High School
Dropouts: An Age Old Problem that Still Needs Fixing
Stephen Hutchinson
Writing 123
Professor
Dembrow
Outline
I. Introduction
A. Opening statements
B. Personal Experiences
C. Overall Topics
II. Body
A. Reasons for Dropping Out of High School
I. Teachers Low Expectations
II. Truancy and Problems with School System
B. 4 Major Reasons for Dropping Out
I. Inability to Speak English Well
II. Parents Education
III. Public Schools Compared with Private Catholic Schools
IV. Teen Pregnancy and Marriage
C. Problems Associated with dropping out of high school.
I. Can lead to deviance or prison
II. Can lead to dead end job
D. Unemployment as a result of dropping out
I. Statistics on dropping out
II. Five million unemployed young adults with chart
E. Going Back to School
I. Re-Enrolling in High School
II. Pursuing a GED
III. GED Study
F. Solutions to Dropping Out of High School
I. Entrepreneurship
II. Teachers with High Expectations
III. Incorporating Career Apprenticeship Programs
III. Conclusion
Introduction
Who really enjoys
school? There are few that do but for vast majority people do not enjoy
studying for endless hours to complete an assignment or gain knowledge for a
test. For some the solution to this problem is dropping out of high school.
This has been an age old problem for hundreds of years. The statistics have
decreased in numbers so there are more completing their high school education.
But there are still a large number of those who are not completing high school.
In a society that is advancing quickly in technology, the common person cannot
get a decent paying job for doing manual labor. In the early to mid 1900s a
person could get a decent or even high paying job for doing manual labor. With
the advances in technology, those manual labor jobs are now done by machines or
computers. It is more difficult to get a job, if one has little education. When
people have less money they are more likely to turn to deviance as a way of
obtaining money. This leads to the corruption of their personality and can
result in the slow destruction of the person.
Shortly after
graduating high school with many of my close friends I noticed that all of us
were going to college. All of us had high expectations and motivation to pursue
a degree of some kind. I soon realized that my friends, who did not finish high
school, were not going on to college. Their animosity towards school led them
to a life of laziness, depression, and lack of motivation. These high school
dropouts were left with little or no skills which landed them minimum wage,
dead end jobs causing them to be more likely to sell drugs or obtain money in
some deviant way. However I have seen motivation in these high school dropouts.
A few of them are extremely dedicated skateboarders often spending hours on
end, for months at a time trying to learn one skateboard trick until they land
it. The reality of life is that they will not become professional
skateboarders, and if they do, they will not be making much more than the
average person with a bachelor’s degree. The human body can only perform at a
professional skateboard level until thirty-five or even forty at tops. So they
would only be able to obtain income for about 20 years. Less than one percent
of skateboarders become a professional. So if they could have more insight into
their futures and get motivated about a realistic career, I believe that many
of them would actually become successful. One of my friends lost nearly 70
pounds during our senior year of high school. After he lost all of this weight,
he was incredibly fit and muscular. When he lost all this weight he realized
that he was wasting his life sitting around playing video games and eating
whole pizzas in a sitting. He soon became very motivated and is now a manager
of Safeway pulling in over $40,000 a year plus he is going to a community
college full time. He now is working on obtaining his license for real estate.
When he got the motivation to lose weight, that mindset transferred into all
areas of his life. Once he saw that he could do something more than just eat
pizzas and play video games. If I can get high school students even half that
motivated, then many of them could become successful.
In this paper I
will be discussing the reasons why students dropout of high school, the
problems faced in life after they drop out of high school, and some solutions
to the problems.
Reasons for Dropping Out
A large reason why
students dropout is because teachers do not have high expectations of the
students which can lead to the teachers also do not get to know their students.
Establishing personal relationships with the students is a key factor in
keeping them involved and interested in the subject. (Weis) Which makes sense
because if a relationship is established with a person, then their advice,
teaching, and generally what they have to say is going to be much meaningful.
Establishing a personal relationship is definitely a key aspect in reaching the
students.
Society generally
places the blame on the individual for being deviant or deficient for dropping
out of high school instead of placing the blame on the institution. The
stereotypes of dropouts generally tend to be placed upon minorities when in
fact the total number of white dropouts is substantially greater than the total
number of Blacks and Hispanics combined. The mass media blows information
completely out of proportion because it tends to focus on the negative issues
associated with high school dropouts. The media focuses on the individuals own
problems with family and poor grades (Weis).
