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Large School Systems' Dropout Reports: An Analysis of Definitions, Procedures, and Findings
Abstract
One basic problem for both researchers and policymakers is obtaining accurate information about dropouts. In this article, Floyd Hammack examines school district reports on the dropout problem in Boston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, San Diego, and Chicago. Citing the great diversity in the processes for the classification of students as dropouts, he raises important concerns about the comparability of dropout rates between districts.
... In this respect, the research on school suspension has received a great deal of attention from both practitioners and scholars recently (Hammack, 1986;Mendez & Knoff, 2003). Youth suspension can not only exert major influence on the life of the student but lead the student's involvement in further delinquencies. ...
... Males tend to be suspended more than females (Kirk, 2009;Skiba et al., 2000;Wallace et al., 2008). For instance, Hammack (1986) compares males that held 55.8% of the high-school dropout rate to females with 44.1% in Boston during the year 1982(New York City Public Schools, 1984 and further studies in the urban areas of Chicago that echo the same pattern: males drop out more than females, by 49.2% against 36.2%. The pattern in Boston and Chicago is particularly useful because half of the students in those cities are dropouts (Rumberger, 1987). ...
... Another important correlate of dropping out includes LEP (Steinberg, Blinde, & Chan, 1984). Students with LEP have higher suspension rates than those who are fluent in English (Hammack, 1986). For example, Hispanic or Indochinese LEP students in San Diego leave school early at higher rates while those fluent in English have lower suspension rates (Barr, 1985). ...
Although the relationship between parental and teachers’ roles and exclusionary discipline practices (EDP) seems intuitive, the link has rarely been supported in school disciplinary literature. This current study tested whether delinquency prevention programs can be directly effective in reducing adolescent delinquency, considering the medium of student’s trust in teachers and parental contact with school. In detail, this study attempted to answer two questions: ‘Do current delinquency prevention programs decrease EDP?’ and ‘Do student–teacher trust and parental contact with school mediate the effectiveness of prevention programs on suspensions?’ Using the techniques of propensity score matching andstructural equation modeling, we found that student trust in teachers is a relevant and valid construct and statistically significant mediator on suspensions. The authors suggested some considerations to use student trust in teachers and parental contact with school more effectively as policy tools in disciplinary practices.
... Intervention programmes designed to bring down dropout rates have been performed in a broad range of types including mentoring programmes, home visits, individual, school-wide and classroom-wide interventions, prevocational exploration, adjusted schedules, teacher consultation, academic tutoring, alternative school, stable peers, parent training and compensatory programmes, among others (Prevatt, 2003;Natriello, 1987;Hammack, 1987). ...
... Several authors, such as Hammack (1987) Given the way it is estimated, this indicator includes a variety of early school leavers: it does not distinguish the real dropouts from the push outs (those who are expelled from the institution) or stop outs (the students who leave school for a while, but who will come back later). It does not separate those who abandoned school because of illness or death, and it does not capture the internal mobility. ...
Dropping out from school, the departure of students from school before it is supposed to occur, is a social problem that governments from the entire world have tried to bring down without achieving a convincing success. Recently, a recurrent alternative has been to implement Conditional Cash Transfers (CCT), programmes aiming to retain students at school by giving them cash. Prepa Sí, a Mexican CCT ruled since 2007, has benefited more than a half of the total enrolment of post secondary public education of Mexico City, spending an average of 1,000 million MXP per year. By 2008, the authorities announced an extraordinary success: a reduction in 60% of the dropout rates, from 16% to 6%.
The purpose of this research was to corroborate those claims by fitting a hierarchical linear model based on repeated measures of the dropout levels of the public schools of the City over the last ten years. Alas, no evidence was found to sustain the supposed success. In spite of the large amount of resources invested, from the data analysed it can be said that Prepa Sí is not making any difference.
Prepa Sí has some flaws that might constitute a reasonable explanation of the programme’s lack of effectiveness: it does not really target the population at risk and it is based on an excessively simplistic diagnostic. On one hand, it does not have any strategy to ensure that the transfers reach the pockets of the students that really need them and, on the other hand, it expects to tackle the problem by a single measure, neglecting the specific necessities of the different subgroups of potential dropouts.
... Es necesario diferenciar las situaciones asociadas a la deserción, de lo contrario se correría el riesgo de una sobreestimación del indicador. Morgan en un estudio que hizo sobre la deserción escolar en Estados Unidos a nivel distrital también identificó que existen otros elementos de porqué los estudiantes pueden registrarse como deserción y no es así: entrada al ejército y trabajo de tiempo completo (Morgan, 1986). ...
