Alternative Education For High School Dropouts

The college drop-out and failure rate in North America is unacceptably high and it’s becoming a huge problem. In fact, US News reports that “30% of college freshmen drop out after their first year of college” (Bowler 2). There are quite a few reasons students drop out of College. Whether it’s having a child or working two jobs, it’s hard for most students to balance college and life. Some of the main causes of dropping out include nontraditional situations, mental issues such as stress or anxiety, and lack of self-knowledge.

Students who dropout of high school before the age of 18 put their well-being at risk later on in life. According to BMC Public Health’s study focusing on over 3146 dropout students ranging in age from 20-29, “Poor mental health was present in 24% of the participants.” This emphasizes the fact that if teenagers drop out of high school they hurt their health because they go into a depressive state easier than their classmates who graduate. As a result of the depression, they go unemployed. This continues into a lack of anything to do and stress of unpayable bills. Finally, the data suggests that students should not be allowed to dropout without a diploma because when these students go into an unhealthy mental state, they can lose connection with their family or lead to worse situations making it even worse. Also in the radio interview, Missy Remiss, an education

In October 2000, the overall picture of high school dropouts had changed little since the late 1980s (Kaufman et al. 2001): For every 100 young adults enrolled in high school in October 1999, 5 had left school without completing a program; of 34.6 million U.S. young adults aged 16-24, 3.8 million—almost 11 percent—had not completed high school and were not enrolled. Some studies have shown that students in schools with a concentration of multiple risk factors (e.g., large schools, large classes, high poverty, inner city location) have less than one chance in two of graduating from high school; furthermore, the economic costs of dropping out have increased as time goes on (Castellano et al. 2001). Adjusting for 50

“Dropping out of school does not seem to happen overnight; it comes after a long term process of frustration and failure” (Balfanz par 2). According to the National Center for Education Statistics, The population studied students attending Baltimore schools and gathered research that indicates how low test scores and report card grades as early as the 1st grade are reliable sources of whether students would later drop out(Alexander, Entwisle and Kabbani par.6). Also having to go through grade retention as early as kindergarten is also connected to why the dropout rate has reached a dynamic level (Kaufman and Bradby par.6). Whoever decides to drops out has no type of support, encouragement, or ambition starting at such a young age.

$10,510, that’s how much less a high school dropout earns annually than an individual with a high school diploma according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. A dropout is less likely to be employed, more likely to be incarcerated and more likely to live in poverty. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, due to incarceration, less paid in taxes and other factors a high school dropout costs taxpayers $292,000 over their lifetime. The financial costs alone should be enough to find ways to increase graduation rates. Research has shown early predictors of dropout are parental education level and early low literacy in the child. Families from one generation to another have a difficult time escaping poverty and families from one generation to another have difficulty improving literacy

There are other factors associated with early school leaving. Researchers have focused on three different topics. First topic, student and family factors identified as contributing to dropouts is gender, racial, and ethnic minority status, low socioeconomic status, poor school performance, low self-esteem, delinquency, substance abuse, and pregnancy. In addition to this research has also gathered the impact of certain family characteristics, such as single-families,

High school dropout rate is a significant indicator of future success in life. For high school dropouts, it is harder to find jobs and earn as much money as their graduated peers. On the outside looking in, not being able to graduate is usually associated with school performance, socioeconomic status, parents’ education level and/or lack of motivation. Moreover, there are also underlying factors of race and gender and they both affect performance in high school immensely. In order to study dropout rates, focus should be put on the group of students at risk of dropping out.

In North Carolina a student can legally stop going to school at the age of 16. However, this is not a decision that students hastily make, rather it is a “gradual process of disengagement” (Bridgeland, DiLulio Jr. & Morison, 2006). There are many reasons as to why these students choose to dropout, including extenuating circumstances they may not be able to control. North Carolina requires a majority of their districts to have school social workers or counselors document the reasons students provide for dropping out of school. These reasons vary from school attendance having the highest percentage of 40.3, community college enrollment, conflicts with work, unstable home environment, change of location, need to care for children, and incarceration (Public Schools of North Carolina, 2015).

