The Effects of a Contract System for Improving At-Risk Middle School Students’ School
Performance
Stacey A. Deise
July 2003
The purpose of this study was to determine the perceptions of parents, teachers, and
students participating in an intervention program in a suburban middle school. Further,
this study examined the effect of a contract system on academic achievement. A
descriptive design was used in this action research study. Parents (n=26), students
(n=26), and teachers (n=70) participating in this program were asked to complete a
survey to determine their perceptions of student contracts as an effective intervention
strategy. Due to the limited number of survey responses, analyses of the participants’
perceptions about the effectiveness of this program are limited. Student performance data
were analyzed pre and post intervention for each student participant. An analysis of the
data found no significant differences in the grade point average and attendance of student
participants between pre and post intervention; however, there were significant
differences in students’ reading achievement and the number of office referrals each
student received. Additional research on the implementation of this intervention is
necessary in order to measure more precisely the effectiveness of this strategy.