College Summit

Author : Bryce Jacobs

The Other Dropout Rates

Posted by: College Summit Education Posted date: Mar 31, 2011

Here at work we like to plan. We have project plans, pilot plans, planning meetings, planning documents etc. We often use the process of back-mapping to create these grand plans. This means we set an end goal and work backwards to think of all the steps…

Topics: College-Going Culture

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Here at work we like to plan.  We have project plans, pilot plans, planning meetings, planning documents etc.  We often use the process of back-mapping to create these grand plans.  This means we set an end goal and work backwards to think of all the steps we need to accomplish to reach our goal.  This makes sense and I was wondering where else we could apply this back-mapping strategy.  And because I usually go to bed thinking about work and wake up thinking about work, I got to thinking about the overarching goal of College Summit of getting more kids to and through college.  So let’s take a look at the back-map with the end goal of college graduation.  I thought if we could look at the path, or at least one aspect of each step along the path, we could target points along the path to improve upon and reach our end goal more effectively (Lord knows we aren’t there yet!).
 <img title="Image courtesy thriveable.com" src="http://thriveable.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/fork-in-the-road.jpg" alt="Image courtesy thriveable.com" width="350" height="262" />
So you have gotten to college (no small feat as we will see below).  But we know that as many as 40% of students have to take remedial classes once they get into college.  These remedial classes do not count towards graduation, they cost money and are teaching content that students should have had, or did have in high school.  This puts them at risk for dropping out of college.  About 37% of students who enter a four year university do not graduate even though almost all students report that they intend to graduate when they enter college.  Dropout #1.  So, once students get to college, they cannot do the work.  This seems to be a high school problem since high schools are supposed to be preparing students for college (and career).  Even if you make it through high school, you apparently haven’t learned enough while you were there.  But what about the students who don’t make it through high school?  How does that happen? We all know the high school dropout rate in this country is appalling.  Last week at the Grad Nation Summit hosted by the America’s Promise Alliance, we were reminded that nationally, 1.3 million students dropped out of the Class of 2010.  Every 26 seconds a student drops out of high school.  Dropout #2.   Students do not find high school relevant to their lives, do not see how high school leads to college, don’t see how they will pay for college, and sometimes do not see how a high school diploma will lead to better paying jobs.  So again, we have a high school problem (which is good for me since I work at College Summit which tries to improve college going culture in high schools). But what about the students that dropout as early as the ninth grade?  Oftentimes ninth graders drop out because they do not do well academically and have to repeat ninth grade.  So these students were not prepared in middle school.  Yes, middle school.  Many students are on the path to dropping out of high school before they reach 9th grade.  Dropout (or potential dropout) #3.   There seems to be a domino effect that begins as early as middle school.
<img title="courtesy Wikimedia Commons" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/04/Dominoes.jpg" alt="courtesy Wikimedia Commons" width="80%" height="80%" />
 And maybe that is why over the past two weeks I have been hearing about college going culture and middle school linked together.  At the Grad Nation Summit middle school was all the rage and at the Celebration of Teaching and Learning in New York, we heard about it too and in Prince George’s County, MD four turnaround middle schools are eager to begin creating a college going culture as part of their turnaround plans.
We need to work on making sure middle school students take the necessary math and English classes that will prepare them for high level high school academics, we need to help students become financially aware,  and we need to be transparent about the path through college as early as middle school.  Here at College Summit we are just embarking on this project and are looking forward to seeing where the dominos may fall.

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