Educational Failure Essay

â€Å"Every year, over 1. 2 million students drop out of high school in the United States alone. That’s a student every 26 seconds – or 7,000 a day† (Thornbergh). Why this happening and more importantly, what is being done to solve this problem? Because of boring classes, too much freedom, and just a lack of motivation, students nationwide are dropping out of school, and are starting on the path of minimum wage and regret. Schools are trying to resolve this issue by giving the support students the help they need, and giving them alternatives to traditional schooling. †¦nearly 1 out of 3 public high school students won’t graduate†(Thornbergh). That’s one third of today’s youths. That’s one out of three people that won’t go to college. That’s one of three people that won’t know the rewarding feeling of getting a diploma. But what’s wrong with this one third that isn’t wrong with the other two thirds? Some say it’s because if society, others say it’s because of schools. Really only half of the problem lies with schools. There are only a small percentage of dropouts that feel that they could never meet the criteria that the school demanded. Unfortunately, many students are not given the extra support they need to make a successful transition to high school and are lost in ninth grade†(Galesic 317). Most others aren’t engaged in school. â€Å"Boredom and disengagement are two key reasons students stop attending class and wind up dropping out of school†(Furger). â€Å"Fully 88% said they had passing grades in high school. When asked to name the reasons they had left school, more respondents named boredom than struggles with course work†(Thornbergh). With this combination, schools become what many students feel to be a waste of time. When schools get this reputation, they become what is known as dropout factories. â€Å"Approximately two thousand high schools (about 12 percent), known as the nation’ lowest performing high schools, produce nearly half of the nation‘s dropouts. In these schools, the number of seniors enrolled is routinely 60 percent or less than the number of freshmen three years earlier† (Galesic 314). Although schools have some blame for the problem at hand, the other half of the problem has origins that the schools can’t control, and that is society and family. Students don’t only have to deal with their school work, but also their peers and life at home. This can be stressful time for students, and, because of this stress, students’ grades may suffer. Even though a student’s grades are low, their parents might not know, or even care. Many parents just don’t pay any attention to their child’s grades. The shocking thing is that only fifty-one percent of parents somewhat knew that their child had low grades; the other percentages range anywhere from kind of knowing to almost not knowing at all. Even though dropping out doesn’t sound too bad, a person is branding themselves a quitter. Once a person drops out, there’s no going back. Sure, a person could get a GED, but, that still doesn’t hold the same weight as a diploma. Dropping out of schools will affect a person their entire life. â€Å"Even a GED is not sufficient for a job here anymore (Thornbergh). † There is no replacement for a diploma. The path of minimum wage and unemployment starts with dropping out. Only forty five percent of High school dropouts are able to find employment. Compared to the sixty eight percent that graduated, that’s a very low number in today’s economic state. Even if a drop out can be that forty five present that is employed, their annual earnings ($8,358) are only little more than half the earning of a High school Graduate ($14,601)(Sum, Ishwar, McLaughlin). Dropping out does not only affect the person who dropped out but also everyone around them. In today’s world, the efforts one person really affects everything around them. People often say, do as your told ;not as they do. That seems easy right? Well, when it comes to drop out, that’s not the case. Students are more likely to drop out if their parents did. When they drop out, their children are also more likely to drop out; leading through a vicious cycle of drop outs. Family isn’t the only thing affected by drop outs (Bridgeland, DiIulio, Morison). Over their working lives, the average high school dropout will have a negative net fiscal contribution to society of nearly -$5,200 while the average high school graduate generates a positive lifetime net fiscal contribution of $287,000. The average high school dropout will cost taxpayers over $292,000 in lower tax revenues, higher cash and in-kind transfer costs, and imposed incarceration costs relative to an average high school graduate. Adult dropouts in the U. S. in recent years have been a major fiscal burden to the rest of society. Given the current and projected deficits of the federal government, the fiscal burden of supporting dropouts and their families is no longer sustainable. ;(Sum, Ishwar, McLaughlin) Supporting dropouts and their families in no longer doable. So, what is actually being done to help students succeed in school and ultimately success in life? One solution that can has come into play in resent years in is alternative to traditional education such as viral schools and credits labs. They consist of virtual schools and programs that help students get back on track to graduating. With these They offer the help and support students need with out the social problems that traditional classes have such as labels, race, and learning disabilities. In doing so, theses alternatives are also adjusting learning to a more personal level. Education no longer has to be for the whole, but only for the small part that is the individual student. â€Å"Districts throughout the country are working to personalize learning by creating small schools or reorganizing large schools into small learning communities, as part of their strategy for reducing the dropout rate†(Furger). These individual students can now get more help and understanding then they would ever get in a traditional class room. Another Solution to this epidemic is stricter rules for schooling. Schools are not only making it harder to drop out, but also, raising the academic bar for students. Some students just quit because its acceptable , while others quit just because they’re board in schools. It would be no long acceptable to just quit if there are stricter penalties, right? Some states are making it so students can’t quit at an easily age. â€Å"Students who drop out before age 18 could have their driver’s license suspended or their work permit revoked unless their decision was first approved by a school or judge†(Thornbergh). But the problem doesn’t only lie with it just being acceptable, but also boredom. â€Å"Higher expectations and more challenging curriculum, coupled with the support students need to be successful, have proven to be an effective strategy not only for increasing graduation rates, but also for preparing students to graduate from high school with options†(Furger). The last and most research backed cure for this epidemic is early education. â€Å"Every month, new studies in neuroscience and psychology provide insights and warnings about how much of a person’s capacity for learning is shaped from birth to age 8. Young children need to experience rich language interactions with teachers, parents, and other adults who read to them, ask questions of them, and encourage their exploration of myriad subjects†(Guernsey Mead). Many students quit school because they are failing. â€Å"Preschool, they argue, is an early investment in youth that yields significant economic results later on. In their review of the research on preschool models in California and elsewhere, the authors found that one preschool program increased high school graduation rates by 11 percent, and another by 19 percent. Furger) â€Å"We need a much broader and deeper transformation of the educational system that starts, if parents choose, when children are as young as three years old and continues through the first few grades of elementary school. Early childhood does not stop at kindergarten; it extends through age eight, because children are still learning foundational skills in literacy, numeracy, social competence, and problem solving, they are more likely to retain them. (Guernsey, Mead) Because of boring classes, too much freedom, and just a lack of motivation, students nationwide are dropping out of school, and staring on the path of minimum wage and regret. Schools are trying to resolve this by giving the support students need and giving them alternatives to traditional schooling. In the time it took to read this, at least one student has dropped out. This needs to stop. Make a difference in one student’s life by helping the cause of helping students stay in school.