... Por ejemplo, en países con diversos grupos culturales como Estados Unidos de América se ha puesto atención a la asociación entre la pertenencia a un grupo étnico y la deserción escolar y se ha encontrado que la causa de la deserción en las minorías se encuentra en la discriminación racial 12 . En este país un estudio mostró que el grupo de los latinos tenían 12 En este mismo enfoque, Michelle Fine (1986) utiliza la técnica etnográfica para describir los factores que llevan a los adolecentes negros y latinos urbanos a dejar la escuela secundaria o a permanecer ella en 72 las mayores proporciones de deserción por distrito (Morgan, 1986). A propósito, resalta el caso de los finlandeses que viven en Suecia, a la postres, el grupo que más deserta, y el de los coreanos de sur en Singapur, quienes también conforman al grupo que más desertan. ...
The thesis to receive the master's degree in Government and Public Affairs is entitled "The School Drop-out of Youth in Patrimonial Poverty: Higher Education Scholarship Program (EMS) and Factors of drop-out". This document aimed to research the factors associated with dropping out of school for young people in EMS considering the variables identified in the academic literature and the available information. It focused on students who were under the equity line of poverty - a methodological approach to measuring poverty in Mexico - and who were beneficiaries of the government program called High School Scholarship Program (PROBEMS).
http://bibdigital.flacso.edu.mx:8080/dspace/bitstream/handle/123456789/4110/Ogarrio_P.pdf?sequence=1
... Recent investigations have emphasized the importance of the school's role in allowing or encouraging dropout (Fine, 1986;Wehlage and Rutter, 1986;Strother, 1986;Hammack, 1986). Programs have been developed and 14 implemented which are based upon the assumption that changes in schools can make a difference in the way students respond, even students who have been identified as potential dropouts (Champeau, 1983, Ross, 1983, Hamilton, 1986, Mann, 1986, McDill, Natriello, & Pallas, 1986). ...
... Strother (1986) echoes this concern with a s~rong statement to the effect that characteristics of dropouts are known but -few studies have focused on students who displayed the same characteristics but who graduated from high school nonetheless" (p.326). Hammack (1986) arrived at a similar conclusion in his comparison of dropout rates among six cities. He found similar rankings of schools by dropout rates and the proportion of at-risk students they serve, but there are some schools that do better or worse than would be expected, "Clearly, these data, provide room for optimism about the possibilities of interventions at the school level that may lower the dropout rates" (p.336) • Several studies made recommendations regarding the prevention of dropout or the retrieval of dropouts. ...
... 'Dropping out' means leaving school or a group for various reasons, necessities, or disillusionment with the system from which the individual in question leaves [8,9,11]. The term 'dropout' is defined as any learner who has left the school system before successfully completing the final or highest grade in school [47]. Ref. [48] call this the 'silent epidemic'. ...
There is strong evidence that dropping out of school has short-term and long-term effects
for the individual, the family, the community, and other strata in society. In South Africa, learners dropping out of school has increased. The link between intention, motivation, and self-efficacy to drop out of school is an understudied area of research. The study aimed to determine the relationship between learners’ intention, motivation, and self-efficacy to drop out of low and high socio-economic schools. A quantitative methodological approach with a cross-sectional design was utilised. Participant’s selection included high school learners in Grades 9 and 11, at both high and low socio-economic public schools in the Western Cape, in South Africa. Most participants were female (51.2%), with a mean age of 16 years, attending schools in resource-constrained communities (50.1). Data was analysed using an independent t-test to assess a significant difference between learners in low and high socio-economic communities. Findings showed that many learners in high socio-economic schools hardly considered dropping out of school, whereas the opposite was true for learners in resource-constrained schools. Family challenges were often cited as a major reason for dropping out of school. The differences between the two groups of learners were significant.
... A study of education provision in Shenzhen (China) shows that both on-the-job training provided by firm and adult education financed by employees offer substantial means to develop vocational technical skills (Xiao & Tsang, 1994). They provided education and training to about 2.07 million of head counts versus the workforce of 2.5 million during the period of 1980-1996(Xiao, 1998. Given that education and training programs for working adults have experienced significant expansion, it is important that they can be included in estimations of returns to education and training. ...
In last few decades priority has been given to prevention of school dropout which not only affects the future economic and social status of individual but also presents a huge problem for his family, his children and his country. In this study, we compare school drop in two countries, India and France, very different, but concerned with drop-out at various degrees.In chap. 1, we compare structure, history and functioning of education system in France and India, using significant factors like students’ enrolment, reading ability, economic status of families and resort to private tuition. We conclude with a brief reminder of the psychological development of adolescents and its impact on learning.Chapter 2 is devoted to the dropping out study. We examine the variations of its definition according to countries, its causes, external (dwelling place, cultural environment, parents’ illiteracy) and internal (basic skills deficiency, grade repetition, teacher expectation), its consequences (unemployment, illiteracy, decline of GDP, social climate disturbance) and its remedies (regular educational surveys, adult education, educational strategies).In ch. 3 we present the surveys we have carried out in collège Leï Garrus (Var) and Lakshmipur Shamidji Seva Sangha High school (Lakshmipur) with 15-16 aged students, on the basis of PISA questionnaires regarding basic skills and teacher-student relationship. We underline resemblances (failing in language and mathematics) and differences (drop out external causes, extra-school tuition). Finally, we emphasize the limits but also the need of the comparative approach, defending an intercultural perspective of education research.
