The Crisis of the American Education

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The Crisis of the American Education

School dropout is an academic evil that for centuries has continued to haunt the American education. Why do students dropout from schools? In the academic year ending 2012, it was estimated that about 1.1 million students drop out of school. The dropout rate is surprisingly higher among the African-American students whereby an estimated 40% of African-American students who enroll in schools end up not graduating. (Cohen, 2013) One out of every five Hispanic students also ends up dropping out of schools. This issue is thus worthy of being treated as a crisis in the education system as realms of statistics have indicated that the figures are alarming. Reasons why students drop out of school need to be examined therefore, and solutions to these problems sought after with utmost urgency.

Poor academic performance.

A 1997 journal based on applied psychology written by Finn Rock and talked about academic success being one of the risks that might result in student.

The majorly puts emphasis on the fact that when a student performs well in school, they are motivated to move on to greater heights by moving on and on to the next grade of studies. If the student keeps on performing poorly, the zeal to learn is lost and the student then opts for an easy way out. Motivation of students performing poorly should therefore be emphasized so as to help keep them in school. Tutorials should also be organized for the weak students who are not able to quickly grasp concepts during the time allocated for teaching so that personalized attention can be accorded to them and this will result in an improvement in their academic performances.

Inadequate parental engagement

A journal discussing community psychology that shows how neglect of the child can hinder academic growth. Written by C Wisdom in the year 2011.

In this journal, the author insists that a student needs parental support in order to increase his chance at graduating from school. It is the parent’s moral obligation to make sure their child has all that he or she needs in school. The parent should assist the child in the school projects, assignments and what have you. Class attendance and writing of exams should be supervised by the parent in liaison with the teacher. This ensures that the student stays in school and reduces the rates of dropouts.

Low student engagement

Newmann, F. M. (1992). Student Engagement and Achievement in American Secondary Schools. Teachers College Press, 1234 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10027 (paperback: ISBN-0-8077-3182-X, $17.95; hardcover: ISBN-0-8077-3183-8, $38).

According to Mr. Newmann, the engagement of students to their studies greatly affects whether or not they will graduate from school or they will drop out. There should be enough individualized attention coming from the student in order for them to succeed in school. The will to pursue their studies should come from within to increase the level of student engagement. The activities that the students engage in in school should not be gauged in such a way that they do not encourage disconnect from school academics. The problem of low student engagement can also be reduced by creating a good reading environment that will then motivate the student to focus on engaging in the curriculum activities.

Family economic needs

A record published in 1986 that highlighted on findings from a national study and was compiled by M. Pollack.

According to this record, the probability of a student who comes from a higher social economic background to drop out of school is lower than that of a student who hails from a lower social economic background. Most students from low economic backgrounds seek employment while still in school to support themselves and/their families and this creates distraction especially when the job needs more than twenty hours of the students time. Adequate funding in form of bursaries and sponsorships should hence be awarded to students so that they can meet their academic and economic needs and thus focus on education to help keep them in school.

ReferencesEkstrom, R., Goertz, M., Pollack, J., & Rock, D. (1986). Who drops out of high school and why? Findings from a national study. The Teachers College Record, 87(3), 356-373.

Newmann, F. M. (1992). Student Engagement and Achievement in American Secondary Schools. Teachers College Press, 1234 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10027 (paperback: ISBN-0-8077-3182-X, $17.95; hardcover: ISBN-0-8077-3183-8, $38)..Nikulina, V., Widom, C. S., & Czaja, S. (2011). The role of childhood neglect and childhood poverty in predicting mental health, academic achievement and crime in adulthood. American Journal of Community Psychology, 48(3-4), 309-321.