Fixing and Preventing the Dropout Rate

Michael Kotch
Position Paper #1

Fixing and Preventing the Dropout Rate

In today’s society, few employment opportunities exist that will provide an individual with a living wage and benefits, if they fail to obtain a high school diploma, or the basic skills one should attain upon completion of high school. More specifically, high school dropouts are 20 percent less likely to be employed, than their peers who complete their secondary education. Moreover, those who fail to graduate high school will earn nine thousand, and two hundred and forty-five dollars less per year than their counterparts who have secured a high school diploma.

Nearly, 80 percent of people in prison have failed to obtain a high school diploma. Such a dilemma represents the ill that school dropout rates inflict upon society, as taxpayers are forced to withdraw billions of dollars for welfare services, and high crime rates (National Center on Secondary Education and Transition.)

In the article, Dropouts Give Reasons, Barbara Pytil discussed the results yielded through an interview of five-hundred high school dropouts, ages 16-25 to ascertain the reasons for forgoing a basic secondary education. Almost half of the students claimed that classes were not interesting, while also emphasizing that they were poorly equipped with the necessary skills upon entering high school. Additionally, 43 percent stated that they missed too many days of school; subsequently they lost faith in their ability to catch up on missed work. Close to 70 percent pointed out that they lacked the motivation to put forth the necessary effort to complete a secondary education. Slightly less than 40 percent of the people interviewed listed having a failing grade in classes or getting a job as an explanation for choosing to leave school. Falling into the category of caring for someone, 25 percent claimed to have left high school, as a result of the responsibilities of having a child, while 22 percent left school to care for a relative.

In the article, Thousands of Troubled Students Drop Out Before High School, Mick Dumke stated that 6 percent of U.S. residents eighteen or older have not earned more than an eighth-grade education. Furthermore, the National Center on Secondary Education and Transition claims that 12.5 percent of people in the United States never graduate from high school. The grim reality is that one high school student will terminate their secondary education every nine-seconds. Based on the data mentioned above, high school represents a point in a child’s life where internal and external forces are most likely to influence the discontinuation of a basic education.

The National Center for Secondary Education and Transition cited an article by Christenson, Sinclair, Lehr, & Hurley, (2000), which discusses broad areas that educators should consider in promoting school completion. First, educators must focus on a child’s strengths, instead of deficiencies. Additionally, we must encourage and facilitate the engagement of a variety of individuals in the child’s life to enhance overall support for positive learning outcomes. We must implement programs throughout a child’s life that encourage success in school, instead of attempting to prevent a negative outcome, such as dropping out of school. Educational programs need to adjust to each student at the individual level. Ultimately, interventions must aim to promote a positive outcome for a student, which contrasts with the practice of simply attempting to prevent negative outcomes.

Marcus Moore, Staff Writer for the Gazette.net, discussed data presented by the Maryland State Department of Education in the article, Hispanics most likely to drop out of school. He makes demographic comparisons between various ethnic and cultural groups who attended county high schools in Maryland in 2007. Marcus Moore stated that 5.3 percent of Hispanic-American students and 3.9 percent of African-American students dropped out of high school. Moreover, 4 percent of Limited-English language speakers failed to finish high school. In contrast, 1.4 percent of whites, and 1.1 percent of Asian-American children withdrew from high school. Cultural factors could explain the comparatively disproportionate dropout rates for Hispanic-American and African-American students, when compared to white students and Asian-American students. Additionally, limited English-Speaking skills might initiate some Hispanic students to withdrawal from secondary school.

One can argue a theoretical benefit to having some degree of attrition related to youth attaining a high school diploma. The Center for Effective Collaboration and Practice, states that students who display behavioral problems are at an elevated risk for failing to obtain a high school diploma. One might discern that the learning environment for the majority of students is enhanced through the elimination of behaviorally disruptive students, which is facilitated when children with behavioral problems choose to withdrawal from school. Additionally, Social Darwinism states that our human habitat contains limited resources, and those who quit school could be considered inescapably ill suited to compete in our society. Hence, if we accept the concept of “survival of the fittest” as determining the fate of all organisms, it would be hypocritical to assume that society should change the current educational paradigm to ensure the success of every child. Finally, from a fiscal standpoint, creating an inclusive educational environment requires more immediate monetary expenditure, which some might argue is unrealistic in times of economic instability.


Resources:

http://educationalissues.suite101.com/article.cfm/dropouts_give_reasons

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0JAS/is_5_30/ai_79304988

http://www.ncset.org/publications/essentialtools/dropout/dropout.pdf

http://www.gazette.net/stories/02042009/burtnew205419_32472.shtml

http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:saD6wbzbl48J:cecp.air.org/resources/schfail/dropouts.asp+behavioral+problems+and+school+dropouts&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=4&gl=us