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This presentation highlights the problem of high dropout rates, particularly among minority students, and discusses the effectiveness of interventions to address this issue. It provides insights from research studies and identifies areas for further investigation.
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Evidence of Effective Approaches for Reducing Dropout Mark Dynarski Presented at the Albert Shanker Institute Forum on Dropout Prevention May 3, 2007
Dropout Continues to Be a Problem • Dropout rate has declined since 1970 but no progress recently • Significant gap for minority students • High rate for Hispanics (about 25%) • Significant increase in spending
Source: National Center for Education Statistics, Dropout Rates in the United States, 2004
Source: National Center for Education Statistics, Dropout Rates in the United States, 2004
WWC Systematic Reviews • Objective: What has research found about effectiveness? • Approach: • Identify interventions • Identify studies of them • Rate quality of evidence • Rate effectiveness of interventions
WWC Dropout Review • Presumed audience: state task force • Interventions included: • Aim to keep students in school • Serve grades 6-12, under age 20 • Have studies released after 1983 • Outcome domains: staying in school, progressing, and completing
Analyzing the Literature • Unduplicated references to dropout (EBSCOhost): 4,000 • Studies of effectiveness: about 85 • About 15 studies met WWC standards
Why So Few? • Not many effectiveness studies • Common for one study to be cited often • Study designs or weaknesses preclude causal claims
Observations • Starting point for identifying programs based on evidence of effectiveness • GED programs not yet examined • Issue of disconnected youth • Programs to improve academics not included • Not much evidence
Program Features Source: whatworks.ed.gov
Other Considerations • Many regret dropping out but do it anyway • May think they will do better than others • School is unpleasant; regrets are worth it • Can we predict dropouts to focus services? • No need to worry about targeting if we have a lot of money or programs are cheap • Teachers may be better than existing data for identifying potential dropouts