The path to graduation can be long, unpredictable and quite confusing. This article “California Dropout Research Project” shows how the Los Angeles School District tried to explain what are the factors that come into to place that prevent certain student from graduating high school on time. Some of the factors are race, gender, and income. The chapter that mainly focuses on income indicates in order understand dropout crisis requires understanding the academic and

Did you know that 1.2 million high school students drop out of school every year just in the United States alone (11 Facts)? The decrease of high school graduation rates is a fairly important issue, and there are plenty of reasons to propose a change. According to the U.S. Department of Education, the current standard dropout rate of high school students is 7.4%. High school dropouts encounter way more difficulties and challenges than a high school graduate would. An average high school drop out lacks the basic education that one needs in order to be successful in life. They are more likely to face problems dealing with financial insecurity, communication skills, and of course, educational matters. With a high school diploma, one is more likely to get hired for a job, earn a higher income, and educate oneself even further. Some possible causes of high school students dropping out include stress, boredom, family problems, pregnancies, and drugs. With that said, with every issue, there is always a solution. By taking the problem at hand and looking at it from a broad perspective, we can thoroughly identify the source of the high dropout rates of U.S. high school students. There are countless factors that may be the cause of this epidemic, but a few ideas including making learning more relevant, limiting the workload given to students, and providing mandatory classes on drugs and safe sex may possibly be a solution to this

Christenson, S, L., Thurlow, M. L. (2004). School Dropouts: Prevention Considerations, Interventions, and Challenges. Current Directions in Psychological Science, Vol. 13, No. 1 pp. 36-39 Published by: Sage Publications, Inc. on behalf of Association for Psychological Science. Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org.memex.lehman.cuny.edu:2048/stable/20182903

Student Dropout means discontinuing schooling for financial, practical reasons, disappointment with their social system and examination results. In general, dropping out states the situation when student departure school before the completion of their graduation degree and does not join any university. A multitude of negative personal repercussions for minors who fail to graduate from high school was identified in the research, that costs to society. Student dropout is faced by all the countries in the world. Large numbers of children complete their high school education in many developed countries, but in United States more than one million students dropout each year. Seven thousand students in USA left their school in a day. Research on school dropout extends from early 20th century pioneers until now, marking trends of causes and prevention.

Another personal related problem is jobs. Most students are working part-time in order to support themselves and their family which at times will lead to intrusion with school hours, home works, no time for studying especially to major exams and various school activities which otherwise leads to failing grade. Peer pressure is also another factor wherein these students are being led to bad influences such as drinking, drug which causes a major side effect to students (Schwartz, 1995). Schools do this in order to handle their problem. Students from broken homes are also likely to drop out of school due to the stressful situation that they have to go through and thus affect their concentration in school. Furthermore, most students who dropped out of school don't like school to begin with. These students will rebel and do anything against the school rules in order to be kicked out (Schwartz, 1995). They are likely to fail on their subjects, doesn't get along with other students, and have disciplinary problems. Oftentimes, disciplinary actions are taken before they are dropped out.

While there are many problems college students’ face while attempting to obtain a degree, the largest hindrance from completion is that of financial ability. One of the largest contributors to college dropout rates is the lack of financial support. Many college students must work either full or part time to support themselves or their families. With the declining economy and increasing costs of college tuition, funds are being scarcely distributed and many college students find that they are unable to continue their education due of this.

Will negatively affect a student's future. Bob Keeshan once said,”Children don't drop out of High School when they are 16 they do so in the first grade and wait 10 years to make it official.” Throughout the years studies have shown that in a year 1.2 million students drop out. Which leads that only 25% of High School students during their freshman year fail to graduate. Dropouts in the United States have became a very trending thing we must get to the bottom of this problem. Young adults should not be making these decisions it's time to step in.