Low Income Students Dropping Out

from high school?” This is one shocking statistic from Teach for America among many that show how poverty is related to education inequality. According to WKNO front line, “The average dropout can expect to earn an annual income of $20,241, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That’s a full $10,386 less than the typical high school graduate, and $36,424 less than someone with a bachelor’s degree.” So just looking at those numbers alone, it is obvious how poverty and education relate and it is obvious we need to do something to keep these kids in school and make sure they are getting the best education available to reduce their likelihood of being in poverty.

Unfortunately, these children cannot complete their education because they have to travel with their family and learn to manage at a young age a life of hard labor. This however does not diminish their dreams of completing high school and some day attending a university so that they will not have to live the life of struggle their parents did to sustain the household. In cities like Detroit, MI there is a large population of low income Hispanic and African American families. The public school system unfortunately cannot potentially promote a high-quality education. The majority of these students do not receive an entrance level education simply because of living standards. Income plays an important role in education opportunities regarding the quality education each student can pertain. Since the minorities in that area are low-income they cannot afford to attend a private high school that can better prepare them for college. According to a research done at the University of Texas-Pan American, “certain racial or ethnicity factors should play a role in the admissions decision.” (Marklein)

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

The first determinant of one’s fate is their family’s background. Almost none of the children from low-income families made it through college. With the expenses of college today, I’m actually not surprised by that statistic. Of the children from low-income families, only 4 percent had a college degree at age 28, compared to 45 percent of the children from higher-income backgrounds. "That 's a shocking tenfold

This is why parental involvement is important. Teens need someone to show them the societal benefits of education rather than the pointless math equations that teens typically associate with education. Teenagers in low socioeconomic areas are more subjective to academic failure. In some situations, parents cannot help the fact that they are undersupplying their children with the necessary tools to be successful students. In many instances, parents from low socioeconomic areas are less likely to purchase reading and learning materials for their children

“In urban areas, dropout rates among minority and low-income students can reach 50 percent, with rates being highest for African-American and Latino males” (Bernstein-Yamashiro and Noam, 18). In a survey by the Civic Enterprises, 41 percent of dropouts reported that he or she had an adult to talk to about personal problems, 62 percent said they want to see schools do more to help, and 47 percent said schools contacted them after dropping out (Bernstein-Yamashiro and Noam, 18). The academic outcomes from student/teacher

Why do students feel like they have to go to college? It is the norm to go to college right after high school because that is what everyone else does. The failure to complete college had been recognized as a personal problem. There are multiple responsibilities when it comes to going to college and some students are not quite ready to attend. Most students go to college for the wrong reasons, whether it is to get away from home or to have fun and party. With all the responsibilities that students have to uphold comes stress and even depression. About 33 percent of college students drop out of college for multiple reasons whether it is family issues, too much stress, full time job etc. Many students lack the funds in order to cover their tuition and other fees. This is one of the reasons why some students decide that dropping out of college is the answer. Attending college strengthens one’s knowledge and opens up their mind to new things. College students should stay in school, however,it is not for everyone. Students should not stay in college if they are not prepared or if they can not handle the pressure.

Poverty leads to insufficient opportunities, especially in college education. For instance, according to U.S. Department of Education, students who do not enter college or drop out of their classes are “predominantly persons from low-income families.” In support of this argument, the article states that “only 21 percent of those with family income of less than $25,000 were highly qualified for admission at a four-year institution” compared to the 56 percent of students with family income above $75,000. Therefore, students with bad economic conditions struggle with attending university even after entering it. The problem is that the African Americans race gets the harshest disadvantage from their poor economic conditions. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services publishes that almost 40 percent of African Americans under 18 are below the national poverty line, which is three-times higher than their white counterparts. This explicitly proves that unequal economic conditions are the main reason for inequality in education; African Americans are the most disadvantaged. Furthermore, the correlation between poor economic conditions and a lack of education among African Americans creates a chain of inequality. The poor economic backgrounds of African Americans obstruct their children from attending colleges and subsequently, the lack of higher education makes

