Education : A Fall From Grace

In the United States, over 1.2 million students drop out of high school every year. This is about one student every 26 seconds or 7,000 students a day. These alarming statistics are unfortunately a reality. Many of these kids face severe consequences throughout their life because of this one bad decision. These challenges could be avoided if students are required to graduate and receive their diploma. Students should be required to stay in school until the age of 18 to protect their well-being, ensure they won’t make a decision that they will likely regret, and give them more opportunities in their adulthood.

“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.

As high school students, most of us were taught the dream of going to college from the importance that it has. The real life examples from our friends and family teach us the importance of going to college. When students drop out of college they may lose themselves, their family and friends. The fact is things happen that we just don't expect. For example, a friend of mine was in a heavily committed relationship that didn't end well. The stress from losing the person he cared most for cause his grade to drop and forced him to withdrawal from his classes. There are many reasons for students dropping out of school, from relationships to finance issues and problems at home.

In life there are many struggles that interfere with a students education. In the 1970s, the United States had the world’s highest high school graduation rate. Today, we are ranked number twenty-one which shows a decrease in students that graduate. Lowering the dropout rate can solve several economic and social problems. Dropping out of high school has become a controversial topic that will continue for ages to come. Students should be required to stay in school until the age of eighteen because those without a high school diploma have higher unemployment and lower job satisfaction, have lower earnings, and have a higher likelihood of ending up in jail or on public assistance

The dropout problem is not only an individual problem, but it is costly to society as a whole. Warren & Halpen-Manners (2007) explained, “high school dropouts is of fundamental social, economic, and political importance and has major implications for educational policy and practice, patterns of economic and racial/ethnic inequality, and the quality of America’s workforce” (p. 335). Coupled with that, Neild et al (2008) further argued going through the portal into adult life without high school credentials carries severe economic and employment penalties. Also, Kennelly (2007) explained “When students drop out…. the toll of the quality of life and the prosperity and competitiveness of the communities where they live and collectively across

High School graduation day is an unforgettable time that is savored in memories for one’s entire life. That day marks the transition from boy to man, girl to woman, and ultimately, student to adult. Friends split paths, families say goodbye, and relationships end, but for every door that closes, a new one opens. The way I look at it, is that there are two options: join the labor force straight out of the gates or attend college to earn a higher-level of education. The latter is the more preferable way because it gives the worker a chance to earn a greater sum of money. For some, attending a well-known university is not a feasible option because of the ludicrous pricing of tuition. The majority of people do not want to start their new life with hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt, so they choose not to attend. The government should implicate public funding for college education by cutting back spending on federal penitentiaries because it would increase the amount of white-collar workers and trim the amount of debt a college student would have to pay back.

According to Arne Duncan, 25% of U.S. high school students drop out or do not graduate on time, which is one out of every four people. In the article, “The Vision of Education Reform in the United States,” Duncan also informs that, “Almost one million students leave our schools for the streets each year.” (Duncan). The U.S. used to lead the world in college attainment but is tied for ninth now. The students themselves willingly choose to give up expanding their knowledge, which negatively affects their future. Consequently, they are unable to obtain a well-paying occupation for the price of inadequately acquiring their diploma.

To understand more about school dropout I continue to search for more articles in academic search premier, and then I ran into article written by Azzam, Amy M. The author states that, a “Divers youth, ages 16-25, who had failed to complete high school.” The author discovered that approximately “About one-third of all high school students in the United Sates fail to graduate” (91). Based on this article, the dropout rates vary among the races. The dropout rate among Black and Hispanic are fifty percent. She describes that the reasons for students dropping out from high school are including, “Students were bored, missed too many days, spent time with people who weren’t interested in school, had too much freedom, and not supervision.”

High school dropouts are not only facing a miserable situation in the rest of lives but also

America’s graduation rate has increased from 72% to 75.5% since 2001, that’s only a 3.5% change in 15 years. Our nation's graduation rate has dropped from first to eighteenth in 30 years and ⅓ of all students drop out of high school. So, why is this such a big deal to people who have graduated themselves and are already in the work force? First, students who drop out of high school get paid a substantial amount less than employees who have diplomas. Second, dropouts cost paying taxpayers over $8 billion per year. Lastly, students who fail to earn their high school diploma are more likely to become criminals.

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

Initially, the significant issue I am going to address is on the matter of who should go to college. Should all people go to college? Should only best and brightest go to college? Should college be attended by some but not all? There are countless diverse viewpoints on this matter and many of these ideas will be elaborated on. This question has arisen because of the many issues on this matter that need to be fixed. One of the issues is the number of high school graduates who enter college and do not finish out. These dropouts wasted much of the government’s money or even their own money or quite possibly

“Our Nation is at risk.” This was the very first line of the 1983 report from President Ronald Reagan's National Commission on Excellence in Education. The report focused on the growing concern that the American education system was in a rapid decline. With such powerful statements like "the educational foundations of our society are presently being eroded by a rising tide of mediocrity that threatens our very future as a Nation and a people" and "If an unfriendly foreign power had attempted to impose on America the mediocre educational performance that exists today, we might well have viewed it as an act of war.”, the report sent off a firestorm of reform efforts at the local, state, and federal levels.

First off, when someone drops out of college there has to be a reason why this occurs. It doesn’t happen on a whim because it is not a small decision to make. This course of action will change your everyday mindset and the trajectory of your life. Why College Students Drop Out shows a number of revealing statistics to give us an answer as to why people drop out of college. One of these are that 54% percent of people drop out because they need to work to support themselves and or their families and cannot balance both school work. Furthermore 31 % percent of students that drop out cannot afford a college education. Why College Students Drop Out includes more telling data that informs us that college cost have risen 400% in the last

Which has made it hard for these young drop out to find a stable job without a high school diploma. Some people don't really take this much in notice but it should be on of the many problems we should be really focused on. For example, I read this article by, David Levine which explains how a young girl named Beth decided to drop out of high school due to not wanting to wake up early anymore and thinking life would be better if she would just get a job. There are many things one doesn't notice when they make rad decision going back to Beth she didn't really think that finding a job would be hard but it was really hard for her to find a well paying job with such low education she had. Students need to realize that dropping is not an easy way out it's actually the hardest way out with such a young mindset all you think about is