There are four major causes of students dropping out of school:
a. The child him/herself
b. The family situation
c. The community they live in
d. The school environment
In order to prevent students from dropping out of school, we must attack the causes listed above. Some of them are out of our control. For example, we cannot address the community they live in or in most cases, their family situation. But we can address the choices they make and the school environment. One of the ways of doing so is for educators to ask a serious of tough questions.
How inviting a classroom environment is there for the student? Are the walls painted in “happy colors” or are they drab institutional gray or green? Are your bulletin boards filled with student work, left blank or with commercial advertisements?
Are all students encouraged to learn? Has the school created different classes for students ““ those designed to pass and those designed to fail? Those who will go on to college and those who will drop out. What role can you, as a classroom instructor, play in overcoming this paradigm?
How many students start in your school or system, graduate? Does the school track their progress through the system? Are “safety nets” built in for those who are identified as at-risk? What “pillars” support these safety nets? Are you one of these safety nets? Do you know how to get additional assistance in helping students graduate? (Is there additional counseling, mentoring, after school learning activities, service-learning projects designed to connect school to the world of work? As you track, is the largest reason for kids leaving school, “miscellaneous”?
How many students who dropouts are actually pushed out? (Students who are told, by word or action, “I do not want you in my class” or “I don’t need you in my school.”) How close to graduation are students who dropout? Do they need one credit or ten? What has the school done to help them make up the credit? What role can you, as a classroom instructor, play in overcoming this paradigm? What is done to support the “psychological” dropout ““ the child who is physically in the school but mentally is miles away. What role can you, as a classroom instructor, play in overcoming this paradigm?