... The problem of children dropout is not confined to one or two countries of the world, but is a global problem; even the developed nations of the world do suffer on this account. Hammack (1986), Mann (1986), & Canadian Manpower and Immigration (1990) in their respective studies have observed that high school dropout is one of the biggest problems, as more than one third of the high school children in US and Canada dropout, without receiving high school diplomas. Surely, the problem is more severe in developing and under-developing countries of the world. ...
Purpose: The present paper seeks to examine the enrolment and dropout percentage of children in India, supported with empirical findings up to secondary level. Although, the study is general in nature, but the emphasis has been laid on the girl child education, which is one of the greatest concerns in the Indian school education sector. Some of the aspects studied include, enrolment and dropout of children during the period of study, under both boys and girls category, their corresponding growth rate in enrolment, their corresponding decline rate in dropout and many other allied aspects.
Scope: The study is confined to secondary level education and the findings have direct bearing on the Indian school education system. Given the population size of India and the socioeconomic conditions of the country, there is a need to observe caution, while generalizing the findings for other countries.
Methodology/Approach: The present study is purely based on the analysis of secondary data retrieved from the official website of the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Govt., of India. The data lasts for the decade 2001-02 to 2010-11 and was retrieved on October 02, 2014. Since the data on the website stands up-dated up to the year 2010-11, as such the findings simply reflect a trend in the enrolment and dropout percentage in India and may show variation by the time figures are updated.
Findings: The study reveals that during the period of study, the enrolment percentage of girls has improved over two fold to that of boys. As, compared to 18.17% increase in the overall enrolment of boys, the enrolment percentage of girls increased by 40.52% during the decade. The corresponding growth surely reflects the changed mindset of male dominated Indian social setup towards the girl child. Even, the average annual dropout percentage of girls remained better to that of boys, as the girls recorded a corresponding decline in their dropout percentage by 3.53%, while as in case of boys the dropout percentage declined by 2.54% annually. Despite all these positives, the discouraging part is that compared to 57.39% boys, 60.39% girls’ dropout by or before reaching the upper primary level and against 78.40% boys, 81.72% girls’ dropout by or before reaching the secondary level.
Social Implications: Given the new and changed world order, no country can afford to remain elusive of basic formal education, what is commonly known as elementary education and so holds true of India. The study is a positive indicator of the growing awareness among Indian masses towards the promotion of girl child education, but still there is lot yet to be done to reduce the dropout percentage between upper primary and secondary level for both boys in general and girls in particular.
... Commission reports and national surveys all indicate that Latino youths, especially Latinos of Mexican and Puerto Rican ancestry, experience excessive rates of negative educational outcomes (National Center for Education Statistics, 1990; National Commission on Secondary Education of Hispanics, 1984). The Latino school dropout rate, which hovers at or above fifty percent in several major urban school districts, illustrates the overwhelming extent of their school failure (Hammack, 1986). Although Latino adolescents' edu- ...
The present study examined Latina mothers' acculturation and education levels with respect to various sociocultural, personal, and contextual factors related to mothers' level of parental involvement. The sample consisted of 158 Latina mothers who were the primary care providers of their first grade chil-dren. The results indicated that although less acculturated Latinas reported less knowledge about school activities and more barriers to involvement, they also report higher levels of perceived efficacy relevant to parent involvement, higher educational expectations, and greater spousal support. The findings highlight the importance of examining the within-groups differences related to Latino populations and questions prevalent assumptions regarding the role of acculturation with regard to parental involvement.
... There are several other limitations of this study which follow. First, due to the various definitions of variables and statistical computations used by districts, the results may not be generalizable beyond this school district and may in fact be unique to this school district (Hammack, 1986;Ekstrom, Goertz, Pollack, & Rock, 1986). Second, the variables examined are those which the school district uses for identification and academic performance purposes. ...
This dissertation explored the factors associated with dropping out of middle school and high school among Hispanic/Latino male students. Predictor variables investigated were: age, home language, retention history, SES, program of studies, suspensions, and GPA. Data were from a large urban school district in the state of Florida. A sample of 865 Hispanic/Latino male Latino students in the 8th grade in 1995-96 was followed longitudinally every year to the year 2000-01. Survival analysis and logistic regression were used to examine the data. The research questions were: 1) What is the relation between age, home language, retention history, SES, program of studies, suspensions, and GPA and dropping out of middle and secondary school by Hispanic/Latino males? 2) At what grade levels do the predictor variables begin to affect the male Hispanic/ Latino students' propensity for early school leaving? When are they at greatest risk? Of the predictor variables included in this research, age, retention history, program of studies, suspension, and GPA, were found to be statistically significant in the students' decision to drop out of school. This research also found that approximately 31% of this Hispanic/Latino male sample dropped out prior to completing their high school education during the 5-year span. Investigating the most hazardous time for dropping out of school, results suggested that for these students it is well into their secondary education, very close to when they would actually graduate, during their junior to senior years. It may be the time close to their eighteenth birthday that lets them legally choose to leave school that triggers this hazardous time period.
