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Facing the School Dropout Dilemma

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Written by DianaClark   
Monday, 17 July 2017 19:13

The United States educational system celebrates almost 90 percent graduation rate this year, as indicated by the report of the National Center for Education Statistics. While this is certainly a great accomplishment, 10 percent is still a high rate that translates into millions of students throughout the country that have compromised future because of lack of education.

According to the International Association for Truancy & Dropout Prevention, this dropout rate presents a huge problem for the nation because it has to suffer from a higher unemployment rate, increased costs of welfare, elevated drug and alcohol use as well as losses of tax revenue. The future of young people without education also gets jeopardized because they earn less than their counterparts with high school diplomas. The difference between the revenues is as high as $4,500 per year and $200,000 for the entire lifestyle.

It is a serious problem.

Teachers are at the forefront of the educational system and deal with youth every day. They can be interpreted as the ones who can really determine the paths of their students because if they fail to show that education is good, the students can drop out and face the consequences described above. So what specific measures could be taken to solve the problem.

Anti-Absenteeism Strategy

Problem: Attendance is a critical ingredient of academic success because students cannot get the knowledge if they are not present in the class. Student absenteeism, however, is widespread and teacher struggle to eliminate it.

Take action: determine the cause of absenteeism of your students? Is it boredom? Is it lack of parenting? If both of these reasons can be applied in your case, there is something you can do today to solve the problem. For example, you can use different reinforcements to motivate the students to come to the class, such as engaging exercises, extracurricular activities, and even involvement of parents.

If you see that students show a lack of interest in studying, organize clubs and activities that resemble their interests. If frequently absent students spend a lot of time on the basketball court, try to organize a sports club that includes basketball practice. In the most extreme cases, however, referring to parents might be a good idea.

Employment-related dropouts

Problem: One of the recent surveys found that 41 percent of male and 28 percent of female students drop out of school for any employment-related reason and that they left school because they were hired.

Take action: you need to connect with such students on a personal level here. Quitting school is a serious decision that can be made spontaneously and because of silly reasons. For example, if your student says that he or she needs to start a career because it can bring money, conduct a conversation with them.

Do not try to sound like you are desperate to return them to school, just show facts, says Brianna Jennings, a former career counselor and the editor in chief. For example, you can use the statistics that were included in the beginning of this article and show that dropouts eventually make much less than graduates because employers need a good education. In fact, This problem applies also to college students. Working at a part-time job trying to cope with work and studying by buying college essays from college paper writing services won't make them qualified specialists in the future.

Pregnancy and Parenting

Problem: according to the report by the U.S. Department of Education, around 3 million 16- through 24 year-olds were not enrolled in high school and had not earned a diploma or alternative credential. The academic and career prospects of these students are significantly limited.

Take action: contact the school administrator and learn about the approaches that have been implemented to address the needs of pregnant and parenting students. If you think the school’s effort is not enough, organize a group that will be responsible for developing policies and procedures to eliminate the problem and provide all necessary conditions for these students to engage in a learning process.

Contact the school district’s attorney and inform them about the need to organize workshops for teachers and other school personnel on different laws related to the provision of education services to these students. The sooner these actions are taken, the sooner the conditions will be created or improved.

The Bottom Line

Reducing school dropout rate is a dilemma faced by all teachers in the U.S. A significant progress has been already made but there are still millions of students that can compromise their future by deciding to drop out. Teachers should be the first to address the issue and show the advantages and, more importantly, disadvantages of making this decision.

Use these quick strategies to help your own students to stay in school and have a better future. And remember, show your students real care and engage in a meaningful dialog that will demonstrate that leaving the school is a bad option and another pathway should be taken.

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