embarrassment, “I get embarrassed easily…but people look at you
weird and they say mean things and sometimes words can hurt a lot so I just try to keep it to
myself.” The student not only indicates that the stigma and actions of others can be difficult but
that these things can hurt.
A few students also described how schools utilized specific strategies that were negative
for them. One interviewee described how teachers pitted students against each other, using
comparisons:
Like the way they would try to motivate us was using each other like this and that and
then you know formed animosity and a lot of embarrassment…Another tool used by
teachers is based on how you’re learning …moved to a part of the classroom and then
everyone knows which kids are idiots…. teachers talked to you really lovey
dovey...patronizing…you’re getting defined
This experience specifically speaks to how they felt they were expected to do, they interpreted
their teachers as not expecting them to do well, expecting little from them and it came across to
them as patronizing.
While other students went on to imagine what it could have been like if things were
different. One student says straight out that if two of his teachers had asked he would have
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“spilled his guts” because he did feel rapport with them. While still explaining that there was a
missed opportunity to get students to open up:
You’re a kid. There’s no such thing as feeling comfortable sharing that sort of
thing…there needs to be an ability to see that something’s going on...let’s give this kid a
space, an opportunity to talk about these things. I think that would have been one of
things that could’ve made a difference for me early on.
He notes that the students won’t open up on their own, that the onus is on the adults to create a
space where students will be able to share, open up to make a difference. Additionally, a few
other students explain how if they had known they were not alone, this would have helped them
feel less isolated:
Had I known other people were going through what I was going through maybe it
would’ve been better…I didn’t know how to take something like that …it was hard for
me to be around people…I was totally embarrassed…I would not have told anybody…I
like to keep my business to myself.
The student describes her embarrassment as others did before but acknowledges that it would
have been better if she had known others were going through the same thing: “I had no idea that
there were other students…that were going through the same thing I was through…so, I feel like
there’s plenty of times where I could’ve been less isolated.” One interviewee even describes it as
being isolated and understands that if he had known other students like going through the same
thing, it would have helped with the isolation.
On the other hand there were a few interviewees who did describe some strategies that
they think would be helpful. One student had a specific example that helped him have a
successful year. He describes what one teacher did to support and motivate him to do well:
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Actually I had one of my teachers set a goal for me that if I got good grades for one
semester I could pick something I wanted…yeah she did a lot for me, she would take me
out of class…I was making really good grades.
He knew that the teacher reaching out to him with a short-term goal motivated him to perform
well academically. Another student mentioned that when a school staff shared a personal story
and identified with her situation, she helped out:
They found out my mom kicked me out…she told the school I was missing, that’s when
the dean actually…she told me that she had the same situation with her parents…so she
was very understanding and ended up helping me out a lot.
She describes the dean as being really understanding when she realized their situations were
similar. Also, one former student explains a program that a younger sibling is now able to be a
part of that involves college students, which she suggests, are easier for students to identify with
as well:
I feel like the biggest thing that would’ve helped me… like my sister has a program with
college kids helping them study right after school…I feel like it’s kind of because its
people closer to your age…she talks to them like they’re friends…with teachers they’ve
already set up a barrier to not understand you. It’s not there.
The ability to talk to students closer in age to them is seen as easier and having fewer barriers for
students.
Document Analysis
In this study documents from the district were also reviewed and analyzed to gain
information about the program that provides services to homeless students. The documents
analyzed were school and district websites, program budget within the publicly available district
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budget, program brochure, program executive summary and program data posted on their
website. The documents were reviewed to identify district and school goals, resources allocated
and related to homeless students and any communication to students and parents or guardians of
homeless students.
The district website was reviewed and provided us with the district mission, goals, vision
and specific metrics for attendance goals for all students. Additionally the district website
provided the overall district budget and how it allocated resources to different programs. The
district budget provided the amount of money dedicated to the homeless program and also
provided a comparison of how much money was allocated to a similar program for foster youth
in the district. The district website also provided links to local area websites and specific school
websites.
The district has over 200 school sites so, a random sample of 20 school websites were
reviewed to analyze if schools mission, vision or goals identified mentioned homeless students.
Only one of the schools websites that was reviewed made any mention of homeless students in
relation to their goals. Four other schools did mention homeless services or a presentation that
had been done at some point in the last few years. However, none of the schools had any
detailed goals for specific student subgroups such as homeless students.
Program materials that were reviewed indicated how many staff were in the program,
how they were assigned to serve in the district and what services the program provided. The
program brochure indicated the staff consisted of 26 people who consisted of both classified staff
and certificated staff. The positions were for counselors who worked regionally in different
areas of the district with outreach to the schools and support personnel that also were assigned to
services homeless students and families regionally. The brochure also indicated that there was
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one program coordinator, one office assistant and one parent facilitator. The program executive
summary provided information on what services were provided across the district and how many
students were served. Data downloaded from the website also indicated how many students
were served by school, area and overall in the district. The materials indicated that the program
conducted several district wide events, trainings and did extensive outreach to schools for
consultation, technical assistance, enrollment facilitation and educational advocacy or facilitation
of resources for homeless families (e.g. transportation, school supplies, backpacks, hygiene kits,
food, etc.). There were no direct services to homeless students or families assigned to schools.
Organization
At the heart of this gap analysis is the organization and elements that can be adjusted to
best meet the outcome goals for homeless students. As noted in an earlier chapter, research has
shown that different environments more effectively promote student engagement (Wang &
Holcombe, 2010). Therefore, it is critical to examine the organizational influences that could
affect the outcome goal for homeless students. Relevant organizational elements were found not
only in interview data, but also from supplemental organizational artifacts, which provided
information on organizational barriers that could be addressed through a plan for implementation
to improve regular school attendance. Three factors that were found that were evidenced in
document artifacts were the lack of forming strong connections between the school and home,
the misalignment of goals between district level and school level programs and the lack of
adequate resources aligned to providing direct services to homeless students.
One of the first assumptions about the organization is that the program was not
adequately fostering strong connections between home and school, especially in regards to
homeless students and their caregivers. Organizational documents and materials support that
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assumption, as program documents indicate no evidence of fostering caregiver involvement.
Program materials reviewed such as the program brochure, program executive summary,
program website and program workflows in addition to job descriptions, only indicate the
funding of one full time parent liaison and program workflows do not indicate any specific focus
on parent involvement for any other personnel in the program. Although the program does track
one service to parents in the form of transportation provided to parents, this data only counts the
number of parents who receive transportation from the program to take their children under 12 to
and from school. This service does not involve significant direct parent contact but at least
establishes a connection to some parents of homeless students in the district.
Another assumption made in regards to the district was a misalignment of goals between
the district office and individual school sites and their differing range of focus on homeless
students. As noted in Chapter two, Hentschke and Wohlstetter (2004) note “accountability only
works when both parties are sufficiently capable and willing” (p.18). Therefore a misalignment
in goals can be problematic within an organization. After review of program and district
materials such as program brochure, executive summary, workflows, local district goals and
published individual school goals for randomly selected schools in the district and school
websites revealed this assumption holds true. The district and program have goals for homeless
students in regards to attendance. However, at the school level there is very little evidence that
many schools in the district had any differentiated goals for homeless students in any published
or publicized materials or plans.
The final assumed influence to the organization was the assumed lack of adequate
resources allocated to provide effective direct services to homeless students. Once again a
review of program information in the form of publicly available program budget, Organization
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Chart, Executive Summary and district homeless data support the given assumption regarding
lack of adequate resources aligned to direct services. The most recent homeless data (2015-16)
posted on the program website indicates a total of 11,481 homeless students in the district and
the district budget only allows for a staff of 26 to cover the entire district’s homeless students. In
comparison the district has a staff of over 100 to directly serve foster youth that number only just
under 7500 students in the district. The distribution of staff as described in the executive
summary and brochure indicate regional structure to serve schools but no indication that staff are
able to provide direct services to students at schools. Although both programs do utilize a school
site liaison structure to train school staff on how to directly serve the needs of homeless students,
the program does not currently use this structure to expand services to homeless students with
resources available. This structure may provide an avenue for program recommendations to
improve regular school attendance for homeless students.
Synthesis
Questionnaire administration provided a general description of the participants
demographically speaking and provided some information on the basic knowledge that
interviewed former students had about attendance and if they were aware of any support for
students in their situation in the district of focus. Overall, interviews reinforced information
provided in questionnaire data, which was supplemented by organizational documents reviewed.
All data supported the assumptions made that affect the stated outcome goal for the district.
Homeless students overall did not demonstrate a comprehensive knowledge base about
attendance, program services for homeless students. Additionally in most instances, students
interviewed expressed that their school environments did not provide a motivating or positive
school climate that made them comfortable enough or provided the opportunity for them to
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access any services or support. Finally, district documents demonstrated that the district is not
adequately communicating with parents which as we noted in chapter two are important to
student’s academic success (Walker, 2003). Moreover, documents reviewed also support the
conclusion that there are not adequate resources for the program and homeless students in the
district, especially for direct services to those students.
This study did not aim to specifically examine the role of ethnicity because prior research
has not described any differentiation between homeless student outcomes related to student
ethnicities and due to the small sample size. However, since the sample did include students
who identified as African American, Hispanic, Asian and of mixed ethnicity (more than one
ethnicity) ethnicity was also observed when reviewing interview data. Through this review there
were a few matters worth mentioning although, the number by ethnicities was especially slight
within the small sample of participants therefore; it may not be practical to extrapolate from
these trends. Almost all interviewees (six out of seven) despite their ethnicity described
challenging family relationships with some variation in circumstances, in addition to their
homelessness. Another notable subject that did arise from several African American
interviewees was their discussion of how their parents made efforts to guide them towards a
“better education” or encouraged them to do “better”.
African American interviewees described very discouraging relationships especially with
their mothers involving rejection. The interviewees described how this affected their homeless
situation and school. Two of the interviewees described that their mothers kicked them out of
their home, which was a result of ongoing tensions between them that had ultimately not been
able to be resolved. They indicated their situation was either precipitated by these problems or
complicated by them while going through homelessness. One of them even mentioned how her
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relationship with her mother was so toxic that her mom came to school to attempt to disrupt her
education and interfere with her educational plans. Another student mentioned that his mom had
not been really involved in his life since birth. He occasionally saw her and perhaps spoke on
the phone but the interviewee described their relationship as nonexistent. Moreover, this student
also spoke of losing his father during high school. Other interviewees also described family
tensions as well. In fact, the Asian student described the most difficult home life, with abusive
parents throughout his childhood. The two Hispanic students described different family issues
that involved parents detaching themselves from challenges they were facing. For instance, one
of the interviewees mentioned his family sent him back to Mexico when he dropped out of
school. The other Hispanic interviewee mentioned that her mom was so involved with the gang
that she did not have time to talk to her about what was happening with their homeless situation.
She discussed how she thought she would have dealt with the situation better if her mom had
explained things to her. Therefore, although the interviewees described various different
situations, they almost all described challenging circumstances as literature suggests homeless
students’ experience.
A difference observed was the fact that African American interviewees mentioned how
their parents made early efforts to choose “better schools” or urged them to do “better” than they
(their parents had done). Two interviewees who identified as African American and one who
identified as mixed with one parent African American, voiced in some way their parents had
attempted to get them into “better” schools outside of their neighborhoods. Another interviewee
described how his father told him not to be like him, to do “better” and get out of their “hood”.
This is an interesting topic considering parent engagement and involvement is important to
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student academic success. Therefore, this may be a topic worth more examination in future
studies with larger sample sizes.
Overall, data has provided information on what students experienced in the district while
they were homeless. This data provides insight on the knowledge, motivation and organizational
influences most relevant to the proposed outcome of improved school attendance for homeless
students. The data that was found in conjunction with the research literature was used to support
the subsequent recommendations that will be described in chapter five.

