¡Ya Me Fui! When English Learners Consider Leaving School

Common Reasons for Dropping Out of High School

In their comprehensive review of 25 years of literature concerning why students drop out of school, Rumberger and Lim (2008) found the causes to fall in two categories that they classified as individual and institutional. Individual predictors include: educational performance, behaviors, attitudes, and background. The institutional predictors included family structure, family resources, and family practice.

There are several opposing views about solutions to the high drop-out rate among native Spanish-speaking students, who comprise the largest linguistically diverse student population in the United States. Jorge Amselle, vice president of education for the Center for Equal Opportunity, offers, “It’s better to have students start learning English as soon as possible,” suggesting the high drop-out rate among Latino students is a result of them not studying English earlier in grade school, believing that a lack of bilingual education in grade school further delays development of English proficiency and “creates segregated classes where students don’t have the opportunity to spend time with children who speak English or other languages.” Former education secretary of state, Richard Riley, recognized what he believed to be a need for more schools to teach native-Spanish-speaking students in their native language as well as in English, citing the increasing importance of bilingualism in a global economy.

In accord with the Rumberger and Lim (2008) review, Rumbaut (1995) found grade-point averages (GPAs) to be a significant predictor of dropping out. In a study of more than 15,000 high school children born of foreign-born parents he found that students with limited English proficiency had lower GPAs and were more likely to drop out of school. However, those students who were formerly Limited English Proficient (LEP), but had since been reclassified as Fluent in English Proficient (FEP), had higher GPAs and were less likely to leave school prematurely.

Belfanz and Letgers (2001) found that schools with a disproportionate number of 9th graders to 12th graders have more students dropping out, an institutional predictor (Rumberger & Lim, 2008). The data reveal district schools with a large number of inner-city public high schools underserve minority and low-income students and these same institutions fail to provide students access to educational opportunities to meet minimum standards. This is significant in light of the Pew Hispanic Research Center’s work that reports Latino youth are more likely than Blacks and Whites to attend more densely populated schools, schools with the highest concentrations of poor students, and the highest teacher ratios. The Center places 56% of Latinos at the nation’s largest public high schools, with enrollments at or above 90th percentile (Pew Hispanic research Center, 2005). Where a child attends school matters.

Nelson (1985) discovered specific characteristics typical of students at risk of dropping out, which include a belief that high school is a different and more difficult experience than grade school; a history of transferring schools or changing school systems; a feeling of not “belonging” to the high school as a whole; a tendency to avoid talking with school personnel about dropping out because they doubt it would help or they did not know whom to contact; a feeling of losing interest in school and a belief that school personnel had lost interest in them; and a feeling that they possessed too many problems to successfully complete their education. Other factors include family problems, such as divorce, death, separation, abuse, and finally situations in which other family members dropped out of school.

The High School and Beyond Survey and the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (1986) reported the major reasons students report dropping as follows: not liking school, poor grades, work, marriage, inability to get along with teachers or others school personnel, need to help support their families and other home responsibilities, pregnancy, and expulsion or suspension. Roderick (1993) found that the major reasons why male students left school were conflicts with school personnel, expulsion/suspension, and/or financial responsibilities.

Numerous works (Hale, 1998; Hess, Well, Prindle, Liffman, & Kaplan, 1987; Office of Educational Research and Improvement [OERI] Urban Superintendents Network, 1987; Wood, 1994) declare the single strongest school-related predictor of dropping out of school is poor academic performance. Although family support plays a significant role in keeping youth in school (Horn, 1992), other factors such as stable/unstable home life, socioeconomic status, minority membership, siblings completing high school, single-parent households, poor education levels of parents, and second-language-learner status reflect varying degrees of parental support. Of community-related factors, however, poverty is the most significant predictor of dropping out of school (Orfield & Losen, 2004). When socioeconomic factors are controlled, the differences across ethnic lines of students dropping out of school blur (OERI, 1987, p. 5; Rumberger, 2001).

Employment was also linked as a contributing factor to students’ leaving high school without a diploma. Mann’s (1986) study found a correlation between students working more than 14 hr a week and dropping out of school, whereas Winters et al. (Winters, Rubenstein, & Winters, 1988) placed the significance of this correlation at 20 work hours, suggesting that the more hours a student works per week the greater the likelihood of him or her dropping out.

