Causes of school failure: An analysis from the perspective of teachers and students

Abstract

The problem of school failure is a topic of special relevance, due in large part to the high percentage of students who do not successfully complete compulsory education. School failure, as well as school success, is determined by multiple causes, components or factors, as well as causes related to the student, the school and the family. The objective of this work is to analyze the causes of school failure from the perception of students, teachers and secondary school management teams. A descriptive study with a quantitative approach is carried out. The information is collected through a questionnaire, with proven validity and reliability, in its different dimensions. The participants in the study are: 757 students, 221 professors and 116 managers and heads of department of 17 Educational Centers of Valencia. The results indicate that the most important causes of school failure are, first, the student’s commitment to the study and, secondly, the involvement of the family in education. More especially the students give importance to the effort, the teachers to the socialization problems of the students and the management teams to the responsibility of the student and the family in the learning process. In addition, it is verified that there are statistically significant differences in the responses of the students, the professed and the management teams. Finally, the results are discussed.

Keywords

• fracaso escolar
• educación secundaria
• ambiente escolar
• sistema educativo
• análisis cuantitativo