To all,
 
One of the reasons students leave high school is an intense dis-satisfaction with the experience.  Minority students feel trapped in a system that does not recognize or value their differences from the dominant culture (predominantly white middle class female teachers...sorry folks, but that's what research tells us). We also expect students entering with first languages other than English to quickly master a language that takes 5 to 7 years to become fluent in. The increasing rigidity of state and federal mandates to push these students into standardized testing creates a frustration and sense of failure native English speakers cannot begin to imagine. Add to this the lack of self-efficacy, a feeling of powerlessness, and high schools with 4000 studentsas part of the pattern of our willingness to serve the system instead of the student.
 
Students I have seen in my GED/ABE labs can be bright students who are fed up with the overall zero-tolerance policies of principals and staff at schools where the slightest infraction results in suspension.  This occurence is very high for minority (Read African-American) students. I suggest we all read A.A.Ferguson's ethnographic research Bad Boys, which is an account of the treatment of young black males in school, and Jerome Morris's research, Can Anythong Good Come Out of Nazareth? on what it takes to capture student interest in minority schools.  Mike Rose's own account (Lives on the Boundary) of the undereducated in Los Angles is also full of important insights. There is other research out there if we wiill but read it. More than that is needed...we need to act on it.  Empty words are unfullfilled promises.
 
Schools districts are also reluctant to allow research into these important topics for fear of looking bad. Other districts have in the past, fudged the numbers in order to hide the true picture of the problem and the failure to address the needs of the under-educated and special needs student.  A clear look at the problems and solutions offered would certainly help.  Imagine engineers refusing to check a bridge for structural failues for fear you might find something wrong, or pilots who choose to land some of their passengers and not others.
 
 My conclusion after 15 years in the field of adult education is that in the current climate, schools are afraid of children and young adults in high school and keep them in a lock-down situation of marching in unison to and from class and heavy handed tactics in the hallways to and from class.  Petty annoyances build up in even the most complliant.  Bright students who do not conform find themselves out of step with the imposed restrictions and do not feel frree to find school a friendly place where they can learn.
 
We also use a one-size-fits-all approach to education and students who are not interested in going to college are required to sit out endless days preparing for a life they are not interested in. Count boredom in for a lage chunk of the reasons for leaving school.
 
The research on those who leave school early is out there. Let's put it to use instead of using anectodal reports and uninformed newspaper accounts of what is happening in our schools.
 
Wm. Peter MacMonagle, M.Ed. 
Central Piedmont Community College 
West Campus 2219
Community Development/Workplace Basic Skills 
704-330-4668 
 
Murphy's Law of Possibility: All things are possible 
except skiing through a revolving door. 


________________________________

From: workplace-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Donna Brian
Sent: Thu 3/2/2006 11:29 AM
To: NIFL-WORKPLACE; Poverty Race & Literacy List
Cc: moderators at nifl.gov
Subject: [Workplace] rethinking dropouts





This morning on Morning Edition on National Public Radio there was a 3
minute clip about a study on dropouts.

"Morning Edition, March 2, 2006 · A new study from the Gates Foundation
finds that high school dropouts aren't always getting F's on their report
cards. A surprising number are C or better students, and most say they
regret having dropped out."

The conclusions the study draws are largely about how states and high
schools should rethink what they are doing, but I was wondering what this
says to those of us who are in adult literacy and the learners we are
dealing with.  I think we often assume that our adult learners failed at
high school and that's why they dropped out.

The clip is worth listening to.  You can access it at
<http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5241173>.

Donna

Donna Brian
Center for Literacy Studies at The University of Tennessee
djgbrian at utk.edu

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