High School Dropouts Who Change Their Mind About School (From Dropouts, Pushouts, and Other Casualties, P 55-86, 1988, William T. Denton, ed. -- See NCJ-117047)

• NCJ Number: 117051
• Author(s): A J Kolstad; J A Owings
• Date Published: 1988
• Length: 34 pages
• Sale Source: Phi Delta Kappa
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

National survey data are used to describe how many school dropouts try to return to complete graduation requirements, the characteristics of those who succeed, and how the subsequent activities of those successful returnees differ from dropouts who stay out of school.

Abstract

Data came from the High School and Beyond project sponsored by the United States Department of Education. The project gathered data from 30,000 sophomores in 1,015 high schools in the spring of 1980 and gathered followup data in 1982 and 1984. The data analysis showed that the groups shown by previous research to be most likely to drop out are also least likely to complete their diploma requirements. Hispanic and black dropouts were less likely to finish high school than were majority white dropouts. In addition, dropouts from a family with below-average socioeconomic resources were less likely to finish than those with better test scores. Furthermore, dropouts in the west and midwest were less likely to graduate than those in the south and northeast. In contrast to previous results, this research found male dropouts were more likely than females to finish school. Finally, completing high school was associated with more promising futures, including postsecondary education, military enlistment, and full-time employment. Tables, figures, and 22 references.