Many
of these high school dropouts, especially the minorities, are criticizing the
schools programs and teachers. Many of these students earned average grades and
were competent individuals but dropped out because of fault in teachers. They
tried to critique the teachers unjust acts, but their voices were not heard
which further influenced them to dropout (Weis).
Normally
statistics are taken from urban schools with high minorities but a test was
done on twenty students who had dropped out, and all were white. They
interviewed these students and found that there is a direct correlation between
personal lives and the personal ability to cope with the challenges of school.
Many found that they were struggling but the school did little, nothing, or
even made matters worse. The concept of labeling a student as deficient has
effects on how they view themselves (Weis).
If a student is
labeled as being deficient at reading, then the student will accept this
problem. The student may take this even further by thinking they are stupid
because they read at the fourth grade level. This in turn can lead to even
worse problems because the student has accepted that they are deficient at
school.
A student named
“Teachers don’t care, except for one
or two. They have dry classes, and if
you tried to talk
to them—NO! Boring teachers don’t care….I hated simple classes and useless
work; it didn’t stimulate my intellect. There was no challenge, just book work…You’re
set up for a world that isn’t there, without the skills and knowledge needed to
survive in the real world. You can only use their knowledge on tests” (Weis).
This quote proves
that students want the teacher to be involved in their lives. If the teacher
finds the subject interesting, then the students will pick up on it and will
more likely be interested in the subject. Students are very perceptive and can
pick up on details, for instance if the teacher is well prepared and put effort
into making the subject interesting then the students will pick up on that.
Students
that drop out of school in “normal” schools that have sufficient funding, low
dropout rates, and an average faculty, are blamed to be deficient and not able
to cope with the problems faced in school. This then puts the blame on them,
which furthers the media’s stereotype of these kids being deviant and lazy in
reinforced. This is not always the issue, because there are other factors that
lead to dropping out due to the failure of the school systems (Weis).
Most think the main reasons
for dropping out are family situations, attendance patterns, locations, and
socioeconomic status. Those with low grades, problems with truancy, or problems
with the law are more likely to drop out. A parent’s educational background
seems to influence whether the child will drop out (McLaughlin).
“One study found that students whose fathers did not
complete high school were 250 percent more likely to drop out than children
whose fathers were college graduates” (McLaughlin). Children tend to learn from
example. What their parents achieved can effect what the children will achieve,
if the parents have hard work ethics then the children are more likely to adopt
those same or similar ethics.
4 Major Reasons for Dropping Out of High
School
The inability to
speak English at a normal competency level is a large determining factor in
dropping out of high school, “That students from families with little or no
English-speaking background drop out at a much higher rate than those from an
English-speaking household” (McLaughlin). Logically this statement makes sense
and seems obvious but it is true. Those who have a difficult time speaking
English are very likely to have a difficult time in school. There are many challenges
that come with difficulty in speaking English just as part of the regular
curriculum. Many times there is the feeling of loneliness because they cannot
communicate easily with other students, they may become isolated. Also there is
a possibility of being mocked for incompetence because they cannot speak the
English Language fluently. Many negative aspects lie within the hindering
deficiency of not being able to speak English at a normal linguistic level.
The education
pattern of the parent or parents affect the children, “That students with one
parent drop out at a much higher rate than those where both parents were
present” (McLaughlin). This goes back to the family issue that because there is
only one parent, there is generally a lower income. So the student may feel he
or she must help out in the household by getting a job to help out the family.
Minorities tend to have tightly-knit families, so a child may drop out and go
straight to the workforce to help provide for the family. Having one parent can
lead to deviance because the parent will spend a large amount of time working;
therefore, the child will not be disciplined simply because the parent will not
be around to know what is going on. The child is more likely to become deviant
because the discipline and morals were not instilled in their character.
Students who
attend private schools generally do not face problems associated with students
from public schools due to having a higher income, “Students from public
schools drop out more frequently than those from Catholic schools”
(McLaughlin). Those who attend catholic schools are much more likely to have
both parents. They are also able to afford to pay for a private school, so they
are not facing extreme financial trouble. Being able to afford to pay for a
private school also probably means that their parents have obtained some type
of college degree. Those three aspects all eliminate some of the major problems
associated with dropping out; thus, giving them a greater probability to stay
in school. Not all of the children’s parents are wealthy, not all of them have
two parents, and not all of the parents have college degrees but they are far
more likely to based on statistics.