... Federally derived descriptors of school location provided the basis for categorizing school location as Large City, Medium City, Urban Fringe, or Rural. The research literature links both of these measures with school dropout rates, and they are included primarily as controls for the teacher education and employment variables (Cibulka, 1986; Coley, 1995; Ekstrom, Geortz, Pollack, & Rock, 1986; Fetler, 1997b; Guthrie & Kirst, 1988; Hamilton, 1986; Hammack, 1986; McDill, Natriello, & Pallas, 1985; Pittman & Houghwout, 1987; Rumberger, 1987; Schwartz, 1995; Toles, Schulz, & Rice, 1986; Venezky, Kaestle, & Sum, 1987). The school level measures of teacher characteristics included annual growth in the number of employed teachers, the percent of new first-time teachers, the percent of teachers with only a Bachelor's degree, the average number of years of education, and the average number of years of experience of the teaching staff. ...
... Les définitions utilisées pour compiler les statistiques reliées au décrochage sont aussi nombreuses que les modes de calcul employés. Cette situation a pour principal désavantage de limiter la comparaison du taux de décrocheurs entre les différents pays, les différentes provinces ou même différentes commissions scolaires (Hammack, 1986;Roy, 1992). Par exemple, Demers (1992) avance que le taux d'abandon scolaire du Québec serait le plus élevé en Occident avec ses 35,7 %, alors qu'il n'est que de 2 % au Japon, de 15 % en Suède, de 30 % aux États-Unis et de 28 % au Canada anglais. ...
Cette recension des écrits cherche à intégrer les connaissances issues de diverses disciplines des sciences humaines en regard de l'abandon scolaire. L'intégration de ces différentes connaissances est guidée par une perspective écologique et interactionniste qui souligne l'importance de considérer simultanément les niveaux individuels, organisationnels et socioculturels pour bien cerner toute la complexité de la problématique. A cette intégration se greffe une réflexion concernant les liens entre l'inadaptation scolaire, l'inadaptation psychosociale et l'abandon des études. Réunis dans une structure gigogne, nous tentons de démontrer l'interdépendance de ces différents niveaux d'analyse et de leurs liens avec l'inadaptation scolaire, l'inadaptation psychosociale et le décrochage scolaire. (French)
... Young people who drop out of high school have a much greater probability of experiencing unemployment (Feldstein & Ellwood, 1982) and much lower earnings over the life course than those who graduate (Morgan, 1984). Dropping out of school is a major problem, especially in large metropolitan school systems (Hammack, 1986;Mensch & Kandel, 1988). Research into dropping out can be categorized into one of three areas: dropout, pullout, or pushout (Nielsen, 1986). ...
This paper reviews the research pertaining to school termination or “dropping out” of school in Greece. This work provides information on the state of educational policies in Greece dealing with issues of social inequalities and focusing on the increasing phenomenon of school drop out in the country. Educational inequality, as this is expressed in terms of school dropout, seems to persist in Greek education. It seems to be related to the specific characteristics of various regions. We could safely argue therefore, that there is a regional dimension in educational inequality in Greece. For the classification of the 54 regional units in Greece, based on the phenomenon of school drop out, we used the hierarchical cluster analysis with the criterion of Ward for the creation of the clusters that been characterized by the smallest loss of information and the squared Euclidean distance as distance measure between the observations.
... 3. What institutional experiences increase the likelihood that identification will take place among students at risk for withdrawal! Rates of dropping out, like other problem behaviors, vary dramatically from school to school (Hammack, 1986). It is likely, however, that efforts to reduce these outcomes will have to operate in the face of constraints that cannot be easily altered or removed. ...
Research on dropping out of school has focused on characteristics of the individual or institution that correlate with the dropout decision. Many of these characteristics are nonmanipulable, and all are measured at one point in time, late in the youngster’s school career. This paper describes two models for understanding dropping out as a developmental process that may begin in the earliest grades. The frustration-self-esteem model has been used for years in the study of juvenile delinquency; it identifies school failure as the starting point in a cycle that may culminate in the student’s rejecting, or being rejected by, the school. The participation-identification model focuses on students’ “involvement in schooling,” with both behavioral and emotional components. According to this formulation, the likelihood that a youngster will successfully complete 12 years of schooling is maximized if he or she maintains multiple, expanding forms of participation in school-relevant activities. The failure of a youngster to participate in school and class activities, or to develop a sense of identification with school, may have significant deleterious consequences. The ability to manipulate modes of participation poses promising avenues for further research as well as for intervention efforts.
