...Behind by the Graduation Rate Crisis By Gary Orfield , Daniel Losen, Johanna Wald and Christopher B. Swanson Every year, across the country, a dangerously high percentage of students—disproportionately poor and minority—disappear from the educational pipeline before graduating from high school. Nationally, only about 68 percent of all students who enter 9th grade will graduate “on time” with regular diplomas in 12th grade. While the graduation rate for white students is 75 percent, only approximately half of Black, Hispanic , and Native American students earn regular diplomas alongside their classmates. Graduation rates are even lower for minority males. Yet, because of misleading and inaccurate reporting of dropout and graduation rates, the public remains largely unaware of this educational and civil rights crisis. Recently, Congress took a first step in recognizing the severity of the dropout problem by including graduation rate accountability provisions in the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), enacted in 2002. Unfortunately, the Department of Education has issued regulations that allow schools, districts, and states to all but eliminate graduation rate accountability for minority subgroups. By doing so, Department officials have rendered these accountability measures virtually meaningless.. The implications for individuals, communities, and the economic vitality of this country are far-reaching and devastating. High school dropouts are far more likely to be unemployed...
Words: 701 - Pages: 3
...Economics of a College Drop Out Research Term Paper By Eleazar Rangel 7/02/2013 South Texas College Econ 2302 Professor Oscar Plaza A. Introduction: Economics of a Dropout High cost of college and several other factors are causing the number of college dropouts to rise drastically. Understanding why this numbers are soaring is important. For example why has the rise of the cost of college nearly sextupled since 1985? Or why has the student loan debt held by Americans surpassed the $1 trillion mark? In addition to answering these questions, I will discuss the different arguments, opinions; facts regarding the toll college dropout play in this economy, and finally my final point regarding this college dropout syndrome. B. The issue: Why are students dropping out of college? This is an important topic because what factors cause students to drop out of college? According to a study from Harvard University, only 56% of students who enter college or universities graduated within a six-year period (only 29% who enter a two-year program graduate within a three year span). A main factor, according to the Harvard study, is the rising cost of the college education. Since 1985 the amount of student loan debt has surpassed the $1trillion mark and cost of a college education has sextupled. The graph below, by the Federal Reserve Bank in New York, shows the difference in price changes since 1985. As you can see in the graph college tuition and fees has drastically...
Words: 1414 - Pages: 6
...years and only 42% of those students are Hispanic students who graduate within 6 years (Burke, 2013).” One of the biggest obstacles amongst college students is the cost of tuition. Tuition cost has risen 2.9 percent in only one year. That is a slower increase rate than we have been experiencing over the past couple years. However,” college tuitions are skyrocketing faster than income while financial aid is in decline. As a result, student loan debt is at record highs. Since 2002, student loan borrowing has doubled. It is now at $113 billion. Many students end up with large debt and no degree in the end (Burke, 2013).” References Burke, L. (2013). College dropout rate called national crisis in new report. Retrieved from http://politic365.com/2013/01/24/college-dropout-rate-called-national-crisis-in-new-report/ Carlozo, L. (2012). Why college students stop short of a...
Words: 324 - Pages: 2
...Explain the major reason for high dropout rate in the college. According to the survey done by Sin Chow newspaper on 15th December 2014, 30% of the college student choose to dropout from their course after a year in college. College, a place for student to the further study and create a strong foundation for their future, so why would student even dropout from college? Since there is an obvious dropout rate at colleges, there must be a valid reason such as the lack of preparation the student receives and influence they get. As example, financial wise, the passing, the stress parent gave or even temptation comes from high school, middle school and even grade school First and foremost, having a financial constraint is definitely one of the major reason for high dropout rate in the college. Refer to the survey that we discussed earlier on, 58% of student out of those who dropout from college said they work and pay their own fees. Therefore, what we can see in the picture is by just working, it has already cause a big problem for the student which is time management. Working and studying at the same time usually result in lacking sleep, time and energy. Anyway working is not the only solution student use to survive through financial crisis. There is also student who depend on scholarship but it will make them feel depressed and nervous at all time since they need to remain on certain CGPA to get their scholarship. The second importance of this survey are lack of parental...
Words: 695 - Pages: 3
...Dropping out of high school is an issue that has always occurred and that will most likely always exist. High School dropouts have always been apparent in the United States, but the epidemic did not begin to receive attention until after the second world war. Before World War II, only a very small percent of Americans attended college. In the year 1937, only 15 percent of students went on to the next level of education. The majority of the students who went onto college came from families of wealth. This was a time of crisis in the United States with soldiers coming home with large sums of money to pay and large families to feed. After the ending of the war, enrollment rates surged in direct relation to the expensive GI bills being given out...
