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The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of participation in highschool activities, the amount and type of activities participated in (extracurricular orcocurricular), and gender on Hispanic students’ GPA and graduation status. The researchdesign for this study was quantitative in nature. The sample was limited to 558 Hispanicstudents attending Emporia High School from the cohort classes of 2008-2009 to 2011-2012.Hispanic students were specifically identified for the purpose of this study. Aspart of this quantitative study, data was collected to examine the participation rates ofHispanic students over four graduating cohort classes. A variety of sources was used togather all the data necessary for the purpose of this study. Data from the Kansas StateDepartment of Education Dropout Graduation Summary Report was used to determinegraduation status, ethnicity, state student identifier, and gender for the sample. KansasHigh School Activities Association eligibility rosters for each of the four years were usedto cross-reference student participants. The eight research questions concerning HispanicGPA and graduation status were analyzed using one- and two-factor ANOVAs, chisquare tests of equal percentages, chi-square tests of independence, and loglinearanalyses.Results from the hypothesis testing indicated that students who participated inactivities had higher GPAs, and the likelihood of graduating from high school for bothmales and females increased. More specifically, the findings revealed those students whoparticipated in activities overall, or participated in extracurricular or cocurricularactivities, had higher GPAs; and those students who participated in activities overall, or participated in extracurricular or cocurricular activities, were more likely to graduatefrom high school.Based on the findings, the researcher recommended a similar study be conductedwith a qualitative focus to identify the reasons for participation status among Hispanicstudents. This would also allow the researcher to examine other determining factors suchas relationships with school personnel, school aspiration, attendance, discipline, andsense of belonging. Another recommendation for future research is to expand the samplesize, include other Kansas high schools with similar demographics. This research couldencourage school districts across the country to focus on the students, specifically theHispanic population, participating. |
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