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Dropout is a casual term widely used to describe school noncompletion and school noncompleters. It is a problematic term because it is both incomplete, meaning it does not fully describe what it portends to describe, and because it is in some cases misleading, meaning it indicates that the onus of school noncompletion is only on the student. Dropout is shaped by and shapes dynamics of race and class in the United States; there is a disproportionate distribution of school noncompletion across diverse groups, and school non-completion bears significant economic, health, employment, and other life consequences that contour persistent inequities. School dropout has been a social concern since the latter half of the 20th century, and continues to trouble educators, policymakers, communities, and families. Perhaps because it is a longstanding social issue, school dropout is often seen as a permanent feature of schooling in the United States, a problem without a solution. Policy and program interventions are widely held to have made no impact. In turn, school dropout has been socially constructed as a personal issue or individual shortcoming, a decision that a student makes in isolation, or sometimes under the influence of friends or family. This entry explores school dropout beyond these constructions to elicit a more comprehensive and robust understanding of school noncompletion, its prevalence, causes, components, and consequences. It concludes with a look at approaches to preventing dropout and at policy implications of such efforts.

Prevalence and Distribution

In the United States, about 70% of students who enter the ninth grade graduate after 4 years of school with a regular high school diploma. Some who do not graduate in 4 years will graduate in 5 years, others will go on to earn a general equivalency diploma (GED) credential, and most will not go on to earn a secondary credential. When disaggregated by race and class, there is a disproportionate number of school noncompleters who are students of color and/or come from a low socioeconomic background. In fact, while three quarters of White students graduate from high school, just about half of African Americans, Native Americans, and Hispanics graduate. The national gap between the graduation rates of White students and students of color is about 30 to 50 percentage points wide, meaning that a student of color is significantly less likely to earn a high school diploma than a White student.

An unequal distribution of dropouts is also seen among different income levels. Trends indicate that impoverished school districts experience higher dropout rates, and that poverty increases the likelihood of school noncompletion. A youth coming from a family ranked in the top 25% of family income is seven times more likely to complete high school than a youth coming from the lowest 25%. Yet, in school districts with the lowest poverty levels, students of color are still more likely to drop out than White students.

Most striking about these disproportionate figures is that most school noncompleters attended the same types of schools, urban or rural schools in low-income districts, which are mostly composed of students of color. Low-income students and students of color are more likely than wealthy students and White students to attend schools in which noncompletion is the norm. The graduation rates among the 12 largest city school districts in the United States fall below the national average, and range from 24.9% (Detroit) to 61.6% (San Diego) and 61.7% (Memphis). Detroit schools include 94.8% students of color, San Diego schools include 73.4% students of color, and Memphis schools include 91.0% students of color.

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