Why Students Drop Out of School

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Why Students Drop Out of School In May of 2009 CNN reported that nearly 6.2 million students in the United States between the ages of 16 and 24 in 2007 dropped out of high school, calling this "a persistent high school dropout crisis." The total represents 16 percent of all people in the United States in that age range in 2007. Hispanics and Native Americans fail to graduate from public high school with their class. Many of these students abandon school with less than two years to complete their high school education. On average, only 58% of students in America's 50 largest cities make it to graduation. The decision to drop out is a dangerous one for the student. Dropouts are much more likely than their peers who graduate to be unemployed, living in poverty, receiving public assistance, in prison, on death row, unhealthy, divorced, and single parents with children who drop out from high school themselves. The dropout problem is likely to increase substantially through 2020 unless significant improvements are made. So why students drop out of school and what can be done to decrease the number of dropouts? There is no single reason why students drop out of school. Factors leading to school dropout are mainly two: individual and institutional ones. Individual factors consist of personal and family. There is a high relationship between dropping out and some personal characteristics, including both social and academic factors. Risk of dropping out is linked to negative self-perceptions or low self-esteem. Students who drop out of school often present poor academic achievements and poor school attendance. Many students who drop out don’t like being in school. They consider the coursework not interesting, don't get along with teachers or other students, don't feel safe and don't feel they fit in. Some family circumstances are associated with higher risk of dropping

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