... Results generally support the communal orientation of this review. "130 Only recently, for example, has research focused on possible school effects on students' decisions to drop out (see Bryk & Thum, 1989; J. S. Coleman & Hoffer, 1987;Hammack, 1986;Wehlage & Rutter, 1986). While other work has explored interrelationships among different types of disorder (see Windle, 1989), little work has explored the contribution of schools to adolescent alienation, with the exception of the Lee and Smith (1992) study mentioned above. ...
... Some of this interest has focused on the association between time spent in formal after-school programs and children's academic performance (Hock, Pulvers, Deshler, & Schumaker, 2001;Keim, McWhirter, & Bernstein, 1996;Lepper, Drake, & O'Donnell-Johnson, 1997;McArthur, Lewis, & Bishay, 1996;Morris, Shaw, & Perney, 1990;Posner & Vandell, 1994). Continuing trends of academic failure in some populations of minority, urban, and rural children (Children's Defense Fund, 2000;Hammack, 1986;Lewit, 1992) have of Latino youth ages 5-17 spoke another language at home. Furthermore, 23% had difficulty speaking English, making instruction in English-speaking classrooms difficult. ...
The current study examines how certain ecological factors influence migrant Latino children's (N = 94) academic outcomes following their participation in an after-school program with intensive academic instruction. Hierarchical linear regression analyses indicated that children who made the greatest academic gains were acculturated in English, were from poorly functioning families, and had families with fewer parent–teacher contacts and less engagement with children's school activities. Moderating effects were found to differ by age group. Implications of the current study are that community services may wish to focus increased attention on reducing the level of academic risk in migrant Latino populations, that after-school programs may serve a protective function for children from relatively low-functioning families and families with less school involvement, and that timing of after-school services may be important to some aspects of children's development.
... High school dropout represents an important problem that affects thousands of students each year. Roughly one third of all students will drop out of high school without having received their high school diplomas, both in Canada (Canada Manpower and Immigration, 1990) and in the United States (Hammack, 1986;Mann, 1986). Dropping out of school is not only an educational problem but a significant social problem as well. ...
The purpose of this study was to propose and test a motivational model of high school dropout. The model posits that teachers, parents, and the school administration's behaviors towards students influence students' perceptions of competence and autonomy. The less autonomy supportive the social agents' behaviors are, the less positive the students' perceptions of competence and autonomy. In turn, the less positive students' perceptions are, the lower their level of self-determined school motivation are. Finally, low levels of self-determined motivation lead students to develop intentions to drop out of high school, which are later implemented, leading to actual dropout behavior. This model was tested with high school students (N = 4,537) by means of a prospective design. Results from analyses of variance and a structural equation modeling analysis (with LISREL) were found to support the model for all participants and for each gender separately.
The present study aims to find out thevideo based active learning in learning of mathematics among the tribal students based upon their gender, locality any types of school.Objectives of the study: To find out thevideo based active learning in learning of mathematics among the tribal students Methodology:The investigator used Normative Survey method.Population: Tribal students are the population. A sample is a small proportion of a population selected for observation and analysis. Sample:The sample consists of 150 tribal students. The investigator has used simple random sampling technique for selecting the sample from the population. The random has been done on the basis of Gender, locality of school. Findings: There is no significant difference in the video based active learning in learning of mathematics among the tribal boys and Girls. Findings explain that male tribal students are having significantly higher video based active learning in learning of mathematics than female tribal students. Video based active learning in learning of mathematics of rural and urban tribal students are not differing significantly and government school tribal students are having significantly higher video based active learning in learning of mathematics than private school tribal students.
Research on dropping out of school has focused on characteristics of the individual or institution that correlate with the dropout decision. Many of these characteristics are nonmanipulable, and all are measured at one point in time, late in the youngster’s school career. This paper describes two models for understanding dropping out as a developmental process that may begin in the earliest grades. The frustration-self-esteem model has been used for years in the study of juvenile delinquency; it identifies school failure as the starting point in a cycle that may culminate in the student’s rejecting, or being rejected by, the school. The participation-identification model focuses on students’ “involvement in schooling,” with both behavioral and emotional components. According to this formulation, the likelihood that a youngster will successfully complete 12 years of schooling is maximized if he or she maintains multiple, expanding forms of participation in school-relevant activities. The failure of a youngster to participate in school and class activities, or to develop a sense of identification with school, may have significant deleterious consequences. The ability to manipulate modes of participation poses promising avenues for further research as well as for intervention efforts.
The CEC Research Award recognizes researchers for the significant contributions they have made to special education. We believe that the members of this distinguished group have much to share with our readers. We have invited each of them to contribute an article, addressing their perspectives on special education research and practices. Naomi Zigmond was awarded the Research Award in 1997. This article by Naomi Zigmond presents her perspective of research as detective work, starting from the investigation of dyslexia, and progressing over time to such topics as the design of secondary education for students with learning disabilities, dropouts, classroom and instructional variables, and educating students with chronic medical problems in inclusive schools.