Students who exhibit a lack of engagement are also at risk of dropping out of school (Newmann et al., 1992; Whelage et al., 1989). Engagement can be defined as any or all of the following: not doing homework, not having friends, or not getting along with peers, which underscores Olsen’s (1997) work conducted on a high school campus where she found the more involved students were in school, the more key and central locations they tended to occupy during break periods, whereas English learners and other minority students were situated in more peripheral locations.

The existing research on why teens drop out of school is insightful, yet it lacks the information educators and policy makers need to begin the healing process for language minority students. This body of work examines the contributing factors beyond those captured by quantitative data and explores in depth and qualitatively reasons why this high-risk population leaves school before graduating. Utilizing a narrative research model and a sample population of six high school dropouts, all former participants in ESL/ELD programs, I identify and investigate themes that emerge in these students’ experiences—in the classroom, on the schoolyard, in their psyches, or elsewhere. Identified thematic patterns are analyzed heuristically.

California’s Drop-Out Rates

Of an estimated 4.4 million English learners in the United States (U.S. Department of Education, 1993, 2010), approximately one fourth are educated in California public schools (Jepsen & de Alth, 2005). The largest group of English learners in the state, Latinos, represent 50% of all students enrolled in California schools and account for the highest drop-out rate. ¹ In California, nearly 90,000 students in Grades 9 through 12 dropped out during the 2008-2009 academic year, and more than 26% of them were of Latino descent. Statewide graduation rates have declined to a low of 70% and in 2008-2009 period, 67,215 of Latino students left school without a earning a diploma.

The Heuristic Researcher

Heuristic investigation is an exhaustive, self-searching analysis not measured quantitatively. The validity of heuristic research is derived from the researcher’s ability to investigate all aspects of an experience and to identify themes within it. The heuristic researcher engages in a continual process of evaluating the significance of an experience, which facilitates the validity of the outcome. Validity is not dependent on external sources, but rather on the researcher’s constant assessment of the information provided by the interview participants in a constant search for the truth.

Role of Relationships

Forming trusting relationships is vital to conducting heuristic research. Participants must be comfortable sharing their experiences with the researcher. Prior to be being interviewed, all participants should understand the purpose of the research, the research design, the significance of their personal contribution to the research project, and how the data will be used. In addition, an atmosphere conducive to the free flow of information in both directions should be created.

Research Methodology

Qualitative narrative interviews were used to conduct this study. The research design included audio-taped and hand-written accounts from former students, relatives of students, and respondents.

The 8 participants were aged between 16 and 56. These narrators were selected on the basis of the following criteria: being a former or current English learner, former or current participation in an English learner program, one who had considered dropping out of school, or one who had dropped out. Most interviews were conducted individually and tended to last approximately 1.5 hr to 2 hr and were conducted at one of the following locations: the participant’s home, the library, or by telephone. Except for one, all interviews were conducted in one day. The face-to-face interviews were tape recorded and supplemented by hand-written notes. Telephonic interviews were recorded by extensive note taking. As one respondent began her account, she seamlessly communicated the stories of her three English learner children—two of whom had graduated high school, one who had not. As a result of their relevance to this study, these accounts are included in this study.

Fernando

Fernando, a 16-year-old 10-grade native Spanish speaker, joined class after the semester began. He was likeable and seemed to fit in well with the other students right away. Fernando chose a seat in the back of the room. He was never keen on written work, but if asked for a verbal response to a question or to participate in a class discussion, Fernando would give a correct answer or share a thoughtful perspective. Fernando’s attendance was very poor, however. When present, he was often late to class and at times lethargic.

I was born in this country. I have a stepdad and stepbrother and sister. Everybody is older than me and everybody has graduated high school. Everybody in my family encourages me to stay in school. I have a friend who dropped out to work and he wants to come back now and finish. He tells me to just stay in. I’m so far behind in credits. I don’t know how many, but it’s a lot. I don’t know exactly how many credits I am missing because I haven’t talked to my counselor. I don’t even know who the counselor is. I get along pretty much with the teachers when I’m there. I just stay quiet and pretend to do my work. I learned English pretty quick, because I was born in this country. I like English class. I wish I could take classes like Auto Shop or Body Shop, Electronics and English every day. Those are the classes that I would like to take. I like English class, and the teachers are pretty cool. I like English because it is important. I’m good at it. I can see myself owning my own car shop. I work with my brother-in-law sometimes, and I’m good at working with cars. I don’t take auto shop at this school. They haven’t given it to me. I transferred into this school from Carson, and I didn’t know anybody, really. It was hard to make friends. I was sad because I had a whole lot of friends in Carson. When I was in Carson I had a lot of friends, and I stayed after school a lot. The school was kinda [sic] bad, but I liked it. When I moved here, I felt a lot safer at school, but I still don’t stay after school. I could have gone to tutoring to raise my grades in my classes, but I just didn’t. I don’t know why.

