Are teachers promoting extracurricular activities to low achieving students?

Abstract

This research investigates teacher support of extracurricular programs to low-achieving students. Students who participate in extracurricular activities generally benefit from the many opportunities offered to them. Benefits of participation in extracurricular activities include better grades, scoring higher on standardized tests, fewer school absences, learning life skills that are not learned in the classroom, and a feeling of connectedness to their school. This study was designed to determine teachers’ perceptions of extracurricular activities and their advantages, as well as how they encourage or discourage these opportunities to low-achieving students. A survey containing both Likert-scale and free response questions was administered to teachers in a rural middle and high school to analyze the aforementioned research questions.