Student Dropouts Reasons/Preventions By: Kelsey Dickinson

Standard, Description, & Rationale Standard #3: Learning Environments The teacher works with others to create environments that support individual and collaborative learning, and that encourage positive social interaction, active engagement in learning, and self-motivation. Name of Artifact: Contemporary Issues Project Date: April 23, 2014 Course: EDUC 101 Brief Description: For this assignment, I chose a current educational event and conducted research on the subject. My topic of choice was over the issue of students who fail to complete, or in other words, “dropout” of school before completing their primary educational goals. I will not only provide multiple reasons why students choose to dropout of school, but I will also provide possible solutions to the current dropout rate. Rationale: To document my understanding of Standard #3 Learning Environments, I selected to include my Contemporary Issues Project. This assignment demonstrates my ability to investigate issues and conduct research accordingly. I believe that this assignment has helped me become a master on my topic of choice. This project has helped me to realize my potential in harnessing and utilizing knowledge.

A Brief Overview ▪ A study by Civic Enterprises for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation examined the views of diverse youth, ages 16-25, who had failed to complete high school. ▪ This study uncovered students' reasons for leaving school and suggests actions that schools, states, and the federal government can take. ▪ Additionally, another source suggests that school counselors are charged to identify potential dropouts and work closely with students to help them stay in school or find alternative means of completing their education.

Top 5 Reasons Why Students Drop Out 1.They were bored with school. (47%) 2.They had missed too many days and could not catch up. (43%) 3.They spent time with people who were not interested in school. (42%) 4.They had too much freedom and not enough rules in their lives. (38%) 5.They were failing. (38%)

How To Prevent School Drop Outs (In the Words of the Students) ▪ Make school more engaging. Students want to see the connection between school and work. ▪ Improve instruction and supports for struggling learners (better teachers, smaller classes, more individualized instruction, more tutoring, and extra time with teachers). ▪ Improve school climate. A majority of students believed that schools need greater supervision and classroom discipline. More than half said schools should do more to protect students from violence. ▪ Ensure that students have a relationship with at least one adult in the school. Only 56 percent of students said that they could go to a staff person for help with school problems; only 41 percent said that they could talk to an adult in school about personal problems. ▪ Improve communication between parents and schools. Fewer than half of students said that their schools contacted them or their parents when they were absent or had dropped out.

The Facts – According to “Dropout Prevention: Recommendations for School Counselors” ▪ Ninth-grade students exhibit higher rates of course failures, lower scores on tests, and demonstrate behavioral problems more than students in all other grade levels. ▪ Ninth-grade is the most critical point to intervene and prevent students from retention and dropping out of school. ▪ Entering the ninth-grade can be one of the most emotionally difficult, most academically challenging times in children’s lives. ▪ Students who lack the academic preparedness for high school often either repeat the ninth grade or drop out of high school.

Demographic Factors Associated with Dropping Out ▪ Being from a low-income family ▪ Being a minority ▪ Being a male ▪ Being from a single-parent family ▪ Having learning or emotional disabilities ▪ Having limited English ability

Questions ▪ Why do you think that entering the ninth-grade is the most challenging grade transition within one’s academic career? ▪ What should one do, instead of dropping out, if the stress of school becomes too overwhelming?

References ▪ Azzam, A. M. (2007). Why Students Drop Out. Educational Leadership, 64(7), ▪ Blount, T. (2012). Dropout Prevention: Recommendations for School Counselors. Journal Of School Counseling, 10(16),