High School Dropouts “Are you or do you know someone who has dropped out of high school? Starting a year ago, the people of Shelbyville began to admit the scope of their problem by asking themselves the same simple questions about who was graduating” (Thornburgh). One cause of many reasons why students drop out of High school is that their attitude towards school is negative, the teachers and the way they teach effects this, but if we improve teaching and curricula to make school more relevant and engaging and enhance the connection between school and work because once a student drops out their life will never be the same simply by not getting a good job to support themselves/family. “More high school students across the country are graduating on time but dropouts continue to be a significant national problem, creating a drag on the economy” (Layton). “Critics say the census count severely underreports dropout numbers, in part because it doesn't include transients or prisoners, populations with a high proportion of dropouts” (Thornburg).
“Nearly 1 out of 3 public high school students won't graduate, but around the nation. For Latinos and African Americans, the rate approaches an alarming 50%. Virtually no community, small or large, rural or urban, has escaped the problem” (Thornburgh). “The national graduation rate for the class of 1998 was 71%. For white students the rate was 78%, while it was 56% for African-American students and 54% for Latino students”(Greene). “Currently, the highest rate of graduation among African-American students was 71%” (Greene). “The national graduation rate increased to 75.5 percent in 2009, up from 72 percent in 2001” (Layton). “Today, Washington County’s graduation rate is 10 percentage points higher than the Maryland average” (Layton). “Iowa had the highest overall graduation rate with 93%” (Greene).
“Each year, more than a million kids will leave school without earning a high school diploma -- that's approximately 7,000 students every day of the academic year” (Furger). According to Thornburgh, “only 215 are expected to graduate. The 100 others have simply melted away, dropping out in a slow, steady bleed that has left the town wondering how it could have let down so many of its kids” (Thornburgh).
“The deeper learning competencies are associated with desirable educational, career, and health outcomes” (Alliance for Excellent Education). “There is a growing consensus that all students need to develop the abilities to use their knowledge to think critically and solve problems, communicate effectively, and learn how to learn” (Alliance for Excellent Education).
“American public education may be a victim of its own ambition” (Thornburgh). Although the education system wants to give students the best education possible and feed the minds of young students, they are failing to realize some important aspects. One of the most common reasons for dropping out of high school was the fact that students were losing interest in what was being taught. Lack of interest occurred because students were having difficulties finding a correlation between what was being taught in the classroom and how it applied to life situations (Furger). “Many students gave personal reasons for leaving school. A third (32 percent) said they had to get a job and make money; 26 percent said they became a parent; and 22 percent said they had to care for a family member” (Bridgeland). “Thirty-eight percent believed they had ‘too much freedom’ and not enough rules” (Bridgeland). Also as students age, they also become more self-reliant. In doing so the parents lose focus on their children grades and become less involved (Furger). “Forty-five percent said they started high school poorly prepared by their earlier schooling.” (Bridgeland). “Fifty-nine to 65 percent of respondents missed class often the year before dropping out” (Bridgeland). “For some students, dropping out is the culmination of years of