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"America's School Dropout Epidemic": 1. The Students Themselves

This document discusses reasons why students drop out of high school and strategies to prevent dropout. It states that dropping out is usually a gradual process as students become disengaged and struggle academically. Factors that contribute to dropout include lack of relevance in classes, feeling that no one cares about their school experience, academic difficulties, and negative school environments. Prevention strategies include tracking at-risk students early, interventions for attendance and academics, and alternative programs to engage struggling students. Retrieval programs aim to reengage dropouts by individualizing academic plans and support.

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47 views

"America's School Dropout Epidemic": 1. The Students Themselves

This document discusses reasons why students drop out of high school and strategies to prevent dropout. It states that dropping out is usually a gradual process as students become disengaged and struggle academically. Factors that contribute to dropout include lack of relevance in classes, feeling that no one cares about their school experience, academic difficulties, and negative school environments. Prevention strategies include tracking at-risk students early, interventions for attendance and academics, and alternative programs to engage struggling students. Retrieval programs aim to reengage dropouts by individualizing academic plans and support.

Uploaded by

api-280119909
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Americas School Dropout Epidemic

Teens drop out of school for many reasons, and the decision to drop out is rarely
spur of the moment. Kids usually drop out of school following a long process of
disengagement and academic struggle. Many teens say they were bored and
frustrated with classes that didn't seem relevant to their life. Or they felt they
had fallen so far behind they eventually gave up hope.
Teens report that no one really cared about their school experience, or they felt
subtly "pushed out" by school staff who perceived them as difficult or dangerous.
What is absolutely predictable is that many kids who don't finish high school do
poorly in life. Without a high school diploma they will have a harder time finding a
job, and they will earn much less when they do find one (about a million dollars less
over a lifetime). They are more likely to have poor health, to live in poverty, and to
have children at an early age, who in turn are also more likely to drop out of school.
Nationally, seventy percent of inmates in prison didn't graduate from high school.
1. The students themselves
They make wrong decisions. They get involved with gangs, drugs/alcohol get caught
committing a crime. Many have a poor school attitude and are frequently bored by
school. They are disconnected to their families, school and life. They do not see
the reasons they need to go to school. They are not involved in school activities and
lack self-esteem. Some have been promoted lacking skills needed for promotion.
Some have undergone major illnesses and have missed too many days of school and
have been informed that they will be held back. Because of many of the conditions
listed above, they have been suspended and have fallen behind in their work and
see little purpose of returning to school.
4. The schools they attend
The schools are toxic to student learning, students, parents and staff. Students
are suspended for minor infractions (such as "talking back to the teacher"), or
placed in "remedial classes." The schools have a culture of low expectations. They
lack adequate guidance counseling. The curriculum is not relevant to the needs of
the students being taught. Passive instructional strategies are being used without
regard to individual student learning styles.Teachers are not trained in the latest
teaching/learning/technology techniques. Funding is based on property values so

that low-income neighborhoods receive less funding than wealthy neighborhoods.


Because some states pass budgets in a less than timely matter, teachers are not
hired in time producing over-sized classrooms.
3. Academic difficulty and failure. Struggling in school and failing classes is one

of the main reasons teens drop out, and this pattern often shows up early.
Students who fail eighth grade English or math, for example, are seventy-five
percent more likely to drop out of high school. Linked to academic difficulty,
students who are held back and who are older than the kids in their grade also
tend to drop out.

4. The teachers they have


The least-experienced, least classroom-trained teachers are often assigned to the
most difficult schools. They enter the field with the expectation that they have
been adequately prepared by the schools of education with the skills they need and
they haven't received. (See Arthur Levine, "Educating School Teachers") They are
leaving the field faster than colleges can prepare them. The teacher "dropout
rate" is higher than the student dropout rate. Forty-six percent of teachers leave
the field within five years. When asked why they leave, a majority state that they
haven't been properly prepared, have had increased demands placed on them
because of high stakes testing and are not getting adequate support from their
supervisors in dealing with classroom discipline. Many kids who drop out say that
school was boring and teachers did little to connect learning to real life. They
didn't feel invested in their school and they didn't feel that adults seemed
interested in them or their high school experience.
The good news is that dropping out is easily prevented. Most teens who drop out
had at least passing grades, and these kids say that, with some help, they could
have completed high school. Parents who are involved in their kids' education often
make the difference between academic success and failure. Kids do better when
their parents care: when parents make sure their kids get to school and are
progressing well and when parents communicate their expectations for success. If
problems arise, involved parents have laid a solid foundation for dealing with them.
Start early to prevent high school dropouts.

Prevention and Intervention Strategies


High drop out rates can impact school and community climate; the consequences
for the individual student can be enormous as dropping out has life-long impact.
When a student drops out of school it is easy to blame the student for his or her
school failures. Sometimes the student has neglected attendance and school work.
Sometimes the school has not been responsive to the individual needs of the
student. Sometimes school staff feel that the parents should have been more
responsive to the school's efforts to help. While assigning blame for the
unsuccessful student may feel good to the blamer, it doesn't address the most
important problem: What strategies will help keep students in school or encourage
students to return to school?
Prevention strategies: Schools can collect data about student performance and
characteristics related to dropping out in order to identify potential problems
early in the student's school experience and thus refer students for specific
prevention efforts. Tracking student attendance, test scores, grades, behavior
referrals, participation in activities, school attitudes and family participation in
school events can provide information to identify students most at risk for later
dropping out.
Prevention activities might include incentives and supports to improve attendance;
programs to encourage parent involvement; early intervention for academic
difficulties (such as peer tutoring programs); community and school-based
mentorships; and partnerships with community business to connect school to work.
Development of high school alternative programs that provide nontraditional
approaches to vocational training and high school completion will also provide
options for students who have not been successful in meeting the academic or
social demands of the typical school program.
Dropout retrieval and re-entry programs: Once students have dropped out, it is
still possible to re- engage them in the school process through programs
specifically designed to help them transition back to a school environment. Recent
dropouts need information about alternative routes to attaining a diploma. They

need access to support personnel who can help them design a program to meet
their individual needs - often this will include individualizing the academic program
to address areas of difficulty as well as areas of strength. Some students will also
need flexible school hours to fit in needed work opportunities, in-school child care,
low teacher-student ratios to ensure more individual support, individual and group
counseling and mentoring.
In addition to school wide strategies and programs, individual teachers and support
staff can help encourage school involvement for students at risk for dropping out:
Focus on student goals: Instead of focusing on why the student is unsuccessful in
school, have the student identify what he wants to get from the school experience.
Have him/her list school, home and personal barriers to reaching that goal.
Sometimes talking about getting past the barriers to reaching a goal helps focus
efforts more productively than just complaining or quitting.
Encourage school involvement: Encourage the student to attend school regularly
and to be involved in at least one extra-curricular activity at school or with groups
of students who are currently in school. These activities make the student feel
part of the group, important to the school and more motivated to perform in order
to participate. If students' lack of academic success restricts them from every
activity except academics, they often see no value in continuing to try. They must
have something positive to look forward to that will meet the
kinship/companionship needs of being a teenager. If they aren't able to meet
these needs in the school setting, they often find ways to meet these needs in less
desirable settings and groups.

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