High School Dropout Rates Research Articles

The Hidden Dropout Phenomenon among Immigrant High-School Students

The high school dropout rate among immigrant students has become a serious problem in many places around the world. Hidden dropout or irregular school attendance may be the first stage of school dropout. This article examines the hidden dropout phenomenon among Ethiopian immigrant adolescents aged 14—18 in Israel, as a prototype of immigration from a traditional, rural society to a western one. Sixty irregular school attendees were compared with 28 regular attendees, regarding the following characteristics: family and socio-economic background, psychological distress symptoms (BSI), self-efficacy (SEF), perceived social support (MSPSS) and cognitive skills (ROcF). Results indicated that both groups came from similar low socio-economic backgrounds and showed similarly poor cognitive performance levels. However, among the hidden dropout group, the perceived social support was significantly higher and feelings of stress were significantly lower. Several explanations are provided for these unexpected results, and research and practice implications are discussed.

Reproductive Health Concerns in Six Conflict-Affected Areas of Sri Lanka

This article draws on a study conducted by the Women and Media Collective between 2004 and 2005 to highlight some of the reproductive health concerns of women from Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim ethnic groups, living in situations of conflict in Sri Lanka. The study focussed on women from six conflict-affected areas in the north and east of the country: Jaffna (Northern Province), Mannar and Puttalam (North-Western Province), Polonnaruwa (North-Central Province), Batticaloa and Ampara (Eastern Province). Higher levels of poverty, higher rates of school drop-out, low pay and precarious access to work, mainly in the informal sector, higher rates of early marriage, pregnancy and home births, higher levels of maternal mortality and lower levels of contraceptive use were found. Economic, social and physical insecurity were key to these phenomena. Physically and psychologically, women were at high risk of sexual and physical violence, mainly from their partners/spouses but also from family members, often related to dowry. The article brings out the voices of women whose lives have been overshadowed by conflict and displacement, and the nature of structural barriers that impede their right to health care services, to make informed decisions about their lives and to live free of familial violence.RésuméDe 2004 à 2005, Women and Media Collective a réalisé une étude pour mettre en lumière certaines préoccupations de santé génésique des femmes issues de groupes ethniques musulmans, tamouls et singhalais qui vivent dans une situation de conflit à Sri Lanka. L’étude portait sur les femmes dans six zones touchées par le conflit au nord et à l’est du pays : Jaffna (province du Nord), Mannar et Puttalam (province du Nord-Ouest), Polonnaruwa (province du Centre-Nord), Batticaloa et Ampara (province de l’Est). Elle a constaté des niveaux plus élevés de pauvreté, des taux supérieurs d’abandon scolaire, de faible rémunération et d’accès précaire à l’emploi, principalement dans le secteur informel, des taux plus importants de mariage précoce, de grossesse et de naissance à domicile, des taux supérieurs de mortalité maternelle et des niveaux moindres d’utilisation des contraceptifs. L’insécurité économique, sociale et physique était au centre de ces phénomènes. Physiquement et psychologiquement, les femmes couraient des risques importants de violence physique et sexuelle, surtout de leur partenaire/conjoint, mais aussi de membres de leur famille, souvent en rapport avec la dot. L’article fait entendre la voix des femmes dont la vie a été assombrie par le conflit et le déplacement, et montre la nature des obstacles structurels qui contrarient leur droit de bénéficier de services de santé, de prendre des décisions éclairées sur leur vie et d’être protégées de la violence familiale.ResumenEste artículo se basa en un estudio realizado por el Women and Media Collective entre 2004 y 2005 para destacar algunas de las inquietudes respecto a la salud reproductiva entre mujeres provenientes de los grupos étnicos sinalés, tamil y musulmán, que viven en situaciones de conflicto en Sri Lanka. El estudio se centró en mujeres de seis zonas afectadas por conflicto, en el norte y este del país: Jaffna (Provincia Septentrional), Mannar y Puttalam (Provincia Septentrional-Occidental), Polonnaruwa (Provincia Septentrional-Central), Batticaloa y Ampara (Provincia Oriental). Se encontraron niveles más altos de pobreza, tasas más altas de abandono de estudios, baja paga y acceso precario a empleo, principalmente en el sector extraoficial, tasas más altas de matrimonio, embarazo y partos domiciliares a temprana edad, niveles más altos de mortalidad materna y niveles más bajos de uso de anticonceptivos. Estos fenómenos son producto de la inseguridad económica, social y física. Física y psicológicamente, las mujeres corrían un alto riesgo de violencia sexual y física, principalmente de sus parejas/cónyuges pero también de familiares, a menudo relacionada con la dote. El artículo transmite las voces de mujeres cuya vida ha sido eclipsada por conflicto y desplazamiento, así como la naturaleza de las barreras estructurales que impiden su derecho a servicios de salud, a tomar decisiones informadas sobre su vida y a una vida libre de violencia intrafamiliar.

