Fixing and Preventing the Dropout Rate

Across the United States a lingering problem that seems far from becoming resolved is the rising dropout rate in our state’s schools. Some researchers refer to the problem as a silent epidemic. Research shows that one third of all high school students, and half of all African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans, fail to graduate with their class. Students who dropout are more likely to be unemployed, in poor health, living in poverty, on public assistance, and become single parents. Leanne Hoagland-Smith states that with baby boomers retiring during the next decade, the US economy will be facing critical shortages in finding qualified and educated workers. Unless public education addresses this problem and makes significant changes in how they educate young people the U.S. could possibly lose its number one place in the world economy. Not only will dropout rates negatively affect the growing economy of each community, state, and our nation, all uneducated young people will add costs to each state’s bottom line. The Friedman Foundation based in Indianapolis estimated that the dropouts for 2006 will cost the state of Indiana over $55 million each year until they die. These costs are calculated from lost tax revenue, social health care such as Medicaid and incarceration. Dropouts are more than eight times as likely to wind up in jail.
In an article online, Addressing the Real Problems Instead of Traditional Symptoms, the author found that most students make the decision to drop out in middle school or junior high. A survey released from the Civic Enterprises suggested that 90% of the drop outs had passing grades, but left because classes were too boring. We need to start examining the real problem and start implementing ways to prevent students from dropping out instead of just fixing the problem after it occurs.
Knowing where schools are located and who attends them is critical for policymakers, reformers, and others concerned with directing resources toward measuring the dropout problem and towards fixing it. When finding one schools dropout rate you need to compare the number of students who dropped out in one year to the number of students enrolled. You also need to take into consideration those who transfer and graduate, take longer than four years to graduate or leave school and return to graduate or receive their GED.
Most of the research points towards reorganizing the public education system and curriculum that is offered to the students. Students need to be engaged in what they are learning. We also need to offer other paths for those students that are not successful on a college track. We need to show students that there are other options. We also need to address the realities that face many students, lack of adequate housing and shelter, lack of positive role models and social and emotional baggage. We need to give students more options within choosing courses. Offer more relevant curriculum to students some examples given online were conflict resolution classes, finance and budgeting. The truth is our country failed to restructure education when the industrial revolution happened and still employs a patch approach to fixing the problem. True education reform has never existed in this country since the 1970s. We need a curriculum based upon a 21st century knowledge and technology economy. Being realistic and not pouring tons of money into a thoughtless curriculum guided by politics and letting educators do their jobs would be a move in a positive direction toward preventing the dropout rate.
Other options sited in research are giving teachers more training on how to teach strategies. Teachers coming out of college and even teachers that have been in the field for many years need more course and instruction in the area of instruction. Teachers also need to know their students. They need to be able to make connections and allow their students to feel the connection and feel that they are in a safe and caring learning environment. We can provide the opportunity for this through keeping class sizes under control and the smaller the class the deeper the connection a teacher can make with her students. A strong and consistent connection with home can also help in developing stronger connections. If students and parents hear from teachers when students are making positive progress instead of just negative issues or calling home when there are problems. This would help parents to also stay on top of how their child is doing and taking the positive encouraging approach from the classroom and continuing that at home.
Focus on where there is a problem. Contact those students that have dropped out. Find out why and what may have made them stay. Pay attention to early warning signs. Students do not just wake up one morning and decide to drop out. Watch for patterns in attendance or missed credits and intervene. We can not afford to wait until it is too late. By putting in place proactive approaches and reviewing and analyzing the current curriculums we may be able to come up with a way to lower the number of dropouts.
Andrea Concordia