Twenty percent of those who drop out
are either pregnant or married (McLaughlin). Most public high schools do not
allow women who are pregnant to stay in high school. Many high schools will not
kick the woman out until she is recognized as noticeably pregnant. There are
alternative schools, and schools that allow pregnant teenagers to attend the
school while pregnant, and with their children. The majority of the time most
women do not seek this alternative avenue. This is a major issue which could be
combated by educating high school students on how to have safe sex through using
condoms and contraceptives. Abstinence is surely the best way to avoid
pregnancy but most students will probably not practice abstinence. So educating
them on how to avoid conception would be very useful. The irony of the
situation is that sex is not looked down upon in high school but getting
pregnant is. When a high school girl gets pregnant, her whole life changes
because she now is faced with getting kicked out of school, the thought of
abortion, and putting her life on hold. Statistics show that teenage high
school girls who get pregnant are fairly likely to end up on welfare.
Problems Associated
with Dropping out of High School
Some of the
problems faced when dropping out of high school can be detrimental to a persons
mental health and social status. The effects of dropping out of high school
lead to poor jobs. The jobs that many high school dropouts take are basically
what the rest of society does not want. Most of the time these high school
dropouts are rather deviant people; therefore, people do not trust them or do
not want to higher them for a job. A stammering statistic said that 80% of
criminals in prison dropped out of high school. Because of their low social
status and low paying jobs they regress to a more “seedy” way to make ends meet
such as selling drugs, stealing, or committing other crimes to make money. Of
course not all high school dropouts fall into this dilemma, but they are much
more likely to turn to another method of making money by a more dishonest way
(Paying Now or Paying Later).
An
effect of this lifestyle that can lead to a minimum wage dead end job or even
to committing crimes is low self-esteem. This has detrimental effects on the
metal wellbeing of these people because they feel like they have failed in
life. They are faced with the harsh reality that they must deal with the
consequences of their decisions. This often leads to a heavily depressed and
convoluted life. They can lose motivation to better themselves and then accept
their defeat. When this happens they no longer have any hope because they have
already deemed themselves as unsuccessful and worthless. This is a major social
problem because there are many that face these issues. This apathy can destroy
a person.
Unemployment
There are five million Americans who are unemployed young
adult high school dropouts. There are many problems that are faced because of
the repercussions from dropping out of high school such as difficulty to obtain
a job. These young adults have little or no skills which immensely hinders their
opportunities for the job market. Many attempts to keep these young adults in
school have failed. It is our job to use all the resources available to connect
with these students so we do not squander their talents and abilities.
The numbers tend to dwindle down which shows how many
people in our society are completing high school and receiving college degrees,
“for every 100 students who enter 9th grade, only 67 graduate from high school; just 38 go on to college;
and only 18 of the original 100 wind up getting an associate's or bachelor's
degree” (Education Group Puts Spotlight on Dropout Prevention Programs).
Five million young adults are
unemployed with out a high school diploma. This statistic strikes a dubious
attitude towards the success of our nation’s economy. With the extremely
fast-paced technology these young adults are highly likely to end up with dead
end minimum wage jobs or receiving welfare. They are much more likely to live
in poverty and this will directly affect our nation if we do not do something
to motivate and keep these young adults in school.
The main startling statistic from this chart is that women
who have dropped out of high school were very likely to be unemployed. The
unemployment rate of women that graduated high school was 22.7% but the
unemployment rate of women who did not graduate high school was 38.7%. That
statistic is incredibly high, and the majority of those women if they continue
to be unemployed will live in poverty and eventually may turn to welfare. So as
a result of not finishing high school, we will be paying for their income
through our tax dollars (Unemployment and the Newest High School Dropouts).
Going Back to School
Not very many
students will actually go back to school after dropping out. The majority of
those who never finish high school will not attempt to go back to school
because there is a negative sinew or stigma that is associated with school.
Their past experiences of school have been negative. Reasons are that the
assignments were long and arduous. It involves too much time and effort to
complete these assignments. The feeling of being stupid or not “good” at school
related work is a hindrance for students going back to school. There are
several reasons why drop outs do not want to go back.
