The
Dropout Problem
The challenge
of keeping teens in school is as grave a concern to parents, educators and society
as a whole as it ever was. With roughly
10 percent of the nation’s teens failing to graduate, it is evident that the
need to reach at-risk youth for prevention is ever-present. The future for dropouts in today’s economy is
grim, as the median income of dropouts ages 18-67 was 25,000 in 2009, compared
to the 43,000 median incomes of those who stayed in school (Chapman, Laird,
Ifill & Ramani, 2011). High School
drop outs are 72 percent more likely to earn 30 percent less than those who
complete school (US Department of Labor, 2010).
Perhaps an even more frightening result of the dropout epidemic is the
strain it continues to put on the economy.
A high school dropout can potentially cost the economy close to $200,000
in a lifetime due to higher dependency on welfare programs, lack of revenues,
insufficient tax contributions and higher incidence of criminal behavior. Adolescents who miss their high school
years are robbed of opportunities and likely to struggle to find work. It is evident that the disconnection of
America’s youth from secondary education marks only the beginning of a lifelong
hardship, keeping the search for adequate dropout prevention programs a
priority for educators.
Contributing
Risk Factors for Dropouts
Educators and
researchers identify specific definitions of risk factors as strong predictors
of dropout. Gleason and Dynarski (2002)
listed several general demographic risk factors associated with dropping out as
such as; family background, past school performance, personal/psychological
characteristics, adult responsibilities, school characteristics and
neighborhood characteristics. In terms
of demographics, many researchers agree that White adolescents are more likely
to stay in school than Black or Hispanic classmates. Generally, students of which English is their
second language are also more at risk for dropping out (NCES, 2008). Additionally, students with a brother or
sister who has discontinued their education are more likely to follow suit
(NCES, 2008), and it has also been found by researchers that employment
obligations as well as parental duties lead to increased dropout risk.
A more in depth
explanation of why students drop out can be illustrated by the idea of push and
pull effects weighing on student engagement.
Push effects, the factors students most frequently attribute as reasons
for dropping out, refer to occurrences that contribute to a student’s feeling
alienated, like a failure; such as earning poor grades, disciplinary issues, and
general aversion to school. Pull effects
were found to consist of external problems that detract from successful school
completion, such as pregnancy, financial obligations, parental duties and
employment.
Poor academic
performance and a history of disengagement from school have been found to be
the best predictors of who drops out of school.
The most common disengagement characteristics among at-risk adolescents include
low self-esteem, feelings of alienation, lower expectations and poor
self-concept. Poor attendance, suffering
grades, disinterest in academic activities, low test scores, and placement in
special education programs have all been identified as the major contributing
factors to disengagement. Poor academic
performance is also directly related to student disengagement as it often
coincides with chronic truancy, disciplinary problems, and in-school violence
among the at-risk youth.
Dropout
prevention and School Engagement
If student
disconnection and disengagement lay at the heart of the dropout problem, it makes
sense that programs aimed at fostering student engagement, and cultivating a
sense of belonging for at risk students would prove most successful. School policies that are aimed at building
positive school climate, and higher quality teacher-student relationships can
enhance student’s connection with schools. Surveys of dropouts continue to show that
students today are more bored and disengaged than ever. They feel that adults in the school system do
not care about them, that they are merely a number, and they fail to recognize
the role that high school education plays in their future career goals. Focusing on programs that facilitate
engagement seems to be the direction that dropout prevention programs are
headed. More studies are demonstrating
the complexity in the student, family, school and community role in student
engagement; illustrating the importance of dropout prevention programs that
tackle dropout in a multidimensional approach to promoting school engagement. In conclusion, the future of dropout prevention
may lie in the creation of opportunities for students to earn credits in
non-traditional ways (i.e. the expansion of alternative schools), the
implementation of policies that improve school climate, and school-wide
implementation of early warning systems that warn educators of disengagement of
students before it’s too late.
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