Dropping Out: Can Schools Be Expected To Prevent It? (From Reducing the Risk: Schools as Communities of Support, P 28-47, Gary G Wehlage, et al, -- See NCJ-124151)

• NCJ Number: 124153
• Author(s): G G Wehlage; R A Rutter; G A Smith; N Lesko; R R Fernandez
• Date Published: 1989
• Length: 20 pages
• Sale Source: Taylor & Francis Inc.
• Publication Type: Research (Theoretical)
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom

Annotation

This analysis of research regarding whether schools can be expected to reduce substantially the number of students who drop out concludes that careful attention by adults to social relations produces a sense of bonding to school for at-risk schools and can affect whether students drop out.

Abstract

Historically, researchers and educators have been ambivalent regarding the ability of schools to increase the proportion of youth who graduate. Some of this ambivalence results from doubts about the ability of poor and minority youth to benefit from more education. Nevertheless, over the years, more youth have stayed to graduation, and the current graduation rate of 75 percent is a plateau that is now being challenged by advocates of further efforts to increase the graduation rate. In addition, much of the research on dropouts has promoted the assumptions that dropouts are deviants or the products of deficient homes and that schools can have little effect on the dropout rate. However, other evidence regarding suspensions, retention practices, and other factors has been used to support arguments that schools contribute in important ways to the problems of students. In addition, the success of Catholic high schools in retaining students from a broad range of backgrounds shows that some schools have established effective supports for students at risk.