The high school dropout rate is up, reports Julian Shen-Berro on Chalkbeat.
Students who fell behind when classes went virtual feel school is "just too hard," said Megan Facer, a clinical assistant director at Youth Villages. They don't believe they'll ever catch up.
“When we reopened, they had to decide, ‘Do I go back to school, where I wasn’t doing that great, and I don’t know what the relevance of it is anyway? Or do I stay in this $20- to $25-an-hour job?” said Steve Dobo, founder of Zero Dropouts, an educational social enterprise that works with school districts in Colorado. “A lot of them are choosing to stay in those jobs.”
I don't think it's a disaster if unmotivated, unprepared students choose work over college, but the prospects for high school dropouts are very grim.
Throughout my 30+ years teaching in college I found many of my most dedicated students were returning dropouts. College did not 'work' for them when they were 18-20, but when they returned at 30+ they were ready to go. They were there to learn, not just get a certificate. They knew how to manage their time, and welcomed feedback that helped them learn. If I could have classrooms full of 30+ year old such students I would be a happy professor. I believe students should be able to 'sit' for a GED any time they feel ready. If it truly tests what it's supposed to, then those who pass it have learned, one way or another, what they needed to in high…
Making students jump thru hoops to qualify to sit the GED before they are nineteen means most won't bother. The District and State can offer an Alternative high school experience. Ours is evenings a few nights a week; its quite popular as it strips out all the busywork and is much less time on campus. An undifferentiated, full inclusion classroom is a massive time waster for most students. They reason they are better off working full time...and they aren't wrong. They'll pick up far more from immersion with their functional co-workers in the adult world than they will from 'adequate' instruction from the Special Ed co-teacher.
Same for kids on the home school program...learn at your own pace...
Stop stigmatizing the GED. There the problem of "high school dropout" is fixed. Graduating high school no longer demonstrates much so, why not test out. That is what any kid in 9th grade or above in 2020 should have been working toward. Not taking poorly planned classes, but studying to get their GED.
High school is a miserable experience for most kids, why would they re-enter hell?