It’s easy to pretend that it doesn’t happen, to turn a blind eye to the real affects of students who drop out of school, both for their future and that of our country. It’s also easy to say that it won’t be your child that is at risk to drop out of school, but there are some serious risk factors that parents need to be aware of to be sure that their children obtain their high school diploma.
According to the Alliance for Excellent Education, more than a million kids who enter ninth grade drop out before they graduate high school, more than 7,000 kids drop out every day. Not surprisingly, the highest risk kids are low-income and ethnic minorities have the highest dropout ratio.
Think it can’t happen to your kid? Check out these statistics: (per the AEE)
• Most dropouts are already on the path to failure in the middle grades and engage in behaviors that strongly correlate to dropping out in high school. Various researchers have identified specific risk factors, such as low attendance or a failing grade, which can identify future dropouts—in some cases as early as sixth grade.
• Ninth grade serves as a bottleneck for many students who begin their freshman year only to find that their academic skills are insufficient for high school-level work. Up to 40 percent of ninth grade students in cities with the highest dropout rates repeat ninth grade; only 10 to 15 percent of those repeaters go on to graduate.
• Academic success in ninth grade course work is highly predictive of eventual graduation; it is even more telling than demographic characteristics or prior academic achievement. Unfortunately, many students are not given the extra support they need to successfully make the transition to high school. As a result, over one third of all dropouts are lost in ninth grade.
• The six million secondary students who comprise the lowest 25 percent of achievement are twenty times more likely to drop out of high school than students in the top-performing quartile.
• Both academic and social engagements are integral components of successfully navigating the education pipeline. Research shows that a lack of student engagement is predictive of dropping out, even after controlling for academic achievement and student background.
How does your child rate against these facts? As parents, we need to be aware of how our kids feel about school, and that they are aware of the need of a good education in and beyond high school, to make a real future for themselves.
Education and respect for its power begins at home so talk to you kids today about their school day, their goals and their dreams so you can help them to stay on the path to s successful school career.
Posted By: Paul Adams
Saturday, March 20th 2010 at 7:53AM
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