High Rate of High School, College and University Drop-Outs - Essay Example

High Rate of High School, College and Drop-Outs Introduction The final achievement for any high school, college or university student is to graduate in their own discipline. However, not every student graduates as they drop out along the way. These-drop outs cannot secure meaningful employment and may even turn to crime as a way of sustaining themselves, thus being a disadvantage to themselves and society too. This paper evaluates the reason for drop-outs in high school, college and university, explaining the consequences and possible solutions. A dropout is an individual who has not graduated and yet is not enrolled in school. It can also be defined as a student who quits school before graduating. This results from a lack and eventual stopping of the attendance of classes or indicating to their current school that they are transferring to another one, but never to enroll again (Rumberger 48). Reports show that at least 1.2 million students drop out of high school every year in the United States, 7000 every day, while only 56% of students enrolled in America’s universities and colleges graduate within 6 years (Burrus and Roberts 2). Out of the students who enroll for a two-year degree program, only 29% complete the program within 3 years. There are several factors that act as predictors for dropping out of school. Educational performance is an important predictor on whether or not a student will graduate from high school, college or university. Academic achievement is among “the most widely studied predictors of high school drop out and graduation” (Lim and Rumberger 19). Students must pass in specified courses in order to move on to the next level and if this is not achieved, the student has to repeat the course until they attain the desired grade. Failing classes or courses increases a student’s chances of dropping out, as the student may feel demoralized and incapable. The student’s performance may be affected by their mobility, often associated with residential mobility, as high school students are especially affected even by the change of colleagues. Over-age students also have a higher risk of dropping out than their average aged peers, again due to demoralization. Additionally, student behavior in and out of school may reduce their chances of graduation. Student engagement in school in terms of attending classes without fail; completion of assignments in time; enough preparation before classes; and participation in extra curricular activities go a long way in ensuring the student attains good grades, thus increasing graduation chances and vice versa (Lim and Rumberger 18). Absenteeism, one of the most important risk factors, has a significant relationship with a student’s performance, with students who miss school and classes having higher chances of dropping out than those who do not. Deviant behavior among students increases their chances for dropping out of school. These behaviors include delinquent behavior even outside the school that may involve violence, alcohol and drug abuse and engaging in teenage sexual activities that may lead to child bearing. Students from poor family backgrounds are more likely to drop out of school than high-income students by 5 times, as family poverty is associated with homelessness, food insecurity, domestic violence and parents who are in jail or absent for other reasons such as drug abuse. Moreover, 21% of students in a study once reported that their parents “were not at all aware” of their poor grades and school attendance (Burrus and Roberts 6). These factors are also associated with low performance in school, chronic absenteeism, as well as misbehavior, which may lead to eventual drop out. Family structure also affects the student’s performance. For instance, single-parent families have lower incomes and are more dependent on public assistance than families with both parents. In a 2007 study, 40% of children who lived with their mothers only had an income level below 100% of the poverty level in comparison to those who lived with both parents (Lim and Rumberger 46). With single parenthood, practices such as supervision and monitoring which promote good school achievement are also lower. Other family related factors include marital disruptions, death or illness and family moves. Residential and school mobility due to economic or other changes in the family in most cases affect the student’s performance by impairment of the family’s functionality. This is due to the disruption caused to the valuable social relationships of the children and adults involved. The level of education of the student’s parents also has an impact on whether they graduate or drop out of school. Educated parents help improve their children’s cognitive development through assistance with reading and homework for high school students and motivation and inspiration for college and university students, increasing the chances of dropping out. Students are also affected by the school environment. Students generally perform better in schools where the resources are efficient and will exhibit lower dropout chances and vice versa. Resources include highly trained teachers and good libraries (Lim and Rumberg 63). Schools with strong influence from teachers over discipline, curriculum and in service programs have low drop out rates as compared to those where school and staff decisions are under strong principal leadership. Similarly, the methods used to teach may not help the students with their courses or the teachers may not be fully qualified, resulting in poor performance and possible drop out. Additionally, the community a student lives in may influence a student’s dropout or graduation rate. The presence of facilities such as a library within the community will be useful, while having successful people within the community will serve as an inspiration to the student. On the other hand, availability of blue collar jobs and bad peer influence negatively affects the student’s performance in school and may eventually lead to their drop out. Consequences School dropouts experience bleak economic futures due to their low education levels. Thus, they get the poorest jobs compared to educated workers and are more likely to invest in further training and additional education (Rumberger 86). Thus, they will most likely live in poverty and for most of their lifetimes will be dependent on public assistance. They are also more likely to engage in crime, thus have more chances of arrest and incarceration as well as poorer health, thus shorter life spans than their educated counterparts. Furthermore, they are of minimal help to their communities by depriving them of effective leaders and much needed professional skills. Prevention Prevention involves several strategies that involve the teachers and administrators and the parents. An important strategy is to analyze each student’s behavior, attendance and engagement in class and extra curricula activities, as well as their performance in individual courses (Iver and Iver 2). School administrators should then discuss the student’s overall performance, noting where there may be a problem and finding possible solutions, for instance changing and improving teaching techniques. Meetings with parents and guardians should also be encouraged, where the parents discuss possible indicators of drop out with the teachers involved and possible interventions explored. Where students do not respond positively to interventions offered, community agencies may intervene through counseling, therapies of various kinds and tutoring. Counseling services within the school may also be offered to help students cope with social and personal barriers with the potential to cause them to drop out. In addition, counselors may help the students overcome barriers to their goals by helping them prioritize on what changes they need to make in their lives so as to best achieve these goals, while helping them get to a position of “working through the crisis” (Franklin, Larris and Allen-Meares 40). The student is thus engaged in a solution-building process, whereby they make discoveries of their personal strengths and goals thus increase motivation toward their desired end results. Conclusion Student dropout is an issue affecting many students. Some of the reasons why many students drop out include high poverty levels, family structure and bad behavior exhibited by the student such as misbehavior in school. Such students end up being securing low income employments and exposed to poor health and short life spans, thus affecting not just themselves but also their communities. As such, curbing the rate of dropouts would be important in solving not just individual but also social problems. Works Cited Burrus, J. and Richard Roberts. “Dropping Out of High School: Prevalence, Risk Factors and Remediation Strategies.” Research and Development Connections 18 (2012): 1-9. Web. 23 Mar. 2014 http://www.ets.org/Media/Research/pdf/RD_Connections18.pdf Franklin, C., Mary Harris and Paula Allen-Meares, ed. The School Practitioner’s Concise Companion to Preventing Drop out and Attendance Problems. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2008. Print. Iver, M. A. M and D. J. M. Iver. Beyond the Indicators: An Integrated School-Level Approach to Dropout Prevention. George Washington University Center for Equity and Excellence in Education, 2009. Web. 23 Mar. 2014 http://diplomasnow.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/dropout-report-8-11-09.pdf Rumberger, R. and Sun Lim. “Why Students Drop Out of School: A Review of 25 Years of Research.” California Dropout Research Project 15 (2009): 1-132. Web. 23 Mar. 2014 http://cdrp.ucsb.edu/dropouts/pubs_reports.htm Rumberger, R. Dropping Out: Why Students Drop out of High School and What Can Be Done About It. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2011. Print. Read More