Inferential Data

Section Three discusses the null hypotheses of each of the research question based on the seven independent variables. Each null hypothesis is presented and analyzed for each of the independent variables. The use of cross-tabulation provides data that could prove or disprove the null hypotheses for each research question.

Research Question One

Research Question 1 focused on parental knowledge levels concerning the Oregon Compulsory Education Attendance laws. Question 8A sought to determine parental knowledge levels of Oregon’s Compulsory Education Attendance Law pertaining to the requirement for parents to send their child/children to school on a regular full-time basis. The null hypothesis premised that no difference would result in parents’/guardians’ knowledge levels of the compulsory education attendance laws based on each of the seven independent variables.

Strongly

Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree

Parents/guardians were to respond either I’m sure this is true, I think this is true, I think this is not true, I’m sure this is not true, or Do Not Know.

Variable 1: Gender. Respondents’ choices were male or female. Shown in Table 14 revealed that 18 out of 32 female respondents were sure that the statement on the requirement for regular full-time attendance was true, while four out of six males were sure that the requirement was true. Nine out of 32 female respondents thought that the attendance requirement was true and one out of six male respondents thought the attendance requirement was true. Four of the 32 female respondents did not know if the attendance requirement was true or not.

Table 14

Gender * Oregon’s Compulsory Attendance Law

Variable 2: Parental Age Group Range. Respondent choices were 18-24, 25-34, 35-43, 44-54, 55-64, 65 or over, and decline to answer. Shown in Table 15 is the data for parental age group ranges. The focus was to cross tabulate the parental age group range with the knowledge of the Oregon Compulsory Attendance Law. The data revealed that six out of nine respondents from the 25-34 age group range were sure that the attendance requirement was true, while 12 out of 20 in the 35-43 age group range respondents, thee out of four in the 44-54 age group range, and one out of three in the 55-64 age group range were sure that the attendance requirement was true.

When looking at the number of respondents who thought the attendance requirement was true, two of the nine respondents from the 25-34 age group range, five out of 20 in the 35-43 age group range, one out of three respondents in the 55-64 age group range, and one out of one from the 65 or over age group range all thought the attendance requirement was true. One person declined to provide his or her age, but thought the requirement was true.

Several of the respondents did not think the attendance requirement was true or did not know if the requirement was true or not true. One out of 20 respondents from the 35-43 age group range and one out of four from the 44-54 age group range did not think the attendance requirement was true. One out of nine of the 25-34 age group range respondents, two out of 20 of the 35-43 age group range, and one out of three respondents from the 55-64 age group range did not know if the attendance requirement was true or not true.

Table 15

Age Group * Oregon’s Compulsory Attendance Law

Variable 3: Number of Children Attending the School. Respondents selected from none, one, two, three, four, or five+. Cross tabulation sought to determine if a difference in parental

knowledge levels of the Oregon Compulsory Attendance Law occurred based on the number of children attending the school. As shown in Table 16, the majority of the respondents were sure that the attendance requirement was true. Eleven out of 19 respondents with one child attending the school were sure that the attendance requirement was true. Seven out of 13 respondents with two children attending the school were sure that the attendance requirements were true, while four out of five respondents with three children attending the school were sure.

Five out of nine respondents thought the attendance requirement was true. Three out of 13 respondents with two children and one out of five respondents with three children all selected the think it is true category. One respondent with no children attending the school thought the attendance requirement was true.

Several respondents thought the attendance requirement statement was either not true or they did not know if the statement was true or not. One out of 19 respondents with one child attending the school and one out of 13 respondents with two children thought the attendance requirement was not true. Two out of 19 respondents with one child attending the school and two out of 13 with two children attending the school did not know if the attendance requirement was true or not.

Table 16

Number of Children * Oregon’s Compulsory Attendance Laws

Variable 4: Children’s Grade Level Range (see Table 17). Grade level choices were Pre K, K-2, 3^rd-5^th, and 6^th-8^th. Table 17 displays the Pre K children’s grade level range data. The grade level range data is cross tabulated with the respondents’ knowledge of the Oregon Compulsory Attendance Law. Ten respondents had children in Pre K. Four out of the 10 respondents were sure the attendance requirement was true. Five of the 10 respondents thought the requirements were true, and one respondent did not know if the attendance requirement was true or not.

Table 17

Pre- K * Oregon’s Compulsory Attendance Law

Shown in Table 18, the data from respondents with children in Kindergarten-2^nd grade was presented. Sixteen respondents declared that they had children in this grade level range.

Nine out of the 16 respondents were sure that the attendance requirement was true and four out of the 16 respondents thought the attendance requirement was true. Two out of the 16

respondents thought the attendance requirement was not true with one respondent marking do not know.

Table 18

K-2^nd * Oregon’s Compulsory Attendance Law

Respondents with children in the 3^rd-5^th grade level (see Table 19) overwhelmingly stated that they were sure or thought the attendance requirement was true. Eleven out of the 16

respondents were sure that the attendance requirement was true while two out of the 16 thought the requirement was true. Two out of the 16 respondents did not know if the attendance

requirement was true or not true.

