Critical Project #2
The Dropout Problem in America
Karen Y. Carter
Students dropping out of school have become a serious problem not just for the parents of these students but for society as a whole. Students drop out of school tend to be engaged in negative behavior such as gang violence and drugs which most often sends them to jail or a juvenile detention facility. They then become either unemployed or underemployed. Of the students who drop out of school, a disproportionate amount is African-American and Latino. It is these students as well as others, who showed signs of being potential drop outs as early as elementary and middle school. Students in these early grades who exhibited risk factors such as receiving an F as a final grade in math and/or English, an 80% or lower attendance in school and “unsatisfactory” as a final grade in behavior were more likely to drop out of school between the seventh and twelfth grades. However, very little is done in the early grades which prevent students from dropping out by the time they reach middle and high school. Why are these students in particular dropping out of school and how do we get them to stay there?
Let’s first look at some statistics. According to the National Center for Education Statistics which gathers information on graduation and dropout rates for the U.S. Department of Education during 2005 – 2006 by race/ethnicity show the following rates: Whites. 2.7%; Blacks, 6.1%; Asian/Pacific Islanders, 2.4%; Hispanic, 6.0% and American Indian/Alaska native, 7.2%. Indeed, the numbers are highest among persons of color with the exception of Asians. What is causing students to drop out at such high numbers?
Guidance counselors, social workers and other experts identify at least three main reasons students drop out of school: 1) Lack of family and community support; 2) Poverty; and 3) Lack of resources at their schools. There are many students who grow up in homes headed by single parents, some of whom may have dropped out of high school themselves and/or were teenage parents; have unbearable family situations such as drug or alcohol abuse and domestic violence; attend schools who do not have the money to pay for after-school activities, sports teams, enrichment classes which help keep students off the streets and live in neighborhoods that are racked with poverty and despair.
In order to assist these students, we must work to try to correct some if not all of the situations which lead students to drop out of school. One of the most important ways is not to forget the middle grades when educators are reforming their curriculums and school systems. The No Child Left Behind Act goes a long way in addressing issues such as testing, standards, etc. in elementary and high schools but in my opinion does not really address the problems that are unique to middle schools, not that they address the other issues well either given that it is an unfunded mandate. Organizations such as the ACT (formerly known as American College Testing but now known only as ACT) show research in their 2008 report The Forgotten Middle: Ensuring That All Students Are On Target For College and Career Readiness Before High School that express the importance of bringing focus to the middle grades. Other ways to prevent students from dropping out are to increase parent involvement, having a real war on poverty, and increasing or changing the funding formulas for poorer schools.
To this end, many schools are becoming creative in order to bring more parents in the schools. Raffles, dinners and other enticements are used to get parents to come to PTA/PA meetings and parent teacher conferences. In addition, efforts by groups such as the Campaign for Fiscal Equity which brought a lawsuit against New York State charging among other things discrimination in the way the funding formula for the state is created. The group won the lawsuit, however, New York State has been slow in implementing the changes. Changes such as these will increase the amount of money schools have to spend on dropout intervention programs, service learning opportunities, enrichment clsses and sports. Employers must also be more willing to work with parents who have children and need to be more involved in their education. About twenty years ago, in New York City, a petition campaign was started by the United Parents Organization (now defunct) to pass a law which required employers to give their employees a certain amount of time off per month to attend parent teacher conferences, workshops, meetings, etc. The idea was similar to that of FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act) where parents would take off for example, 10 hours per month to attend parent related events in the school without loss of pay or job. Unfortunately, this idea never really took off. There also needs to be increased funding and availability of drug treatment centers, domestic violence, teenage pregnancy and parenting counseling for people who need it. Steps such as these would not only help the parents of students who drop out of school but society as a whole because it would reduce the amount of time, money and energy spent addressing the negative effects of this problem.
References
ACT. 2008, Policy Report. The Forgotten Middle: Ensuring that All Students Are on Target for College and Career Readiness before High School. Retrieved from http://www.act.org/research/policymakers/pdf/ForgottenMiddle.pdf
United States Department of Education. 2009, Digest of Education Statistics 2008, Table 107. Public high school graduates and dropouts, by race/ethnicity and state or jurisdiction: 2005–06 [Data file]. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d08/tables/dt08_107.asp
Ziomek-Daigle, J. & Andrews, P. G. (2007) Dropout Prevention in the Middle Grades. Middle School Journal.
