Essay On High School Dropout Rate

697 Words2 Pages

Our nation is confronted with a crisis in education, dropout rates among those students living in economically disadvantaged homes. While graduations rates themselves are slowly increasing, the matriculation rate of high school students coming from impoverished families remains substantially lower than those from middle income homes. Everyone is entitled to an equal affording of educational opportunities, but that is not consistent throughout our nation. Although there can be many reasons for a adolescent dropping out of school, this paper will examine three main areas hit by economic decline which inextricable relates to the likelihood that a child will drop out of school: economic well-being of the family unit, the financial stability of the school and the overall poverty rate of the community.
In 2009, a student whose family income ranked in the bottom fifth nationally was five times more likely to quit high school without receiving a diploma than a student whose family ranked in the top 80% income bracket. (Chapman, Laird, Ifill, & KewalRamani, 2011, Table 1). A Stanford University student showed an increase in child poverty rates from 2007 to 2012:

The official poverty rate increased from 12.5 percent in 2007 to 15.0 percent in 2012, and the child poverty rate increased from 18.0 percent in 2007 to 21.8 percent in 2012. The current poverty rates for the full population and for children rank among the very worst over the 13 years since 2000 (i.e., both are ranked 11th).

(Paulin, 5)

A child living a a home that does not have the financial means to make ends meet will not be afforded opportunities at home that require payment of funds, many times such as tutoring, extra curricular activities and the ...

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... usually inhabited by lower income families, many of the parents themselves not having a high-school diploma. Without community support, the families are left to either improve their locality themselves or live with the surroundings that the locality gives them.
In summary, impoverished areas and their population experience a higher rate of high school dropout, thus a lower rate of graduation. The factors involved in a student's withdrawing from school or failing to pass are numerous but a high percentage of these dropouts can be linked to the socioeconomic level of the student;s family, the school district and the community overall. Lack of education equates to lack of opportunity to advance and achieve. Therefore, a below poverty level student in not given the equal opportunities for success overall as a student who is economically and financially superior.

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