Preventing dropping out: What else can be done

Two recent columns focused on school dropouts. They illustrated the disastrous consequences to individuals and to society caused by high school dropping out. Such scourges as crime, low wages, welfare dependence, and poor health often haunt the lives of dropouts. Quality preschool education and parenting training were two of the most important solutions that were mentioned to reduce dropout numbers. Today’s column, the last in this series, will give interventions that schools and communities can enact to reduce the devastating problem of high school dropouts.

Dropouts themselves were surveyed in a national study on what schools could have done to keep them engaged in school. The answer that received the highest percentage of agreement was having more school experiences that included real world applications. The need for more relevance in the classroom was mentioned by 81% of the dropouts polled.  Related to this desire for relevance and also mentioned by 81% of those polled was the need for classes to be more interesting. Dropouts indicated that boredom was a major factor in giving up on school.

Seventy-five percent of the dropouts polled said smaller classes and more individual attention would have helped keep them in school. Many students who leave school do so because they do not have a significant relationship with any adults in the schools they attend.

A large number of these young people pointed out what their parents could have done to help them receive their high school diplomas. Seventy-one percent felt that if their home and the school had communicated better, it would have been a great help to them. This same percentage indicated that their parents’ lack of involvement with their education was a major factor in their school failure.

Seventy-one percent also felt that their parents could have been a bigger help in their school success if they had made sure they went to school each day. Related to this 70% felt the school could have played a bigger part in their school completion if they had supervised them closer and ensured that they attended classes.

Obviously, reducing high school dropout numbers is a huge challenge. It will take the whole community to help bring the numbers down significantly. Some actions the community can do to lower the dropout rate include providing extra funding to schools, so they can provide after school and summer school learning for students. This expansion of learning time has proven successful in helping failing students attain the knowledge and skills necessary for school success. Without these additional learning opportunities, failing students fall further and further behind.

Structured after school social and club opportunities also have proven successful in increasing school success for at-risk students. Many of these students go home to empty homes, apartments and trailers at the end of the school day. Structured activities following school replaces these unstructured environments and helps students stay out of trouble that can be found when adults are not around.

Some of the interventions mentioned above are in place in our schools and community. However, it would be safe to say that more of them are still necessary. An investment in the interventions mentioned above would decrease the plague of dropping out. This in turn would lower our crime rate, increase our skilled workforce, and, most importantly, help many lost young people find their way in life. The benefit of helping more youth become successful productive adults is incalculable to them and to our community.