Critically Assessing the High School Drop out rate

By: Emarree WilliamsCRE 101

Introduction

There is an alarming amount of High School students not finishing school. This action has been termed "Dropping out". This project will critically explore this event as a whole. We will cover everything from the causes of dropping out to the results of dropping out. Each section of information provided to you will have links so that you can see the information first hand for yourself.

Personal Story

My twin sister is a high school dropout. Her issue with school started around sophomore year. She was being bullied a lot by other students and did not tell us for a long time. She started missing school by simply not getting up in the morning. My mother and I always complained about how hard it was to get her up in the morning during those times. She became depressed and did not bother doing homework at all. When she did go to school and receive past due assignments from her teachers she would not do them very often. It got worse because this behavior of not even trying spilled over in her social and home life. My sister did work for a while but often quit because she did not like something. I was always impressed with her ability to get a decent job with no high school diploma. I had a high school diploma and did not do well with finding a job, at least not one that paid well.

Personal StoryDuring me and my cousin’s graduation party it was mumbled under a relatives breathe that my sister should be graduating as well. I took offense to this statement because I know what my sister had gone through at school. At the same time I knew my relative was right. It had been over a year since my sister dropped out and she had not followed through with getting a correspondence diploma. I started to form an opinion that people that drop out just do not try ,but after doing this project I see that I was wrong.

Cartoon Analysis

 

Cartoon Analysis

Cartoon can be found at: http://robdarrow.wordpress.com/2008/05/21/dropout-cartoon-says-it-all/ The cartoon depicts roughly every other student missing from their graduation ceremony. Although this cartoon depicts an exaggerated claim of policy it's message is Denotative. There are many students who drop out and the cartoons claim is that: We need to do something about this alarming trend. The current high school dropout rate is roughly 8 % excluding students who get their GED. (http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=16)

Statistics

• A number of students get their GED after Dropping out but this is calculated over a number of years so the total of High school drop outs during one year is generally higher than statistics show. 

• Hispanic students have had a higher drop out rate of any other race since 1980

• Asian students have had the lowest dropout rates since 1990 • (http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=16) • Arizona's Drop out rate is 32% (Excluding GED obtaining students)• (http://www.boostup.org/en/facts/statistics) • Overall, the U. S. has a 31% dropout rate (excluding GED obtaining students)

Photograph Analysis

 

Photograph Analysis ContinuedPhoto graph from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/24/colorado-drop-outs-get-ged_n_866323.html The photo graph shows a student with the shadow of two students surrounding him. The message suggests that he is the "real" graduate while the two shadows represent students who get G.E.D.'s after dropping out. The photo suggest that they a behind his position because the opted for G.E.D. although all of them have a high school education. In the article related to the photograph, the writer discusses the rising number of students who drop out of high school then obtain G.E.D.'s  The picture has a claim of value. It is stating GED's are not a valuable as High School diplomas. The argument is connotative because GED's are not culturally equivalent to some, but for intent for employment they are generally legal equals. After looking through employment ads I concluded that most employers want a Diploma or a GED.

Public Ad Analysis

 

Public Ad Analysis

• This Public Ad was pulled from a site that tells you the current high school drop out rate in each state.

• The Ad is Denotative in it's reporting of the High School Drop out rate. However, by using bold black wording against the bright yellow back ground it appeals to our sense of urgency. The ad causes the information to stick out as we observe it so as to no easily forget the information.

•  The image in the Ad of a student at a desk with a circle around the student is a connotative metaphor. The circle around the student is partially shaded representing the 31% of student who drop out of High School.

http://www.boostup.org/en/facts/statistics

Speech

http://www.ed.gov/news/speeches/three-myths-high-school-reform-secretary-arne-duncans-remarks-college-board-ap-confere• This speech by Arne Duncan describes what steps that need to be made to

improve schools and America's High School and College graduate rates. The speech argues a Denotative claim of policy. The argument is denotative because it describes a known factual trend of more and more students not finishing high school. The claim of policy is laid that we need to recognize the three myths of High school reform and act accordingly. To improve schools we must change the way they operate and prepare High School students to achieve secondary education after High School.

Mesa High School Student Poll

The results of this poll was formulated according to the responses of students at Mesa High. The number of students responding to the question was 10 which represents 30 % of the students that were in the classes being tutored that day. Students were asked 2 questions:• What do you think leads to students dropping out?• 7 students said Laziness 3 students said Pride/Alternative plan• What do you think happens to people who drop out?•   All 10 students said Poverty/low income future.• The results of this poll show that no students said financial/justified reasons for dropping

out.This way of thinking coincides with the way I thought about high school students.

Editorial

http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/20100602-Editorial-Over-age-high-school-7022.ece I chose this editorial because the author is making a claim of policy about the current school system in the author's district. The author argues that the district should authorize a high school that caters to people who are too old for high school to get their diplomas. The author argues that changing the current policies to accommodate this school would lower the drop out rate in their local district. The author's claim is Connotative because no one really knows what will happen if the school is opened.

Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnoCvSCOxY4 This video is of a student reporting on the high School drop out rates. He also goes over the consequences of not graduating High School or College. His arguments are Denotative because he describes facts about different income levels due to education. He has a few scenarios in his speech that are connotative because he speaks hypothetically of the negative things that can happen if a person drops out of high school.

Conclusion

A student dropping out of high school is not an overnight occurrence. Dropping out is a process that starts long before the student drops out. I used to think that high school students did not try hard enough to graduate. I often kept to this on this line of thinking when I saw someone drop out and not get their G.E.D. I now see that there substantial reasons for students dropping out of high school that go beyond my personal experience with my sister.

Bibliography

• http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=16 - viewed Dec 10 2011• Photo graph from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/24/colorado-drop-

outs-get-ged_n_866323.html - viewed Nov. 26  2011• http://robdarrow.wordpress.com/2008/05/21/dropout-cartoon-says-it-all/ -

viewed Nov. 30 2011• http://www.boostup.org/en/facts/statistics - viewed Dec. 10 2011•  http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/20100602-Editorial-Over-age-

high-school-7022.ece - viewed Dec. 10 2011•  http://www.ed.gov/news/speeches/three-myths-high-school-reform-secretary-

arne-duncans-remarks-college-board-ap-confere - view Dec. 10 2011•  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnoCvSCOxY4 - Dec. 10 20011