Whythedropoutrateofstudentsinamericastudentsissohigh

AbdulJabbarBrowder

Ms.Simon
AdvancedResearchMethods
January14,2015

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Therearemany causesfor whyAmericans drop outof school and unfortunately

there are few remedies for allowing them tostillachieve financialsuccess.Classroom
climate, low quality teachers, bullying, social pressure, personal circumstances,
passions, money offers, and rare business opportunities all play a role in the dropout
rate. This essay asks the question why is the dropout rate of students in America so
high? For many high school students, school is just a gallery ofcareers ideas tohelp
themfind outwhat theywant todowith their life, andoncetheyfindtheirpassion,they
no longer need school, even if it means dropping out before they graduate. Dropping
out of high school is a huge issue for many Americans today. As society demands
hardworking graduates withgood character, thenation isobliged tokeepstudentsfrom
droppingoutofschoolandimprovingtheireducationforthefuture.
Although the backgroundofastudentcandeterminetheirsuccessinschool,the
very quality oftheir school can also affect theiracademic success.InHeckman,James
J. and Paul A. LaFontainesworkwith TheNational Bureau of EconomicResearch, on
page 1 it states that the slowdown in high school graduation rate accounts for a
substantial portion ofthe recent slowdownin the growth ofcollegeeducatedworkersin
the U.S. workforce. Thisstatement pointsoutthe factthatthehighschooldropoutrate
isdue tothedeclineofquality teachers, whomplayanimportantroleineverystudent's
success. Heckmanand JamesalsostatedthatTherecentgrowthinunskilledmigration
to the United States further increases the proportion of unskilled Americans in the
workforce, apart from the growthattributableto a rising high schooldropout rate. This
further proves why there arent many college educated workers. Alternate viewpoints

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include Cecilia Elena Rouse, and Lisa Barrows, which states that children from
families in the highest quartile have higher average test scores and are more likely
never to have beenheldbackagradethanchildrenfromfamiliesinthelowestquartile.
However the parents aren't the adults around when the child is learning, therefore it
doesn't matter how wealthy the parents are, its the teachers that have the greatest
impact on the childrens academic future, therefore these children are only getting
higher average test scores because they are attending higher quality schools, not
because they come from wealthy families. Similarly, In an article written by Franklin
Schargel,hestatedthat
Theleastexperienced,leastclassroomtrainedteachersareoftenassignedto
themostdifficultschools.Theyenterthefieldwiththeexpectationthattheyhavebeen
adequatelypreparedbytheschoolsofeducationwiththeskillstheyneedandthey
haven'treceived.Theyareleavingthefieldfasterthancollegescanpreparethem.The
teacher"dropoutrate"ishigherthanthestudentdropoutrate.Fortysixpercentof
teachersleavethefieldwithinfiveyears.Whenaskedwhytheyleave,amajoritystate
thattheyhaven'tbeenproperlyprepared,havehadincreaseddemandsplacedonthem
becauseofhighstakestestingandarenotgettingadequatesupportfromtheir
supervisorsindealingwithclassroomdiscipline.
Thisshowsthatteachertrainingisthecornerstoneofthequalityoftheeducation
thatstudentsarereceiving,andhowthishaschangedduetothequalityofteachers.
FranklinSchargelalsostated,

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The schools are toxic to student learning, students, parentsand staff. Students
are suspended for minor infractions (such as "talking backtotheteacher"),orplacedin
"remedial classes." The schools haveacultureoflowexpectations.Theylackadequate
guidance counseling.The curriculum isnot relevant to theneeds of thestudents being
taught. Passive instructional strategies are being used without regard to individual
student

learning

styles.

Teachers

are

not

trained

in

the

latest

teaching/learning/technology techniques. Funding is based on property values so that

lowincome neighborhoods receive lessfunding than wealthyneighborhoods. Because
some states pass budgets in a less than timely matter, teachers are nothired intime
producingoversizedclassrooms.
Thisfurtheremphasisestheissueofteacherquality,byexplainingtheeffectit
hasonthequalityofstudentseducation.Overalltheseexamplesprovejusthow
importanttheteachersinaneducationalsettingare,andhowtheyhelpdetermine
whetherornotstudentsaregivenaqualityeducation.Howeveraccordingtoabook
calledTheroleofsocialmotivationonhighschooldropouts'decisionstoreturnto
schoolasadults,bySloan,OmidehKathleentermsfromthedatausedtodescribe
howsocietyviewsdropoutsinclude:lazy,losers,notprepared,neveramountto
anything.Thisshowshowsocietyfailstotaketheblameoffofthestudentandthink
abouthowthequalityoftheireducationmaybeaffectingthem.Themotivationisnot
alwayspresentunlessthereisagoal,andifthereisnogoalthereisnomotivation,and
itistheireducationthatissupposetobringthemclosertotheirgoal,sothatiswhy
educationqualitydetermineswhetherornotastudenthasthemotivationthatprevents

