The Drop Out Rate - What Can Be Done?

That irritating buzzing sound?  It doesn’t just mean that we need to change batteries in our fire detectors…the whole blasted edifice is burning down!

That our schools are graduating only half the kids who enter is a huge problem.

Here are four things our educational system could do right now (and with amazingly little additional money) to turn around our graduation rate.

First, stop suspending students.  This practice simply accelerates the process by which students are pushed out (by a system that needs to eliminate bad statistics) as much as they drop out. Instead, require in-school suspension; after-school tutoring and week-end remediation.

Second, greatly expand vocational and trade opportunities, relying heavily on the resources of the state’s network of community colleges for concurrent enrollment while students are still in high school.

Third, every elementary and middle school should have after-school programming for every student.  This has repeatedly been shown to improve classroom performance, reduce delinquency, increase motivation and enrich the entire experience.

Fourth, we need many more charter or alternative schools for high school students who are not doing well in class or who have already dropped out.  Small learning communities with individual attention given to differing learning styles and with supportive services put in place to deal with the family and community barriers to learning have been demonstrated effective in helping kids graduate.

There are many other things that could be done.  If we are serious we will start doing them.