Understanding the High School Dropout Problem

Posted by on October 13, 2006

[posted from Public Education Network newsblast]

INCREASE SCHOOL HOLDING POWER: INFORM, CONNECT & ACT

National media — from the Oprah Winfrey Show to Time magazine – are spotlighting the national crisis of students dropping out of school. Since 1986 when Intercultural Development Research Association (IDRA) conducted Texas? first statewide study of high school dropouts, Texas schools have lost over 2 million students. That?s like losing a student every four minutes. Schools lose almost half of their Hispanic students, close to half of African American students, and one in five White students. Together, schools, parents, students and policymakers can make a difference in strengthening school holding power. Schools must have the capacity to prepare every student for graduation and college. We must ensure: (1) All students are valued; (2) There is at least one educator in a student?s life who is totally committed to the success of that student; (3) Students, parents and teachers are provided extensive, consistent
support in ways that allow students to learn, teachers to teach and parents to be meaningfully involved. Band-Aid solutions are not enough. We must secure: (4) Equity and excellence in schools to contribute to individual and collective growth, long-term stability and advancement; (5) Statewide credible counts of student dropouts, shared accountability and evidence of measurable improvement; and (6) Institution-based solutions that embrace family and community participation and draw on the strengths and contributions that students and their families bring. Click below for a one-page alert that outlines the scope of the problem and what is needed to help schools hold on to their students. It includes links to resources for communities, families and educators as well as media.

http://www.idra.org/increase_school_holding_power.html