Table 19

3^rd-5^th *Oregon’s Compulsory Attendance Law

The final grade level range used for the cross-tabulation data was respondents with children in 6^th-8^th grade. Eight respondents reported having children in the 6^th-8^th grade level.

The majority, eight out of 11, respondents were sure the attendance requirement was true. Two out of the 11 respondents thought the requirement was true and one respondent did not know if the attendance requirement was true or not true. Shown in Table 20 the results are displayed.

Table 20

6^th-8^th *Oregon’s Compulsory Attendance Law

Variable 5: Highest level of education. Highest level of education choices were grade school, some high school, high school graduate, GED, some college, college graduate, trade school, graduate degree, and decline to answer. The majority of the respondents stated that they believed the attendance requirement was true (see Table 21). For the category sure true, 100%, three out of three, of the respondents whose highest level of education was grade school were sure the attendance requirement was true. Respondents with the highest level of education of high school graduate reported that 50%, three out of six were sure the attendance requirement was true, two out of six thought the requirement was true, and one out of six did not know if the attendance requirement was true or not true.

Out the respondents that attended some college, six out of 11 were sure the attendance requirement was true, two out of 11 thought the requirements were true, one respondent thought the attendance requirement was not true, and one out of 11 respondents did not know if the attendance requirement was true or not true. Three respondents stated that their highest level of education was through a trade school. Of the three respondents, two out of three respondents

were sure the attendance requirement was true and one out of three respondents did not think the attendance requirement was true.

Twelve respondents were identified as college graduates. Seven out of 12 respondents were sure the attendance requirement was true, with four out of 12 respondents who thought the requirement was true. One out of 12 responded do not know if the attendance requirement was true or not true. Two respondents reported that they had a graduate degree. Two out of two respondents thought the attendance requirement was true. One respondent declined to provide his or her highest level of education, but responded that they were sure the attendance requirement was true.

Table 21

Highest Level of Education * Oregon’s Compulsory Attendance Law

Variable 6: Present Employment Status. Choices presented to respondents were

employed full-time, employed part-time, full-time student, homemaker, retired, unemployed, and

declined to answer. Fifteen respondents for employed full-time. Nine out of 15 respondents were sure the attendance requirement was true. Three out of the 15 respondents answered think this is true. Two out of the 15 respondents marked think this is true, while one out of the 15 respondents did not know if the attendant requirement was true or not true.

Three respondents identified their employment status as employed part-time. One out of the three respondents was sure the attendance requirement was true and one out of the three respondents marked think this is true. One out of the three respondents did not know if the attendance requirement was true or not true.

Five respondents identified their employment status as a full-time student. Three of the five respondents were sure that the attendance requirement was true, while one out of the five respondents thought the requirement was true. One of the five respondents did not know if the attendance requirement was true or not true.

Identified as homemaker were eight respondents. Four out of the eight respondents were sure the attendance requirement was true with three out of the eight respondents who marked think this is true. One out of the eight respondents did not know if the attendance requirement was true or not true.

Three respondents were identified as retired. One out of the three respondents was sure the attendance requirement was true, while two out of the three respondents thought the requirement was true. None of the retired respondents marked that they did not know if the attendance requirement was true or not true.

Four respondents identified their employment status as unemployed. All four of the respondents were sure the attendance requirement was true. As shown in Table 22 the response data for present employment status

Table 22

Employment Status * Oregon’s Compulsory Attendance Law

Variable 7: Ethnicity. Response choices were African American (Not Latino),

Asian/Pacific Islander, Latino, Native American, White, Mixed Race, and Decline to answer. As shown in Table 23 the representation of the data is presented.

Thirty-eight parents/guardians responded to the question. The data revealed that there was one out of the 38 respondents who was Native American and was sure the attendance requirement was true. Additionally, there was one out of the 38 respondents who was identified themselves as declined to answer who thought the attendance requirement was true. Two out of the 13 respondents were Asian/Pacific Islander. Both respondents, two out of two, were sure that the attendance requirement was true.

Thirteen African Americans responded to the question. Nine out of the 13 respondents were sure the attendance requirement was true while one out of the 13 respondents replied think

this is true. One out of the 13 respondents thought the attendance requirement was not true. Two out of the 13 respondents did not know if the attendance requirement was true or not true.

Thirteen respondents identified themselves as White. Six out of the 13 respondents were sure the attendance requirement was true. Five out of the 13 respondents marked think this is true. One out of the 13 respondents thought the attendance requirement was not true, while one out of the 13 respondents did not know if the requirement was true or not true.

The final identified ethnicity was mixed race. Four parents/guardians identified themselves as mixed race. As shown in Table 23, one of the four respondents was sure the attendance requirement was true. Two of the four respondents answered think this is true. One of the four respondents did not know if the attendance requirement was true or not true.

