Keep Kids in School: Develop a “Don’t Give Up” Attitude

Do you know students who were silently labeled “hopeless” and eventually left school?

Based on calculations per school day (189 school days at seven hours each day), one high school student drops out every nine seconds. (National Dropout Prevention Center) www.dropoutprevention.org

While certain factors may place students at an increased risk, overall students who dropout are by no means a homogeneous group. Low grades are only one reason; boredom, alienation, low personal expectations, schools’ propensity for suspension, full-time work, pregnancy, and marriage are all possible contributors.

It is imperative that schools have a good grasp on why their students are leaving.

• Are they “stepping out” to pursue other alternatives? Do our own programs (such as work release) encourage this by making them feel as though they are no longer a part of our school community when they leave the building?


• Are they being “pushed out” because we have given them few reasons to stay? It’s easy to continually suspend students for misbehaving, or let low achievers go prior to high stakes testing to keep scores high.


• Or they “zone out” because they find little relevance in the curriculum or the activities available to them. Content must be engaging, and the context needs to reflect what is important in their social environment.

Some good news from Connecticut: Ordering children out of school is a longstanding and widely used form of punishment across the U.S., but that could change soon in Connecticut. Lawmakers are considering a bill that would permit out-of-school suspensions only for students deemed too dangerous or disruptive to be in school. Staff writers Robert Frahm and Matthew Kauffman of the The Courant, published by University of Phoenix, write about a new Bill that would put limits on schools ability to suspend students.

“A Punishing School Debate”, May 2, 2007
www.courant.com/news/education/hc-suspensions0502.artmay02,0,3979582.story?coll=hc-headlines-education

I believe kids want to succeed and feel valued. Always keep in mind, dropping out is usually the outcome of a long process of disengagement, and students who seem relatively stable can get suddenly shaky.

Take time to assess which students in your school are at risk of dropping out, stepping out, zoning out, or being pushed out before it happens. Be proactive in discussing strategies to keep them in school and learning.

Ask Yourself:

• Do I believe out-of-school suspension is counter-productive?


• Could I demonstrate a better “don’t give up” attitude for our students?


• Could creative use of technology help us keep some kids in school?


• Could we better utilize data (attendance, grades, suspension rates etc.) to identify and track possible student disengagement?

Let us hear your ideas!