|
I
just covered HS dropout rates in Adolescent Psych and the text I use (Cobb’s
5th edition of Adolescence) puts the dropout rate at 10.9% for all
students in 2000, down from 14.6% in 1972. African Americans in 2000 were a
little below 15% and Hispanics were approaching 30%. Now, the latest
cover story in Time magazine has this passage (I bolded some incredibly
ludicrous passages): “In today's data-happy era
of accountability, testing and No Child Left Behind, here is the most
astonishing statistic in the whole field of education: an increasing number of
researchers are saying that nearly one out of three public high school students
won't graduate, not just in Shelbyville but around the nation. For Latinos and African-Americans, the rate approaches an
alarming 50 percent. Virtually no community,
small or large, rural or urban, has escaped the problem. There is a small but hardy
band of researchers who insist the dropout rates don't quite
approach those levels. They point to their pet
surveys that suggest a rate of only 15 percent to 20 percent. The dispute is difficult to referee, particularly in the
wake of decades of lax accounting by states and schools. But the majority of analysts and lawmakers have come to this
consensus: the numbers have remained unchecked at approximately 30
percent through two decades of intense educational reform, and the magnitude of
the problem has been consistently, and often willfully, ignored. That's starting to change.” So what does the best
research in this area say? Are there any experts in this area on this list (possibly
one of those small, hardy folk with a pet survey) or do we need to rely for
these facts on “analysts and lawmakers” (read: politicians and
their enablers) for accurate empirical data? Rick Dr. Rick Froman To make changes to your subscription go to: http://acsun.frostburg.edu/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=tips&text_mode=0&lang=english |
- [tips] HS Dropout rates Rick Froman
- [tips] HS Dropout rates Rick Froman
