Student dropout report

Some students -- almost 7% -- who leave school for four weeks or more return to school, according to data. This trend means schools have new opportunities to re-engage at-risk students. The federal study found that students in the poorest 20 percent of families nationwide were generally more likely than those from other income groups to both stop out or drop out. The researchers found that the later students “stopped out” of school, the less likely they were to graduate and the more likely they were to become dropouts.
Dalton, B., Ingels, S., & Fritch, L. (2016). High School Longitudinal Study. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics.
https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2015/2015037rev.pdf

Drop-out report

A report gives voice to the 20 percent of American students who do not graduate from high school on time. It finds that participants across the sixteen cities frequently mentioned 25 different factors or events that influenced their decisions about school. Survey respondents confirm the prevalence of traumatic and stressful life events among young people who disengage from school. Most participants had returned to school or re-engagement programs to complete their education. Four themes emerged: a cluster of factors, toxic environments, yearning for connectness, resilience in need of support.
America's Promise. (2014).  Don't call them dropouts.
http://gradnation.org/report/dont-call-them-dropouts

Boosting the Nation’s Economy by Improving High School Graduation Rates

Education and the Economy: Boosting the Nation’s Economy by Improving High School Graduation Rates

A new study reveals the economic benefit of cutting the high school dropout rates in half. Economic benefits projected in the study’s state-by-state profiles include higher individual earnings, increased home and auto sales, job and economic growth, higher levels of spending and investment, and larger state tax revenues.

Alliance for Excellent Education, March 2011, http://www.all4ed.org/publication_material/EconStates

high school completion study

Advises governments, workforce development groups, school districts, postsecondary institutions, and others on expanding routes to high school completion through state and local policy, cross-system collaboration, data, capacity-building, and funding.
Weeter, Christina; Nancy Martin. (2011). Building Roads to Success: Key Considerations for Communities & States Reconnecting Youth to Education. National Youth Employment Coalition.
http://nyec.org/content/documents/Building%20Roads%20cover-FINAL.pdf

Hispanic Youth report

"A new report released by the National Council of La Raza examines the status of Hispanic youth in the United States, ages 15 to 24. The report shows that more than one in five (21.4%) Hispanics ages 16–24 has dropped out of high school. The Hispanic population is on the rise nationally and will account for about 30% of the U.S. population by 2050." (American Libraries)
National Council of La Raza (2010). America’s Tomorrow: A Profile of Latino Youth
http://www.nclr.org/content/publications/detail/62014/

Dropouts and literacy report

U.S. Losing Ground in Education and Workforce Development
According to a new repor, soaring dropout rates among high school students and diminished literacy skills among adults pose a serious threat to the nation's economic future. A growing percentage of U.S. workers is not prepared for careers in fields with growth potential such as health care, advanced manufacturing, and alternative energy. Studies show that one in three young people in this country drop out of high school before earning their diploma, while nearly thirty million adults lack basic literacy skills.
National Commission on Adult Literacy . (2008). Reach Higher, America: Overcoming Crisis in the U.S. Workforce. New York: Author.
http://www.nationalcommissiononadultliteracy.org/ReachHigherAmerica/ReachHigher.pdf

California drop-out rates studies

This report compares high school dropout rates between districts as well as between traditional and non-traditional schools. Includes a link to data on numbers of schools, enrollment, numbers of dropouts, and dropout rates, by county, district, and type of school.
Rotermund, Susan.(2008). Which California School Districts Have the Most Dropouts? Santa Barbara: California Dropout Research Project.
http://www.lmri.ucsb.edu/dropouts/pubs_statbriefs.htm


Shares what first-year high school students find motivating or discouraging; how they view family, peer, and school factors; and how demographic characteristics, attitudes toward school, and support networks affect the odds of their dropping out.
Bridges, Margaret; Stefan Brauckmann; Bruce Fuller; Oscar Medina; Laurie Mireles; Angeline Spain. (2008). Giving a Student Voice to California's Dropout Crisis.
Santa Barbara: California Dropout Research Project.
http://www.lmri.ucsb.edu/dropouts/pubs_reports.htm