This book offers an innovative look at the pre- and post-migration educational experiences of immigrant young adults with a particular focus on members of the Latino community. Combining quantitative data with original interviews, this book provides an engaging and nuanced look at a population that is both ubiquitous and overlooked, challenging existing assumptions about those categorized as ‘dropouts’ and closely examining the historical contexts for educational interruption in the chosen subgroup. The combination of accessible prose and compelling new statistical data appeals to a wide audience, particularly academic professionals, education practitioners and policy-makers.
The abstract for this document is available on CSA Illumina.To view the Abstract, click the Abstract button above the document title.
One major question confronting educational researchers and practitioners is why some minority students are successful in school and others are not. This study documented the extent of differences in educational achievement among a cohort of Mexican American language-minority students in a large, urban middle school and assessed them using two theoretical perspectives-socioeconomic and sociocultural-and a conceptual framework of the roles of social and academic behavior on educational achievement. Bilingual students who were fluent English proficient (FEP) had better grades and a higher rate of educational stability and were more likely to complete a quarter of their high school credits by the end of ninth grade than were students who were limited English proficient or from English-only backgrounds. These differences appear to be attributable to the social behavior of FEP students and other, unmeasured characteristics, which supports a sociocultural perspective of educational achievement.
This paper reviews the growing literature on early school leaving. We clarify what is at stake with early school leaving, and touch upon underlying problems and methodological issues raised in the literature. The paper investigates the levels, the methods and models with which the topic has been studied, and discusses potential (dis)advantages of each of those. We focus on early school leaving in all its complexity, and on the interplay of relevant (levels of) factors, rather than on just certain factors, typically located in individual students, schools or families. The findings in the literature are discussed and placed into perspective. Finally, a wide set of policy measures are discussed.
Recent reports have demonstrated that the United States has a dropout crisis of alarming proportions. In some large-city school systems, more than 50% of students leave high school without a diploma. A large proportion of these dropouts have not accumulated enough credits to be promoted beyond ninth grade. Using survey and student record data for a cohort of Philadelphia public school students, the authors find that ninth-grade academic outcomes are not simply proxies for student characteristics measured during the pre—high school years and that ninth-grade outcomes add substantially to the ability to predict dropout. An implication is that efforts to decrease the dropout rate would do well to focus on the critical high school transition year.
This article reports the results of peer-mediated instruction and Interventions on the academic performances of urban at-risk students in an after-school program. The students in this project were African-American males who attended an urban elementary school. The after-school program was a partnership between a large predominately African-American church, a public school, and The Ohio State University's (OSU's) College of Education. Students from the OSU's elementary education and special education programs worked along with the men of Mt. Olivet Church to provide educational opportunities for urban at-risk students. The improvement in academic performance of urban at-risk students in this study is consistent with the findings of other researchers (Poser & Vandell, 1994).
This study examined the demographic characteristics, information at referral to special education, and school history while in special education of special education dropouts and graduates. The groups differed on demographic measures of handicapping condition and ethnic group membership. In addition, their school histories differed markedly in terms of attendance disruptions. Implications of these findings are discussed.
Many states now require students to demonstrate basic skills as a requisite for high school graduation, and this often means students must achieve passing scores on a minimum competency test (MCT). Educational researchers have speculated that increased academic standards for graduation, as manifested in MCTs, will have adverse effects on students, particularly at-risk, disadvantaged students. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between MCT performance and high school dropout behavior. The results indicated that failure on an MCT provided a statistically significant increase in the likelihood of leaving school, but only for students who were doing well academically. Students with poorer academic records did not appear to be affected by MCT failure; similarly, minority students did not demonstrate an increased likelihood of leaving school as a result of failing an MCT.
In a New York state prison, 79% of convicted malefelons are high school dropouts.
The high school completion rate for the U.S. has increased only slightly over the last quarter of a century. A promising area of focus for dropout prevention efforts may be found in research that assesses how messages about educational attainment may affect school completion rates. The supportive communication framework is used to address how communication in the home and in school may affect student educational attainment. An extensive search of the student dropout literature was followed by standard meta-analytic procedures. The average weighted effect for communication in the home on high school completion was r=.21, and the effect for communication in school on high school completion was r=.14. The age of subjects and region of the country in which subjects lived were addressed as possible moderators of the relationship between communication in the home and school and educational attainment. No evidence that these variables moderated the relationship was found.
The aim of the study was to investigate characteristics differentiating high-school students who had dropped out of school from those who remained.
The study examined the relationship between drop-out and the following three clusters: (1) the effect of family background factors; (2) the effect of social factors in the educational milieu; and (3) the effect of motivation, achievement and ability.
It was concluded that neither the effect of family background nor exposure to factors in the educational milieu were significant in the decision to finish school. One of the main conclusions of the investigation was that drop-out was associated with lack of motivation and achievement of the students.
Current calls for educational reform pose a dichotomy between the promotion of higher academic achievement and the need for equitable treatment of all students. The article begins with a definition of the problem, followed by a discussion of equity issues in education in general, then equity issues in assessment, focusing on the needs of new immigrant students with limited English proficiency, and concludes with a suggested framework to address the issues. The proposed framework, N.I.S.-L.E.P., entails asking a series of key questions about assessment of new immigrant students with limited English proficiency.
Although school dropout remains an Important policy issue and has generated considerable research, little of this research has examined dropout as a measure of school performance. Even less attention has been paid to student turnover, another, related measure of hovv well schools are keeping students enrolled. study examined the distributions of both dropout and turnover rates among a large sample of U.S. high schools and tested a series of models to explain these differences, using data from the NELS High School Effectiveness Study and nonlinear multilevel modeling. The results revealed substantial variability in school dropout and turnover rates among the high schools. Moreover, consistent with other work in this area, much of the variation in school dropout and turnover rates could be attributed to differences in the background characteristics of the students. Yet student composition, school resources, and school processes - factors that policy makers and educators control - also influenced dropout and turnover rates.
The relationship between dropping out of high school and substance use was explored using the National Longitudinal Survey of Young Adults, a national longitudinal sample of young Americans aged 19-27 in 1984. Cross-sectional data indicated that high school dropouts were more involved with cigarettes and illicit drugs than were graduates and that those who obtained a graduate equivalency diploma were the most intensely involved. Event-history analysis indicates that, controlling for other important risk factors, prior use of cigarettes, marijuana, and other illicit drugs increases the propensity to drop out and that the earlier the initiation into drugs, the greater the probability of premature school leaving. Thus, preventing or at least delaying the initiation of drug use will reduce the incidence of dropping out from our nation's high schools.
Moves from one school to another are a common, yet generally neglected, challenge to children's orderly school adjustment over the beginning-school transition. School transfers were traced through the first 5 years of elementary school for a large, diverse sample of children who began first grade in the fall of 1982 in 20 Baltimore City public schools. School moves were patterned along racial-ethnic and socioeconomic lines. Advantaged youngsters more often transferred outside the city school system, whereas disadvantaged youngsters more often transferred within it. Evidence on the consequences of moves for children's school performance is mixed. After 5 years in school, children who moved had lower test scores and marks, had an elevated risk of retention, and were more likely to receive special education services; but most of those differences fell short of significance when controls were introduced for first-grade measures of school performance and for background characteristics. The analysis thus provides only weak support for the hypothesis that school moves compromise children's school performance, but other important areas of concern have yet to be examined adequately, including, especially, the home or family circumstances that prompt students to move.
With the goal of achieving a better understanding of the nature of the dropout problem for students in special education, this review focuses first on the literature related to the dropout phenomenon in general education. The issues addressed are (a) consequences of dropping out, (b) definitions of dropouts and calculations of dropout rates, (c) characteristics of general education dropouts and their schools, and (d) intervention programs directed toward general education dropouts. The review further examines the literature on students in special education who drop out of school, including (a) overall dropout rates and rates by handicapping conditions, (b) characteristics of dropouts who have received special education services, and (c) outcomes for school dropouts. The paper concludes by discussing implications for research and service programs that can address the dropout problem in special education.
The problem of high school dropouts has generated increased interest among researchers, policymakers, and educators in recent years. This paper examines the many issues involved in trying to understand and solve this complex social and educational problem. The issues are grouped into four areas covering the incidence, causes, consequences, and solutions to the problem. Within each area, the discussion identifies the important issues involved, the current state of research on the issues, and considerations for future research.
Colorado's Second Chance Pilot Program allows dropouts to return to designated Second Chance centers to complete requirements for a high school diploma or equivalent certificate. The high degree of satisfaction of students at Second Chance centers, and the waiting lists for enrollment demonstrate the potential for recovering dropouts. (SLD)
Because of the relevance of high school education to later career development, counselors and other career development professionals are urged to take an activist role in school improvement. Following a review of the literature and other observations, five goals of a policy and research agenda are discussed: (1) to develop a commonly accepted definition of a dropout; (2) to improve methods of pupil accounting; (3) to separate the causes and identifiers of at-risk behavior; (4) to analyze the relevance of the questions asked about at-risk youth; and (5) to engage in institutional self-examination. Implications for counselors and counselor educators are presented.
Growing public school enrollment and the need to maintain or improve service to students has increased the demand for teachers, perhaps more rapidly than existing sources can accommodate. While some schools recruit well qualified teachers by offering higher salaries or better working conditions, others may satisfy their need for staff by relaxing hiring standards or assigning novice teachers to difficult classrooms. Schools' hiring policies have consequences for student success. Dropout rates tend to be higher where faculties include a greater percentage of minimally educated teachers or teachers with little experience. The relationship between dropout rate and teacher qualifications is independent of student poverty, school size, and location. A proposed strategy to reduce dropout rates is to encourage higher preparation and employment standards, and to provide appropriate classroom assignments, mentoring, and support for new teachers.