Words: 667 - Pages: 3
...Marquita Shadley English 112 Professor Howell April 21, 2015 Education Crisis of America Education is the act or process of imparting or acquiring general knowledge, developing the powers of reasoning and judgement, and generally of preparing oneself or others for mature life. Now knowing the definition, one can understand more clearly how important having an education is to our future. So why is America facing this crisis? On February 18, 2015, the United States Department of Education stated that over 1.2 million students drop out of high school in the U.S. every year. That is about 7,000 students a day. Some are pointing to the current educational system for this dilemma. Change is needed soon before this crisis becomes worse. In this work the education crisis and the dropout rates were investigated. It was found that with the parents at home, the teachers at school, and resources within the community this issue can be resolved. Parents’ involvement with their children from elementary through high school is very detrimental to their child’s success. The way the teacher teaches a subject, and how they keep a student engaged in their work is very important to whether that child does well. Also, if children start using the resources in their community such as tutoring, after-school programs that help with homework, and summer camps that have reading programs things could improve. I hope this paper helps people to realize that yes parents and teachers...
Words: 1412 - Pages: 6
...expertly skinning and slicing succulent pineapples with a dangerously sharp-looking knife, Ali said he has been doing this work since he was 14. Before he quit school, he was working only on weekends. Last year his parents gave him permission to start working full-time. “I did not like school and I wanted to make money to help my family,” he said, smiling. Ali’s father, who is a taxi driver, and his mother, a tailor at agarment factory, did not protest too hard when their son said he wanted to leave school and work. The family was struggling to make ends meet, and the extra income was much needed. Observers believe that the situation of tens of thousands of poor families like Ali’s has become even more desperate since the global economic crisis struck in 2007. Such families are now forced to prematurely pull their children out of school and send them to work. Several other boys with similar stories to Ali are employed by the latter’s boss. Some, like 16-year-old Anzar Khan, along with his younger brother and sister, are still in school. But further hardships could force him and his siblings to follow in Zoheb’s footsteps. Biman Prasad, an economics professor at the University of the South Pacific, said that despite having more than 95 percent of children in school, there are more children living in poverty and more of them engaged in child labour than before. “The main reason why we see more students not being able to complete primary education is financial difficulties,”...
Words: 4310 - Pages: 18
...Jessica Schmitt English 111 Professor Kate Comer September 14, 2014 The Struggle as a Part-time Student and a Full-time Worker “In 2012, 46.5 million people were living in poverty in the United States—the largest number in the 54 years the Census has measured poverty. The poverty rate also remained at high levels: 15% for all Americans and 21.8% for children under age 18.”(ncleji) The poverty the children are born into effects them terribly, by turning them into adults at a young age. They have to begin working just to help their families provide shelter and food to live. While helping to provide for your family as a young adult your priority is working, and it isn’t necessarily completing assignments and hanging out with their friends. We live in a generation where education is usually a major key to a successful lifestyle. This has became a huge controversial issue these last few years because of fear that the youth will not be able to rise into elders foot steps causing poverty to rise and the gap between the poor and rich to grow immensely. The Public Service Announcement shows a young girl working at the register of a fast food place, and she is looking down at the register. There is another teenage girl working in the back preparing food.Written in the middle of the photo starting from the left in white is “Heather, 10th grade” directly underneath that “Worked 20 minutes on math problems.” and again “worked 45 minutes on term paper.”. After that with white...
Words: 1775 - Pages: 8
...High School Dropouts Every nine seconds, an American high school student becomes a dropout, that's approximately one in four students who enter high school as freshmen and fail to earn a diploma four years later. (Dropout Rates, 2012) America has lost sight of the single most important aspect to our future, their children’s education. The issue of high school dropouts was selected because children entering into their teenage years have a huge task in front of them, the completion of high school is not an option it is a MUST. However, this is not the case in many homes across America. American high school students may think about their future, but are high school and college completion included in those thoughts? Students that feel that they are ready for college are those who are prepared and figure they will graduate high school and succeed. What is stopping the other 30% from knowing? What are all the factors that stop these children from completing high school and then moving on to college? The questions that must be asked here are: 1. Why students leave high school before completion? 2. Who/What is to blame? 3. What social policies keep students in school? 4. How to help prevent dropouts? The Problem With every 1 in 4 high school students dropping out, the problem seems to be larger than anticipated. High school dropouts create a slew of problems, socially, locally and nationally. “High school dropouts commit about 75 percent of crimes in the United...
Words: 2206 - Pages: 9
...inequality, crime rate and poverty must be taken in account as well. Fig 1: Eurostat, 2012, http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/eurostat/home/ Being one of the most severely influenced by the crisis above all EU countries, Spain has a staggering 20% overall unemployment rate and 50% of the amount are youth. (Sinitsky, 2013) The reason for this astronomical rate is indefinite, but it could be instigated by the poorly reformed welfare system, improper allocation of governmental resources and even organizational concerns in the labor market. The reason to discuss about Spain as it is interesting to see a boom in international trade revenue but a disastrous unemployment rate. This essay will then focus on the phenomenon of youth unemployment in Spain and make an attempt to critically evaluate two government policies to reduce the problem. Causes of Youth Unemployment in Spain According to Pablo Miguel, the Spanish youth are suffering from a structural problem as identified by their government, “rooted in causes which go beyond the current economic crisis” (Miguel, 2013) which resulted in a high sensitivity to recession for them. The government has further categorized different structural weaknesses in relation to the youth; namely the high rate of dropouts, skills polarization; where the highly skilled are underemployed and the averagely skilled find it hard to secure jobs, foreign language skills difficulty, high proportion of temporary or undesired part-time...
