Monday
Feb082010
The Dropout Disaster
Monday, February 8, 2010 at 10:01AM
Former West Virginia Gov. Bob Wise is on a mission. Ever since he was governor of West Virginia, he has been pushing high-school graduation as a major goal for states, cities and individuals. As a member of Congress he pushed for financial aid for college, and as governor of West Virginia he signed legislation to fund the PROMISE scholarship program to help high-school graduates continue their education. He was able to see a significant increase in the number of students completing high school and entering college while he was governor.
It is not surprising that after he left Congress and the governorship he decided to make education his life's work. He is now the president of the Alliance For Excellent Education. A recent study from the Alliance showed that every school day more than 7,000 students become dropouts, adding to about 1.3 million students who will not graduate from high school with the class they started out with in first grade. The numbers are quite shocking. According to the U.S. Bureau of the Census' statistics released in 2006, a high-school dropout would have an average annual income of $17,299. A high-school graduate would earn an average income of $26,933. If they continued on in a community college, they could earn and average of $36,645 by obtaining an Associates degree.
The Alliance's study also pointed to the fact that when an economic downturn hits, dropouts are much more likely to be unemployed. High-school dropouts have faced the most difficulty in finding a job during a downturn in the economy. The unemployment rate for dropouts in July of 2009 was 15.4 percent, compared to 9.4 percent for high-school graduates and 7.9 percent for people with some college.
With data that will shock the objective observer, "The Harsh Truth About Public Schools" explains why more Americans are yanking their kids from the government system
The statistics for low-income families also are not pretty. The Department of Education found that high-school students of low-income families dropped out of high school at six times the rate of their peers who were from high-income families. Achievement also is part of the mix, with nearly one-quarter of the lowest-achieving students having a whopping 20 times the dropout rate.
These are scary numbers, but even scarier is what happens in terms of the drain on local and state economies. States with high dropout rates can't collect as many taxes, they have to spend more on the social safety net, and it is harder to attract business with a population that does not have the skills businesses need. The Alliance For Excellent Education also found some other startling statistics. According to their study, high-school graduates are less likely to be teen parents and less likely to commit crimes or rely on government health care. High-school graduates use less public services such as food stamps or housing assistance. It is well-known that it costs almost double to keep somebody in prison for a year than it does to pay for a year of solid education.
President Bush made education a centerpiece of his administration and raised awareness of the need for educational standards. The National Assessment of Educational Progress tests have been able to track changes in educational achievement. It has been a good start, but there is not enough money and early childhood education put behind this effort. It has also has focused on elementary and middle grades and not enough about the higher grades.
Way back in the '60s, film director Fred Weisman made a documentary called "Hight School." Watching the documentary, you see students being completely turned off to the educational process. This should have been a wake-up call – and although the documentary has stood the test of time, our educational policies have not.
Gov. Sarah Palin and the tea-party people can talk all they want about how great this country is and can be; however, greatness takes real work and real money. If we do not put our resources behind education and make our high schools responsive to students and to our country's needs, we will lose our place in the global economy. Gov. Wise points out that 30 years ago the United States was the world leader in both quantity and quality of high-school and college graduates, but now the United States' 15-year-olds have fallen to 15th of 29 OECD countries in reading literacy. In mathematics literacy, American 15-year-olds ranked 24th of 29 in OECD countries. This is shocking and shameful, and no matter what the rhetoric, without laser-beam attention to this problem we will continue to lag behind other industrialized countries and lose our competitive advantage as a nation. We can't afford not to put all our efforts behind improving our high schools.
It is not surprising that after he left Congress and the governorship he decided to make education his life's work. He is now the president of the Alliance For Excellent Education. A recent study from the Alliance showed that every school day more than 7,000 students become dropouts, adding to about 1.3 million students who will not graduate from high school with the class they started out with in first grade. The numbers are quite shocking. According to the U.S. Bureau of the Census' statistics released in 2006, a high-school dropout would have an average annual income of $17,299. A high-school graduate would earn an average income of $26,933. If they continued on in a community college, they could earn and average of $36,645 by obtaining an Associates degree.
The Alliance's study also pointed to the fact that when an economic downturn hits, dropouts are much more likely to be unemployed. High-school dropouts have faced the most difficulty in finding a job during a downturn in the economy. The unemployment rate for dropouts in July of 2009 was 15.4 percent, compared to 9.4 percent for high-school graduates and 7.9 percent for people with some college.
With data that will shock the objective observer, "The Harsh Truth About Public Schools" explains why more Americans are yanking their kids from the government system
The statistics for low-income families also are not pretty. The Department of Education found that high-school students of low-income families dropped out of high school at six times the rate of their peers who were from high-income families. Achievement also is part of the mix, with nearly one-quarter of the lowest-achieving students having a whopping 20 times the dropout rate.
