"The dropout problem in numbers," in Whatever it Takes: How Twelve Communities are Reconnecting Out-of-school Youth, Washington, DC: American Youth Policy Forum, ppvii-viii.

OVERVIEW

The complete study, Whatever it Takes: How Twelve Communities are Reconnecting Out-of-school Youth, by the American Youth Policy Council studies in depth twelve different responses to the rising dropout phenomenon in various urban, suburban and rural communities across the states. This brief preface, "The dropout problem in numbers," offers a statistical overview of the magnitude of the issue.  Following are some highlighted statistics. (For the complete report, follow the hyperlinked citation at the top of the page).

• Every nine seconds in America a students becomes a dropout
• During the school year 2002-2003, the National Center for Education Statistics determined the graduation rate to be 73.9% with rates varying from state to state. The lowest and declining rates were founds in most southern states in addition to Alaska and the District of Columbia (60% rate).
• An estimated 3.8 million youth aged 18024 are neither employed nor in school - that's 15% of all young adults. From 2000-2004, this number had grown by 700,000.
• In 2001, African-American students had a graduation rate of 50%, the lowest of racial and ethnic groups with American Indian at 51%, Latino at 53%, Caucasion at 75% and Asian/Pacific Islanders at 77%.
• In 2000-2001, high school students from low-income families (the lowest 20%) dropped out of school at 6 times the rate of their peers from higher-income families.
• That same year, only 47.6% of persons with disabilities ages 14 and older graduates with regular diplomas while  41.1% dropped out.
• Three-quarters of state prison inmates are dropouts, as are 59% of federal inmates. Dropouts are 3.5 times more likely than high school graduates to be incarcerated in their lifetime.
• In 2001, only 55% of young adult dropouts were employed, compared with 74% of high school graduates and 87% of four-year college graduates.
• The US death rate for persons with fewer than 12 years of education is 2.5 times higher than for those with 13 or more years of education.
• Dropouts are significantly more likely to rely on public assistance than those with a high school diploma. The cost to the public of their crime and welfare benefits is estimated to total $24 billion annually!
• The US would save $41.8 billion in health care costs if the 600,000 young people who dropped out in 2004 were to complete one additional year of education.
• Dropouts "cost our nation more than $260 billion dollars...That's in lost wages, lost taxes, and lost productivity over their lifetimes. In federal dollars, that will buy you ten years of research at the National Institutes of Health."

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION & DISCUSSION

1. How aware are you of the dropout problem in the United States? Do you know anyone who has dropped out of school? If so, what has been their experience?
2. What strikes you most about these statistics and why?
3. Why is completing high school so important?
4. What are ways youth workers can support those on the verge of dropping out or those who have already dropped out?

IMPLICATIONS

1. This is becoming a national emergency that is complicated by many compounding factors. Attempts to address dropout rates will have to be multi-faceted, multi-sectoral and long term.

Christen B. Yates cCYS