Words: 1069 - Pages: 5
...demographic factors are in direct correlation to the high school dropout rate. Research shows that high schools that identify these three categories’ and implement specific programs can lower their dropout rate. These variables have been identified; therefore, precise programs need to be implemented for the at risk student to obtain a high school diploma. Our greatest defense in a global economy is an educated work force and having our young adults choose to drop out of high school poses a threat to the country's strength and prosperity. According to the U.S. Department of Education, the group of non-graduates will continue to rise unless extreme improvements take place, especially in the state of California. Rubidoux High School (RHS) is one of three comprehensive high schools’ within the Jurupa Unified School district (JUSD). The graduation rate for RHS for the 2008-2009 school years was 72.3% and the state of California’s average for the 2008-2009 school years was 78.6% (Jurupa Unified School District, n.d., p. 16). If the Jurupa Unified School District (JUSD) better identified social, economic, and demographic factors and provide stronger intervention programs then they will decrease their dropout rate. Keeping Our Young Adults in School: It is possible Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is the dream of every parent for their newborn child; however, they should add an educated life to that list. The dropout rate has been a recurring problem in our country; the numbers...
Words: 2942 - Pages: 12
...children up to par when it comes to academic excellence. When will we stop blaming the teachers and their unions for the problems that our children face on a daily basis? Our politicians need to stop blowing smoke and make it happen because our government spends about $200 billion dollars a year to rescue our poverty stricken communities to accommodate worthlessness in the individuals who dropped the education ball and have taken up other means of support. Education versus Charter Schools is a topic that many parents and grandparents hear on a daily basis if they follow the news or has children in the public school system. It’s becoming harder and harder to determine the effectiveness of our public schools systems, because so many youth dropout before they can become eligible to graduate and receive their diplomas. There is a real war going on and it starts with our kids, they are the real victims of our failing school system. Public education was born in America in 1840 and was created to keep American people literate so they could read the bible and stay Biblically Literate (C.Bonastia,2012). In the beginning public education was a good thing known as Common Schools that were supported by the community, thus giving them control over what was to be taught to the children keeping them both socially and morally correct. Education back then was definitely had its advantages until the early settlers wanted their children to be more competitive by teaching them both Latin and...
Words: 1176 - Pages: 5
...Strayer University The effects that the Intervention Program will have On High School Dropouts Male and female A directed study project submitted to the faculty of the Graduate school of business candidacy For the degree of masters of Education Definition of terms………………………………………………………………8 Significance of the study………………………………………………………...9 Organization of the study………………………………………………………..9 II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE Current Literature…………………………………………………………………….13 III. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODLOGY Research methodology……………………………………………………………….16 IV. FINDINGS Results………………………………………………………………………………..17 V. CONCLUSION Introduction………………………………………………………………………….30 Summary and Conclusion……………………………………………………………31 Recommendations……………………………………………………………………32 REFERENCES References………………………………………………………………………...33 Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION Context of the problem Every year the statistics reveal that more high school students are dropping out of school at an alarming rate. There are many factors that contribute to the high school dropout rate such as: teen pregnancy, substance abuse and socio-economic standards, peer pressure and familial factors. Three-quarters of state prison inmates are high school drop...
Words: 4137 - Pages: 17
...is defined as a novel solution to a social problem that is more effective, efficient, sustainable, or just than existing solutions and for which the value created accrues primarily to society as a whole rather than private individuals. The results of social innovation - new ideas that meet the unmet needs- are all around us. The results include hospices and kindergartens, fair trade and restorative justices, distance learning and congestion charging. Social innovation is different from innovation or creativity in general because it covers very wide boundaries of impact from gay partnership to new ways of using mobile phone texting and from new lifestyles to new products and services. Why Social Innovation? The financial and economic crisis makes creativity and innovation in general and social innovation in particular more important to foster sustainable growth, secure jobs and boost household health in micro level. The reason social innovation has moved center stage over the last decade is that existing structures and policies have found it impossible to crack some of the most pressing issues of our times – such as climate change, the worldwide epidemic of chronic disease, and widening inequality. History of Social Innovation The last two centuries have seen innumerable social innovations that have moved from margins to mainstream. These include the invention and spread of trade unions and cooperatives, which radically reshaped them for the grim factories of 19th century...
Words: 1070 - Pages: 5
...Dropout rates are higher among minorities, for example “each year during that period [1989-2007], the dropout rate was lower for whites compared with African Americans and Latinos” (NAACP, page 1). On this same graph African Americans that live in the city have the highest dropout rates between the years 1989 through 2007, this could be because if the surrounding areas of the school or because the number of school closings, similar to Illinois. Illinois is in the midst of a budget crisis in which almost every part of the government is affected, including education. Chicago Public Schools are suffering because of the budget cuts and the schools that are performing the lowest within CPS are being closed. A lot of the lowest performing schools are on the south and west sides of Chicago, which is primarily where Chicago’s African American residents reside, including: Ace Technical Charter High School, Chicago Vocational Career Acad HS, Gage Park High School, and Julian High...
Words: 820 - Pages: 4