Contrary to popular belief, the majority of our nation’s English learners are U.S.-born (Payan & Nettles, 2007). Fernando’s story followed a combination of what the literature shows: poor grades, lack of being connected to the school, a scarcity of friends. Unlike cases represented in the literature, however, Fernando’s immediate family has graduated from high school and all encourage him to complete his education. He described his ideal school schedule, if he could design it: Auto Shop, Body Shop, Electronics, English, and ELD. Fernando included three vocational courses and English. He saw his career goal as owning and operating a car shop. Unfortunately, at many schools, have scaled back its selection of vocational courses, and at some schools such courses are no longer offered.

Concerned with his poor grades, I asked Fernando whether he attended tutoring or stayed after classes to talk to the teachers for additional assistance. He stated that when he attended the school in Carson, he did not always feel safe on campus, but that he had many friends and would often stay after school for various activities. In contrast, Fernando felt very safe on the current school’s campus, but seldom, if ever, stayed after school for tutoring or other activities. This underscores Nelson’s (1985) findings concerning students who transfer schools and lack a sense of belonging. Also consistent with the literature was Fernando’s uncertainty about the total number of credits he was lacking. When asked how many courses he had failed, he responded, “Quite a few.” By his own admission, he had not kept up with the number of courses that he had failed, or the course credits he was lacking, because he had not spoken with his counselor.

When I asked whether he wanted to add anything else that might help me in my study, he said that talking about his plans helped him to sort things out in his head. I immediately began an intervention process for Fernando that included contacting his counselor, who summoned him to discuss options to make up his missing course credits and provided him with a plan to recover his missed credits and the possibility of graduation. A couple of weeks later Fernando still had not returned the forms to register for the class credit recovery program.

Victor

Victor was often irritable, late to class, or absent. When present, he regularly attempted to control the class by acting out, through excessive disruptions, unprovoked outbursts, being out of his seat, or simply walking out of class for no apparent reason. One day, I asked whether he ate breakfast in the mornings, and he said no. I asked him to try and eat something in the morning before coming to class and that it might help his irritability. To my surprise over the next few days, ate breakfast, and I applauded him on his much-improved behavior.

We were poor in Mexico, and that is why we decided to come to the United States. My parents did not go past the fifth grade and things were hard. My parents wanted the best for all of us. They wanted us to have the opportunities that they did not have. My mom stayed home and cooked and cleaned. She took care of the house, and my dad worked when there was work. Some of my family came from Mexico a year before me. They came and I stayed with other relatives. I didn’t want to come, and I felt outta [sic] place when I came. I was out of place. I thought others looked at me different, and so I acted different. It used to make me mad. I always had problems with the teachers. It wasn’t long after I got here when I had to go to the bad-boy school. I was in the ninth grade. It was the school for the kids who could not get along at the regular school. There were kids who had all kinds of problems. They were bad and I knew that the teachers thought I was like that. I guess I was. I stayed there got my grades up and was transferred back into a regular school. I failed classes not because I was stupid, just because I did not feel like doing the work. Sometimes I would make promises to myself or to the teachers to do the work and I gave up. I just gave up. I learned a lot in English class. I learned a lot in all of the classes, but I always thought I should be helping out at home. My brothers didn’t graduate, and my older sister is married. My parents wanted me to graduate, but my brothers were making money and I wanted to make money too. When I found out my girl was having a baby, this was my chance to work. I wanted to provide for my baby. My mother tried to talk to me about staying in school, but I yelled at her. My younger sister encouraged me to come for the rest of the semester. She really wanted me to stay to finish the school year. I wanted to, but I just dropped out. I found work in construction in Orange County with my dad. I feel good. At one time I believed that I could do something big with education and maybe one day I will, but I think I’m happier working and contributing. I want my son to have it easier than me. I’m not ready to get married yet, but I visit my kid almost every day at the day care center at the high school. A lot of teachers tried to help me, but I fought back. I walked out of class when I got upset. Sometimes I just didn’t want to be there. I talked back, cussed at teachers, threatened students. I was so unhappy inside at school and at home. I just got tired of not having things that I needed—things that I saw others with. I was angry about it all the time.

