The document addresses the increasing number of school dropouts in the United States, highlighting the alarming statistics and the detrimental effects on individuals and society. It explores the various causes of dropping out, including personal motivation and school environments, and emphasizes the need for targeted prevention strategies. The conclusion stresses the importance of addressing this issue urgently with effective interventions from educators, policymakers, and the community.

1. Surname 1
Name
Professor
Subject
Date
Increasing Number of School Dropouts
Introductions
Individuals who abscond school prior to high commencement
can be described as school dropouts. In the current years, there
has been a swift increase in the number of dropout in United
States (Rumberger, p. 68). Each year, approximately one third
of the students in public schools, fail to finish their high school
education. According the researches, the majority of these
dropouts leave school while remaining two years to complete.
This disturbing trend has actually deteriorated over the past
decades regardless of the fact that education was prioritized in
the public agenda. Currently, the public is well informed of the
seriousness of the matter of school dropout, and this has been
due to lack of precise data (Bruce, p. 112).
Nonetheless, the results of these dropouts have been
devastating. The notion of dropping out of school is
dangerous for a student, this is because in most circumstances,
that particular student is most likely to live poverty stricken
life, end up unemployed, be a liability to public assistance,
end up in jail, or be divorced or single parent. In this state of
affairs, the nation greatly suffers from these issues of dropout
due to increased costs associated with increased social services,
increased cases of imprisonment and healthcare costs (Marcus &

2. Green, p. 123). Due to these detrimental personal and
economic costs, the purpose of this scholarly paper will seek to
understand, why students tend to drop out of school, the extent
of the problem, and how the educators, policy makers, and
government have assisted them to complete their studies.
Extent of the Problem
The rate of dropouts has been scrutinized from various
perspectives. Event dropout rates gauge the proportion
percentage of students who drop out of school every year before
completing a certain stage of schooling (Lexander et al., p. 129)
Status dropout rates estimate the percentage of the whole
population of a given age, who failed to complete a certain level
of schooling and currently not enrolled (Lexander, et al. p.
138). Cohort dropout measures dropping in the midst of a
single group of students over a given period (Caterall, p. 321).
High school achievement rates gauges the percentage of a total
population of a given age who left high school and obtained a
diploma or certificate (NCES, p. 43). According to the U.S.
National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), that defines
the percentage of young adults between ages fourteen to twenty
four, who dropped school by 2000, they reported the rate that
ranged between 4% to 6%. This, rate rose from 1972 through
1990. From 1990 to 2000, there was yearly fluctuation but the
overall pattern range seemed to be stable ranging between 4% to
6% (NCES, p. 88).
Status dropout rates reported by NCES, as the proportion of
young adults ranging between 16-24, and presently enrolled,
and have obtained a diploma (Lippmann, 146). By 2000, the
yearly status, dropout rated declined from 14% in 1972, to 9
%(p. 149). Cohort withdrawal rates are measured for different
cohorts studied as they pave their way through high school. The
research scrutinized the cohort dropout rates for the 8th grade
class. The rate was examined to have reduced to 9.8% in
2000(p. 165). High school accomplishment rates reported by

3. the NCES are the percentage of dropouts aged 18-24 and not in
high school and have acquired a diploma. The rate of dropout,
ranged between 800-86 percent, by the year 200 (p. 177).
Dropout rates vary by a wide range of demographic factors,
including race, geographic location, immigration status, gender
and ethnicity. In the United States for example, dropout’s rates
are higher in males than in males. Hispanic on the other hand,
has the highest dropout’s rates undoubtedly followed by Black
Americans, Asian Americans and Hispanic whites respectively
(Caterall, 414).
International wise, there is a substantial variation in dropout
rates because diverse nations are in different levels of extending
universal high school education. Among the developed
countries, the rates of high school completion are rather high, or
even higher than America, although the nature of secondary
school program differs significantly (Bruce, 277). High school
accomplishment in other countries lag behind especially in
developed countries, but generally, secondary enrollment and
commencement rates have been rising globally(p. 289).
Dropout rates, also possesses differences due to factors such as
socioeconomic and demographic. One distinguished
demographic disparity concerns the dropout rates in males and
females. Females are less probable to drop out in developed
countries, such as Latin America and Caribbean, but females are
more likely to drop out after high school graduation all over the
world (Doland, 405).
Causes of school dropouts
Putting into consideration that the majority of students
understand the importance of education, the decision by a
student to drop out of school is individual and ambiguous
matter and pertains to the students alone, the school, community
and the family (Marcus & Green, p. 198). The option to drop
out of school is individual, and it discloses the unique situation
in life, where it starts as a slow process of disengagement from
school (Rumberger, 306). Nonetheless, there is no single

