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The Highlands Is A Low Income Community

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The Highlands is a low-income community that is facing a major issue with crime caused by adolescents. Instances of criminal activity inflicted by the youth in a community is an issue that plagues many areas in our country. The Highlands is facing types of criminal activity that frequently ranges from vandalism, theft, burglaries and assaults on other members of the community. There is also a fear from the community that gangs from neighboring areas are going to move into The Highlands. The areas schools have about a 40% drop out rate and a not very diverse, but committed, police department. City officials and leaders of the community want to decrease the area’s crime rate by being more proactive with its adolescents and the opportunities …show more content…

Department of Education, 2015). One study by Alspaugh looked at the relationship between schools and community characteristics and how those affected high school dropout rates (Alspaugh, 1998). This study looked at 428 Missouri school districts and their average dropout rates over the past five years. Alspaugh examined previous research and concluded that socioeconomic status was the most important factor in student dropout rates. Other related factors that were found to be important factors in student dropout rates were “family background, personal problems, and school-related factors” (Alspaugh), but found that all of these would be difficult to address directly.

Alspaugh also found that increasing vocational course offerings did not increase student retention (1998). School climate seemed to be more important to student retention than the diversity of the instructional program (Alspaugh, 1998). Alspaugh even goes on to infer that the more course offerings, it became possible for the student body to fracture into more isolated groups, which caused deterioration in the school’s climate and therefor lead to more dropouts (1998). Other points of interest brought forth by Alspaugh was that dropout rates had a high positive correlation with unemployment and crime rates, and that the “participation in highly visible extracurricular activities” showed to be

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