These are scary numbers, but even scarier is what happens in terms of the drain on local and state economies. States with high dropout rates can't collect as many taxes, they have to spend more on the social safety net, and it is harder to attract business with a population that does not have the skills businesses need. The Alliance For Excellent Education also found some other startling statistics. According to their study, high-school graduates are less likely to be teen parents and less likely to commit crimes or rely on government health care. High-school graduates use less public services such as food stamps or housing assistance. It is well-known that it costs almost double to keep somebody in prison for a year than it does to pay for a year of solid education.
President Bush made education a centerpiece of his administration and raised awareness of the need for educational standards. The National Assessment of Educational Progress tests have been able to track changes in educational achievement. It has been a good start, but there is not enough money and early childhood education put behind this effort. It has also has focused on elementary and middle grades and not enough about the higher grades.
Way back in the '60s, film director Fred Weisman made a documentary called "Hight School." Watching the documentary, you see students being completely turned off to the educational process. This should have been a wake-up call – and although the documentary has stood the test of time, our educational policies have not.
Gov. Sarah Palin and the tea-party people can talk all they want about how great this country is and can be; however, greatness takes real work and real money. If we do not put our resources behind education and make our high schools responsive to students and to our country's needs, we will lose our place in the global economy. Gov. Wise points out that 30 years ago the United States was the world leader in both quantity and quality of high-school and college graduates, but now the United States' 15-year-olds have fallen to 15th of 29 OECD countries in reading literacy. In mathematics literacy, American 15-year-olds ranked 24th of 29 in OECD countries. This is shocking and shameful, and no matter what the rhetoric, without laser-beam attention to this problem we will continue to lag behind other industrialized countries and lose our competitive advantage as a nation. We can't afford not to put all our efforts behind improving our high schools.
Reader Comments (4)
Children drop out of schools for many reasons. Sometimes it's economic or social. Often it is because they get bored, lack the ability or have trouble relating with their teachers.
All too often, it is because the rules of the US Department of Education and State Departments of Education do not allow a good teacher to be in the classroom.
After screening out all the good teachers with Praxis, application processes and unreasonable fees all you have left is a controlled population. The free spirited teachers and those that relate with students have all had their wings clipped.
Sadly indications of the damage from dropping out is, if anything, under-represented by the Alliance study. We must change what is happening to our children. It appears we may have started something in Dallas in 2005 that is making a significant difference at almost no cost compared to the per-student costs involved in normal dropout prevention projects. The School Archive Project is costing less than $4 per student.
This 5 year old project is centered on 10-year time-capsule and 8th grade class reunion project that is used to actively focus students onto their own futures.
As students enter middle school they write their first letters to themselves covering their history and plans for the future. These letters are stored in a 400-pound vault, bolted to the floor in the school lobby, until the end of the 8th grade. Then they are pulled, read by the students as to the changes that have happened, and re-written, this time to stay in the vault until their 10-year 8th grade class reunion.
At that reunion students know they will be invited to speak to then current 8th grade classes about their recommendations for success. They are warned to prepare for questions like "Would you do anything differently if you were 13 again?"
Since the Archive Project started in 2005, only two of the 32 high schools in DISD have received over 90% of these Middle School Archive Project students. These two high schools account for 55% of the increase in 11th and 12th grade enrollment achieved by all 32 DISD high schools combined from 2005/06 to 2009/10!
Due to the popularity of this project among students, the positive effect on motivation, and the fact that both high schools affected had the largest graduation classes in years with the Class of 2009, four more DISD schools started School Archive Projects the summer of 2009. See project details at www.studentmotivation.org. These ideas are free to use, you only need a gun vault to re-purpose as a time-capsule. We only ask that if you improve on this idea that you share the idea with us so our students can also benefit.
"This 5 year old project is centered on 10-year time-capsule and 8th grade class reunion project that is used to actively..." seriously?
RAziz,
I presume you are wondering why we are bragging about success for a 10-year time-capsule project when only 5 years have passed, correct?
Just credibly focusing students onto their own future, and an event in the future at which they know they will be called upon to give their advice for success to 13 year old students, these things alone appear to significantly motivate students to work. Something appears to wake the students up to the urgency of current study. Why else would our numbers be improving so dramatically?
It is almost certain that the improvements will continue once the reunions start happening and becoming a normal annual event in our middle school. By then what used to be a 37% graduation rate for our students should be hopefully better than a 60% graduation rate. With that continued annual focus on the future hopefully that graduation rate will go well above 70% of the original 9th grade enrollment. The focus must begin in middle school. If the School Archive Project is also based in high school then it is very possible that graduation rates near 80% will be possible.
Our schools used to be among the worst in Dallas in terms of dropout rates. That is no longer the case. We are making very real progress that you yourself can verify by accessing the data at www.studentmotivation.org.