Lessening Habitual Tardiness among Selected Senior High School Students through Reward System

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

This action research has been funded by BERF. The research problem came because of observed habitual tardiness of some secondary school students in public schools. Students' tardiness as a habit can have a negative effect on their school success. Explored in this study were the factors that cause student tardiness and the effect of giving rewards to habitually tardy students when they come to class early.

METHODS

The descriptive survey under the quantitative method of research determined how a reward system lessened student tardiness. The study involved 14 senior high school students from the Maura N. Sibulo National High School. A researcher-made questionnaire (on students' background profile), a checklist (on the factors that cause student tardiness) andForm 2 were the primary tools for gathering data.

RESULTS

As to the background profile of respondents, most were females; born in years 1999 and 2000; 17 years old; wake up at 5:30 A.M.; cook food as a chore; go to school at 7:00 A.M.; live in a place with a home to school distance more than 500 meters but less than 1 kilometer away; and just walk as a means of going to school. As to the factors that cause student tardiness, Environmental factor obtained an overall weighted mean of 2.51, true to a moderate extent. As to the effectiveness of the intervention in reducing or eliminating tardiness, during Morning and Afternoon meetings combined, the average mean of the percentage of decrease of tardiness is -10.66. As to the significant difference between the times a student is late for school before and after the intervention, in the morning and afternoon meetings combined, the computed T-value was 4.284, highly significant.

DISCUSSIONS

The results indicate that the effect of factors to tardiness is true to a lesser extent (TLE). In the morning and afternoon meetings combined, there was an increased occurrence of tardiness among the respondents before the intervention program and was reduced during and after the intervention program.