Table 23

Ethnicity * Oregon’s Compulsory Attendance Law

Question 8B sought to determine parental knowledge levels of Oregon’s Compulsory Education Attendance Law pertaining to the potential penalties to parents/guardians for not

ensuring that their child/children attended school on a regular full-time base. The null hypothesis premised that no difference would result in parents’/guardians’ knowledge levels of the

compulsory education attendance laws based on each of the seven independent variables.

Parents/guardians were to respond either I’m sure this is true, I think this is true, I think this is not true, I’m sure this is not true, or Do Not Know.

Variable 1: Gender. As shown in Table 24, 15 out of 32 female respondents were sure that the statement on the potential for penalties for not ensuring your child/children attended school on a full-time basis was true, while one out of six males were sure that the requirement was true. Nine out of 32 female respondents thought that the attendance requirement was true and one out of six male respondents thought the attendance requirement was true. Seven of the 32 female respondents and one out of six male respondents did not know if the attendance requirement was true or not true.

Table 24

Gender * Failure to Comply

Variable 2: Age Group. Respondent choices were 18-24, 25-34, 35-43, 44-54, 55-64, 65 or over, and decline to answer. The focus was to cross tabulate the parental age group range with the knowledge of the Oregon Compulsory Attendance Law. The data revealed that three out of

10 respondents from the 25-34 age group range were sure that the attendance requirement was true, while 10 out of 20 in the 35-43 age group range respondents, two out of four in the 44-54 age group range, and one out of two in the 55-64 age group range were sure that the attendance requirement was true (see Table 25).

When looking at the number of respondents who thought the attendance requirement was true, three of the 10 respondents from the 25-34 age group range, five out of 20 in the 35-43 age group range, one out of two respondents in the 55-64 age group range, and one out of one who was listed as decline to answer all stated that they thought the attendance requirement was true.

Several of the respondents did not think the attendance requirement was true or did not know if the requirement was true or not. One out of 10 respondents from the 25-34 age group, one out of 20 respondents from the 35-43 age group range and two out of four respondents from the 44-54 age group range did not think the attendance requirement was true. Three out of 10 of the 25-34 age group range respondents, four out of 20 of the 35-43 age group range, and one out of one respondent from the 65+ age group range did not know if the attendance requirement was true or not true.

Table 25

Age group * Failure to Comply

Variable 3: Number of children at the school. Respondents selected from none, one, two, three, four, or five+. Cross tabulation sought to determine if a difference in parental knowledge levels of the Oregon Compulsory Attendance Law occurred based on the number of children attending the school (see Table 26). Eight out of 20 respondents with one child attending the school were sure that the attendance requirement was true. Five out of 12 respondents with two children attending the school were sure that the attendance requirements were true, while three out of five respondents with three children attending the school were sure.

Six out of 20 respondents with one child thought the attendance requirement was true.

Two out of 12 respondents with two children and three out of five respondents with three children all selected the think it is true category.

Several respondents thought the attendance requirement statement was either not true or they did not know if the statement was true or not. Three out of 20 respondents with one child attending the school and one out of 12 respondents with two children thought the attendance

requirement was not true. Three out of 20 respondents with one child attending the school, four out of 12 with two children attending the school, and one respondent with no children attending the school did not know if the attendance requirement was true or not true.

Table 26

Number of Children * Failure to Comply

Variable 4: Grade Level Range. Grade level choices were Pre K, K-2, 3^rd-5^th, and 6^th-8^th. Pre K children’s grade level range (see Table 27). The grade level range data is cross tabulated with the respondents’ knowledge of the Oregon Compulsory Attendance Law. Nine respondents had children in Pre K. One out of the nine respondents was sure the attendance requirement was true. Three of the nine respondents thought the requirements were true, and one respondent thought the requirement was not true. Four out of the nine respondents did not know if the attendance requirement was true or not.

Table 27

Pre-K * Failure to Comply

Shown in Table 28, is the data from respondents with children in Kindergarten-2^nd grade.

Seventeen respondents declared that they had children in this grade level range. Nine out of the 17 respondents were sure that the attendance requirement was true and four out of the 17

respondents thought the attendance requirement was true. Two out of the 17 respondents thought the attendance requirement was not true with two out of the 17 respondent reporting that they did not know if the requirement was true or not true.

Table 28

K-2^nd * Failure to Comply

Respondents with children in the 3^rd-5^th grade level (see Table 29) overwhelmingly stated that they were sure or thought the attendance requirement was true. Seven out of the 15

respondents were sure that the attendance requirement was true while five out of the 15 respondents thought the requirement was true. One out of the 15 respondents thought the

attendance requirement was not true, while two out of the 15 respondents did not know if the attendance requirement was true or not true.

Table 29

3^rd-5^th * Failure to Comply

The final grade level range used for the cross tabulation data was respondents with children in 6^th-8^th grade (see Table 30). Eleven respondents reported having children in the 6^th-8^th grade level. The majority, seven out of the 11 respondents were sure the attendance requirement

The final grade level range used for the cross tabulation data was respondents with children in 6^th-8^th grade (see Table 30). Eleven respondents reported having children in the 6^th-8^th grade level. The majority, seven out of the 11 respondents were sure the attendance requirement