If
they decide to enroll in college, they are going to face hardships and
complications because they have not attained some or many of the proper skills
to pursue further education. Many of the
skills that are learned in high school such as writing a research paper and
simple algebra have not been learned. If the student did learn them, they will
probably forget how to solve a math problem with the quadratic equation or how
to write a formal research paper. If they decide to go back to school, there is
definitely a synergy of negative aspects that could also lead to dropping out
of college. They will most likely have to overcome many challenges such as
relearning many of the skills they already once learned or playing “catch up”
by taking courses to acquire basic skills to catch up to the college level. A
strongly motivated person can overcome these challenges, but many do not.
The
few that actually decide to re-enroll in high school will try to obtain their
high school diploma or attain their GED. Still the large majority will never go
back to school. Studies have been done to see who goes back to high school and
who decides to get their GED but there was no concluding difference between the
two. Those who have attained their GED have more opportunities than a dropout
because the GED allows them more options to further their education. Students
from a lower household income were less likely to finish high school and
student with higher test scores are more likely to complete high school. Using
factors to predict who might drop out of high school can help identify these at
risk students. By identifying these students, schools can target these students
by giving them extra help. (Chang)
A study was
conducted in which students from ages 40 to 70 took the GED test. There is
funding for adult schooling. Seventy-five percent of the students in this study
were in the forty to fifty age group. The main reasons why these students
dropped out of school were financial reasons such as getting a job to help out
at home. Other major reasons are that they did not like school/weren’t happy in
school and poor study habits. The major reasons for taking the test were
personal satisfaction and getting a better job. An obvious statistic shows that
the more school they completed, the more likely they were to pass the GED test.
Only 6.9% of those who did not finish high school make over $40,000 a year.
While 14% have no income at all, and 9.7% make $3,000 or less (George).
The statistics
from this study are startling. Nearly ten percent of those who dropped out of
high school make three-thousand dollars or less per year which shows that
dropping out of high school can have long term effects. Approximately seven
percent of high school dropouts make over forty-thousand dollars a year which
does not say much at all. Some use that argument that many celebrities dropped
out of high school. The chances of becoming a celebrity are very slim. There
are probably five-hundred rich and famous celebrities in the
Solutions to Dropping
out
Entrepreneurship
can motivate individuals to stay in college. There is a book by Steve Mariotti
that discusses the effects of entrepreneurship on high school students.
Mariotti was a successful entrepreneur and taught entrepreneurship in the worst
academic schools in
“Critics of higher standards often charge that raising
academic standards will drive at- risk students out of school. Evidence
suggests, however, that higher expectations spur higher achievement and reduce
dropout rates” (McLaughlin).
When the standards are raised, and when teachers expect
more out of their students, the students tend to meet the teachers expectations
and often even exceed what they are asking for. When a teacher sets high
expectations, it shows that the teacher cares about the students and believes
that the students are capable of meeting those standards; therefore, the
students are perceived as being competent individuals which enables them to try
harder. Of course this depends on the student but generally speaking students
seem to be able to meet the high standards that certain teachers expect. When
the student meets these expectations then the student feels the sense of
accomplishment which raises their self-esteem. Although there is a downside to
high expectations, some students might not be able to meet those high
expectations causing them to “feel like a failure” if they do not do well in
the class. This can happen if the teacher sets the standards too high, but
generally speaking when a teacher sets high standards the students will achieve
them.
There seemed to be
a growing problem of high school dropouts located in the urban and
predominantly African-American city of
These statistics
clearly shows that this program certainly worked, and also produced astonishing
results. When the students are able to focus on the future instead of just the
“now” then they are much more likely to become motivated. These students saw
that they had the skills to become accountants, restaurant owners, doctors or
nurses, and high-tech technicians. These are students from one of the roughest
cities in the nation and they are motivated towards their goals. These students
have difficult life situations but when they realize that they are capable of
rising to these higher standards, they feel like they can achieve anything.
With determination and effort, many of these students will become successful in
the careers that they choose.
Conclusion
The
problem of dropping out of high school will never be completely eliminated but
it can definitely be substantially lowered through entrepreneurship,
apprenticeship programs, and teachers that have high expectations and also
build a personal relationship with each student. Finding a way to motivate the
students towards a goal can help them see into the future. When they see a
positive, bright, and successful future in a career that they enjoy, their
motivation can very likely lead them to success. The effects of dropping out of
high school can ruin a person’s life by sending them on a downward spiral from
unemployment, to crime, to prison, to even death. Keeping these at-risk
students in school and getting them motivated about a career that interests
them can change or even save a life. Once the student realizes that he or she
is capable of pursuing their dreams, then the sky is the limit. They can go on
to be doctors, lawyers, business owners, or artists. There is too much talent
in this country that is being thrown away because of poor decisions and reasons
to drop out of high school. We can make a difference by trying to incorporate
more ideas to keep at-risk students in school. We can use our tax dollars to
make these ideas a reality, and give these students the chance at success that
they deserve. Some may say that they do not want to spend more our of their
paycheck for taxes so that high school “kids” can have a little more funding.