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CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION
This study sought out to examine the achievement gap between homeless students and
their housed peers through a gap analysis framework in order to identify possible solutions to
address this gap. The key elements examined from the framework are the areas of influence in
knowledge, motivation and in the organization. The first research question laid out for the study
was, what are the knowledge and skills, motivation and organizational causes that are barriers to
achieving the goal of 1% improvement of attendance for homeless students? Important questions
that were also considered were, what are the gaps in practice that can address the needs of
homeless students to promote improved school attendance and what gaps in knowledge of
organizational resources do homeless students have that might impair their ability to take
advantage of these resources? Though the analysis of program documents, questionnaires and
interviews with young adults who were homeless during their time in school in the district of
focus information was gathered to identify organizational solutions to address any barriers
identified.
Discussion
Findings overall supported the research stating homeless students face multiple
challenges, and may prioritize basic needs over their education. Participants described dealing
with multiple challenges surrounding their homelessness that posed significant barriers to their
academic participation and success. The study participants mostly did indicate that they had
lower attendance, lower academic achievement and experienced social stigmatization. This is in
agreement with research (Moore, 2011) that indicates homeless students exhibit lower
attendance, lower academic achievement and social stigmatization. Moreover, they also
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described a lack of engagement as students and many of them explained that they didn’t feel
focused on school like other students.
One of the key findings from questionnaires, document analysis and interviews was that
interviewees were not aware of resources available to homeless students within the school
district. The findings also supported the initial assumption that homeless students might not
have complete knowledge or understanding of district attendance information or goals.
Furthermore, former students also did not seem to completely understand the steps needed to get
where they wanted academically, or even further. Several participants even noted that they
realized that if they had thought differently while in school they would have made different
decisions. This suggests that if the district had been able to provide the information necessary
for the students to know what was expected of them in attendance or had more information on
how to do well in school or to plan for after high school they might have been more successful.
At the very least, if students were more aware of and were able to access services available to
homeless students, some of the barriers to their academic participation could have been
alleviated. That still leaves the question of students accessing these services.
Another key finding was that participants did not describe their previous school
environments as positive or encouraging which could have made them less comfortable reaching
out for support, sharing their situation or accessing services. Participants had specific examples
of how they felt their teachers, or the school environment did not make them feel comfortable
enough to share their situation or to ask for help or resources. Since research has shown that the
school culture or climate can have an effect on student engagement (Kim et. al, 2014, Conchas,
2001, Holcombe, 2010), this finding is important because if students are not comfortable with
the culture or climate at the school they may not be engaged in school or be willing to seek out
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support. In the environment there is also the consideration of the relationship with teachers. The
participants specifically expressed how they felt that teachers did not believe them, did not reach
out to them, did not really try to understand them and did not care for them. This is important
because some research has discussed just how important a caring pedagogy is important to
student success. As Valenzuela discusses in her examination of immigrant students, teachers
often demand that students demonstrate that they care about school while students often view
relationships with their teachers as a basis for learning and see them as reciprocal (2010).
Valenzuela goes on to say “when teachers do or do not initiate relationships with students this
can reveal how a sense of connectedness can have a direct impact on success at school” (2010,
p.63). The participants in this study found that the school environment they faced with teachers
and staff was not often caring and therefore they withdrew. This aligns with what Valenzuela
found of immigrant students who also withdrew when they perceived their teachers as uncaring.
Valenzuela even clarifies that through their withdrawal these students demand a more human
vision of schooling (2010). These participants through their own descriptions of their school
experience also allude to a demand that schools and teachers especially should be more caring to
homeless students in order to be able to reach them. Therefore, even if students are made aware
of services available this may not be enough to get them to access these services. It may be
critical to set in place strategies to improve school culture or climate and to foster positive
connections with homeless students in order to gain their trust so that they are willing to access
services. This feat is even more challenging when we consider more than the school
organization but look at the students’ situation overall which includes, family and community.
Participants described how they were dealing with numerous family issues and
community factors, which is in alignment with prior research indicating that homeless students
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had various stressors in their lives (Cutuli et. al, 2013). Participants understood how their
homeless situation may have compounded any school challenges and how their families or
communities also affected their school experience. Interviewees discussed how they were often
absorbed by the countless issues they faced outside of school such as meeting their basic needs,
violent or unsafe neighborhoods, problematic family dynamics and how this prevented them
from being fully invested in school. This finding suggests that any recommendation needs to
take this into account to be successful with homeless students who are dealing with so much
more than just academic or social factors. Acknowledging what homeless students already face
can inform the district’s ability not to overload students cognitively could be useful when
implementing any interventions. Moreover, their unique challenges provide an opportunity for
the district to make any interventions more personally relevant to their situations. Connecting
the districts services and academic participation to their personal situations may provide the
relevance and motivation for homeless students to improve their school attendance.
In the area of organization, one of the key findings was that the district was not
effectively connecting with homeless parents and guardians. Since research does acknowledge
that parent involvement can be beneficial for student outcomes (Walker, 2003), this finding
easily lends itself to recommendations for implementation to develop relationships with
homeless parent or guardians. If the district is able to foster stronger communication with
parents or guardians of homeless students, this may provide an avenue for improving support for
homeless students and families that could lead to enhanced academic participation and success.
One major limitation was the lack of information from participants about their families to make
any recommendations on how to better communicate with parents of homeless students. Further
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research could be done to examine the homeless parents’ perspective in order to gain relevant
information on how to reach and partner with these parents most effectively.
Another key finding was that the district does not have sufficient resources that are not
effectively allocated to provide direct services for homeless students. Without adequate
resources providing direct services to students, the district may not be meeting the needs of
homeless students and families across the district. The district would benefit from an
examination of resources allocated and the distribution of the resources to personnel across the
district. Moreover, a final key finding is that the district does not have aligned goals across the
district form site to site. This is useful to note, because research indicates that in order for
organizations to meet their goals alignment and equitable willingness is an important component
(Hentschke & Wohlstetter, 2004). Therefore, it would be helpful for the district to analyze how
they might be able to improve consistency of goals for homeless students across their multiple
school sites. These organizational findings provide useful avenues for recommendations to
implement in the district to address the resource allocation and goals across the district.
Although study findings were in alignment with prior research findings, there were some
elements that were surprising. Even though interviewees were aware of the stigma of sharing
their situation with others while in school, several of them mentioned that if an adult had been
proactive about reaching out to them, they would have shared what they were going through.
Participants were conscious of the role of the educator and their influence in their lives- they
spoke of disappointment in their tactics, their motivations and even considered what would have
helped them and other students in their situation. A couple of the former students even indicated
that if they had known other students were going through the same thing, they would not have
felt or been so isolated. This supports the research by Wagstaff, Combs and Jarvis that found
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that students were less likely to attend school when they fell behind or could not balance
competing demands and that issues with school climate damaged motivation and caused students
to feel isolated (2000). If district staff could reach out to homeless students and provide an
opportunity for them to learn about other students going through similar situations, they could
foster a more supportive and encouraging environment that could improve homeless student
motivation.
Findings resulted in learning that there were avenues to pursue possible solutions to
address the barriers that were identified by the gap analysis. Participants were able to shed light
on their experiences as homeless students that illustrated that as students they were aware that
their situation made them different from their peers. The study revealed that students were also
aware that their situation also affected their decisions. They knew and were able to describe
clearly how their family situations exacerbated or contributed to their academic challenges or
barriers. Moreover, they described how they were aware of attendance goals for the district but
did not consider them for their own situation; they were seen as for other students who could
concentrate on school, which is in agreement with prior research that indicates homeless students
and families focus on their basic needs first. The district will need to find ways to make school
more relevant to homeless students and families in addition to acknowledging their
understandable focus on their basic needs by providing resources to alleviate these concerns as
much as possible. Providing resources that can alleviate concerns about basic needs, the district
may be able to foster more interest and engagement in school.
Organizational outcomes suggested that there are various options for interventions that
could be used with homeless students in order to reach them and to improve the district’s
organizational practices. Students provided concrete evidence in the form of examples on what
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 105
did and did not work from their own experiences. They expressed that students who are
experiencing homelessness are not prepared to proactively search for support and that it would
have to be an adult that would need to reach out to them. This information provides a significant
opportunity for the district to implement proactive strategies to reach out to homeless students
such as targeted workshops that directly connect with students and their specific situations. This
is strategy is supported by research that indicates student engagement is correlated with
institutional mechanisms (Conchas, 2001). The district can provide a more supportive
environment to homeless students by training staff and providing targeted services that may
change the student’s perceptions of the school climate. Connecting with parents and guardians is
also a significant opportunity for the district to focus their efforts to address this finding in order
to improve the outcomes for homeless students. These findings provide useful evidence that was
used to create a recommended plan for implementation. Recommendations are organized in the
gap analysis framework categories of knowledge, motivation and organization.
Knowledge Recommendations
In the current study the knowledge influences in Table 2 indicate the list of assumed
influences in knowledge and their probability of being validated based on information gained
through interviews, supported by the literature review and the gap analysis framework (Clark &
Estes, 2008) chosen. The influences listed in Table 2 were validated and are high priority for
achieving the stakeholder’s goal. The knowledge influences that this study supported are that
homeless students need to have the declarative knowledge about attendance policy, definitions
and expectations, the procedural knowledge that there is a relationship between their attendance,
their academic performance/achievement, their graduation and their lifetime earnings and finally
the metacognitive knowledge about how they monitor their own attendance and achievement.
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 106
Clark and Estes (2008) indicate that knowledge and skill enhancement is required when people
do not know how to accomplish performance goals and when there are anticipated challenges.
Since homeless students are not exhibiting attendance at the level of the goals set, there
definitely is a need to address anticipated challenges and provide training on how to accomplish
the goals being set. The influences to their knowledge are a high priority for addressing the goal
of homeless students improving their attendance. Therefore, Table 4 also indicates context
specific recommendations for each influence.
Table 4
Summary of Knowledge Influences and Recommendations
Assumed
Knowledge
Influence
Validated
Yes, High
Probability
(V, HP, N)
Priority
Yes, No
(Y, N)
Principle and Citation Context-Specific
Recommendation
Homeless
students need to
know absence
policies, laws
and district
goals,
definitions of
excused
absences,
truancies, and
the district’s
scoring rubric
for attendance
(D).
YV Y ● Knowledge & skill
development are
required for
performance when
people do not know
how to accomplish
performance goals.
(Clark & Estes, 2008)
Training:
9
th
grade homeless education
workshops done to provide
homeless students with
training on attendance law,
policies, definition and how
this relates to their lives such
as regulations at shelters for
housing, accessing resources
and incorporates cultural
considerations.

HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 107
Table 4, continued
Assumed
Knowledge
Influence
Validated
Yes, High
Probability
(V, HP, N)
Priority
Yes, No
(Y, N)
Principle and Citation Context-Specific
Recommendation

● Information learned
meaningfully and
connected with prior
knowledge is stored
more quickly and
remembered more
accurately because it
is elaborated with
prior learning (Schraw
& McCrudden, 2006)
Workshops should be held at
the end of each grading
period for homeless students
on attendance knowledge that
is timely (at grading)
incorporates individual
reinforcement, feedback, and
group education that
considers cognitive load
theory.

● Learning is enhanced
when the learner's
working memory
capacity is not
overloaded (Kirshner
et al., 2006).

● Job aids can be
provided to people
who have completed
training and need
reminders about how
to implement what
they have learned
(Clark & Estes, 2008)
Job aid:
Provide students with job aids
that students can use to
improve performance in
attendance.
Homeless
students need to
understand the
relation between
attendance,
academic
achievement,
graduation and
lifetime
earnings. (P)

YV Y ● When people do not
have relevant
experience, they need
clear, accurate, job-
related “how to do it”
training (Clark &
Estes, 2008).
● Information learned
meaningfully and
connected with prior
knowledge is stored
more quickly and
remembered more
accurately because it
is elaborated with
prior learning (Schraw
& McCrudden, 2006).
Education/Training:
Provide small workshops
and audio visual interactive
materials that are culturally,
age socially relevant to
homeless students that can
be incorporated into existing
program events that link
attendance, graduation, and
lifetime earnings prompt and
encourage homeless students
to think, talk about how
attendance & school is
related to their futures.
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 108
Table 4, continued
Assumed
Knowledge
Influence
Validated
Yes, High
Probability
(V, HP, N)
Priority
Yes, No
(Y, N)
Principle and Citation Context-Specific
Recommendation
● Modeling to-be-
learned strategies or
behaviors improves
self-efficacy, learning,
and performance
(Denler, Wolters, &
Benzon, 2009).
The workshops should be
led by previously homeless
young adults or older
successful peers who can
provide personal experience
and modeling of successful
strategies.
Homeless
students need to
know how they
are performing
in attendance
and
achievement.
(M)
YV Y

● Training is defined as
any situation where
people must acquire
how to knowledge and
skills, and need
practice and corrective
feedback to help them
achieve specific goals.
(Clark & Estes, 2008)
Education/Training:
Provide Homeless students
training on how to monitor
their attendance and
achievement.

● Self-regulatory
strategies including
goal setting, enhance
learning and
performance (Dembo
& Eaton, 2000;
Denler, et al., 2009)
Training should include
opportunities for goal setting
and for students to reflect on
their learning, progress and
performance.

Declarative Knowledge Solutions
Clark and Estes in the gap analysis framework used for this study, indicate that
knowledge and skill development are required for performance when people do not know how to
accomplish performance goals (Clark & Estes, 2008). Therefore the declarative knowledge of
the stakeholder of focus, homeless students, is critical for an improvement in this area. It was
assumed that homeless students might not always know absence policies, laws and district goals,
definitions of excused absences, truancies, and the district’s scoring rubric for attendance. This
was validated by the results from the questionnaires and interviews. When looking to identify
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 109
recommendations based on learning research, some key information indicates that information
learned meaningfully and connected with prior knowledge is stored more quickly and
remembered more accurately because it is elaborated with prior learning (Schraw & McCrudden,
2006). Additionally research also shows that, learning is enhanced when the learner's working
memory capacity is not overloaded (Kirshner et al., 2006). Research also shows that Moreover,
feedback that is private, specific and timely enhances performance (Shute, 2008). Moreover,
Clark and Estes state that job aids can be provided to people who have completed training and
need reminders about how to implement what they have learned (Clark & Estes, 2008).
Therefore, the suggested recommendation is to provide training and a job aid for the stakeholder
that takes all of these research findings into consideration. Homeless students could be trained
on attendance law, policies, definition and how this relates to their lives such as regulations at
shelters for housing, accessing resources, incorporates cultural considerations and compares this
knowledge to other policies, goals and scoring so that learning is linked to their prior learning.
There is also specific research literature that provides relevant information that can
inform recommendations for homeless students in this context. For instance, in an extensive
literature review of more than 100 research documents (article dissertations, abstracts, books and
conference proceedings) in the area of task level feedback in educational contexts Shute
described research findings and created a set of guidelines (2008). One of the specific
recommendations that Shute determined based on the accumulated research was that feedback
that is private, specific and timely enhances performance (Shute, 2008). Additionally, another
researcher discussed different behavior principles that have been demonstrated in the research
literature. A particular example relevant to this context is the concept that behavior that is
reinforced if strengthened. The particular example provided by the author was of a child who
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 110
was sent to timeout when he began crying and screaming because he was asked to pick up his
toys. The author explained that the time out is actually removing the child from the activity that
they do not like and this removal may serve as a negative reinforcement to the child’s behavior
(Daly, 2009) Therefore, workshops provided to homeless students should incorporate individual
reinforcement of the desired behavior, improved attendance. Finally, research has also found
that learning is enhanced when the learner's working memory capacity is not overloaded. In a
general description of cognitive load theory authors provide guidelines that can assist in the
presentation of information for learners. The authors describe that cognitive load theory states
that learners’ limited working memory carries the risk of learners being overloaded when
performing a high complexity task (Kirshner et al., 2006). Therefore to avoid overloading
students, minimal information should be presented to homeless students, at each training.
Ensuring that homeless students are provided information in manageable chunks of information
that will not overload them will increase the likelihood that the required learning will occur.
Procedural Knowledge Solutions
Clark and Estes point out that when people do not have relevant experience, they need
clear, accurate, job-related “how to do it” training (Clark & Estes, 2008). This information can
also be described as procedural knowledge that is important for homeless students to understand
to be able to improve their school attendance in this context. Therefore, it has been determined
that homeless students, should receive this training to understand the relation between
attendance, academic achievement, graduation and lifetime earnings and how to do this (attend
school regularly, achieve and graduate to improve their outcomes). Another consideration is
research on learning that indicates information learned meaningfully and connected with prior
knowledge is stored more quickly and remembered more accurately because it is elaborated with
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 111
prior learning (Schraw & McCrudden, 2006). Therefore, the training to be provided to homeless
students should provide small workshops that include audio visual interactive materials that are
culturally, age and socially relevant to homeless students that can be incorporated into existing
program events that link attendance, graduation, and lifetime earnings and prompt and encourage
homeless students to think, talk about how attendance or school is related to their own futures.
Principles from social cognitive theory are particularly relevant to the context of this
study. Especially as discussed by Denler, Wolters and Benzon discuss the main premise behind
social cognitive theory that learning occurs in a social context and much of what is learned is
gained through observation. They further indicate that learning can be vicarious through
modeling and note that this can be accomplished through live demonstrations, verbal
descriptions, or video or audio recordings. Moreover, they state that modeling to-be-learned
strategies or behaviors improve self-efficacy, learning, and performance. (Denler, Wolters, &
Benzon, 2009). Therefore the recommended workshops should be led or include coaching by
previously homeless young adults or older successful peers who can provide personal experience
and modeling of successful strategies in a variety of formats such as in person, or on video/audio.
Metacognitive Knowledge Solutions
In the gap analysis framework Clark and Estes stated that training is defined as any
situation where people must acquire the knowledge and skills necessary, and need practice with
corrective feedback to help them achieve specific goals (Clark & Estes, 2008). Therefore, in
order for homeless students to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to achieve specific
attendance goals it is important for them to practice and receive corrective feedback, which is an
important component of metacognition; an awareness and understanding of one's own thought
processes. Further research also finds that self-regulatory strategies also involved in
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 112
metacognition, including goal setting, enhance learning and performance (Dembo & Eaton,
2000; Denler, et al., 2009). With consideration of this research, training for homeless students
needs to be offered that includes information on how they are individually performing in
attendance and achievement. This training should provide an opportunity for them to use self-
regulatory strategies, receive corrective feedback and practice to achieve specific attendance
goals.
Further research urges educators to consider the importance of academic self-regulation.
One recent review of the literature by Dembo and Eaton about academic learning identifies six
dimensions of self-regulatory behavior that influence learning (2000). The authors go on to offer
suggestions for how teachers can help students acquire self-regulatory skills because their
conclusion is that an important way to increase academic performance is to teach students how to
become self-regulated learners. The review discusses several examples of students who had
learned how to manage their own academic learning. One example discussed was an eighth
grade student who was preparing for an exam (Dembo & Eaton, 2000). The student identified
what was needed to be learned for her science exam, how she would study, laid out specific tasks
and planned her studying for the week prior. She also created job aids such as charts and notes
for review. Additionally the student monitored her own environment and when she was unable
to concentrate she asked her sister to go downstairs with her friends and when she was too tired
to focus took a nap to regroup. This example describes a number of skills that can be taught to
other students to promote self-regulation. The authors also describe how students can benefit
from establishing goals, learning how and when to ask for help and to reflect on their own
progress to make any necessary modifications (Dembo & Eaton, 2000). In light of this research
evidence, homeless students should be provided with training that includes activities that allows
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 113
them to reflect on their current and past progress in addition to how they understand their own
learning and progress to have occurred and changed over time. This opportunity will allow
students to regulate their own learning strategies, and set individual short and long-term goals
that can and should be modified along the way along with progress monitoring.
Motivation Recommendations
Table 5 presents a list of validated motivation influences resulting from questionnaires,
interviews and the literature review. The three facets of motivation as discussed by Clark and
Estes (2008) are active choice, persistence and mental effort. Learners need to make an active
choice or intention to pursue their goal and actions, need to continue despite distractions and
work to develop novel solutions. Therefore, in order for homeless students to focus on the goal
of improving attendance, some of the influences affecting their motivation are indicated in Table
5. The main influences are in the areas of utility value, expectancy value, and goal orientation.
Table 5 lists the motivational influences that are then likely to be validated by the data and in
turn considerably could influence the achievement of stakeholder goals. Therefore, the Table
also includes a list of recommendations based on the influences and relevant theoretical
principles.
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 114
Table 5
Summary of Motivation Influences and Recommendations
Assumed
Motivation
Influence: Cause,
Need, or Asset*
Validated
Yes, High
Probability,
No
(V, HP, N)
Priority
Yes, No
(Y, N)
Principle and Citation Context-Specific
Recommendation
Utility Value:
Some homeless
students do not
see the value in
coming to school
every day in
comparison to
meeting their
immediate basic
needs.

