Discrepancies in High School Dropout Rates

Danielle Williams ED 513: History of Education

Katina Manko3 September 2010

High School Dropouts in America

Over a million of the students who enter ninth grade each fall fail to graduate with their peers four years later.

+/- 7,000 students drop out of high school every day

Only in the last 30 years have graduation rates been rigorously scrutinized and considered a crisis in America

African American Dropout Rates Each year, approximately 1.2 million students

fail to graduate from high school, more than half of whom are minority groups

Nationally, about 71% of all students graduate from high school on time with a regular diploma, barely half of African American and Hispanic students earn diplomas with their peers

In many states the difference between white and minority graduation rates is stunning; in several cases there is a gap of as many as 40 or 50 percentage points

Why do African American Students Drop Out more Frequently?

There is no single reason, but researchers have shown a variety of reasons including:• Family Structure• Problems at an Early Age• Why students drop out around the age of 16

(sophomore or junior year of high school)

Problems at an Early Age Most young people begin school with a

spirited attitude, although this decreases every year a student is in school.

Four variables: • background characteristics (social and

demographic traits that mark children as being at risk academically)

• family-context factors• children’s personal resources• and children’s school experiences

Students Dropout Around the age of 16

The rate of graduation differs greatly across ethnic groups.

Prior to this age students are all just as likely to drop out of school.

At this point African Americans become more likely to drop out.

Family Structure The majority of African American

homes are led by single-parents.

Of those single-parents the majority are women.

What should the solution be?

There is no one single solution, but most people do the research on why people dropout, as opposed to creating solutions to stop students from dropping out in the first place.

Solution to: Problems at an Early Age

Make educators, parents , and communities more responsible at each stage of development.

Institute teachers aides for every classroom to take some of the burden off of the teacher.

Solution to: Students dropout around the age of 16

Offer extracurricular activities to even low-performing students

Institute a mentorship program• 11th graders begin to mentor 8th and 9th

graders and continue with them for two years.

Get students involved with after school jobs and internships

Solution to: Family Structure

Certainly the most difficult and is not so much a “fixable” matter, but it can be helped.

Provide students with a youth group for single-parent households

Engage African American youths with a role model

Conclusion African American dropout rates have

hit an epidemic level.

If communities do not do something soon it will have catastrophic consequences for the future of our youths.