A number of people who attend my workshops want the answer to the dropout quiz that I give at the beginning of the session. So here are the answers.
1. ARIZONA, CALIFORNIA, GEORGIA, FLORIDA, ILLINOIS, LOUISIANA, MICHIGAN, MISSISSIPPI, NEW MEXICO, NEW YORK, NORTH CAROLINA, OHIO, PENNSYLVANIA, SOUTH CAROLINA, TEXAS
2. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, 82% of all prisoners are school dropouts. Making education less costly than incarceration which is over $41,000 per year, per prisoner.
3. Oregon
4. The South and the West.
5. 8.8%
6. It depends on how you count. For example, the Alliance for Excellent Education puts the figure at $3.7 Billion in lost earning and remedial education costs. But Teacher’s College says that the average dropout lives 9.9 years less than the average high school graduate. We should add in the increase costs of welfare and health-care.
7. The Gates Foundation’s The Silent Epidemic says that the number one cause of dropouts is boredom. My data says it is the #2 cause with failure of causes being #1.
8. 16.6%
9. Enough to fill 171 school buses.
10. Retention increases the likelihood of school dropouts. The first time, 20%-30%. Second time, 70%-90%.
Extra Credit: Our Lady of Angels Fire, December 1, 1958, City of Chicago claimed 92 student’s lives and three teachers.