YV Y Rationales that include a
discussion of the importance
and utility value of the work
or learning can help learners
develop positive values
(Eccles, 2006; Pintrich,
2003).

Provide discussion of
importance and utility value of
attendance especially when
homeless with panel of recent
peers as guests or a video of
peers explaining the value of
going to school every day.

Materials and activities
should be relevant and
useful to the learners,
connected to their interests,
and based on real-world
tasks (Pintrich, 2003).
In order for optimal relevance,
Peers should be close to the age
of students who have gone
through similar situations and
discuss the role of attendance to
their academic progress and
relevance in their lives in
general with specific examples.
Utility Value:
Some homeless
students do not
see the value of
getting their high
school diploma in
comparison to
meeting their
short-term critical
basic needs.
YV Y Models who are credible
and similar (e.g., gender,
culturally appropriate) can
foster positive values
(Pajares, 2006).]
Provide opportunity for students
to view videos and read stories
of people similar to them in
background who graduated from
high school and what their
diploma has meant for them.
Expectancy
Value:
Some homeless
students do not
think that students
in their situation
are expected to
come to school
every day, to do
well in school or
be successful in
life.
YV Y Higher expectations for
success and perceptions
of confidence can
positively influence
learning and motivation
(Eccles, 2006)

Link rewards with progress
(Pintrich, 2003).
Promote state academic outcome
expectations to school staff and
students for academic
achievement and/or
improvement in specific
subgroup-Homeless.

Link rewards for schools,
teachers, to the homeless
students’ progress in attendance
& academic achievement.

HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 115
Table 5, continued
Assumed
Motivation
Influence: Cause,
Need, or Asset*

Validated
Yes, High
Probability,
No
(V, HP, N)
Priority
Yes, No
(Y, N)
Principle and Citation Context-Specific
Recommendation
Goal Orientation:
Often homeless
students do not
have specific
plans to complete
high school nor do
they have plans or
goals post high
school such as
college, technical
training, military,
or career because
they may not be
primarily focused
on education but
on short term
basic needs.
YV Y Goals motivate and direct
students (Pintrich, 2003).

Host student goal setting
workshops for Homeless
students with regular
opportunities for participants to
set specific individual goals and
celebrate steps in the right
direction.

Focus on self-improvement,
avoid social comparison or
relying on norm-referenced
standards (Yough &
Anderman, 2006).

Workshops will focus on self-
improvement not relying on
norm-referenced standards but
much more individual measures
and avoid social comparison.

Model learning from own
errors by accepting mistakes
as opportunities to learn
(Anderman & Anderman,
2006).

Workshops should model
learning from own errors with
ongoing discussion of mistakes
as opportunities to learn

Utility Value
Some homeless students did not see the value in coming to school every day in
comparison to meeting their immediate basic needs. Eccles (2006) indicates that rationales that
include a discussion of the importance and utility value of the work or learning can help learners
develop positive values. This research indicates that for learners to develop positive values they
should be provided with opportunity for discussion on the importance or utility value of the
targeted tasks. Therefore, homeless students should be provided with training that includes
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 116
discussion of the importance and utility value of school attendance. The utility value and
importance of school attendance can also be discussed and presented with a panel of recent peers
as guests or a video of peers explaining the value of going to school every day.
In a review of learning research in the area of student motivation, Pintrich (2003)
describes how there is evidence that materials and activities should be relevant and useful to the
learners, connected to their interests, and based on real-world tasks. The author elaborates that
research indicates that when activities are found to be useful and meaningful that students are
able to identify with the content. While there is a need for further empirical research to support
this concept of personal identification, the concept is also supported by basic social cognitive
components of motivation (Pintrich, 2003). More specifically, in a study of “student voices” in
alternative school settings, Phillips finds that students feel learning is valuable when it is
personally relevant and therefore worth learning (2011). Therefore in order for optimal
relevance for homeless students, training provided should include or led by peers that are close to
their age and who have gone through similar situations. Homeless students should be given time
to discuss the role of attendance with these recent peers and how their school attendance is linked
and can be of value to their academic progress and to their lives in general with specific
examples.
Expectancy Value
Some homeless students did not think that students in their situation were expected to
come to school every day, to do well in school or be successful in life. Eccles (2006) found that
higher expectations for success and perceptions of confidence could positively influence learning
and motivation. This suggests that if there were higher expectations for success and perceptions
of confidence by homeless students this could positively influence their learning and motivation.
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 117
Therefore, a recommended solution is to highlight and promote academic outcome expectations
to school staff and students for academic achievement and/or improvement for homeless
students. Promoting and reinforcing these expectations could prove beneficial if students
perceive higher expectations for students like themselves by school staff. This perception could
then possibly influence their motivation and learning.
In an examination of student motivation from a motivational science perspective in
learning and teaching contexts Pintrich (2003) highlights themes in student motivation that are
most commonly accepted and empirically supported. Pintrich (2003) describes how research has
shown a generally positive correlation between the more internalized styles of motivation and
more engagement in school, better learning and performance, as well as greater psychological
well-being. This suggests that what homeless students perceive about their expectations from
those around them can influence their motivation for engagement, learning and even influence
their psychological well-being. One of the strategies Pintrich (2003) recommends is to utilize a
reward structure that promotes progress with less reliance on social comparison or norm
referenced standards. Therefore to be most effective in this organizational context, rewards for
teachers, schools and district staff should promote progress for homeless students in attendance
and academic achievement.
Goal Orientation
Often homeless students did not have specific plans to complete high school nor did they
have plans or goals post high school such as college, technical training, military, or career
because they may not have been primarily focused on education but on short term basic needs.
Pintrich (2003) stated that goals motivate and direct students. This implies that with laid out
goals students may become more motivated. Therefore it is recommended that the organization
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 118
host student goal setting workshops for homeless students with regular opportunities for
participants to set specific individual goals and celebrate steps in the right direction. Homeless
students establishing goals may help them become more directed and motivated as research
suggests, to succeed academically.
Additional research has also found that a focus on self-improvement and an avoidance of
social comparison or a reliance on norm-referenced standards is beneficial. Further, Yough and
Anderman indicate that studies have shown that performance-approach goals are related to
higher achievement (2006). For instance, in a recent study of over 1000 students Martin and
Elliot found that personal best goals predicted higher motivation and engagement a year later
(2015). Homeless students could benefit from developing individual goals for themselves to
improve their own personal best. These goals could contribute to their improved motivation and
engagement. In light of this information, the recommendation is that workshops for homeless
students should focus on self-improvement not relying on norm-referenced standards but much
more individual measures and avoid social comparison.
Organization Recommendations
Table 6 indicates the organizational influences that are validated from document analysis,
questionnaires and interviews in addition to being supported by the literature that includes
organizational and cultural theories. Some of the reasons discussed by Clark and Estes (2008) as
reasons that organizations and stakeholder goals are often not achieved are a lack of resources,
most often time and money, and stakeholder goals that are not aligned with the organization’s
mission and goals. In other research, Gallimore and Goldenberg (2001) propose two constructs
about culture – cultural models or the observable beliefs or values shared by individuals in
groups, and cultural models, or the settings and activities in which performance occurs. This
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 119
research together indicates that both resources and processes and cultural models and settings
must align throughout the organization’s structure to achieve the mission and goals. As a result,
Table 6 indicates organizational influences validated that could influence the achievement of the
stakeholders’ goal along with recommendations for implementation based on appropriate
theories.
Table 6
Summary of Organization Influences and Recommendations
Assumed
Organization
Influence: Cause,
Need, or Asset*
Validated
Yes, High
Probability,
No
(V, HP, N)
Priority
Yes, No
(Y, N)
Principle and Citation