After sending him to the vice principal for disciplinary processing more times than I can count, Victor pleaded with me not to send him again explaining he had just returned from the district’s alternative school. He acknowledged he had problems with all of his teachers and that if he received one more referral, he was sure to return. Treasuring this bargaining chip, I agreed to refrain from sending Victor out as long as he behaved himself and got his work done.

During these good times, Victor expressed a desire to become a lawyer, and I encouraged him. He appeared surprised that I believed he could realize this dream. He took pride in his dream and began to brag to his classmates that he was going to do it. I publicly endorsed his claim. However, at the beginning of the spring semester Victor began skipping class. Shortly thereafter his class schedule changed and he was no longer in my class. Through periodic conversations with the new teacher, I learned that Victor had experienced slump in attitude, which interfered with his school work and resulted in more referrals. Over time, the interventions designed to sanction his undesirable behavior compounded it (Brown, 2007), eventually resulting in Victor leaving school. Being poor, an English learner, having disciplinary and attendance problems, and working, Victor’s story reflects a variety of the complex issues that plague students at risk of dropping out of school. Victor teetered between being “pushed out” of school into an alternative school setting (Munoz, 2005) or dropping out. However, as an educator I remain stumped by what may have been done to make a positive difference in Victor’s academic success. Being more capable than many of his peers, as evidenced by his academic performance when focused, Victor could have easily sailed through school and perhaps finish early.

Bryan

Bryan is a 16-year-old dropout who came to my attention through his sister, an ELD 3 student. She and her friend were passing a letter back and forth, so I confiscated it. As is my custom, I read the letter, made grammatical corrections, and returned it to the student. After class, I inquired about Bryan, and Crystal was glad to share with me a bit about her brother. I wrote Bryan, who was under guardianship of relatives, and was surprised that he wrote back through his sister. Judging by the concern Bryan showed for his sister and parents in the letter that I intercepted, and by his response to me, he struck me as an intelligent young man, mature beyond his 16 years.

I was born in this country and raised in the LA-Compton area. I had a happy family. I went to school regularly. Both of my parents attended school, but neither graduated. My parents came to this country with my mom’s uncles. My mother was unsure about coming to the U.S. because her parents were going to stay in Mexico and she did not want to leave them. I was in the eighth grade when I started ditching a lot. I stopped attending school at the beginning of ninth grade. I dropped out with a friend, who was a bad influence on me. We both stopped coming to school. There were people who tried to help me, like my mom, my dad, and the school counselors, but I did not want to hear it. It was so stupid. I actually did alright in school, but I just got tired of coming everyday. I was bored. I didn’t feel like I was learning what I wanted to learn. I didn’t really like to read. I liked to draw a lot. Eventually my street activities were more fun I guess. I had a friend and we just started doing our own thing. I got in a lot of trouble with the police and stuff. I did about 18 months in juvie [sic] for something stupid. My friend, he got in trouble for something else and got locked up. I try to tell my sister to stay in school and pay attention. Sometimes she tells me that she ditches a lot, so I try to help her. I don’t want her to let my mom down like I did. Now I want a education. I want to do something with my life. I don’t know what, probably like work on cars or work with kids or something like that. I’m not really sure. I’m surprised sometime that I still have a lot of support from my family. If I had everything to do over, I would probably stay in school and just tough it out.

Bryan typifies the majority of students enrolled in my classes. That is, he was very bright but at a high risk of not completing the basic education because of “boredom” and competing activities outside of school. Such students challenge educators to bring their most creative teaching skills into the classroom each day. Students must be engaged and see that what they are learning is relevant to their daily lives. If not, we lose them. Bryan stopped reporting to school; some students check out of our classes, while seated in the same. These students present the greatest challenge, but also the greatest opportunity.

Nereydi

Nereydi was an excellent student, and I was frankly shocked to have her as a participant for this study, because she had always placed high importance on her academic performance, as did her family. Whenever Nereydi encountered academic difficulty she sought assistance from her teachers and peers.

Only for a short time I thought about leaving school. I was smart and I worked real hard. But when I used to go to the career center to get information about college and fee waivers nobody acted like they wanted to help me. The lady would always ask me what I needed and I would tell her that I just wanted to look around at the college material. I never felt welcomed. I remember when I ran all around from the college center to the student store to my counselor to my teacher, looking for someone who would help me. The lady in the college center was the person all the time who had the information on fee waivers. I felt stupid. I thought if it is like this here what’s it gonna [sic] be like for me in the college? My teacher encouraged me, and my dad also encouraged me to keep trying. I don’t know sometimes why it’s like this. I am looking forward to going to college.