The 2001 census bureau report 22.2 percent of people without a high school diploma lived in poverty as opposed to 9.6 who had a diploma. 14.2 percent of high school dropouts were lived in long term poverty, while 3.8 percent of people with high school diplomas lived in long term poverty. In less affluent neighborhoods, there is usually no funding available to hire quality teachers and equipment needed to educate the youth. As we progress education has become one of the main keys to battling poverty. It is harder to earn a decent living without having some kind of

Everybody loves a good success story. When the underdog, usually a lower class high school age student, defies the odds and comes out on top, beating his circumstances to get where nobody thinks he should go, everyone goes crazy for it. So crazy that Hollywood gets in on the act, with movie productions such as The Blind Side, Life of A King, and Slum Dog Millionaire. Sadly, these stories are not commonplace, in fact, they are very few and far between. More often than not, students from lower class families struggle to get by, as a result putting school to the back burner. Less than 75% of students in lower income households graduate high school, and even fewer go onto college (http://nces.ed.gov). From this group, excuses began to come out, the main reason underlies them all; they have become a product of their circumstance. The position they were in restrained them, forcing only one path, a

To break down the above scores, Hispanics had the highest dropout rate at 12.7 percent. Blacks had the second highest dropout rate at 7.5 percent. Whites had the lowest dropout rate at 12.7 percent. A big reason as to why minorities have higher dropout rates comes down to poverty quite often. ”Almost 1/2 of the difference in the dropout probability between Hispanic and white students stems from the greater prevalence of being economically disadvantaged among Hispanic students. More than 1/3 of the African-American and white student difference in the dropout probability is linked to our simple measure of student poverty” (Lofstrom,). As you can see money plays a huge factor in dropout rates. Numerous issues can result in student drop outs. The

In the article “Who Gets to Graduate” by Paul Tough examines a problem about low income students are less likely to graduate from college than students from middle class or wealthier families. In the United States, school systems are not created equally. Middle and upper class students have access to safe and modern schools equipped with everything they possibly need to stay in that high rank because they came from a family who has the money to support their studies. Students from low-income families don’t have a lot of the support, stability, and money from home that higher-income students can take for granted.

“The school districts with the highest minority enrollments receive an average of $877 less per student than school districts with the lowest number of minorities enrolled.” In turn, these children are able to go further with more resources readily available to them. However, children in less affluent school districts face serious educational shortcomings due to little investment in the beggared communities surrounding the school. It is more accurate to say that America has two systems of public education. The first system, based principally, but not entirely in the suburbs of America and in wealthier urban districts, is in many respects mediocre, specifically in comparison to international peers in advanced industrial nations. However, the second system, based principally in poorer urban and rural areas, is an absolute failure; in which an exceeding number of students dropout well before high school graduation. An astounding number of students receive high school diplomas that do not certify academic confidence in basic subjects. An outstanding number of students are unprepared for the world of employment. An incredible number of students are unprepared to matriculate to institutions of higher education or advanced training.

In addition, high school dropouts have caused many hardships that negatively affect the American economy. Individuals, who have not received high school credentials, live such experiences as poverty, unemployment, teenage parenthood, and criminal activity (Esch, 2003). For example, without the minimum of a high school diploma, individuals are susceptible to a cycle of poverty (AYPF, 2006). Esch (2003) explained that in any given year, the likelihood of slipping into poverty is about three times higher for high school dropouts than for those who finish high school. He mentioned that high school dropouts lack many skills to be hired for decent jobs; therefore, students are more susceptible to be dependent on the public assistance. Researchers revealed that if one third of high school dropouts were to remain in school and earn a diploma, the federal government would save almost 11 billion annually from reducing funds needed for food stamps, housing

Over 71% of Euro-American children performed at a higher grade level compared to African American children; these children who tend to live in lower-income families frequently perform worse than middle-class families. This lack of performance follows an affected child throughout their education and later leads to a deficit in the number of students graduating high school and college (4). Even if a poverty-stricken child graduated, many lead the same lifestyle and remain in the same social-class that their parents lived in. However, whether the parents have limited education or a lack of wealth, they can still provide their children with the