Context-Specific
Recommendation
The organization is
not adequately
fostering strong
connections between
home and school,
especially in regards
to homeless students
and their caregivers.
(Cultural Setting)
YV Y Effective leaders know how to
create and manage good working
relationships with stakeholders.
(Demming, 2005 & Lewis, 2011)
Provide all district staff
with strategies and tools
for clearly communicating
and establishing strong
relationships with parents
and caregivers of homeless
students and highlight
effective best practices
already being used.
The organization
has a misalignment
of goals between the
district office and
individual school
sites and their
differing range of
focus on homeless
students. (Policies
& Procedures)
YV Y Clark & Estes indicate that when
processes are misaligned with
organizational goals the risk of
failure is great. All processes are
not created equal. Each change
process may require its own
unique mix of performance
support tools. (Clark & Estes,
2008)
Accountability is contextually
defined. (Hentschke &
wohlstetter, 2004)

In order to align processes
with organizational goals,
accountability structures
should account for
different organizational
contexts (school site
administrators, school site
staff, regional district
administrators, central
district administrators, etc)

Monitoring performance of all
staff and students is correlated
with higher learning outcomes.
(Waters, Marzano, & McNulty,
2003)

Monitor goal and progress
monitoring for classrooms,
teachers, schools, local
districts, etc.

HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 120
Table 6, continued
Assumed
Organization
Influence: Cause,
Need, or Asset*
Validated
Yes, High
Probability,
No
(V, HP, N)
Priority
Yes, No
(Y, N)
Principle and Citation

Context-Specific
Recommendation

Accountability is increased when
individual roles and expectations
are aligned. Incentives and
rewards systems should reflect
this alignment. Design and use
of incentive structure are more
important than types of
incentives. (Elmore, 2002)

Provide incentives for
schools, local district
(regions) and district staff
for visible evidence of goal
alignment and improving
homeless student outcomes
The organization
does not have
adequate resources
allocated to provide
effective direct
services to homeless
students.
(Resources)
YV Y Effective leaders share power
appropriately and consider equity
in the process of allocating
resources. (Johnson, 2006)

Effective leaders use
disaggregated data to make
informed decisions. They track
the impact of their decisions on
equity and access in
organizational practice.
(Bensimmon, 2005)
In order to allocate
resources equitably, the
organization should utilize
diverse committees for
making decisions that
impact homeless students.

Regularly monitor
disaggregated data and the
use of resources to ensure
that staff have tools needed
to do their jobs effectively.

Culture Setting
The organization of focus in this study is not adequately fostering strong connections
between home and school, especially in regards to homeless students and their caregivers.
Research indicates that effective leaders know how to create and manage good working
relationships with stakeholders (Demming, 2005 & Lewis, 2011). In the school setting, one of
the key stakeholders are parents and guardians. In order to be successful with homeless students
in particular, school leaders should know how to create and manage working relationships with
parents and guardians of homeless students. In order to foster this important skill the
recommended solution should be to provide all district staff with strategies and tools for
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 121
establishing strong relationships with parents and caregivers of homeless students and highlight
effective best practices already being used.
Particularly research has found that regardless of student’s background, ethnicity or
socioeconomic status, parent involvement with school has a positive effect on student grades,
attendance and behavior (Walker, 2003). Parents who are homeless often spend much of their
time finding food, shelter, employment etc. (daily basic needs) that may distract parents from
focusing on their child’s educational needs or deter them from consistent communication with
teachers and/or counselors (Julianelle & Foscarinis, 2003). This suggests that school leaders
should consider homeless parents specific experiences when working on parent involvement
strategies for homeless parents in order to create and manage good working relationships with
these parents in order to promote a positive school and organizational culture.
Policies and Procedures
The organization has a misalignment of goals between the district office and individual
school sites and their differing range of focus on homeless students. Clark and Estes (2008)
indicate that when processes are misaligned with organizational goals the risk of failure is great.
Additionally, Hentschke and Wohlstetter (2004) indicate that accountability is contextually
defined. Clark and Estes (2008) also note the importance of context indicating that all processes
are not created equal and that each change process may require its own unique mix of
performance support tools. Therefore, the organization should consider the similarities and
differences between sites throughout the district at all levels. In order to align processes with
organizational goals, accountability structures should account for different organizational
contexts (school site administrators, school site staff, regional district administrators, central
district administrators, etc.).
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 122
Clark and Estes (2008) also discuss how different types of organizational structures
benefit from different things. They specifically note that team based organizations need
motivation, feedback and access to expert skills, while other organizations may require a
different set of tools or resources. In the discussion of different organizational strategies the
authors indicate that horizontal organizations require clear and formalized procedures for
coordination and accountability. Therefore, since the district in this study is comprised of
different contexts at different levels of the organization, a solution that utilizes strategies for
these multiple contexts is needed. Clark and Estes (2008) further described a specific example
where of a banking initiative that sought to court more banking customers by promoting “your
personal banker.” However, the goals of this initiative were not effectively passed on to all
levels of the organization and the context for bank tellers remained the same as prior to the
initiative, their situation did not change in any way. Therefore without any changes being
enacted at the teller level, which directly impacts customers, the initiative did not improve the
customer experience. As a result, new bank customers did not remain and the initiative was not
successful. This example illustrates how a misalignment between parties can negatively affect
expected outcomes. Research supports this concept of misalignment even within accountability
measures. For instance, Hentschke and Wohlstetter (2004) note “the accountability relationship
only works when both parties are sufficiently capable and willing” (p.18). Therefore,
accountability measures need to promote alignment between differing contexts in the
organization to avoid failure as described in the banking example. Moreover, this misalignment
also is evident in the liaison structure in the district. Liaisons are required for homeless students
at each school but are currently assigned to school staff as an additional duty. This situation does
not provide the incentive, time or investment for staff to fully commit to best serving the needs
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 123
of homeless students at their schools. The district would benefit from investing in a
comprehensive analysis of the different contexts in the organization to determine and foster
coordinated efforts. One of the first recommendations would be to commit more accountability
to the role of the school site liaison in order to ensure that the commitment to goals for these
students is seen as a priority at each school site.
Resources
The organization does not have adequate resources allocated to provide effective direct
services to homeless students. Kotter (1995) broadly states that in order for change initiatives to
succeed an organization requires the removal of any obstructions or barriers, which can be
resources, support or other organizational barriers. In this case, a lack of resources is a
significant barrier to any improvement plan or initiative. Leaders in the organization need to
identify the most appropriate ways to allocate available resources to meet student needs despite
limited resources. Research can provide insight on what can be effective in this area. More
specifically, leadership research has shown that effective leaders share power appropriately and
consider equity in the process of allocating resources (Johnson, 2006). This suggests that
organizational leaders with decision-making power in the district should identify ways to share
power and to consider equity in the process of allocating the resources available. In order to
allocate available resources equitably, the organization should utilize diverse committees for
making decisions that impact homeless students.
Research that has examined the implementation of programs serving homeless students
across the country indicates that many districts are serving only a portion of their estimated
homeless student population (NN4Y National Coalition for the Homeless, 2007). Districts
describe the lack of adequate resources to meet the needs of their students and families. Miller
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 124
(2011) describes how there are federal and state laws protecting the rights of students and there
are clear requirements for districts, sufficient funds are not available to adequately meet the
demands of these laws. Therefore, districts are left to improvise how to meet the legal guidelines
set forth by the existing laws. As Clark and Estes (2008) state numerous times, inadequate
resources are often the cause of barriers to the achievement of performance goals. The scarcity
of resources for the school district makes the allocation of resources critical if the organization is
going to be effective in serving homeless students.
Integrated Implementation and Evaluation Plan
Implementation and Evaluation Framework
This implementation and evaluation plan is based on the New World Kirkpatrick Model
(Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016), which advocates for an approach that begins with the goals of
the organization and working backwards towards those goals. The model suggests that leading
indicators, along the way to these goals are easier to identify and are more closely aligned with
the organization’s goals. This reverse sequence advocated by the model also includes three
actions; the development of solution outcomes focused on assessing work behaviors, the
identification of learning indicators during implementation and ultimately any indicators of
member satisfaction. The model is devised in a manner to foster organizational support and
connections with immediate solutions and larger organizational goals (Kirkpatrick and
Kirkpatrick, 2016).
Organizational Purpose, Need and Expectations
The District’s mission is for all youth to achieve and more specifically for students to
have 100% graduation, 100% attendance, parent engagement and school safety. In order to
move towards these outcomes the district has set goals for all students to improve attendance
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 125
annually. Additionally, the District’s Homeless Education Program is charged with addressing
the gap in performance for homeless students. This project examined the knowledge, skills,
motivational and organizational barriers that prevent homeless students from being able to
improve their academic success. Since research indicates that attendance is correlated with
academic performance (Ginsburg, Jordan, & Chang, 2014) the proposed solution is an action
plan to improve homeless students’ attendance.
Level 4: Results and Leading Indicators
The level 4 results and leading indicators are listed in Table 7 in the form of outcomes,
metrics and methods for both external and internal outcomes for the district. It is assumed that if
outcomes are met internally for homeless students in the district that external outcomes should
also be met.
Table 7
Outcomes, Metrics, and Methods for External and Internal Outcomes
Outcome Metric(s) Method(s)
External Outcomes
Increased attendance rates
for homeless students
Attendance rate for homeless
students
Monitor homeless student
attendance bi monthly (every
other week) through student
information system that will be
used to report annual attendance
rates for student subgroups in the
State Local Control and
Accountability Plan
Improve community
awareness of attendance
expectations and homeless
rights/resources
Awareness demonstrated by
stakeholders on attendance
expectations and homeless
rights/resources
Stakeholder surveys
Internal Outcomes
Increased teacher
satisfaction with homeless
student attendance
Report card comments Review report card comments in
student information system at
each reporting period.
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 126
Table 7, continued
Outcome Metric(s) Method(s)
Internal Outcomes
Increased opportunity for
homeless students to
participate in the educational
curriculum