The Dropout Problem in America
Karen Y. Carter
Students dropping out of school have become a serious problem not just for the parents of these students but for society as a whole. Students drop out of school tend to be engaged in negative behavior such as gang violence and drugs which most often sends them to jail or a juvenile detention facility. They then become either unemployed or underemployed. Of the students who drop out of school, a disproportionate amount is African-American and Latino. It is these students as well as others, who showed signs of being potential drop outs as early as elementary and middle school. Students in these early grades who exhibited risk factors such as receiving an F as a final grade in math and/or English, an 80% or lower attendance in school and “unsatisfactory” as a final grade in behavior were more likely to drop out of school between the seventh and twelfth grades. However, very little is done in the early grades which prevent students from dropping out by the time they reach middle and high school. Why are these students in particular dropping out of school and how do we get them to stay there?
Let’s first look at some statistics. According to the National Center for Education Statistics which gathers information on graduation and dropout rates for the U.S. Department of Education during 2005 – 2006 by race/ethnicity show the following rates: Whites. 2.7%; Blacks, 6.1%; Asian/Pacific Islanders, 2.4%; Hispanic, 6.0% and American Indian/Alaska native, 7.2%. Indeed, the numbers are highest among persons of color with the exception of Asians. What is causing students to drop out at such high numbers?
Guidance counselors, social workers and other experts identify at least three main reasons students drop out of school: 1) Lack of family and community support; 2) Poverty; and 3) Lack of resources at their schools. There are many students who grow up in homes headed by single parents, some of whom may have dropped out of high school themselves and/or were teenage parents; have unbearable family situations such as drug or alcohol abuse and domestic violence; attend schools who do not have the money to pay for after-school activities, sports teams, enrichment classes which help keep students off the streets and live in neighborhoods that are racked with poverty and despair.
In order to assist these students, we must work to try to correct some if not all of the situations which lead students to drop out of school. One of the most important ways is not to forget the middle grades when educators are reforming their curriculums and school systems. The No Child Left Behind Act goes a long way in addressing issues such as testing, standards, etc. in elementary and high schools but in my opinion does not really address the problems that are unique to middle schools, not that they address the other issues well either given that it is an unfunded mandate. Organizations such as the ACT (formerly known as American College Testing but now known only as ACT) show research in their 2008 report The Forgotten Middle: Ensuring That All Students Are On Target For College and Career Readiness Before High School that express the importance of bringing focus to the middle grades. Other ways to prevent students from dropping out are to increase parent involvement, having a real war on poverty, and increasing or changing the funding formulas for poorer schools.
To this end, many schools are becoming creative in order to bring more parents in the schools. Raffles, dinners and other enticements are used to get parents to come to PTA/PA meetings and parent teacher conferences. In addition, efforts by groups such as the Campaign for Fiscal Equity which brought a lawsuit against New York State charging among other things discrimination in the way the funding formula for the state is created. The group won the lawsuit, however, New York State has been slow in implementing the changes. Changes such as these will increase the amount of money schools have to spend on dropout intervention programs, service learning opportunities, enrichment clsses and sports. Employers must also be more willing to work with parents who have children and need to be more involved in their education. About twenty years ago, in New York City, a petition campaign was started by the United Parents Organization (now defunct) to pass a law which required employers to give their employees a certain amount of time off per month to attend parent teacher conferences, workshops, meetings, etc. The idea was similar to that of FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act) where parents would take off for example, 10 hours per month to attend parent related events in the school without loss of pay or job. Unfortunately, this idea never really took off. There also needs to be increased funding and availability of drug treatment centers, domestic violence, teenage pregnancy and parenting counseling for people who need it. Steps such as these would not only help the parents of students who drop out of school but society as a whole because it would reduce the amount of time, money and energy spent addressing the negative effects of this problem.
References
ACT. 2008, Policy Report. The Forgotten Middle: Ensuring that All Students Are on Target for College and Career Readiness before High School. Retrieved from http://www.act.org/research/policymakers/pdf/ForgottenMiddle.pdf
United States Department of Education. 2009, Digest of Education Statistics 2008, Table 107. Public high school graduates and dropouts, by race/ethnicity and state or jurisdiction: 2005–06 [Data file]. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d08/tables/dt08_107.asp
Ziomek-Daigle, J. & Andrews, P. G. (2007) Dropout Prevention in the Middle Grades. Middle School Journal.
I think that employers should be more involved as well, especially the larger companies, by offering discounted, if not free child care services within the business building where parents can come to work with their child and be able to monitor them, on breaks and have lunch with them. This would increase the bonding between child and parent, take some of the stress and worry about their child away at daycare, and may be an asset in keeping parents involved with their child's life, academically as well, in the future.
ReplyDeleteSo many good ideas in this paper!
ReplyDeleteI like how you spoke on getting parents involved. Schools do need to get creative with getting them in the front doors because I strongly believe parents play a large role in student success. Students need as much support as possible---it can make or break their educational career.