Dropout Prevention & Academic Intervention Fact Sheet

Introduction

This fact sheet is designed for parents, students, community organizations, and school districts to address some of the challenges and solutions relevant to dropout prevention.

Purpose

Dropout Prevention programs in Florida were created to:

• Provide families, communities, and school districts with strategies and resources to continue increasing the number of students who graduate from Florida’s schools.
• Provide school districts with alternative strategies, such as unique teaching techniques, learning activities, and assessment procedures.
• Provide positive options for building and strengthening curriculums in order to prevent students from dropping out of school.

What Research Says About Why Students Drop Out¹

According to a recent study, students identified five primary reasons for dropping out:

• Classes were not interesting
• Missed too many days and could not catch up
• Spent time with people who were not interested in school
• Had too much freedom and not enough rules in their lives
• Failing in school Dispelling

Dispelling Myths About Dropouts²

• Dropping out is not confined to a small group of young people. It is a full-fledged epidemic in central cities and low-income communities.
• Black and Hispanic youth in the low socioeconomic groups are no more likely to drop out than their white peers of similar family income and education. Socioeconomic status—which is based on parents’ income and education rather than race—is the primary determinant of who drops out.
• Most dropouts are remarkably persistent in their drive to earn a high school credential, which in many cases, is a General Educational Development (GED) certificate. Many dropouts also pursue postsecondary education, but despite their persistence few earn degrees.

What Might Help Students Stay in School?¹

• Improved teaching and curriculum to make school more relevant and engaging and enhance the connection between school and work
• Improved instruction and access to supports for struggling students
• Building a school climate that helps students feel safe
• Ensuring strong adult-student relationships within the school
• Improved communication between parents and schools

What are the Benefits of Staying in School?³

• Enhances competitiveness in the workforce
• Increases earning potential over a lifetime
• High school graduates, on the average, earn $9,200 more per year than high school dropouts

Dropout Prevention Related Links

• Florida Department of Education Dropout Prevention
  http://www.firn.edu/doe/family/dropoutp/index.html
• National Dropout Prevention Campaigns
  http://www.standup.org/
  http://www.boostup.org/flash/index.html
• National Dropout Prevention Center
  http://www.dropoutprevention.org/
• U.S. Department of Education
  http://www.ed.gov/programs/dropout/index.html
• U.S. Department of Education What Works Clearinghouse
  http://www.whatworks.ed.gov/

References:

¹Statistical data gathered from “The Silent Epidemic,” a report written by John M. Bridgeland, John J. Dilulio, Jr., and Karen Burke Morison, (March, 2006)
²Data from “Making Good on a Promise: What policymakers can do to support the educational persistence of dropouts,” by Cheryl Almeida, Cassius Johnson, and Adria Steinberg, (April, 2006)
³“Education Pays Update,” College Board, 2005

For more information on Dropout Prevention & Academic Intervention, contact: Florida Department of Education Bureau of F amily and Community Outreach 325 West Gaines Street, Suite 544 Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0400 Phone: (850) 245-0847 or Suncom 205-0847 , Fax: (850) 245-0849 http://www.firn.edu/doe/family / www .fldoe.org