I had the privilege of sharing the floor with Derrick Fries, Ph.D. a professor at EMU whose research follows students identified "at risk" of dropping out based on their MEAP math scores and Math course grades in 8th grade. He cites an astonishingly high correlation between 8th grade MEAP math scores of 4 and below, final grades in math of D or below and an almost certainty that the same students will not be on target for completing a semester of Algebra 2 by their senior years of high school. Without personal curriculum plans, students who fail to complete .5 credit in Algebra 2 are ineligible for a high school diploma in the state of Michigan, under the requirements of the Michigan Merit Curriculum.
Fries' presentation, which is well worth seeing, includes some startling statistics. During a school year, 20,000 students in Michigan high schools will drop out, or be pushed out. To get a sense of scale, these same dropouts would almost fill the Palace of Auburn Hills.
Fries also compares the annual costs of housing an inmate in prison, with the average annual per pupil costs for public education. According the the 2011 Children's Defense Fund Report, these costs are $28,570 (prison) and $9575 (school), respectively. Dropping out is associated with higher rates of incarceration, so these costs are important to keep in mind. It's not that we can claim that all dropouts end up in jail, but Dr. Fries' argument is still interesting--extending the time students stay in school, and increasing the graduation rate may reduce the numbers of future prison residents, and save the state a considerable amount of money. Even if it means an extra couple of years for some students, we should be making serious efforts to encourage students to stay. Yet, that can be a pretty hard sell for the students involved.
There are a number of barriers to extending time for students to graduate--the biggest may be the belief that completing high school should take four years, no exceptions. We accommodate students with learning disabilities by giving extended time on tests; why shouldn't we give extended time for high school completion? High-schoolers taking more than four years to complete their diplomas may feel ashamed because of inflexible ideas about how long it should take. We need to work on de-stigmatizing extended time for achieving high school diplomas. Extended time in high school with appropriately adapted instruction in academic courses may also lead to fewer students needing remedial coursework at the college level. Finally, many adults take more than four years to complete their undergraduate degrees (see here and here), for a variety of reasons. Nobody thinks less of those whose journey through college took longer.
Economic pressures can also cause students to drop out. Until recently, children in foster care "aged out" on their 18th birthdays, often without finishing high school. Lacking basic economic necessities makes it nearly impossible to envision post-secondary education for students in foster care. Recent changes in Michigan law may offer extended health, housing and caring support until the age of 21.
Even with these new diploma requirements, we're not yet at a place where we can brag about improved college graduation rates. Completion may be especially difficult for first-generation college students, many of whom may be poor. Pell grants help fund tuition and other college expenses for students with low incomes. Many colleges, and not-for-profit organizations receive TRIO funding to help disadvantaged students prepare for and successfully make it through college. Upward Bound, and GEAR UP funds help support middle and high schoolers on their journeys to college. For students with learning disabilities, IDEA transition planning services can also be of help. Early preparation in organization and time management, strategic study skills, and self-determination can contribute to successful college completion.
It's also clear that "career and college ready" means different things to different people. Not all students "at risk" or with learning disabilities are interested in careers that require undergraduate college educations. For those students, we need to do a much better job of integrating the Michigan Merit Curriculum (the curriculum that leads to an earned diploma), into career and technical education courses. Then we need to identify post-high school programs that enable these students to train for skilled trades.