Increased use of program resources Service tallies
Increased student
satisfaction/ confidence
Improved self-reports from
homeless students
Conduct monthly surveys of
homeless students in targeted
groups for intervention.

Level 3: Behavior
Critical behaviors. Homeless students are the stakeholders of focus. The first critical
behavior is that the district must ensure that homeless students are provided the same knowledge
about attendance goals. The second critical behavior is that the district ensures that homeless
students are aware of the homeless program resources that can remove barriers to student
attendance. The third critical behavior is that that district must ensure that homeless students are
willing to ask for support and assistance to support their attendance. Metrics, methods and
timing for outcome behaviors are listed in Table 8.
Table 8
Critical Behaviors, Metrics, Methods, and Timing for Evaluation
Critical Behavior Metric(s)
Method(s)
Timing
1. School staff provides
homeless students with
knowledge about
attendance goals.
Demonstrated
knowledge of basic
district attendance goals.
Student surveys of
attendance knowledge
Conduct monthly
surveys of homeless
students in targeted
groups for
intervention.
2. School staff provide
homeless students
information about
program resources that
can remove barriers to
student attendance
Demonstrated
knowledge of basic
district homeless student
rights & resources.
Student surveys Conduct monthly
surveys of homeless
students in targeted
groups for
intervention.
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 127
Table 8, continued
Critical Behavior Metric(s)
Method(s)
Timing
3. School & homeless
program staff regularly
communicate with
homeless students to
promote their
willingness to use
support services.
Student self-reported
data on their willingness
and reported use of
homeless program
services or resources.
Student surveys Conduct monthly
surveys of homeless
students in targeted
groups for
intervention.

Required drivers. Homeless students need the support of school and district staff to
reinforce what is learned and encourage implementation in their own situations. In order to
enhance organizational support of homeless students’ rewards should be established for
achievement of attendance goals. In Table 9 the recommended drivers to support the critical
behaviors are listed.
Table 9
Required Drivers to Support Critical Behaviors
Method(s) Timing
Critical Behaviors Supported
1, 2, 3 Etc.
Reinforcing
Job aid on attendance Provide school staff monthly job
aids on attendance for homeless
students.
1
Job aid on homeless rights and
services available
Provide school staff monthly job
aids on homeless rights and
services for homeless students.
2
Reminders for school staff to
reinforce attendance goals and
homeless rights/resources
available.
Create monthly reminders (text,
phone call, letters home)
regarding attendance and
homeless rights/resources that
should be used with homeless
students.
1,2 & 3
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 128
Table 9, continued
Method(s) Timing
Critical Behaviors Supported
1, 2, 3 Etc.
Encouraging
Peer coaching for school staff on
attendance and homeless
rights/resources.
Monthly 1,2 & 3
Coaching for school staff on
strategies to promote homeless
rights/resources and improve
connections with homeless
students.
Monthly 1,2 & 3
Rewarding
Provide rewards to school staff
that have students with good or
improved attendance.
Monthly 1
Recognition of school staff that
are demonstrating success with
their homeless students
attendance
Monthly 1,3
Incentivize school staff that are
recognizing homeless students
making improvements or
succeeding with attendance
and/or academic progress.
Monthly 1,3

Monitoring. In order to ensure that required drivers occur school and district staff
should create regular opportunities for staff to share success stories, ask for self-reports at
multiple times during the school year from school staff regarding their homeless students and
homeless program staff can assess the performance of homeless students regularly following
reporting periods during the school year and at end of year to monitor progress and make any
needed adjustments.
Level 2: Learning
Learning goals. Upon completing the recommended solutions homeless students will be
able to:
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 129
1. Know absence policies, laws, definitions of types of absences, truancies and district goals
and absence measures. (D)
2. Understand the relation between attendance, academic achievement, high school
graduation and lifetime earnings. (P)
3. Know how to identify how they are doing individually in attendance and academic
achievement. (M)
4. Understand the value of coming to school every day despite their challenges with
meeting their basic needs. (Utility value)
5. Understand the value of getting a high school diploma (Utility value)
6. Understand district attendance, academic and overall expectations for homeless students.
(Expectancy value)
7. Create specific plans and goals for their academic career and post high school. (Goal
Orientation)
Program. Learning goals presented will be accomplished with a program that
incorporates training for homeless students and organizational components. The district
homeless program staff will provide training for homeless liaisons at school sites to provide a
workshop series for homeless students that focuses on four main components; attendance
knowledge, linking attendance to student future outcomes, expectations for homeless students
and homeless students’ goal orientation. The program will begin with implementation for ninth
grade students and also includes the implementation of new accountability structures for
homeless student outcomes district wide, a school liaison toolkit for parent engagement and a
homeless advisory committee by the district homeless program staff. The choice of ninth grade
is being recommended due to prior research that suggests this is a critical year for students
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 130
(Roderick, Kelley-Kemple, Johnson, & Beechum, 2014). The University of Chicago researchers
concluded on their own work and prior research that if you can increase students’ being on track
in ninth grade that graduation rates improve three years later (2014).
The workshop series for homeless students will be a four-week curriculum that should be
done in alignment with grading periods. The first workshop will include training on attendance
law, policies, definitions and district goals and metrics in addition to focusing on the utility value
of coming to school every day and on time even especially in their specific context. The
attendance workshop will also include a job aid for students on attendance and provide a
connection between attendance and the specific homeless student experience through the use of
peers. The workshop will also include individual reinforcement and feedback for homeless
students. The second workshop will focus on teaching the value of the high school diploma now
and in the future through the culturally, age and socially relevant interactive presentation of peer
success stories (audio, video, in print, in person, etc.). The third workshop will focus on
presenting the district's focus on expectations for homeless students through the introduction of
state and district goals and metrics for homeless students. The final workshop will focus on
training homeless students to monitor their own attendance and academic achievement. This
workshop will also provide the students an opportunity to set individual goals, reflect on their
own learning, progress and performance in addition to linking rewards with their individual
performance.
The organizational components of the proposed program include the development of new
accountability structures for homeless outcomes district wide. The accountability structure
should differentiate accountability for organizational contexts, infuse quarterly goal and progress
monitoring and incentivize goal alignment across different levels of the district for homeless
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 131
student outcomes. A second organizational component is the development of a parent
engagement toolkit for homeless parent engagement. The last organizational component is the
implementation of a diverse multidisciplinary district homeless advisory committee. The
advisory committee should meet to regularly monitor disaggregated data for homeless students
and provide ongoing guidance on the equitable allocation of resources for homeless students
based on district goals and current progress.
Components of learning. An important component of learning is the demonstration of
declarative knowledge. However, it is useful to evaluate learning for both declarative and
procedural knowledge in addition to how much learners value the training. An additional
component is to evaluate how confident learners are in applying their knowledge and skills and
how committed they are to using them. Table 10 lists the evaluation methods and timing for the
listed components of learning.
Table 10
Components of Learning for the Program
Method(s) or Activity(ies) Timing
Declarative Knowledge “I know it.”
Knowledge checks using multiple choice During workshops
Knowledge checks during discussions in individual
and group activities (role plays, pair share)
During workshops
Procedural Skills “I can do it right now.”
Use scenarios with multiple choice items. During workshops
Demonstration in groups and individually of using
the job aids
During workshops
Quality of feedback from peers during groups During workshops
Individual application of skills During workshops and immediately after
Pre and post training assessment survey regarding
proficiency level
Before and after workshops
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 132
Table 10, continued
Method(s) or Activity(ies) Timing
Attitude “I believe this is worthwhile.”
Observations of participant statements or actions
regarding benefits of strategies being presented
During workshops
Discussions of value of strategies presented During workshops and immediately after
Pre and posttest assessment item Before and after workshops
Confidence “I think I can do it on the job.”
Survey items Before and after workshops
Discussions during and after practice or feedback During workshops
Pre and posttest items Before and after workshops
Commitment “I will do it on the job.”
Discussions after practice and feedback During workshops
Individual action plans During workshops
Pre and posttest items After training

