The Ultimate Temptation: Dropping Out Of School
In a study by The Decision Lab, nearly half of all respondents disagreed that someone who graduated from high school would contribute as much to the economy as someone with a postgraduate degree. How can we position more students to graduate from high school and enjoy the associated economic, social, and cultural benefits of doing so?
Overview
Failing to finish secondary school isn’t without consequences: $630,000 lost in potential earnings, 90% job ineligibility, elevated rates of heart disease and diabetes, increased risk of mental illness, welfare reliance, and incarceration, to name a few.1 These aren’t limited to a small minority. In the United States, for example, 1 in 8 students never graduate from high school—a statistic that has remained largely unchanged since 1990.2 In Quebec, one in five girls and one in three boys leave high school before graduation.3 These findings are similar (and at times worse) in developing countries. In Jharkhand, India, a state with the highest school dropout rate in the country, 70% of students leave school at the primary or secondary level.4
This unfortunate combination of a large number of school dropouts and the immense consequences these individuals face calls for concerted action. Accordingly, this article explores a number of key questions: What is the demographic profile of students who drop out? What are the explanations—psychological and otherwise—for them doing so? Have interventions been devised to address this problem? Given the immense scope for improvement, what other solutions could be proposed?
References
[1] Belfield, C. & Levin, H. M. Eds. (2007). The price we pay: Economic and social consequences of inadequate education. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press.
[2] Fast Facts: Dropout rates (16). (2019). National Center for Educational Statistics. Nces.ed.gov. https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=16
[3] Montreal’s context – Réseau réussite Montréal. (2019). Réseau réussite Montréal. Retrieved 30 July 2019, from https://www.reseaureussitemontreal.ca/en/perseverance-in-montreal/montreal-s-context/
[4] Radhakrishnan, V. (2019). What is the dropout rate among schoolchildren in India? The Hindu. https://www.thehindu.com/education/percentage-of-school-dropouts/article25909306.ece
[5] Sikhan, K. (2019). Low-income students six times more likely to drop out of high school. Wsws.org. https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/04/10/hsdo-a10.html
[6] Rubmerger, W. Poverty and high school dropouts. (2019). https://www.apa.org. https://www.apa.org/pi/ses/resources/indicator/2013/05/poverty-dropouts
[7] Rubmerger, W. Poverty and high school dropouts. (2019). https://www.apa.org. https://www.apa.org/pi/ses/resources/indicator/2013/05/poverty-dropouts
[8] Hauser, R., Simmons, S., & Pager, D. (2000). High School Dropout, Race-Ethnicity, and Social Background from the 1970s to the 1990s. Center For Demography And Ecology. https://www.russellsage.org/sites/all/files/u4/Hauser,%20Simmons,%20%26%20Pager_High%20School%20Dropout,%20Race%20Ethnicity,%20%26%20Social%20Background%2070s%20-%2090s.pdf
[9] Doll, J, Eslami, Z & Walters, L 2013, ‘Understanding why students drop out of high school, according to their own reports: are they pushed or pulled, or do they fall out?: a comparative analysis of seven nationally representative studies’, SAGE Open, vol.3, no.4, pp.1–15, viewed 30 Jul 2019, <https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/2158244013503834>.
[10] Doll, J, Eslami, Z & Walters, L 2013, ‘Understanding why students drop out of high school, according to their own reports: are they pushed or pulled, or do they fall out?: a comparative analysis of seven nationally representative studies’, SAGE Open, vol.3, no.4, pp.1–15, viewed 30 Jul 2019, <https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/2158244013503834>.
[11] Doll, J, Eslami, Z & Walters, L 2013, ‘Understanding why students drop out of high school, according to their own reports: are they pushed or pulled, or do they fall out?: a comparative analysis of seven nationally representative studies’, SAGE Open, vol.3, no.4, pp.1–15, viewed 30 Jul 2019, <https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/2158244013503834>.
[12] WWC Intervention Report. A summary of findings from a systematic review of the evidence. Dropout Prevention. (2015). Institute of Education Sciences. https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/Docs/InterventionReports/wwc_checkconnect_050515.pdf
[13] WWC Intervention Report. A summary of findings from a systematic review of the evidence. Dropout Prevention. (2015). Institute of Education Sciences. https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/Docs/InterventionReports/wwc_checkconnect_050515.pdf
[14] Power in the Classroom: Creating the Environment . (2019). Ascd.org. https://www.ascd.org/publications/books/104020/chapters/Power-in-the-Classroom@-Creating-the-Environment.aspx
[15] Peterson, R., O’Connor, A., Strawhun, J. Academic Supports and Tutoring. (2014). Strategy Brief. University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
[16] High School Dropout, Graduation, and Completion Rates. (2011). doi:10.17226/13035
[17] Sheldon, A. Using Motivational Interviewing to Help Your Students. (2010). The NEA Higher Education Journal.
[18] Peterson, R., O’Connor, A., Strawhun, J. Academic Supports and Tutoring. (2014). Strategy Brief. University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
[19] Okonofua, J. A., Paunesku, D., & Walton, G. M. (2016). Brief intervention to encourage empathic discipline cuts suspension rates in half among adolescents. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(19), 5221-5226.
About the Author
Rizina Yadav
Rizina is a student at Stanford University studying Public Policy and Psychology. She’s interested in global development and education, particularly how public policy and psychology can be leveraged to improve the quality of secondary and higher education. At Stanford, she’s the Editor-in-Chief of The Cutting Edge, an educational research journal.
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