HIGH SCHOOL DROP OUTS

B Y : P E D R O G A Y T A N

PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION RATES IN THE UNITED STATES

NJ

IA WI

ND

MN

NE

PN

CT

OK

OH

NH

UT

VT

KS

MT

MI MD

SD

MO

WV

MA

ME

ID IL RI VA

WY

AR

CO

IN WA

OR

AZ

NV

KY

TX

NC

CA

NM

NY

LA

HI DE

MS

FL

AK

AL

TN

GA

SC

0

20

40

60

80

100TexasNation

Grade 9 Grade 10 Grade 11 Grade 12 Graduates0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900 High School 1

High School 2

High School 3

CLASS OF 2008(SENIOR GRADUATES/FRESHMAN ENROLLMENT)

High School Drop Rates

African American:

Latino:

White:

Asian:

Total:

53%

59%

78%

84%

74%

WHO MAKES IT THROUGH HIGH SCHOOL?

Graduation Rate:

THE COST OF A HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUT

Over 25 to 30 years, a dropout student can cost a community as much as $500,000 in public assistance, health care, and incarceration costs.

Estimates of the social benefits (social savings from reduced crime only) of a 1% increase in male U.S. high school graduation rates would amount to $1.4 billion.

Completing high school raises average annual earnings by approximately $7,216. Additional annual Indiana income tax per graduate is $245 per year or approximately $9,800 over the working lifetime per graduate.

EFFECTS OF DROPPING OUT OF HIGH SCHOOL

1 Driver’s License/Work PermitStudent lose privileges of driver’s license and work permit if they drop out before they are 18 years old without financial hardship and/or parent and principal approval.

2 Student Career PlanRequires yearly review of the student’s career plan and if a student is not progressing, counsel the student about credit recovery options and services available so that that a student may graduate on time.

CONT..

3 Chronic Absenteeism: chronic absenteeism (missing more than 10 unexcused days

from school) in the definition of usual truant and loss of a work permit.

4 Report Card: Offers that on the yearly school report card, high schools must report numbers of:

total suspensions students permitted to dropout by the school work permits revoked driver’s permits revoked students in the School Flex program freshman not earning enough credits to become sophomores

GED VS. HS DIPLOMA

GED officials say that one in seven HS graduates earn their diploma through GED programs.

41% of them are 19 and under and 37% are between 20-29 yrs. of age

The military stopped equating the GED with a HS Diploma GED students score lower on the Armed Forces Qualifying Test They also drop out of the military at higher rates

Nobel Prize-winning economist James Heckman and Stephen Cameron found in their study that:

GED holders are “statistically indistinguishable” from high school dropouts.

SOLUTIONS

School Flex creates an alternate program for students in grades 11 and 12 that serves to engage students in relevant learning by allowing them to :

Enroll in either a college or technical career education program or;

Enroll in employment Provided that the student:

Attends school for at least three hours per day Pursues a timely graduation Not be suspended or expelled Pursues course and credit requirements for a general diploma Maintains a 95% attendance rate

The school still counts the student as a full day student.

SOLUTIONS CONT…

Gates Foundation Study: Show that a high percentage of students who drop out of high school are under-challenged or bored. These students do not see how school is relevant to their future.

Double Up – Creates a dual credit program that may be offered by a

Community College and by other public colleges or universities so that high school students could earn an associate degree.

A high school must offer a minimum of two dual credit and two Advanced Placement courses so that a student may meet the requirements for Core 40 with Academic Honors diploma.

Free and reduced lunch students would receive a tuition waiver from the university.

CITATIONS

• Gonzales, Raul . "High School Dropouts: A PowerPoint Presentation." High School Dropouts: A PowerPoint Presentation. N.p., 16 Mar. 2008. Web. 21 May 2014. <http://www2.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/tips/t6prod/yiadompp1_files/v3_document.html>.

• Lynch, Ed.D.. "High School Dropouts: More than Loss of Money." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 3 Nov. 2013. Web. 21 May 2014. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/matthew-lynch-edd/high-school-dropouts-more_b_4208275.html>.

• "." CNN. Cable News Network, 31 May 2008. Web. 21 May 2014. <http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/05/05/dropout.rate.study/index.html?eref=ib_us>.