Level 1: Reaction
Table 11 indicates the methods that will be used to determine how participants in the
program workshops react to the workshops. The table also indicates the timing of these methods
within and after the program is complete.
Table 11
Components to Measure Reactions to the Program.
Method(s) or Tool(s) Timing
Engagement
Attendance at workshops During the workshops
Ask meaningful questions During the workshops
Completion of scenarios During the workshops
Participating in discussion During the workshops
Relevance
Check in via survey After every session and the workshop
Anonymous Course evaluation After workshops
Customer Satisfaction
Check in via survey After each module/unit
Anonymous Course evaluation After workshops

HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 133
Evaluation Tools
Immediately following the program implementation. During the series of workshops
for students data will be collected during and immediately following each of the sessions. For
level 1, during each of the sessions instructors will conduct periodic checks with students
regarding relevance and observe participation. Data will be collected on how engaged students
were through attendance and participation during the training. Additionally surveys will be
given immediately following each session that will measure the relevance and satisfaction with
each of the sessions for level 2, learning of declarative and procedural knowledge will be
checked during each session directly with students participating in interactive portions of the
sessions and using provided job aids and reference materials. Additionally surveys will be given
immediately following each session that will measure learning of declarative and procedural
knowledge content presented. Table 12 below summarizes the general content that will be
assessed by the survey instruments for levels 1 and 2.
Table 12
Evaluation Tools: Level 1-2 Content
Evaluation Level Evaluation tools content (Item description)
Level 1: Reaction
Engaged Student attended XX # of workshops
Student participated in the workshops
Relevant The training was relevant to my life as a student.
The training was useful to me for school.
Satisfied I was satisfied with the way the information was presented.
I understood the information being presented.
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 134
Table 12, continued
Evaluation Level Evaluation tools content (Item description)
Level 2: Learning
Declarative
Know attendance terms Student knows attendance terms
Know attendance goals Student knows school district attendance goals for students
Know services available
from homeless program
Student knows what services are available from the homeless program.
Procedural
Understand how
attendance relates to
academic progress &
success.
I know how my attendance affects my academic progress and success.
● Student demonstrates that they are able to review their own report cards to
indicate how their attendance has affected their grades and academic
progress. (e.g assignments earned, test scores, grades, extra credit, study
sessions, retaking classes, credits accrued, etc)
Understand how
academic progress is
related to graduation
and future
success/options.
I know how my academic progress is related to high school graduation.
(accumulation of credits)
● Student demonstrates that they are able to review their own transcript to
assess how many credits they accrued, how close they are to graduation
and what is still required for graduation.
I know how graduation is related to future options and success.
(lifetime earnings, job choices, stability)
● Student demonstrates being able to identify jobs that you can apply for
and match with earnings for jobs available to people with no HS
diploma, with a HS diploma, with college degree, etc.
Evaluation Level Evaluation tools content (Item description)
Procedural
Skills Student is coming to school (attendance records)
Student is coming to school on time (school records)
Student can describe how to access homeless program resources
Attitude Students are asking questions and offering responses during sessions.
Students exhibit interested looks or make positive comments during or
immediately following workshops
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 135
Table 12, continued
Evaluation Level Evaluation tools content (Item description)
Procedural
Confidence Students indicate being confident about applying the knowledge
Students indicate that they have the necessary information on how to access
homeless program resources that can support their progress.
Commitment Students indicate that they are committed to use knowledge gained.
Students have set specific goals for implementing their knowledge.

Delayed for a period after the program implementation. Approximately four weeks
after the completion of the workshops for students, program staff will administer to students a
survey of scaled items to measure from their own perspective, their satisfaction and relevance of
the training (Level 1), confidence and value of applying the information (Level 2), application of
the information to their lives and the support they received from instructors and peers (Level 3),
and the extent to which their academic performance has become more successful in terms of
attendance, timeliness, or otherwise (Level 4). Table 13 summaries the type of content that will
be included in the survey.
Table 13
Evaluation tools Levels 1-4
Evaluation Level Evaluation tools content (Item description)
Level 1: Reaction What I learned in the workshops has been valuable to my school performance
and success.
Level 2: Learning 1. I was able to learn attendance terms
2. I was able to learn attendance metrics
3. I was able to learn the value of daily and on time regular attendance.
4. I was able to learn the connection between attendance and academic
performance and success each year and to graduate.
5. I was able to learn the value of a high school diploma to my life.
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 136
Table 13, continued
Evaluation Level Evaluation tools content (Item description)
Level 3: Behavior I use the worksheets and information sheets provided during the workshops to
organize and plan for any challenges with attendance or academic challenges
that address ways program services can support my progress.
Level 4: Results 1. I am attending school daily and on time more often than prior to these
workshops.
2. I have set short-term goals for school.
3. I have set long term academic and/or career goals.

Data Analysis and Reporting
The level 4 results goal for students is a measure of their regular school attendance and
the number of students accessing homeless program services. Each month, program staff will
track homeless students participating in workshops and their school attendance and use of
program services compared to the last school year. The data will be collected by school and by
local area in order to monitor progress, promote accountability and to highlight successful
implementation of the workshops and use of services across the district. Monthly reports for the
district will be prepared that illustrate the attendance and use of program services for the students
compared to the previous school year as illustrated below.

Figure 2. Attendance dashboard
40% 30%
Attendance Rates
Red: 84% or below
Yellow: 94%-85%
Green: 100%-95%
30%
CURRENT MONTH, CURRENT YEAR
20% 40% 40%
CURRENT MONTH, PREVIOUS SCHOOL YEAR
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 137

Figure 3. Program services used chart
Expectations
Now that the training program has been developed to address the learning needs of
students in order to gain the proposed outcomes the question remains will the program work?
There are multiple factors that affect the results of this training program. Therefore, there is
some confidence that the training program will work. There are always variables that are not
controllable that affect the outcomes and for this reason there is also a chance that the program
does not work. The main concern is the consistency of implementation at each school site.
Depending on the workshop leader there may be different levels of buy in, comfort with
students, prior relationships built, experience with the population and adherence to the program
materials. Despite these variables there is more likelihood that the program will work if school
administrators are on board and support the program in various ways. Therefore, outreach will
be done to school administrators prior to the implementation of the program to gain administrator
buy in and support at as many school sites as possible.
80%

20%
20%
80%
Blue: Using program services
Gray: Not using program services
Current Month,
Previous Year
Current Month,
Current Year
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 138
Summary
In the New World Kirkpatrick model focus shifted to beginning your planning with
looking at your desired outcomes, which can efficiently guide your planning for a return on
expectations. The key theme in this framework for implementation seems to be its
straightforward focus on outcomes from start to end. For instance, integrating implementation
with evaluation serves as a way to guide efficient implementation towards established outcomes.
This method is effective in the realm of education where there are so many topics to address and
multiple stakeholders. Having a clear goal, model to address the goals by linking every piece of
implementation including evaluation ensures that the material can be assessed at the outset,
throughout and afterwards for effectiveness. Often education has implemented various programs
throughout the organization without specific tangible goals set or a strategic plan on how to get
there and present the outcome information to various stakeholders. This method allows this
educational organization to assess implementation, challenges, areas for improvement and
outcomes. This is essential because the homeless student population is extremely at risk for poor
educational outcomes and programs up to this point have not been evaluated.
Conclusion
This study with the gap analysis model was able to examine the achievement gap
between homeless students and their housed peers and suggest possible solutions to address
barriers identified in the areas of knowledge, motivation and organizational influences.
Documents, questionnaires and interviews provided needed insight on the situation students face
in the educational system when they are homeless and how a district can intervene in order to
more effectively support them, more specifically in the area of improving attendance. Former
homeless students were able to provide specific personal experiences that highlighted ways that
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 139
the district was not effectively communicating with them, and ways that they could improve
outreach and intervention as well.
Participants demonstrated what research already showed, that there are homeless students
are persisting in school despite their inherent challenges in addition to students who are not able
to graduate in part due to their challenges. Although many of them did not graduate with their
class, several of them were able to graduate from high school despite these challenges. They
described significant motivation to succeed that either was impeded while in school or indicated
that they did not fully grasp the understanding of what was necessary when they were in school.
This study shows the diversity of experiences in a large urban school district suggesting that
while schools can emulate social and economic inequities they can also circumvent inequalities
if school staff work together toward academic success.

HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 140
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Appendix A
Informed Consent for Non-Medical Research
University of Southern California
Rossier School of Education
3470 Trousdale Pkwy, Los Angeles, CA 90089

INFORMED CONSENT FOR NON-MEDICAL RESEARCH

Homeless Education Program and K12 Achievement

You are invited to participate in a research study conducted by Nancy Gutierrez, BS, MS &
E.d.D doctoral candidate under the guidance of dissertation chair, Eugenia Mora Flores, Ed.D at
the University of Southern California, because you are a former homeless student in the district
of focus of this study. Your participation is voluntary. You should read the information below,
and ask questions about anything you do not understand, before deciding whether to participate.
Please take as much time as you need to read the consent form. You may also decide to discuss
participation with your family or friends. If you decide to participate, you will be asked to sign
this form. You will be given a copy of this form.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The purpose of this research study is to explore the knowledge, motivation and the
organizational factors involved in the development of an achievement gap between homeless
students and their housed peers.

STUDY PROCEDURES
If you agree to take part in this study, you will be asked to participate in a 5-minute pre-interview
questionnaire and a three part audiotaped interview. Each interview part will be 30 minutes and
will be held at a location convenient for you. You do not have to answer any questions you don’t
want to and can stop the interview process at any time.

POTENTIAL RISKS AND DISCOMFORTS
The interview may bring up some topics that may be difficult to discuss since they may ask you
to describe or discuss challenging situations you may have faced during your time that you were
in school. It is possible that you may find some of these topics difficult, sensitive or
uncomfortable. Although, every effort will be made to protect your anonymity if at any time you
feel uncomfortable or do not want to answer a question you can ask to skip a question or stop the
interview at any time.