Community Social Interactive Processes and Rural Adolescents’ Educational Outcomes: What We Know and What We Need to Know

The low educational outcomes of rural adolescents have long been a subject of research among educational and social researchers. In particular, extant studies have explained the high rates of high school dropout and low rates of college completion among rural adolescents mainly in terms of the structural and economic disadvantages associated with rural life. However, more recent research have employed social capital theory to show that rural adolescents‟ educational outcomes are shaped not only by the structural elements of their communities, but, also importantly by the dynamics of the social interactive processes taking place within this social environment. The present article provides a synthesis and review of literature on the relationship between community social interactive processes and rural adolescents‟ educational outcomes. The article is divided into four sections; the first section is an introduction to the study. The second section is a review of literature on what is known about the relationship between community social capital and educational outcomes in general. The third section is a discussion on the dynamics of the relationship between community social capital and adolescents‟ educational outcomes within the context of rural communities, while the fourth section discusses some identified research gaps and the need for further studies on the influence of community social interactive forces on rural adolescents‟ educational outcomes. Community Social Interactive Processes and Rural Adolescents‟ Educational Outcomes Issue 2: March 28, 2008

The Impact of the Academic Achievement Gap on the African American Family

The academic achievement gap impacts the African American family in various ways. It can influence how African American children experience school; and it has implications for their high school dropout and graduation rates, college attendance, and college completion rates. For parents, the academic achievement gap may influence their own socioeconomic status via their educational attainment, which then has direct implications for their children. The purpose of this article is to present a comprehensive review of the academic achievement gap for the African American family from school entry through college graduation. We do so by examining current trends and theoretical perspectives, under the rubric of social inequality. The article concludes with implications for practice with African American families.

School Characteristics Related to High School Dropout Rates

A B S T R A C T Dropping out of high school culminates a long-term process of disengagement from school and has profound social and economic consequences for students, their families, and their communities. Students who drop out of high school are more likely to be unemployed, to earn less than those who graduate, to be on public assistance, and to end up in prison. The present study examined dropout rates in Kentucky high schools ( N = 196), using both quantitative and qualitative procedures. Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients were computed to identify those school-level variables that showed strong relationships to dropout rates. A sample of 20 schools with the highest dropout rates was compared to a sample of 20 schools with the lowest dropout rates using a multivariate analysis of variance. Furthermore, 4 schools from each group were selected as case examples. Information gathered from administrator surveys, staff interviews, and on-site observations provided detailed descriptions of the characteristics of schools with high and low dropout rates. The findings of this study demonstrated that a number of school variables are differentially related to dropout rate. Implications of these findings for school reform are discussed.

Distressed neighborhoods and child disability rates: analyses of 157 000 school‐age children

The aim of this study was to assess rates of childhood disability as indicated by functional limitation of motor, sensory, or self-care skills in children living in severely-distressed neighborhoods. For a neighborhood in the US Census Track to be considered severely distressed, three of the following four characteristics need to be present: >27% of children live in poverty, >23% high school drop-out rate, >34% male unemployment rate, and >37% of households headed by females alone. In the 2000 US Census, 157 000 children between ages 5 and 15 years resided in the State of Rhode Island. Severely-distressed neighborhoods were found in 12.6% of Rhode Island Census Tracks. These areas accounted for 14.5% of the school-age population, 25% of children with motor disabilities, 29% of children with self-care disabilities, and 14% of children with sensory disabilities. For each increasing level of neighborhood distress, rates of child disability increased. Child disability rates in moderately distressed neighborhoods were 3.7%, compared with 1.1% in advantaged neighborhoods. Children in distressed neighborhoods had disproportionately high rates of disability, especially in motor and self-care functioning. Comprehensive interventions aimed at children in distressed neighborhoods are crucial to reduce health disparities for vulnerable children.