Nereydi’s experience is one not widely captured by the existing literature on dropouts. There are accounts of problem students being “pushed out” of school due to behavioral issues, but Nereydi does not fall in to that category. In fact, she was a college-bound English learner. Perhaps based on her phenotype, a dark-skinned Latina with a slight accent, she was not expected to be in the college center and was, therefore, met with some reluctance by classified staff not knowing quite how to handle the situation. Nereydi did graduate high school and continued her education at a local community college.

Irma, Rocio, Rey, and Rolando

Irma was an English learner while in school and had many remarkable experiences. As a fifty-something mother of three children who participated in similar English learner programs, Irma brings her years of experience and a valuable perspective to this study. She was compelled to share her account (and those of her children) as both a student and mother in a face-to face interview.

I attended Nimitz Junior High. I was an English learner. They would crowd us in the gymnasium for ESL. We stay there sometimes two three, four hours because there was no teacher to teach us. This was in the 1970s. I stayed there for a year and then they [her parents] moved me to South Gate Middle School. Then I stayed there one more year. It was different because the teachers are there, but we had ESL classes with just a few of them. The teachers are real good, but unfortunately they don’t understand the problems we have and they thought we are stupid, because they teach us the basic math when we came from Mexico and we know almost everything. So we boring and we just playing and we just sit there. Just, I mean doing nothing. This was 1970. And then I went to Huntington Park High. I had just two ESL classes, but they never give us language development classes so we can understand the language. Just teach us how we can successful in society or like what you need to go to doctor, what you need to go to hospital, just the basic. Not the academical [sic] area where we really understand the basic of history and all the rest of the classes. ESL is like that by that time, and I still think they are doing the same thing. I graduated from Huntington Park.

I had six children. For my first three children (two boys and one girl) it was awful. They struggle a lot because when they start school. It’s real sad but they think they needed Special Ed because they are stupid. So they moved them instead of help them they changed instead of give them academical [sic] areas they put them in special ed because they thought the kids are stupid. This was in 1981-1982. That’s my first experience. My daughter was in kindergarten, and she just cried. They didn’t want her to speak Spanish; they want her to speak English. Because everybody says that if the kids speak Spanish they are going to be dumb. I mean they don’t expect people who speak Spanish to be successful. That’s the way they do it, OK. They said they are going to help them. They pulled them from the class with another person that they don’t speak even Spanish, because they just say a few words and they said they are going to help that way. My daughter is a teacher, a third-grade teacher right now, OK. But she still made a comment that she is struggling because the language still is not developed the way that it has to be. So sometime she even herself really feel like that’s true what they said is true, “I never learned because I speak Spanish.” And I said, “No, that’s not true. It’s because they never give you the tool to learn properly.”

I really think something happened to her in Special Education classes. I think the kids have long-term psychological problems. In 6th grade it was hard for her to see all of her friends ahead of her. It was really hard for her. In middle school she was a good student. I took her out of Special Ed and out of the ESL program because they did not work, because they didn’t do it the right way. The program is not the problem; it’s the way you teach is the problem. The program, if you see it on the paper is real good, but they don’t have the resource, they don’t have the teachers, they don’t have anybody who really teach the program. How they gonna [sic] teach something and they don’t have it? I mean in paper I can tell you, it’s beautiful, but it’s not the reality we live. I mean I don’t know, this is my own experience, maybe somebody else have a different experience, but I don’t think so. In high school she had honors classes, but we had to fight to get them. The counselor told us that the honors classes would be too hard for her. I argued and fought with them. I told them to let her try. They did and Rocio was successful. Rocio was an excellent student. She was in all the academic clubs, and she did very well. That’s my daughter, but my son, he dropped out.

