Opinion: We can't afford not to reduce the dropout rate
by Taylor Frome
Over the past 20 years, I've worked with hundreds of Philadelphia high school dropouts. I've learned that virtually all of them have the potential to complete their education and gain the skills they need for employment.
But reducing the dropout rate is not only the morally right thing to do. It is essential to improving the economy and reducing crime.
According to 2004 data, 72 percent of U.S. Black male high school dropouts in their 20s were jobless; by their mid-30s, 60 percent had spent time in prison. The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that for each additional youth who graduates from high school, there is a positive benefit of $209,000 in higher government revenues and lower spending.
I suggest the following steps:
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Spend more on programs for disconnected youth.
The District spent about $11,000 per pupil in 2006. If we funded re-engagement programs at this level for just half of the city's 8,000 yearly dropouts and a quarter of the 50,000 local youth already out of school, we'd need $182 million per year. But the investment would be worth it if the programs were effective. Youth Empowerment Services has developed a model that includes counselors who work with each youth and their family, self-paced education, and courses that engage creativity, career interests, and the need for self-expression. Students learn mural arts as well as video, audio, and web production, all while gaining important workplace competencies. As they find satisfaction in their work, attendance and participation improve. More programs like this are needed, as well as models that focus more exclusively on academics, connect to other career interests, or directly lead to college.
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Look at the factors that predict dropping out and respond to each student who has any predictors.
We can forecast with near-certainty which students will drop out: eighth graders who failed math or English or attended less than 80 percent of the time, and ninth graders who attended less than 70 percent of the time, earned fewer than two credits, and/or were not promoted to Grade 10. If we listen to youth who dropped out, we hear stories of frustration - not receiving credits they believe they earned, not getting the courses they need to graduate, not being allowed to return after a lengthy absence. We need enough counselors to provide an individualized plan to every student who falls into these "at-risk" groups.
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Develop a variety of models to deal with academic failure.
There are small alternative schools all over the country that have high success rates with most of their students. These schools are characterized by high expectations, more one-on-one instruction, and classes that engage student interests and include hands-on experience. In these schools, disciplinary problems are minimal. We should sponsor alternative school models that can inform changes in every classroom. This would need to include expansion of rapid-credit attainment slots as well as "magnet" schools and small high schools.
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Expand the number of job opportunities for youth in Philadelphia.
Comments (1)
Submitted by Bill Betzen (not verified) on Mon, 06/22/2009 - 23:19.
We must lower the dropout rate. No argument there.
But we will not lower it by only continuing to do what we have been doing in the same way we have been doing it. Something must change!
The old standby in dropout prevention is to focus students onto their own futures. Parents and teachers have done that for generations. Now they have less time and more competition from media and peer group than ever before. The future focus is lost and the dropout rate soars!
If we refocus onto the future in a realistic, simple, and as credible a manner as is possible it makes a tremendous difference. In 2005 our middle school started a 10-year time-capsule and 10 year class reunion plan for that years 8th grade class and every class since then. Eighth grade students write letters to themselves the last weeks of 8th grade about their history and plans for the future. These are sealed into a self-addressed envelope and held by each students as they pose with their Language Arts class for a photo standing in front of a 350-pound vault bolted to the floor of the school lobby. After the photo students line up and place their letters onto the shelf for their class inside the vault.
The next day they recieve copies of that photo with details on the back for their planned 10-year class reunion. Those plans include a reminder that they will be asked to volunteer to give talks to the then current 8th grade classes about their recommendations for success. They are also warned to be prepared for questions from these decade younger students such as "Would you do anything differently if you were 13 again?"
Since this project began the 9th to 10th grade attrition rate at both high schools our students attend has gone down 26%. That original 8th grade class graduated this year as members of the largest graduating class in over 12 years at each of the two high schools our students attend.
This simple $2 per 8th grade student dropout prevention project is spreading to 5 more schools in Dallas this year. It is a simple solution to a crisis our nation must solve! See www.studentmotivation.org for details. Do not make the solution more difficult than it is. We must give teachers another way to connect every student with their own future.
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