Through city students' eyes: urban students' beliefs about school's purposes, supports and impediments

Studying the ‘visible curriculum’ of city schools in the United States cannot begin with the assumption that students and teachers are, in fact, present in or graduating from these institutions. In the city setting in which this article's photographic investigation took place high school dropout rates have remained at or above 50% for better than three decades. Rather than concentrating narrowly on the curriculum of what can be seen in school, the research on which this article reports began with a photographic inquiry into urban youths' foundational perceptions of school itself, as well as the impediments and supports to school success of which these students are aware. This inquiry reveals some of the reasons behind the multi‐generational community disengagement that have led to the strained relationship to schools represented by these graduation rate statistics. Grounded in critical pedagogy, ‘new literacy’ and visual sociology traditions, this study looked to visually based mechanisms for research tools with which city students are already proficient. The findings presented here suggest that not only can these tools provide previously inaccessible data on school detachment, they can also supply insights into what school means to these youth and what might support their re‐engagement with these institutions.

If they’ll listen to us about life, we’ll listen to them about school: seeing city students’ ideas about ‘quality’ teachers

High school dropout rates in many major urban settings in the United States have remained above 50% for more than three decades. This dropout crisis should now be considered evidence of an endemic lack of appreciation for formal education in city locales. United States federal policy initiatives have concentrated the nation on notions of teacher ‘quality’, but have failed to consider diverse urban youths’ perspectives in these definitions. Grounded in critical pedagogy and action research frameworks, the project on which this paper reports worked with a group of city students, utilising visual sociology methods to explore these youths’ perceptions of what they considered effective or ‘quality’ teachers. Students’ photographs and reflections provided details about some of the causes of the strained relationships with school represented by these graduation rate statistics; what teacher roles and instructional methods might be most successful in countering these trends; and examples of research techniques that move beyond limited language‐focused data through which such practices might be revealed.

"I Was the One Percenter": Manny Diaz and the Beginnings of a Black-Puerto Rican Coalition

On the morning of February 3, 1964, Manny Diaz woke up wondering how many Puerto Rican students would not go to school that day. Puerto Ricans were known for having the highest high school drop-out and suspension rate in New York City, but the reasons for students' absences that day were deliberate, premeditated, and voluntary. For more than two decades since urban renewal projects segregated them into increasingly poor and racialized neighborhoods, hundreds of thousands of Puerto Rican migrants had witnessed their children's schools deteriorate under the leadership of racially prejudiced white teachers and administrators. By 1964, however, their moral indignation ripened, and they were ready to publicly voice their anger. Diaz, who had been leading a juvenile delinquency program with Puerto Rican youth in the Lower East Side, and Gilberto GerenaValentin, who had been organizing Puerto Ricans in the city through labor and community organizations, decided to join hands with black educators who had been fighting racial segregation in the city for many decades.2 They allied with black civil rights leader Bayard Rustin, who aimed to dramatize black children's inferior education in the city by boycotting the entire public school system one day. Diaz and Gerena probably wondered about the political ramifications of making such an alliance with black Americans. Would black Americans treat Puerto Rican migrants any better than white Americans had? Were they friends to be trusted or enemies to be feared? To their surprise, and the surprise of many others, the boycott was very successful. Despite the stigma of engaging in civil disobedience, 464,361 students stayed out of New York City's public schools on that morning. More than three-fourths of the students from the heavily black-populated neighborhoods of Central Harlem and Washington Heights, as well as the Puerto Rican-dominant Lower East Side and East Harlem neighborhoods did not go to school.3

Demand for Education and Labor Market Outcomes

Abstract Before 1997, education was a way for young French men to avoid military service in the army. After the abolition of compulsory conscription in 1997, this incentive to stay on in education disappeared. We show that the decrease in the benefit of pursuing education for men was followed by a fall in their educational achievement relative to women and by a decrease in their relative entry wages. These results suggest that high school dropout rates could be reduced by policies increasing the immediate benefits of pursuing education and that it would yield a substantial improvement in early labor market outcomes.

Women's status and child well-being: A state-level analysis

We conducted an ecologic analysis of the relation between women's status and child well-being in the 50 United States. State-level women's status was assessed via four composite indices: women's political participation, economic autonomy, employment and earnings, and reproductive rights. Child well-being was measured via five outcomes: percentage of low birthweight babies, infant mortality, teen mortality, high school dropout rate, and teen birth rate. Higher state-level women's status on all indicators was associated with significantly better state-level child well-being in unadjusted analyses. Several associations remained significant after adjusting for income inequality and state racial composition. Women's political participation was associated with a significantly lower percentage of low birthweight babies ( p < . 001 ) and lower teen birth rates ( p < . 05 ). Women's employment and earnings was associated with lower infant mortality ( p < . 05 ) and teen birth rates ( p < . 05 ). More economic and social autonomy for women was associated with better child outcomes on all measures ( p < . 01 all). Greater reproductive rights were associated with significantly lower infant mortality ( p < . 01 ). We conclude that child well-being is worse in states where women have lower political, economic, and social status. Women's status is an important aspect of children's social context which may impact their well-being. Multi-level analyses of the association between state-level women's status and child well-being are needed.