Examined the extent and nature of the high school dropout problem among 81 students who did not graduate vs 22 who did (mean age 11.1 yrs and 12.5 yrs, respectively), all of whom had behavioral disorders. Data were collected over 3-mo periods during the summers of 1987 and 1988. Result show that the study sample had a much higher proportion of students who had been dropped out of school than those who had been graduated. The respective subsets of students who had dropped out of school and those who had graduated were compared across measures of demographic characteristics, referral information, and school history. Those who had dropped out of school were found to have experienced significantly more changes in educational service placements, school transfers, and previous releases than had their peers who had graduated. However, both groups were found to be similar across indices of demographic and referral information. Implications for research and practice are also noted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
School failure is expensive—to American society, to families, and to individual children. According to some estimates, the national rate of school dropout hovers between 25 and 30% (United States Department of Education, 1985). Its distribution across geography, race, and ethnic groups ranges from essentially zero in some predominantly Caucasian suburban school districts to over 60% for African-American inner-city children (Hamack, 1986; Levin, 1986). Over 700,000 young people drop out of school each year (Dryfoos, 1990). Adolescents who leave before completing a high school degree are more likely to face unemployment and to earn significantly lower incomes (Rumberger, 1987). In addition, they are more likely to participate in a host of socially undesirable activities, including drug and alcohol use, gang activity, teenage pregnancy, and delinquent acts (Fad & Ryser, 1993).
The transition from school to work is difficult for many American inner city youth. In 1982, Boston's leaders signed an agreement known as the Boston Compact to tackle the student dropout and employment problems. This paper reviews the process of the Compact from 1982 to 1986, traces the steps being taken to create a communitywide plan that responds to Boston's school dropout problem, and summarizes Boston's Draft Dropout Prevention and Reentry Plan.
Our nation's secondary school dropout rate of 17–25% is at a historic low. Nevertheless, considerable concern exists about the enormous losses to individuals, families, and society associated with not completing high school. School, race, gender, and economic and family qualities associated with dropouts are reviewed briefly. General prevention principals are proposed together with more specific strategies involving youth, schools, family, and community. The goals are two pronged: (a) to provide systems that enable adequate achievement and achievement motivation, passing grades, feelings of affiliation with school and peers, and a stable support systems from peers, family, and the community; and (b) to be free of impediments that diminish suitable educational outcomes, including unsuitable school qualities, premature entrance into adulthood, and qualities that adversely affect students' physical and mental health.
This paper examines the nature and extent of the dropout problem among Hispanics, compared to non-Hispanic whites and blacks, using data from the sophomore cohort of “High School and beyond,” a national longitudinal study of high school students initiated in 1980. We predict dropping out with measures of scholastic achievement, socioeconomic background, and demographic characteristics for separate race and gender groups. For Hispanics, we also explore the effects of language factors and nativity on dropping out. With the exception of socioeconomic status, the results show similar patterns of effects across groups. Socioeconomic status is a more important deterrent to dropping out among non-Hispanic whites than among Hispanics and non-Hispanic blacks. Simulations of droupout rates based on these analyses reveal that much of the difference in dropout rates observed between Hispanics and non-Hispanic whites is due to variations in average background characteristics.
Growing public school enrollment and the need to maintain or improve service to students has increased the demand for teachers, perhaps more rapidly than existing sources can accommodate. While some schools recruit well qualified teachers by offering higher salaries or better working conditions, others may satisfy their need for staff by relaxing hiring standards or assigning novice teachers to difficult classrooms. Schools' hiring policies have consequences for student success. Dropout rates tend to be higher where faculties include a greater percentage of minimally educated teachers or teachers with little experience. The relationship between dropout rate and teacher qualifications is independent of student poverty, school size, and location. A proposed strategy to reduce dropout rates is to encourage higher preparation and employment standards, and to provide appropriate classroom assignments, mentoring, and support for new teachers.
This study examined the utility of a linear discriminant function to distinguish between students identified as learning disabled (LD) who had either been released from high school under codes suggestive of school dropout (n = 213) or graduation (n = 92). The discriminant function was comprised of six variables--student ethnicity, reading ability, family intactness, family socioeconomic status, school transfers, and school-initiated interruptions. The analysis determined that differences between the LD dropout sample and LD graduate sample were sufficient to allow for a discrimination between the groups. On the basis of group differences the discriminant function that was constructed correctly classified 83% of the school dropouts and 46% of the school graduates, for an overall 73% accuracy rate. Those factors contributing most to the function were the number of district-initiated interruptions, school transfers, and family intactness. Based on the findings, implications for school districts and future research are noted.
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