Dropping out
Dropping out means leaving a school or group for practical reasons, necessities, or disillusionment with the system from which the individual in question leaves.
Most commonly, dropping out refers to a student quitting school before he or she graduates or avoiding entering a university. It cannot always be ascertained that a student has dropped out, as he or she may stop attending without terminating enrollment. It is estimated 1.2 million students annually drop out of high school in the United States, where high school graduation rates rank 19th in the world.[1] Reasons are varied and may include: to find employment, avoid bullying, family emergency, poor grades, depression and other mental illnesses, unexpected pregnancy, bad environment, lack of freedom, and boredom from lack of lessons relevant to their desired occupations. The Silent Epidemic: Perspectives of High School Dropouts[2] by Civic Enterprises explores reasons students leave school without graduating. The consequences of dropping out of school can have long-term economic and social repercussions. Students who drop out of school in the United States are more likely to be unemployed, homeless, receiving welfare and incarcerated.[3] A four-year study in San Francisco found that 94 percent of young murder victims were high school dropouts.[4]
Dropout recovery
A dropout recovery initiative is any community, government, non-profit or business program in which students who have previously left school are sought out for the purpose of re-enrollment. In the United States, such initiatives are often focused on former high school students who are still young enough to have their educations publicly subsidized, generally those 22 years of age and younger. [5]
Dropout recovery programs can be initiated in traditional "brick-and-mortar" institutions of learning, in community centers or online.
United States
The United States Department of Education's measurement of the status dropout rate is the percentage of 16-24 year olds who are not enrolled in school and have not earned a high school credential.[6] This rate is different from the event dropout rate and related measures of the status completion and average freshman completion rates.[7] The status high school dropout rate in 2009 was 8.1%.[6] There are many risk factors for high school dropout. These can be categorized into social and academic risk factors. Members of racial and ethnic minority groups drop out at higher rates than White students, as do those from low-income families, from single-parent households, and from families in which one or both parents also did not complete high school.[8] Students at risk for dropout based on academic risk factors are those who often have a history of absenteeism and grade retention, academic trouble, and more general disengagement from school life.[8] High school dropouts in the U.S. are more likely to be unemployed, have low-paying jobs, be incarcerated, have children at early ages and/or become single parents.[9]
See also
References
- ^ High School Dropouts - Do Something. Do Something. Retrieved on 2013-12-14.
- ^ The Silent Epidemic: Perspectives of High School Dropouts. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Retrieved on 2013-12-14.
- ^ NoDropouts.org. NoDropouts.org. Retrieved on 2013-12-14
- ^ Tough tolutions for high school truancy rate - SFGate. SFGate. Retrieved on 2013-12-14.
- ^ Rosann, Gregg. "Of whiz kids and wizards: Why it's time to change the way we think about who can go to high school", Nodropouts.org. Retrieved on 2010-09-12.
- ^ a b NCES 2011
- ^ NCES 2009
- ^ a b Lee 2003
- ^ Sum 2009
External links
- Dropout Intervention and Language Minority Youth – From the ERIC Clearinghouse on Languages and Linguistics.
- Economic Effects of Dropping out of School
- Big Cities Battle Dismal Graduation Rates
- National Drop Out Prevention Center
- Stanford University News - "You've got to find what you love," Jobs says