POTENTIAL BENEFITS TO PARTICIPANTS AND/OR TO SOCIETY
Although there are no direct benefits to you it is possible that the interview could allow for
feelings of self-awareness and allow you to provide a voice for students who may often go
unnoticed or unheard.

HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 150
PAYMENT/COMPENSATION FOR PARTICIPATION
You will receive a $5 gift card for your time after each part of the interview. You do not have to
answer all of the questions in order to receive the card. The card will be given to you when the
interview is concluded.

CONFIDENTIALITY
There will be no identifiable information obtained in connection with this study. Your name,
address or other identifiable information will not be collected. We will keep your records for this
study confidential as far as permitted by law. However, if we are required to do so by law, we
will disclose confidential information about you. The members of the research team and the
University of Southern California’s Human Subjects Protection Program (HSPP) may access the
data. The HSPP reviews and monitors research studies to protect the rights and welfare of
research subjects.

The data will be stored at the investigator’s personal office location in a locked file cabinet. All
files will be coded and not include identifiable information. Coding key will be stored in a
separate office location and will not include any mention of the location of the actual files or
records to prevent access by unauthorized personnel. The only other people who will have
access to the records will be the faculty advisor and the dissertation committee. Records will be
stored for three years following the completion of the dissertation that is based on this study.
Participants have the right review/edit the audio/video recordings or transcripts at their request.

When the results of the research are published or discussed in conferences, no identifiable
information will be used.

PARTICIPATION AND WITHDRAWAL
Your participation is voluntary. Your refusal to participate will involve no penalty or loss of
benefits to which you are otherwise entitled. You may withdraw your consent at any time and
discontinue participation without penalty. You are not waiving any legal claims, rights or
remedies because of your participation in this research study.

EMERGENCY CARE AND COMPENSATION FOR INJURY
If you are injured as a direct result of research procedures you will receive medical treatment;
however, you or your insurance will be responsible for the cost. The University of Southern
California does not provide any monetary compensation for injury.

INVESTIGATOR’S CONTACT INFORMATION
If you have any questions or concerns about the research, please feel free to contact Principal
Investigator Nancy Gutierrez via email at g or phone at (323) 207-0954 or Faculty Advisor
Eugenia Mora-Flores at moraflor@rossier.usc.edu or (213) 827-2727

RIGHTS OF RESEARCH PARTICIPANT – IRB CONTACT INFORMATION
If you have questions, concerns, or complaints about your rights as a research participant or the
research in general and are unable to contact the research team, or if you want to talk to someone
independent of the research team, please contact the University Park Institutional Review Board
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 151
(UPIRB), 3720 South Flower Street #301, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0702, (213) 821-5272 or
upirb@usc.edu

SIGNATURE OF RESEARCH PARTICIPANT

I have read the information provided above. I have been given a chance to ask questions. My
questions have been answered to my satisfaction, and I agree to participate in this study. I have
been given a copy of this form.

AUDIO/VIDEO

□ I agree to be audio/video-recorded

□ I do not want to be audio/video-recorded

Name of Participant

Signature of Participant Date

SIGNATURE OF INVESTIGATOR

I have explained the research to the participant and answered all of his/her questions. I believe
that he/she understands the information described in this document and freely consents to
participate.

Name of Person Obtaining Consent

Signature of Person Obtaining Consent Date

HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 152
Appendix B
Information/Facts Sheet for Exempt Non-Medical Research
University of Southern California
Rossier School of Education
3470 Trousdale Pkwy, Los Angeles, CA 90089

INFORMATION/FACTS SHEET FOR EXEMPT NON-MEDICAL RESEARCH

Homeless Education Program and K12 Achievement
You are invited to participate in a research study. Research studies include only people who
voluntarily choose to take part. This document explains information about this study. You should
ask questions about anything that is unclear to you.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The purpose of this research study is to explore the knowledge, motivation and the
organizational factors involved in the development of an achievement gap between homeless
students and their housed peers. Although there are no direct benefits to you it is possible that
the interview could allow for feelings of self-awareness and allow you to provide a voice for
students who may often go unnoticed or unheard.

PARTICIPANT INVOLVEMENT
If you agree to take part in this study, you will be asked to participate in a 5-minute pre-interview
questionnaire and a three part audiotaped interview. Each interview part will be 30 minutes and
will be held at a location convenient for you. Although, you do not have to answer any questions
you don’t want to; if you don’t want to be taped, you cannot participate in this study.

PAYMENT/COMPENSATION FOR PARTICIPATION
You will receive a $5 gift card for your time after each part of the interview. You do not have to
answer all of the questions in order to receive the card. The card will be given to you when the
interview is concluded.

CONFIDENTIALITY
There will be no identifiable information obtained in connection with this study. Your name,
address or other identifiable information will not be collected.

INVESTIGATOR CONTACT INFORMATION
Principal Investigator Nancy Gutierrez via email at nancygut@usc.edu or phone at (323) 207-
0954 or Faculty Advisor Eugenia Mora-Flores at moraflor@rossier.usc.edu or (213) 827-2727

IRB CONTACT INFORMATION
University Park Institutional Review Board (UPIRB), 3720 South Flower Street #301, Los
Angeles, CA 90089-0702, (213) 821-5272 or upirb@usc.edu

HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 153
Appendix C
Recruitment Sheet
University of Southern California, Rossier School of Education

Participants needed for Research Study

The purpose of this research study is to explore the knowledge, motivation and the
organizational factors involved in the development of an achievement gap between homeless
students and their housed peers. Although there are no direct benefits to interview participants it
is possible that the interview could allow for feelings of self-awareness and providing a voice for
students who may often go unnoticed or unheard.

Who is Eligible?
• Former students who experienced the lack of a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence
anytime during K-12 grades in XXXX area.
• Ages 18 - 24
• Attended school in XXXX District anytime during K-12 grades and at least 50% of the years
spent in high school.
*The last school district of attendance was XXXX district

What will you be asked to do?
• Spend 1.5 hours total for a one on one interview split up into three parts of 30 minutes each to
discuss your educational experience and any challenges or supports you received from your
school or district while you were in public school.

Compensation
You will receive a $5 gift card for your participation in each of three parts of this study.

If you have any questions or are interested in participating, please contact:
Investigator at (323) 207-0954 or Email: nancygut@usc.edu

HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 154
Appendix D
Questionnaire Questions
1. What is your gender?
! M
! F
! Other
! Prefer not to say

2. Which race or ethnicity best describes you?
! American Indian
! Asian/Pacific Islander
! Black/African American
! Hispanic
! White
! Multiple ethnicities
! Other ______________________

3. What is the primary language spoken at home?
____________________________________

4. What is the highest level of education of your parents?
_____________________________________

5. Does state &federal law require daily school attendance?
! Y ! N
6. An excused absence is (Can choose more than one):
! Medical appointment,
! Court,
! Feeling sick,
! Babysitting,
! Car problems,
! Excused with Note from parents,

7. The district’s attendance goal for students is
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 155
! 100%,
! 97%,
! 90%,
! 87%,
! 80%,
! 70%
! Other _______________
! Don’t Know
8. If a student misses 10 days of school are they considered:
! Far below basic,
! Below basic,
! Basic,
! Proficient, or
! Advanced in attendance?
9. Was there someone at your school that supported students or families that identified as
homeless?
! ________________________________________(Name/Title)
! Don’t know/remember
! Did not know that there was a homeless liaison

HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 156
Appendix E
Interview Questions
Interview Part One
1. Can you tell me a little bit about yourself?
2. What are some of your interests?
3. Can you tell me about your school experience growing up?
4. What about your school experience in high school?

Part Two
1. In what ways would you described your school experience as different from students who
are situated differently than you are in terms of “home.”
2. Can you describe the process of identifying yourself as homeless at your school?
a. Follow up with probe about why they felt or didn’t feel comfortable about sharing
your situation
b. What would make you feel comfortable to share your living situation at school?
c. Is there a reason to share your living situation with anyone at school?
3. Describe any positive or negative experiences you’ve encountered as an identified
homeless student within the school or district?
4. What services were available at school?
a. If yes, what services helped you? In what ways did they help you?
b. If no, why not?
5. Do you feel like any services impacted you or your family in any ways?
a. If yes, how?
b. If no, why not?
6. How, if at all, are district attendance goals important to you as a student?
7. What do you think about the district having attendance goals for students?
8. How, if at all, do attendance goals accommodate students who are homeless?
9. Do you feel any services affected your school attendance?
a. If yes, which ones? In what ways did the services affect your attendance?
b. If no, why not?

Part Three
1. In terms of how you view your life, how important is attending school?
2. Can you describe any pluses or minuses of getting a high school diploma?
3. In what ways do you feel encouraged to do well in school, and where does that support
come from?
4. “What goals did you have for after high school?”
a. Are they any different now?
HOMELESSNESS AND K12 ACHIEVEMENT 157
5. In what ways do you feel encouraged to attend school, and where does that support come
from?
6. How would you describe your school attendance?
a. What do you think affected your school attendance and why?
b. Would anything have changed your school attendance? Why?

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Asset Metadata

Creator Gutierrez, Nancy (author)

Core Title A gap analysis of homeless student school attendance in a large urban school district

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Organizational Change and Leadership (On Line)

Publication Date 07/24/2017

Defense Date 06/13/2017

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag achievement gap,gap analysis,homeless,K-12,Knowledge,Motivation,OAI-PMH Harvest,organization,School attendance,Students

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Mora Flores, Eugenia (committee chair)

Creator Email gutierrez.nancy@tusd.org,nancygut@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c40-415707

Unique identifier UC11214210

Identifier etd-GutierrezN-5632.pdf (filename),usctheses-c40-415707 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-GutierrezN-5632.pdf

Dmrecord 415707

Document Type Dissertation

Format application/pdf (imt)

Rights Gutierrez, Nancy

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA