LOSING OUR KIDS: WHAT IS THE EVIDENCE?
A Reference Guide Prepared by
the Center for Education at Rice University
August 2006
The low rate of high school graduation rate is of great concern to many in our community. Poor and minority students are at a much higher risk of dropping out of high school than their white counterparts. If we are to attract and hold youth on a path into full participation in the civic life of our nation, we need education policies that foster and sustain a high quality education, equitably resourced, for all American children. Sadly, there is growing evidence that our schools remain unequal and that their “holding power” is diminishing: more and more students are leaving school without graduating and the numbers are reaching crisis proportion for African American, Latino, and Native American youth. And the picture is even worse for young Latino and Black males.
It is essential to investigate not only what the real numbers are but what factors lie behind those numbers. What is drawing, or pushing, our minority youth out of school? The studies listed here give us a picture of how many youth are leaving school early, which youth they are, where they are located, and what are the factors within their communities, their personal lives and our current educational policies are driving these losses.
Research Studies
Amrein, A. L., & Berliner, D. C. (2002). High-stakes testing, uncertainty, and student learning. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 10(18).
Anyon, J. (2005). Radical possibilities: Public policy, urban education, and a new social movement. New York: Routledge.
Balfanz, R., & Legters, N. (2004). Locating the dropout crisis. Center for Social Organization of Schools, John Hopkins University Web site: http://www.csos.jhu.edu/tdhs/rsch/Locating_Dropouts.pdf.
Berliner, D. C. (2005) Our impoverished view of educational reform. Teachers College Record, Retrieved August 20, 2005 fromhttp://www.tcrecord.org.
Boger, J. C., and Orfield, G. (2005). School resegregation: Must the South turn back? North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press.
Bridgeland, J. M., Dilulo, J. J., & Morison, K. B. (2006) The silent epidemic: Perspectives of high school dropouts. Civic Enterprises website: http://www.civicenterprises.net/pdfs/thesilentepidemic3-06.pdf.
Darling-Hammond, L. Alexander, M., & Prince, D. (2002). Redesigning schools:What matters and what works - 10 features of good small schools. School Redesign Network at Stanford University Available: http://www.schoolredesign.com/srn/binary/SchoolsBook.pdf.
Deviney, F. (2006). The high cost of dropping out: How many? How come? The Center for Public Policy Priorities website: http://www.cppp.org/files/10/TKC_Report(S)%20-%20FINAL.pdf.
Fry, R. (2005). The higher dropout rate of foreign-born teens: The role of schooling abroad. The Pew Hispanic Center, website: http://www.pewhispanic.org.
Haney, W., Madaus, L., Abrams, L. Wheelock, A., Mico, J., & Gruia, I. (2004). The education pipeline in the United States, 1997-2000. The National Board on Educational Public Testing and Public Policy, Boston College University Web site: http://www.bc.edu/research/nbetpp/statements/nbr3.pdf.
Johnson, Roy L. (2004). Texas school holding power improves – but progress is slow: Texas public school attrition study, 2003-04. The Intercultural Development Research Association Web site: http://www.idra.org/attrition/schoolhp.htm.
Justice Policy Institute. (2002). Cellblocks or classrooms? The funding of higher education and corrections and its impact on African American men. Justice Policy Institute website: http://www.justicepolicy.org/reports/coc.pdf.
Kozol, J. (2005). The shame of the nation: The restoration of apartheid schooling in America. New York: Crown Publishers.
McNeil, L. M. (2004). Faking equity: High-stakes testing and the education of Latino youth. In A. Valenzuela (Ed.), Leaving children behind: How Texas-style accountability fails Latino youth (pp. 57-111). Albany: State University of New York Press.
Orfield, G., Losen, J., Wald, C., & Swanson, B. (2004). Losing our future: How minority youth are being left behind by the graduation rate crisis. The Harvard Civil Rights Web site: http://www.civilrightsproject.harvard.edu/research/dropouts/dropouts04.php.
Orfield, G., & Lee, C. (2005). Why segregation matters: Poverty and educational inequity. Harvard Civil Rights Project Web site: http://www.civilrightsproject.harvard.edu/research/deseg/Why_Segreg_Matters.pdf.
Piatt, B. (1997). Black and brown in America. New York: New York University Press.
Swanson, Chris. (2006). Diplomas Count. The website of Editorial Projects in Education/Education Week: http://www.edweek.org/ew/toc/2006/06/22/index.html?levelId=1000
Valencia, Richard, R. (2004). Chicano school failure and success: Past, present, and future. London: Routledge.
Valenzuela, A. (Ed.) (2004) Leaving children behind: How Texas-style accountability fails Latino youth (pp. 57-111). Albany: State University of New York Press.
Organizations with Additional Research or Perspectives on Dropouts
The Civil Rights Project at Harvard University
http://www.civilrightsproject.harvard.edu
Intercultural Development Research Association
http://www.idra.org
League of United Latin American Citizens
http://www.lulac.org
Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund
http://www.maldef.org
National Center for Fair & Open Testing
http://www.fairtest.org
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
http://www.naacp.org
National Education Association
http://www.nea.org
Rethinking Schools
http://www.rethinkingschools.org.
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