The extent of California’s dropout problem is unknown, placed at between 33 and 16 percent. California needs to build a robust student data system—-called a student unit record (SUR) system, because it contains information on every student from entry in kindergarten to exit from college and eventually into the labor force-—in order to accurately measure the dropout rate across schools and colleges, hold educational institutions accountable, evaluate the effectiveness of programs, help identify students at-risk, and assess return on educational investments. The state can do so by building on its existing student data systems enhanced by adding and standardizing data elements (e.g. program participation and attendance), integrating the existing SUR from the four California education segments, linking the integrated SUR data file with other state and federal data files, and broadening access to the resulting data set.
Vernez, g. (2008). Improving California's Student Data Systems to Address the Dropout Crisis. Santa Barbara: California Dropout Research Project.
http://www.lmri.ucsb.edu/dropouts/pubs_reports.htm


This report analyzes the different, nested, and interdependent roles of these education support providers. The report particularly examines the role of school districts. The author argues that, while well functioning school districts are uniquely positioned and integral to building school capacity, they also generally need substantial capacity-building themselves to identify and coordinate the array of resources that must be brought to bear in order to address pressing educational challenges. The report concludes by suggesting that the most potentially powerful and systemic approach to coordinating the different organizations supporting educational improvement would establish a state-wide consortium of support providers.
Supovitz, J. (2008). Building System Capacity for Improving High School Graduation Rates in California. Santa Barbara: California Dropout Research Project.
http://www.lmri.ucsb.edu/dropouts/pubs_reports.htm

Dropout reports

This report evaluates alternative pathways to high school graduation — such as school- or employment-based technical or vocational training programs — in different countries, in terms of content, graduation requirements, inclusiveness, and outcomes.
Lamb, S. (2008). Alternative Pathways to High School Graduation: An International Comparison. Santa Barbara, CA: California Dropout Research Project.
http://www.lmri.ucsb.edu/dropouts/pubs.htm


This report examines the scope and causes of California's dropout problem, and assesses whether some state policies unintentionally drive students out of schools. Proposes a comprehensive policy framework focused on effectively serving at-risk students.
Timar, Thomas, T., Biag, M., & Lawson, M. (2007, Oct.). Does State Policy Help or Hurt the Dropout Problem in California? Santa Barbara, CA: California Dropout Research Project.
http://www.lmri.ucsb.edu/dropouts/pubs.htm

California drop-out study

The roughly 120,000 California students who each year fail to earn a high-school diploma before they turn 20 are costing the state $46.4 billion over the course of their lives, owing to their greater rates of unemployment, crime, welfare and state-funded medical care, as well as lost tax-revenues, according to a California Dropout Research Project report.

California's alternative charters have highest dropout rates
Only 25 California high schools, or 1%, produce more than 20% of its dropouts, and most of those are schools that specialize in students having trouble in traditional schools. "Is the school doing a bad job, or are the kids at risk anyway no matter what setting they're in?" asked researcher Russell Rumberger. "If that many kids are dropping out, it's unlikely that you're doing a good job."
Rumberger, R. (2008). California Dropout Research Project. Santa Barbara: UC SB.
http://www.lmri.ucsb.edu/dropouts/

Dropout study

Dropouts' interest in school may start waning early on
Students who drop out of school don't do so impulsively but instead may fall into a dropout trajectory as early as kindergarten. "Educators may be overlooking important developmental trajectories exhibited by students prior to entering high school," said Gregory Hickman, who directed the undergraduate research. "Dropouts miss an average of 124 days by eighth grade."
Hickman, G. (2008). The Differential Developmental Trajectories of High School Dropouts and Graduates. Journal of Education Research. [in press]

Reading and drop-outs study

For every 100 ninth-graders, 68 graduate on time, and 40 of those go to college. But by the following year, 13 of them have dropped out. To a large extent, these behaviors are correlated to reading habits.
National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. (2004). Educational pipeline loss rate. San Jose, CA: Author.
http://www.highereducation.org/reports/pipeline/loss.shtml

(Note: older study but still relevant...)

California drop-out study

California dropout spike coincided with onset of exit exams
In the first year that California high school students were required to pass exit exams, some 24,000 seniors dropped out, according to a report presented to the state's board of education. The report recommended California consider alternative means for seniors to prove their proficiency.
Human Resources Research Organization. (2007). Independent evaluation of the California high school exit examination. Alexandria, VA: Human Resources Research Organization.
http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/hs/documents/ab1609srv2appa.pdf

Graduation study

As college's importance grows, dropouts face uncertain future
Those without high school diplomas face increasingly bleak prospects as some college is now necessary for most high-paying jobs, according to publication released today. Despite this, 1.23 million students will not graduate from high school this year, and nationwide, just 70% of ninth-grade students graduate in four years, a figure that is closer to 50% for black and Hispanic males.
Diplomas Count. (2007). Education Week