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themfrombeinglazy.Furthermore,thementalinfluencethataschoolhasonachild
cancontributetotheiracademicsuccessaswell.
Sammiestatedthatshewasbulliedbecauseshewasheavysetandwasalways
tryingtoconformtowhatallthepopulargirlslookedlike.Shewasarrestedtwicefor
truancy,becauseshedidn'tgotoschoolforlongperiodsoftimeshequoted,Icouldnt
gotoschoolmentallyorphysically.WhatSammiedescribesisaclearillustrationof
bullyingandsocialpressure2ofthemostcommonreasonsforstudentstodropoutof
school.Sammiealsostatedthatshecouldnotgotoschoolbecauseshehadno
friends.Sammienewpeoplewhoshethoughtwereherfriends,buttheyendedup
betrayingher.Sammiewastryingtofitinbecauseshewasinsecureaboutthewayshe
wasviewedbyothers,andsoshehadlowconfidence,andtherefore,wasbullied.On
theotherhand,inabookby
Sloan, Omideh Kathleen, according to a study people in
society feel that high school drop outs do not care about themselves or their own
lives/future, so why should anyone care about them?. However it is no that students dont
care, they are not given the opportunity to care because they aren't being motivated by
teachers and classmates to have a reason to care.
Similarly,thecausesofacademic

failurecanbeasmuchbasedonhowtheenvironmentaffectsthestudentmentally,asit
isbasedphysically.
Desmine B. isateenagerwho dropped out ofhighschool in 2013. Some ofthe
reasons Desmine did not feel comfortable in school were the way that the school
focused on routine rather that learning, so she did not feel as if she could succeed
academically because she was bombarded with time limits for assignment and tasks

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that didn't involve learning. Also there were metal detectors at the entrance every
morning, this causedherto feel like shehad no privacy. Thisis implyingthatwithallof
these things going on, she was unable to focus on learning because she was too
worried about her own safety and privacy, making school feel like anything but a
learning environment. Accordingto
Sloan, Omideh Kathleen Thereareothersidestothis
debate, includingtheperspectivethat highschooldropoutsare areunabletocomplete
their education because they let their environment affect their academics, and do not
work hard enough as a result.This viewpointmisunderstandshow easily the learning
environmentcanimpactthestudentsabilitytopersevere.
Alternatively, students often discover a passion for something as they mature,
andthiscausesthemtodropoutofschool.
Bill Gates is an American
business magnate
,
philanthropist
,
investor
,
computer
programmer
,and
inventor
.Bill Gatesattended HarvardUniversity in1973anddropped
out 2 years later.The questionof whyBill Gatesdroppedoutwasraisedbystudentsat
ParikrmaSchoolinBangalore,India,Gatesanswered
"I loved college.It wassoexciting to have conversationswithlotsofreallysmart
people my age andto learnfromgreat professors. But inDecemberof1974, whenmy
friendPaulAllenshowedmetheissueofPopularElectronicsthathadtheAltair8800on
the cover, we knew it was the beginning of a major change. The Altair was the first
minicomputerkitthatcamewithIntels8080microprocessorchip.
For a while, Paul and I had been talking about how that chip would make
computersaffordablefortheaverageperson someday.Wehadtheideathatthiswould

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create huge opportunities to write really interesting software that lots of people would
buy. Once theAltair 8800cameout,we wantedto beamongfirsttostartabusinessto
writesoftwareforthisnewgenerationofcomputers.
Bill Gates saw an opportunity to be thefirstto start a business writing software
for the first personal computer hardware system,and so he wentfor it.Bill Gatesalso
explainswhat motivatedhimto drop outofharvardrightawaystatingWewereafraid if
we waited, someone else would beat us to it. It was a hard decision and I know my
parents had their concerns. And while I wouldneverencourage anyoneto drop out of
school, for me, it turned out to be the right choice." Bill gates no longer needed his
collegeeducation andhad foundan opportunity topursuehis passion.However,some
groups point out thatyou need acollegedegree toget ahigh paying job, but that isn't
alwaysthe case when you haveapassionthatyoucanbuildupononyourownwithout
anyhelp, and thatis whatbillgatesdidusinghisskillasaprogrammer.Likewise,some
students have a talent they already mastered, and do not have to betaught it by any
typeofeducationalprogram.
Ruby Pulanco isthe ownerofa2million dollar business calledRuby.Rubyisa
makeupartiststudiothatprovidesmakeupservicetopopstarsandotherentertainment
production companies. Ruby was good at doing makeup since she was a child, she
couldn't see how school had anything to do withmakeupart,andshe had a dream of
creatingamakeuplineforLatinas.Andsoshedroppedoutofhighschool,gotpregnant
at 17, moved to Vegas, and got a job at McDonalds. She then moved up to
management atMcDonalds,where she did accountingandpayroll, thattaughthershe

