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Parents
You’re reading this because you’re worried about the future of someone you love. We’re worried, too. We’ve seen the statistics. We know there’s a problem, and we want to help. Studies show dropping out is rarely a sudden act. It’s a slow process of disengagement, disinterest and dissatisfaction.
Why do students drop out?
There is no single reason why students drop out of high school. A national survey of students who left school without graduating revealed that students experienced one or more of the following factors:
- Thought classes were not interesting
- Said they were not motivated to work hard
- Had to get a job and make money
- Became a parent
- Had to care for a family member
- Were failing classes
- Missed too many days of school and could not catch up
- Felt that they entered high school poorly prepared by earlier schooling
- Didn’t have school support that might have made a difference, such as tutoring or after school help
- Repeated at least one grade
- Had too much freedom in high school environment
- Had parents who were not aware or only somewhat aware of their child’s grades or that they were about to drop out of school
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What are the warning signs?
Typical “red flags” that parents, teachers and other interested adults can watch for:
- Absent or skip class frequently
- Participate in no school activities
- Continually say they dislike school
- Have failed three to five classes
- Have received five to nine discipline referrals
- Have been retained one or more years before middle school
- Were identified in middle school as being “at risk”
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And what can parents do to help students stay in school?
- Communicate with the school and teachers
- Make sure your child goes to school every day
- Be more involved in your child’s education – ask questions, check homework, request a teacher conference if you have serious concerns
- Help your child develop a “can-do” attitude
- Encourage your child to have a respectful relationship with teachers
What can schools do to prevent students from dropping out?
Most students blame themselves for dropping out of school, but they identified several steps schools could take that might have helped them stay in school:
- Provide opportunities for real-world learning, such as internships, job shadowing and service learning, connecting classroom instruction to their lives
- Improve teacher quality and make classroom instruction more interesting
- Provide smaller classes with more individual instruction and attention
- Communicate with parents
- Increase supervision at school and make sure students attend classes
Of course, the above is only a start. Explore the resources and links on this site to learn more about what you can do and how you can get involved to help your school keep your child On the Bus to a bright future.
View our Question & Answer archives or submit your own question.
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