4. reason that can be identified as the basis of school dropout in
all cases. Hence, there seem to appear set of common causes of
school dropouts that arise in relation to the real life events,
lack of personal motivation, academic environment as well as
other external forces such as guidance and motivation.
According to the majority of students, they appear not fully
motivated, where they face academic difficulties, and view
schooling as a boring as they are face with world events
(Lexander, et al., p. 165).
School factors.
Noting disparities in dropout rates among schools, researchers
have examined the characteristics of schools and the programs
they offer, and it appears to be associated with school dropout.
These findings, have taken into considerations the academic as
well as social dimension of schooling issue. Schools where
students have been restricted opportunities for academic
achievement appear to have higher dropout rates. One of the
factors that are associated with school dropouts is lack of
academic ambitions. Students, who are prone to obtaining low
grades, repeat in grades and fail subjects are more liable to
leave school prior to commencement. Students having
difficulties in achieving their academic dreams and demands of
the school tend to drop schooling rather than struggling in the
mist of challenges, and frustrations. Lack of avenues for
achievements can be seen as an imbalance between the academic
demands and the resources a student to meet in those demands.
The provision of such resources rests to the structure of the
school organizations. Lexander, et al., p. 201, found out that
urban, public and large schools, and those that have higher
students to teacher ratios tend to have higher dropouts.
Outside factors.
Factors that rest from outside school have also been measured
for the impact on school dropout. The assessment of these
outside factors normally concern the extend to which they are
supportive as far as schooling is concerned, or the extent to
which schooling is viewed in relevance to present or future

5. lives of students. Schooling support generally for continued
enrollment of students through graduation can vary from society
to society. For instance, in the US, the long held perception
that schooling is important for democratic community was
reinforced in the 20th century by the belief that schooling is
fundamental to meeting the increasing technical demands of the
US economy. These philosophical beliefs, of schooling, are
reflected in certain policies, such as education is needed for
jobs, and in media campaigns stressing the need to remain in
school. The significance of schooling and school
accomplishment as viewed by the student can pose an impact on
school dropout. When external factors convince students that
school completion is essential, for their present and future
success, students are likely to remain in school (Duke, p. 117).
Dropout Prevention Programs
The key strategies to dropout prevention require the use of
knowledge of the factors associated with the dropout to design
interventions in order to increase chances of students remaining
in school all through high school graduation (Croninger, Robert,
& Lee, p. 568). Various prevention strategies are classified into
two categories, school based, strategies environmental
strategies. School based strategies include programs and
practice designs to enhance the prospects for students academic
achievement and those intended to strengthen the positive social
associations and environment for student concerns (Rumberger,
p. 266). Attempts to improve social relationships and creating a
shared environment of concern for students include mentoring
programs that connect adults and students, creating smaller
environments where few students and teachers work on the
whole program, and the use of former students as peer mentors
to younger students(Croninger, Robert, & Lee, p. 578).
Environmental strategies include approaches that address
unsupportive outside conditions by creating new interaction
between families and school and the incorporation of
educational as well as human services to tackle the social and
economic issues that hamper progress in the schools (Lippmann,

6. p. 604). Efforts to diminish the problem of lack of relevance
of schooling to the existing and future student’s lives have
included reform of curricular that improve and relate to the real
world experiences (Lexander, et al. p. 796). There is an also
updated vocational educational program that incorporates
academic skills and makes the connection to the world of
multicultural curricular that involves materials and role models
from other students from diverse ethnic and cultural
backgrounds (Doland, 371).
Conclusion
The problem of school dropouts deserves huge and urgent
consideration from the public communities, policy makers,
educators and government. This paper has evidently
demonstrated the causes of school dropout, its consequences on
the part of individual, state and the society at large. This paper
has also illuminated various approaches through which the
educator, the environment and society and family impact the
student’s achievements. The assessment evident on the efficacy
of various dropout attempts is inadequate, with the majority of
programs, vulnerable to little in terms of exact study. The
approaches are complicated by long-term lead-time between
early intrusion and on time high school achievement and the
intricate multifaceted approaches efforts by students in the
schools
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