A Teacher's Words are Tremendously Powerful: Stories from the GED Scholars Initiative

Research into why students drop out of school has focused primarily on demographic characteristics like race and family income. After interviewing college students who had dropped out of high school, the authors argue that, regardless of background, what happens to students in school influences whether they will stay and graduate. I just kind of got pushed through the system. I was all behind in my academics. They didn't care; they just sit you inside the class. They never failed me. I never missed school. I wasn't a troublemaker. And it was horrible. There wasn't one person in school that really took an interest--one adult that could see that there was something there. Maybe it was because I was so quiet. I don't know; I just don't feel that they were there for me. I don't think anybody was. I have always felt that teachers have a lot of power to really help or really tear down a person. As a student you really look up to your teachers, especially a kid like me that didn't have much support in life. A teacher's words are tremendously powerful. THESE comments come from college students--successful college students. But as is evident from what they say, they weren't always successful. In fact, each dropped out of high school and later earned the General Education Development (GED) certificate, the high school equivalency diploma, before entering college. We have learned about their high school experiences as a result of the GED Scholars Initiative at Kent State University. We believe their stories may provoke thought among those involved in secondary education. The American Council on Education reports that more than 945,000 U.S. adults took the GED test in 2001, an increase of nearly 32% from 2000. (1) Those who pass the tests (approximately 70%) outperform at least 40% of the high school seniors on whom the tests were normed. Moreover, the number of GED candidates who plan to pursue higher education after completing the test battery increased by almost 20 percentage points over a 13-year period (from 47.5% in 1988 to 65.5% in 2001). Yet very little is currently known about the needs of GED graduates who attend universities. This lack of information may contribute to their limited success, so providing assistance for GED graduates who are motivated to pursue a college education seems an important task. For the past decade, the Ohio Literacy Resource Center (OLRC) at Kent State University has supported adult literacy programs throughout Ohio and beyond. In June 2002, with funding from the U.S. Department of Education, the OLRC began the GED Scholars Initiative, a project whose overall goals are to support GED graduates in higher education, to develop a replicable support model, and to gain a better understanding of who GED graduates are and how to support them in college. In other words, we hope to construct portraits of typical undergraduates coming from a GED background and to develop programs and systems of support for them. To assist in achieving these goals, we conducted individual interviews and focus group discussions with 25 current university students who held GEDs. As part of these conversations, we asked the students to recount their educational experiences. Then we analyzed the data according to widely accepted procedures for qualitative research. Of course, a group of former dropouts might not give completely unbiased views of their years in high school. We are aware of that, but we present a summary of our findings here in the hope that secondary educators will be able to learn something from what these GED Scholars have to say. A WAKE-UP CALL FOR HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATORS The central theme of this article is that specific experiences, policies, and individuals in high schools have a profound impact on students' decisions to leave high school. Historically, reports on high school dropout rates cite demographic factors, including ethnicity, family income, and age, as primary contributors to noncompletion. …

High School Exit Examinations and High School Dropout in Texas and Florida, 1971–2000

In this article, the authors ask whether state high school exit examinations are associated with high school dropout rates and racial/ethnic and socioeconomic inequalities in high school dropout rates in Florida and Texas. Using data from the 1968–2000 October Current Population Surveys, they first consider the 1971–2000 graduating classes and use a measure of whether students left school without obtaining any high school credential as the outcome variable. They next consider the 1991–2000 graduating classes and use a measure that classifies students who obtained general equivalency diplomas as dropouts as the outcome variable. In neither case did the authors find evidence that state high school exit examinations are independently associated with higher dropout rates or greater inequalities in dropout rates.

The Persistence of County High School Dropout Rates in the Rural South, 1970-2000

This paper investigates Smith’s (1989) thesis that county drop out rates have been self- perpetuating in the rural South, a pattern reinforced by the presence of mining and manufacturing employers with few skill demands. The results show that the associations of mining and manufacturing with high drop out rates, notable as late as 1980, have largely disappeared. But counties with high proportions of female headed families and low young adult (age 25-44) education continue to have little improvement in high schools completion. The extent of perpetuation of low education varies by state, whether due to differences education policies or economic structures.