If we give a little money we can invest in making the future of The United
States a more secure, educated, and prosperous country. Unemployment is over
five million for young adults who have dropped out of high school, which is a
threat to this nation’s economy. But if we invest money, time, and ideas into
the future of these students, we can make The United States of America a better
place for our children, and the future generations yet to come.
Work Cited
Chan, Chi-Keung. “Analysis of Subsequent Educational Decisions of High School
Dropouts and Their Life Outcomes.” EBSCOhost .
“Education Group Puts Spotlight
on Dropout Prevention Programs.” Black Issues
in Higher Education.
“Famous High School/ Grade School
Dropouts.” Fundraising Idea and Product
Center.2002. <http://fundraising
ideas.org/orgs/schools/dropouts.htm>.October 16, 2004.
George, Carol E. “The General
Acadmic Achievement of
Diplomas” EBSCOhost.
2003.
Mariotti, Steve. The Young
Entrepreneur’s Guide to Starting and Running a
Business.
McLaughlin, Michael J. “High
School Dropouts: How much of a Crisis?” Heritage
Foundation.
<http://www.heritage.org/Research/Education/BG781.cfm>.
October 16,
2004.
“Paying Now or Paying Later.”
Center for Effective Collaboration and Practice.
2000.
“Unemployment and the Newest High
School Dropouts.” Monthly Labor Review.
July12,1999.<http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/1999/Jul/wk2/art01.htm>.October
16, 2004.
Weis, Lois. Beyond Silenced
Voices.
1993. 259-271.
Zuckerman, Mortimer B. “Time for
a Teaching Tune-up”
Report.
Anotated Bibliography for High School
Dropouts.
Chan, Chi-Keung. “Analysis of Subsequent Educational
Decisions of High School
Dropouts and
Their Life Outcomes.” EBSCOhost .
Deals with the
dropouts and their lives afterwards. It contains information
on high school
dropouts as well as middle school dropouts. It shows how their
lives were affected
by dropping out. Will probably only be able to use a small
portion of this paper
but the information is pertinent.
Extensive
Bibliography.
Dryfoos,
Joy G. Safe Passage.
Goes
over the basic fundamentals that adolescents need to ensure their mental,
physical,
and social lives. Discusses solutions to problems such as getting
involved
early in a child’s life can effect their adolescence, programs that
continue
to teach, and having high expectations of students can help them
become
more successful and will more likely keep them in schools. Will use
some
information from this book but not a lot. The author has great credentials
and
has been studying youth culture for many years. Extensive bibliography.
“Education
Group Puts Spotlight on Dropout Prevention Programs.” Black Issues
in Higher Education.
2004. Discusses the problems being faced with the large numbers of
high school
dropouts being uneducated and
entering into the world. Many students will not go
on to college, and the one that do,
only a few of them will end up graduating. Five million dropouts unemployed dropouts that are young
adults. Of pertinent
use to paper. Author is anonymous,
no credentials. Bibliography small.
“Famous
High School/ Grade School Dropouts.” Fundraising Idea and Product
Center.2002. <http://fundraising
ideas.org/orgs/schools/dropouts.htm>.October 16, 2004. This
page gives a large
number of celebrities, over 500 that have dropped out of
high school or
gradeschool. It has information on how many of them
acquired a GED. It
has everything from presidents, actors, musicans, and
artists. Decent
bibliography.
George,
Carol E. “The General Acadmic Achievement of
Diplomas” EBSCOhost. 2003. It talks about how
most dropouts take the GED
test
within two years of dropping out. It goes into extensive detail on the test
and
how the students did in the five categories on the test. It was a study of
over
10,000 students who took the test. It has demographic information on who
and
who did not pass the test. Extensive bibliography.
