Dropouts: Who are they, why do they drop out, what does it matter

1
DropoutsWho are they, why do they drop out,
what does it matter?

• Milbrey McLaughlin
• Stanford University
• January 29 2009
• SVEF Education Forum

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What do we know about the drop out problem ?

• Every 9 seconds, a student becomes a dropout
  drop out rates rising in the US 7000 kids a day
• Drop out factories exist in urban America
  schools where youth have 50 or less
  probability of graduating on time or at all
• Of students who do not graduate with their peers,
  50 do not earn a GED or diploma
• U.S. the big spender 12000 per student
  higher than all developed countries except
  Switzerland not just about money

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What does a drop out factory look like?

• 300 9th graders, 20 graduated, 2 met A-G
  requirements
• Many students enter with 3rd grade literacy--
  little support for them to succeed in class
• Little counseling support dont know what
  credits have,
• Under-prepared teachers substitutes putting in
  time
• Drugs/prostitution operate openly
• Decaying facilities Few books in the library
  leaks in the rain bathrooms unusable
• Dangerous neighborhoodgang violence, drugs

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The dropout problem in numbers

• Nationally only 2/3 of all students graduate
  with regular high school diploma in 4 years
• Some demographic groups at greater risk
• African American students 50 drop out
• Latino students 45 drop out
• Males- only 64 overall graduate
• System kids 80 drop out
• Students with disabilities 40 drop out
• Low income/high poverty students drop out at 6x
  rate of peers from more advantaged families SES
  trumps ethnicity as drop out factor

American Youth Policy Forum. Whatever it takes
2006
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Micro-contexts matter

• Large Midwestern district 40 drop out
• High poverty/high minority
• neighborhood 65 drop out
• African-American males 80 drop out

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System kids fare worst dropping out

• Substantiated case of abuse
• or neglect
  72
• Foster care/group home 75
• Juvenile Justice placement 90
• Parenting teen females 65
• Alternative school placement 50

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Dropouts cost to society

• Incarceration 75 of state and 59 of federal
  prison inmates are dropouts dropouts 3.5X more
  likely to be incarcerated in their lifetimes
• Welfare if 33 dropouts graduated, the federal
  govt would save 10.8 billion annually in public
  assistance
• Lost taxes dropouts contribute 50B less
  annually in state/federal taxes
• Lost wages if dropouts from class of 2007 had
  graduated, US economy would have benefited from
  329B over their lifetimes

American Youth Policy Forum 2006
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Dropping out

• Or moving on. Issues of school connectedness

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Dimensions of School Connectedness
Behavioral
High
Low
Attitudinal
High
Low
10
Student Perspectives Life issues and dropping
out

• Need to earn money
• Family responsibilities
• Shifting foster home placements
• Incarceration
• Family mobility
• Drugs the life style
• Abuse and neglect
• Institutional contexts schools, neighborhoods

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What Dropouts Believe Would Improve Students
Chances

• Opportunities for real-world learning 81
• Teachers who keep class interesting 81
• Smaller classes more individualized
• instruction
  75
• Get parents more involved better
• communication
  71
• Parents make sure kids go to school
  
  71
• Increase supervision at school
• -make sure Ss attend class
  70

Silent Epidemic, p. 13
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We also know that.

• Demonstrably effective alternatives to high
  school as usual exist but not the norm
• Community schools
• Small high schools some anyway
• Alternative education some anyway
• Effective alternatives share common features
• Student-centric v. school-centric
• Data early warning intentional pathway
• Links to various community, non-profit, public
  and private agencieshigher ed, local businesses,
  mental health, child welfare

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Summing up

• Dropping out is a long-term process of
  disengagement starts in the primary grades for
  many kids
• Schools are big part of the problem
• But not the only problem institutional train
  wreck cant mount an effective response to drop
  out problem w/o involving all youth-serving
  institutionsnot just moneyabout links
• We do know effective school/district responses to
  hang on to potential dropouts but not widely
  implemented
• In too few locations are alternative options
  really alternative