Characteristics of Urban and Nonurban Youth Enrolled in a Statewide System-of-Care Initiative Serving Children and Families

Central goals of system-of-care initiatives for children and families have been to decrease the use of restrictive services while increasing the use of community-based resources. However, the menu of appropriate community services must in part be based on characteristics of children and families presenting within a particular community and may differ by urban and nonurban residence. The present study aimed to compare characteristics of child and adolescent clients from urban and nonurban communities in an attempt to begin to inform the development of appropriate community programming. Using intake data from all referrals to the 23 systems of care in Connecticut from July 1, 2001, to June 30, 2002, comparisons were made between youth from urban and nonurban areas. Analyses demonstrated lower rates of bipolar disorder, hospital and foster-home placement and higher levels of caregiverreported intrapersonal strength and general child functioning among urban compared to nonurban youth. That these differences could not be attributed to correlates of urban residence, such as income, ethnicity, child poverty, high school dropout rates, and crowding, suggests the possibility that as yet unexamined variables might mitigate these risk factors.The continued examination of group differences meant to inform this important issue is warranted.

Income Inequality, Race, and Child Well-being: An Aggregate Analysis in the 50 United States

Interest in income inequality as a predictor of health has exploded since the mid-1990s. Recent analyses suggest, however, that the effect of income inequality on population health is not robust to a control for the racial composition of the population. That observation raises two interpretational questions. First, does income inequality have an independent effect on population health? Second, what does the effect of racial composition on population health mean? We use data from the Urban Institute's Assessing the New Federalism project and the Kids Count Databook to evaluate the aggregate effects of income inequality on diverse measures of child well-being (e.g., infant mortality, high school drop-out rates) in the 50 U.S. states. We replicate the finding that, net of the racial/ethnic composition of the population, the effects of income inequality are not significant. Moreover, the effects of racial composition on child well-being appear to be compositional (i.e., they reflect the less positive outcomes observed among racial/ethnic minorities) rather than contextual (i.e., representing the independent influence of social context). Whereas cross-level effects are still possible, our results cast doubt on the health relevance of these aggregate characteristics of the population.

Desegregation and Black Dropout Rates

In 1954 the United States Supreme Court ruled that separate schools for black and white children were “inherently unequal.” This paper studies whether the desegregation plans of the next 30 years benefited black and white students in desegregated school districts. Data from the 1970 and 1980 censuses suggest desegregation plans of the 1970's reduced high school dropout rates of blacks by two to three percentage points during this decade. No significant change is observed among whites. The results are robust to controls for family income, parental education, and state- and region-specific trends, as well as to tests for selective migration.

EARLY IDENTIFICATION OF MIDDLE SCHOOL AT-RISK STUDENTS WITH LEARNING AND BEHAVIORAL DISORDERS

Culturally and linguistically diverse students with learning disorders (LD) and emotional or behavioral disorders (E/BD) have higher school dropout rates than their peers with and without disabilities. The primary purpose of this study was to determine how early potential dropouts could be identified. Research questions included the following: (a) What variable( s) best predict group membership (high, moderate, or low risk)? (b) How early can group membership be predicted? (c) Are there significant differences between students with LD and those with E/BD? and (d) Are there significant differences between ethnic groups? Participants were 28 middle school students with LD and E/BD. Results indicated that teachers' comments about discipline problems in the first grade distinguished group membership.

Early Identification of Middle School At-Risk Students with Learning and Behavioral Disorders

Culturally and linguistically diverse students with learning disorders (LD) and emotional or behavioral disorders (E/BD) have higher school dropout rates than their peers with and without disabilities. The primary purpose of this study was to determine how early potential dropouts could be identified. Research questions included the following: (a) What variable( s) best predict group membership (high, moderate, or low risk)? (b) How early can group membership be predicted? (c) Are there significant differences between students with LD and those with E/BD? and (d) Are there significant differences between ethnic groups? Participants were 28 middle school students with LD and E/BD. Results indicated that teachers' comments about discipline problems in the first grade distinguished group membership.

Latino households and schooling: economic and sociocultural factors affecting students’ learning and academic performance

A recent report on the condition of education for Latinos in the US presents a grim picture. For example, the high school dropout rate for Latino students is 28%. This figure is twice as high as th...