Gotbum,
Betsy. “Pushing Out At-Risk Students: An Analysis of High School
Discharge Figures.” EBSCOhost webpage. 2003. This paper discusses
Controversial issues such as high school student that were at-risk were forced out. Many
discharged students attend GED programs. This report wants to institute a
research survey on
high school discharge students. Extensive Bibliography
“High
School Dropouts”. <http://www.thelearningweb.net/high-school-dropouts.html>.
contains alternative
explanations on how to solve the dropout problem. Gives
other methods such as
a Japanese school method that has its students set its
own goals. Students
tend to set goals much higher than teachers do. Has proven
to be a successful
way of keeping students interested in school. Somewhat
useful. Small
bibliography.
“High School Dropouts: Event
Rate(Percent) For Grades 10-12.” 1997.
<http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/97trends/ea1-4.htm>.
Gives some brief statistical information on high school dropouts. It
gives the
dropout rates of
white, black, and Hispanics between 1991-1994. Decent
bibliography.
“High School Dropouts Rates.”
1993<http://www.ed.gov/pubs/OR/ConsumerGuides/dropout.html>.
October
16, 2004
This Website is focused on the different definitions of graduating, who
is
counted as a dropout, how the
dropout rate is calculated, and what the
trends
are. This website also contains some
statistical information on high school
drop
outs. It is a brief overview of high school dropouts. It is concise and to the
point.
The information seems very credible and useful. Decent bibliography.
“High School Dropout Rates by Sex and Race/Ethnicity,
1960-2001 Infoplease.2002.<http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0779196.html>.
October
16, 2004.
This page
only contains statistical information on high school dropouts. It has a
very
thorough overview of high school dropouts as far as race and gender. It has
statistics
from 1960-2001 and it is very self explanatory. It shows that
high
school dropouts have steadily declined since 1960. Decent bibliography.
An
educational page which seems to be quite credible and useful for statistics.
Mariotti,
Steve. The Young Entrepreneur’s Guide to
Starting and Running a
Business.
Chapter involves a
case study in which a young African-American girl
decided she wanted to
start a business braiding hair and doing nails. Not only
was it her business
but a sense of accomplishment, self-esteem, and personal
pride. Will be of decent
use to paper. Author has excellent credentials and is a
well respected author
and entrepreneur. No bibliography, all personal experience.
McLaughlin, Michael J. “High School Dropouts: How much of a
Crisis?” Heritage
Foundation.
<http://www.heritage.org/Research/Education/BG781.cfm>.
“Paying
Now or Paying Later.” Center for Effective Collaboration and Practice.
2000.
on high school
dropouts and where they can end up. Because of high school
dropouts our tax dollars
go towards funding their deviant choices that have led
them to prison or
welfare. Many high school drop outs will be arrested. Author anonymous, no
credentials. Good bibliography.
Roderick,
Melissa. The Path to Dropping Out.
House, 1993. 41-59. Chapter in the book
that examines the relationship between
school experiences
and dropping out. Some of the reasons for dropping out are do
to low grades, poor attendance, and are more likely to have repeated grades.
This
chapter also gives
some statistics on the percentages of dropouts in each individual grade. This
is a very reliable source and will be extremely useful information. An
Extensive bibliography.
“Silly
Rabbit, Riffs Are for Kids; Kids Need Music. First Octave Here is to Help.”
Willamete Week.
2004. Talks about grants given to help students stay in schools.
Music is
essential for keeping students in
school. Grants hope to keep some students
engaged in high school because many
of them love music. Grants given to schools
here in
bibliography.
“Unemployment and the Newest High School Dropouts.” Monthly
Labor Review.
July12,1999.<http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/1999/Jul/wk2/art01.htm>.October
16, 2004. This Shows that young men and women who
recently dropped out of
high
school are much more likely to be unemployed than those who graduated. It
gives an
excellent bar chart that shows
information on men, women, and the total
of both
on unemployment for those who graduated high school and those who did
not.
Small Bibliography.
Weis,
Lois. Beyond Silenced Voices.
1993. 259-271. This chapter
discusses the images of dropouts and how they are
perceived amongst
their peers and by general society. It also discusses such topics
as the critical
voices of urban minority dropouts, white working-class dropouts,
self-silencing of
critical voices, and class ideology and the lack of a collective
consciousness. Very
useful information. Extensive bibliography.
Zuckerman,
Mortimer B. “Time for a Teaching Tune-up”
Report.
Newspaper article
that stresses the dropouts in Compton, CA. Describes an
apprenticeship study
on high school students that involved choosing one
of four careers in
high school and sticking to it. Results were astonishing
and extremely
effective of this newly incorporated apprenticeship program.
Will be of minimal
use to paper. Unsure of the authors credentials. Small
bibliography.