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was smart enoughto do somethingbetter.Shewenttoacommunitycollegetoimprove

her English, andgot her Business Management degree from the UniversityofPhoenix.
She did peoples taxes and managed accounting for a company to pay for the taxing
fee.She then startedabusinesswithapartnernamedTrishtheysoldreal estatetothe
Hispanic market, then the market crashed, and from their Ruby Pulanco and Trish
gathered what they learned over their years of experience with business andFinance
and started doing doing free make up for people, and from there they became well
known,and beganto charge fortheir services, andultimately grew intoabusinessthat
did makeup for hollywood.Thisis a clearexamples ofhowapassionorskillcancause
astudent toseeno needforfurthereducation.Aleadingdetractorfromthistheory,J.T,
ODonnell,believes thatschoolteachesyoueverythingyouneedtoknowexcepthowto
get the job, however school can't teach you about your inner talents which youcould
use to create something of your own, such as makeup art. Moreover, some students
dropoutofschooltostartabusinessoneoftheleastcommon,butsmartestreasons.
Actor Robert Niro dropped out of high school before his 17th birthday tobean
actor. Thetwo timeOscar winner studied hiscraftat LeeStrasbergsActorsstudioand
the Stella Adler Conservatory. Robert was inspired by actors and wanted to fulfill his
interest inthe subject, he also learnedathing ortwoaboutbusinessalongtheway.He
ultimatelystarted his business as afilmproducer. ActorRobertNiro, had an interest in
the film business, and so he dropped out of highschoolto focus on hisgoal. Equally,
since he was 13, Joseph Randall wanted tostartabusiness. Josephexplainshowhe
was not interested in what he was learning in school because the content was not

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relatedto startingabusiness, andsowhen Josephwas inhighschool, hisenthusiasm

dwindled, and he experienced a mental detachment from the classroom environment,
andsince heneverhadan intentionof going tocollege,while inhighschoolhemadea
conscious decisionto not attendcollege,butforthesakeofhisparentshediddecideto
go for a short time before deciding to drop out. Joseph and Robert are examples of
people who saw an alternative to school as a means to gaining financial success
success in the world of business. On the contrary some people such as mike goso
believethat you needanMBAtostartabusiness,butthisisn'ttruebecauseifyouhave
a passion and you make good promotions and investments you can start a business.
Another uncommon reason studentsdropoutofschool,isbecauseofmoneyoffersthat
are given to them so thatsothat theycan have a jumpstartin pursuingtheircareer in
business.
Peter Thiel, a cofounderof Paypal andan earlyinvestorFacebook,awarded24
young, aspiring entrepreneurs $100,000 to drop out of high school and become
worldchanging visionaries. One of the dropouts stated, We are toldto study hardso
you can getadegreeand then a job. HeyI already had income, so whywaste timein
school,right?He sawachoice,stayinschoolandbeastudentandriskwastingalotof
time,orpursuehis careersasan entrepreneur, he chooseto pursue his careersasan
entrepreneur. Another dropout named Price stated
"I knew that I wouldn't be able to
reach my business goals while attending a university and splitting the time,". Price
realized how unrelated college was to what he really wanted to do in life and how it was
just taking up valuable time.Thisis an exampleofhowastudent,canbepersuadedto

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drop out becauseof a money offer to start something for himself. This alsoprovesthat
some students only go to school in search of financial success and so if there is an
opportunity along the road, they wont hesitate to take it. Some people may say that
getting yourMBAmakesitpossibletostartabusiness,butallyoureallyneedisenough
moneytogetstarted.
To conclude, The dropout rates, are a result of bothproblematic,and beneficial
circumstances the problematic circumstances being those in which the student is
affected bythe school environment inanegativeway,andthebeneficialcircumstances
being when a studentdropsout at will, in ordertopursuetheircareerduetoapassion,
skill,moneyoffer,orinteresttheymayhave.