Appendix E


Participant # ____

Background Information

(As much as possible will be obtained from the ABE file)

Are you female _____ or male _____? Married _____ or single? _____

What is your current age? _____ How old were you when you joined ABE? _____

What was your age when you completed your goals? _____

Did you leave the program before completing your goals and then come back?

______________________________________________________________

If yes, how long did you work on it the first time?

______________________________________________________________

When did you come back again?

______________________________________________________________

How long did you work on it the second time?

______________________________________________________________

When did you reenter the program again?

______________________________________________________________

Were there more times that you left the program and came back again?

______________________________________________________________

Were you raising a family as you pursued your goals?

______________________________________________________________

Were you married or single as you worked on your goals?

______________________________________________________________

Were you working outside the home while you studied?

______________________________________________________________

Were the places you studied rural or urban?

______________________________________________________________

--At home or in a learning center?

______________________________________________________________

How many tutors did you work with?

______________________________________________________________

What grade did you complete in school? __________

What grade did your father complete? __________ your mother? ___________

Did you have a prior negative school experience?

______________________________________________________________

Did you have a prior positive school experience?

______________________________________________________________

Were you diagnosed with learning disabilities while in school or did you feel that you learned differently than the other kids?

______________________________________________________________

Did you have any medical problems as a child? ___________________________
_____ eyesight _____ hearing _____ sinus

Did you require medication as a child?

______________________________________________________________

Did you require medication while you were working on your goals with ABE?

______________________________________________________________

Do you consider yourself more of an individual determined to set your own course or a follower?

______________________________________________________________

--Would you rather determine for yourself how to approach a task or be given guidance/assignments to show you how to carry it out?

______________________________________________________________

--Did you want your tutor to assign a set amount of work for you to do or determine for yourself what you could handle?

______________________________________________________________


Interview (Interviewer Sheet)

A number of reasons have been proposed as to why some ABE students complete their goals while others leave the program before they achieve their goals. Research has been conducted on reasons for dropping out of similar programs, but seldom has the opportunity been given to those who have actually completed their goals to say in their own words what helped them to succeed. That is the purpose of this research--to hear from you what you feel contributed the most to you reaching your program goals..

Please take a few minutes to supply the background information before proceeding with the rest of the interview.

1) What were your goals in joining the program?
-- What helped you reach your goals?

2) What were the things that were most important in helping you to achieve your goals?

3) Did you ever think of quitting?
What kept you going?

4) What things hindered your efforts to reach your goals?
(Note: family problems: ____ children? ____ husband? ____ moving?
____ job? ____ finances? ____ transportation? ____alcohol/drugs?
_____self-esteem? ____ confidence in your ability?)

Research has explored some things that may or may not help a person to continue in the program until they reach their goals. Would you take a minute to think about the next six questions and decide for yourself whether or not they had any influence in keeping you going?

Page 2

5) Once you saw you could make progress, did that keep you going?
--What helped you to feel that you were making progress?

6) Did any of the things you were studying make you want to continue?
-What were those things?
-Why were they important to you?

7) What part of how the program works helped you the most--flexible time, location, materials, other?

8) What influence did your self-esteem have on your being able to continue?
(a) What was your view of yourself when you entered the program?
(b) Did it change while you were in the program?
--If yes, how?

9) Did you have any support to reach your goals while you were in the program?
-If so, who or what? (Note: ___ family? ___ tutor? __ agency? ___other?)
-If a person, how did he/she show support for you?
(Note: ____ trust? ____ patience? ____ encouragement? ____ friendliness?
____ interest in you as a person? ____ the relationship/interaction?

____ helping with some of your other responsibilities? ____ in other ways?)
--Do you want to say more about that?

Now that weve discussed a few factors, what do you feel had the greatest impact on keeping you going until you accomplished your goal(s)?

Interview (Participant sheet)

A number of reasons have been proposed as to why some ABE students complete their goals while others leave the program before they achieve their goals. Research has been conducted on reasons for dropping out of similar programs, but seldom has the opportunity been given to those who have actually completed their goals to say in their own words what helped them to succeed. That is the purpose of this research--to hear from you what you feel contributed the most to you reaching your program goals.

Please take a few minutes to supply the background information before proceeding with the rest of the interview.

1) What were your goals in joining the program?
-- What helped you reach your goals?

2) What were the things that were most important in helping you to achieve your goals?

3) Did you ever think of quitting?
What kept you going?

4) What things hindered your efforts to reach your goals?
Research has explored some things that may or may not help a person to continue in the program until they reach their goals. Would you take a minute to think about the next six questions and decide for yourself whether or not they had any influence in keeping you going?

Page 2

5) Once you saw you could make progress, did that keep you going?
--What helped you to feel that you were making progress?

6) Did any of the things you were studying make you want to continue?

  • -What were those things?
  • -Why were they important to you?

7) What part of how the program works helped you the most--flexible time, location, materials, other?

8) What influence did your self-esteem have on your being able to continue?
(a) What was your view of yourself when you entered the program?
(b) Did it change while you were in the program?
--If yes, how?

9) Did you have any support to reach your goals while you were in the program?

  • -If so, who or what?
  • -If a person, how did he/she show support for you?
  • -Do you want to say more about that?

Now that weve discussed a few factors, what do you feel had the greatest impact on keeping you going until you accomplished your goal(s)?

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