DROPOUT RATES

Dropout Rates

Dropout Rates

Introduction

Historically, there are many ways to define a dropout. The term was first used in the early 1960s when the National Education Association (NEA) referred to dropouts. The terms "dropout" and "delinquency" were entangled and used as one. More recently, Rumberger (1983) stated that a dropout conveys a person "without a high school diploma" (p. 354). According to Dom, both the causes and solutions of the dropout population existed as early as the 19405 and 1950s. During this period, there was no real consensus us to why students were dropping out of school. Yet, conservative and liberal authors agreed that students dropped out for a variety of reasons.

The relationship between juvenile delinquent and dropout emerged in the 1960s when conversations focused on the youth crime wave that was attacking the nation. As a result, these concerns and conversations triggered the examination of youth culture (Suarez-Orozco, 200l). It became clear that the youth needed help and guidance, and it led to the need for intervention and prevention. Even though these conversations started as early as the 1960s, the same problems exist today (Rumberger, 1987) stated that the dropout problem would become one where delinquency would be prevalent. He predicted that there would a high proportion of gangsters, hoodlums, drug-addicted and government-upending prone, irresponsible, and illegitimate parents of the future if the dropout population were ignored by society. Almost 30 years later in 1993, Dam pointed out that dropouts were considered wasted minds and lives and would eventually become "criminals, juvenile delinquents raging on the streets. Darn correlated the tcnn dropout with an affiliation with a race- or class-based category. Dam also stated that African American dropouts were viewed as a more dangerous to society than other dropouts.

Today, there are still many ways to define a dropout. Fitzpatrick and Padilla (1991) stated that "dropping out of high school occurs when students leave school without graduating within a specific period, whether or not they return to school or receive a general equivalency diploma.

There are many ways to describe a dropout, but the definition most easily understood and widely used is one of a person who lacks a high school or equivalency diploma. This research and The MORE Program utilized the definition ofn dropout as a student who has not completed high school and/or is at risk of not completing it.

Who Drops Out and at What Rate

The National Council for Education Statistics, herein referred to as NCES, reported that ethnicity is one factor that predicts the chances of a student dropping out of school. It found that the dropout rates for Whites arc lower than for African American and Latino students. In 2006, the NeES found that Latinos had the fastest growing population and owned the highest dropout rate as an ethnic minority group, twice the rate of African Americans and three times the rate of White, non-Latino students.

Another factor that is associated with dropping out is a student's socioeconomic ...