In 1990-1991 my son, Rey, entered high school. In middle school he was one of the best in math. In high school he didn’t want them to know that he doesn’t know how to read and write, so he started making problems in the class. I took all of my kids out of ESL, but he is still ELD, but he never get the help. They never had the sheltered classes at that time. They never had options. They start options since when I get mad with them. Really they never had options for the parents neither for the children. Like I said, all these kids struggle with Language Arts. If a children came from Mexico with some education, they go through all high school, but kids who start kindergarten here, they drop out. Get all the papers they have here, right here and look. All the kids who start kindergarten here and who are Hispanic drop out, almost 50% or 60%. He was in mainstream classes only. In middle school Rey had an attitude change toward school. He did not want to do homework; he was always tired. He was discouraged because he was competing with native English speakers in class and he was discouraged. When the kids see they cannot compete, they give up. Math was the class that Rey loved. He loved to help people. I remember Rey telling me while he was in high school that he did not feel accepted. I noticed he always tried to get easy classes. His friends changed. His friends were the ones who would have problems in class and they would get in trouble together. He would say to me, “Mom we should move away from here, nobody [teachers and staff] cares about us. . . .” Rey was tall and felt he was picked on and blamed for things that would happen in the class. He survived in high school by memorizing things because his reading was so poor. In teacher conferences they would tell me that Rey was lazy and not prepared for class. I never got any positive feedback. An incident happened in the park. Someone named Rey as being involved. The police went to the school and arrested him on campus in front of everyone. They later let him go because he had not done anything, but Rey refused to go back to school because he felt so violated, embarrassed, and hurt that the school would let him be treated like that. He felt the school let him down. Rey dropped out of school six months before graduation. I tried to force him, but he absolutely refused to go back. He wasn’t like my daughter. Rocio fought her way through school, but Rey just did not want to fight. He didn’t want to fight for what was right. He was a good sportsman, but because they had to wear a tie and dress shirt on Friday, he did not join the team. He was capable, but he just didn’t want to fight.

My next son, Rolando, was placed in Special Education in the 6th grade because the teacher said he couldn’t do anything. We did not know what was right. We trusted the teachers and other school officials. Once he was in Special Ed. he felt bad about himself. His teachers did not follow his IEP. Rolando just felt, “Why go on?” He did graduate, but my son Rolando could have been an engineer. He loved to work on engines. He likes motors. But because of the bad experiences he had in school, he doesn’t want to go to school any more to get a certificate. He says he was in Special Ed, why should he? “I can’t do it,” he says. He gave up on himself after high school. He dropped out after he graduated.

On a scale of 1 to 10, I give the education system a 3. The system needs a change. Teachers teach by default. They can’t get another job, so they teach. Teachers have to care about what they are doing. Some teachers even threaten the children if they speak Spanish or their native language in class. This is not right. Educators should work to build a good relationship with students. They [students] need them. Teachers have to have high expectations for students. Students don’t challenge themselves. They need good teachers who care.

My last two boys have more confidence in themselves, and they ask me to go in and fight for them and make changes. I go. More parents have to be aware of their rights. They have to be proactive and ask questions. Politicians already know it. They just play around so that you think they are going to help you, but they know how they are going to put everything down, so that you are not able to make it. Ponle un parchecito aquí; ponle un curita aquí. So, that’s OK, but they still have the cut, and it’s blood coming out. All my kids were good in middle school. They lost in high school. Everybody is a real good student, until they go to high school. I don’t know why.

During her interview, Irma began to weep as she relieved the challenges she and her children faced in schools, all because they were English learners. Irma continues to participate in the education of her last two children, and she continues to advocate on behalf of all English learners at the school.

Be Transparent

Schools can make precursors to dropping out of school transparent to all education stakeholders (students, parents, educators, and community members), so everyone involved is able to recognize at-risk students and help them. Such a practice would place on each the communal responsibility of providing the necessary supports, enabling students to achieve academic success.

English Early

We must provide English learners every opportunity to learn English as early in their academic experience as possible. The better grasp of English students have, the better chance they have of comprehending content, getting good grades, participating in extra-curricular activities, associating with other English speakers, and becoming full members of their school communities, making them much more likely to earn high school diplomas.

It Can Be Done

The McKinsey Report (2009) suggests there is an underutilization of human potential. Educators can do more, and educators can push students to their potential in relevant, meaningful ways that make learning fun. In that “it is often possible to identify as early as sixth grade up to half of the students who, absent effective interventions, will not graduate, and up to 80 percent by the ninth grade” (Belfanz, 2008). Educators must take notice of these indicators and intervene in ways that empower students to be successful, make school places they want to be, and ultimately get them graduated.

In Philadelphia, where only 47% of the public schools’ first graders graduate from high school, Scott Gordon, CEO of Mastery Charter Schools, shared strategies that helped his school turn around high drop-out rates and low performance. Under his leadership, the average scores for Mastery students increased 35 points per grade in every subject and violence decreased by 85%. The schools’ turnover rates dropped a third. He urged teachers to take more responsibility for the outcomes of their students and urged administrators and state officials to reward teachers accordingly. As it continues operating as a neighborhood school, Gordon says, “In many ways these turnaround schools are perfect controlled experiments on school reform. . . . The same students, the same neighborhood, the same building—the only variable that changed was the adults.”