What is Dropping Out?
When a teen drops out of school, it means that he or she stops attending school. Most kids who drop out do it in high school; sometimes the transition from middle school to high school contributes to the decision to drop out. If you look at statistics on dropouts, you’ll probably run across the following terms:

Cohort

In this case a cohort is a group of students. Studies sometimes look at a group of students in similar circumstances to see how many of those students will drop out over the course of the study. An example would be a study that looked at a group of middle class girls in Montana schools, and counted how many dropped out over a period of 10 years.

Event

The rate of “event dropouts” is found by finding the number of students in a certain age range and school year who leave school and do not return. For example, you might measure all the kids in grade eleven in the year 2004 who do not return for their senior year of high school.

Status

The status rate measures the number of young adults in the entire population of the U.S. who left school without getting their diploma. That means that in a status rate you’re counting the teens who left school five years ago as well as the teens who left just last year. If you look at the status rates of dropouts, you might be surprised at how high the numbers are compared to the event rates (which only measure the number of kids who left school in ONE year).

Who Drops Out and Why?
Teens leave school for a number of different reasons. Some teens feel forced into the decision, others leave with great reluctance, and others leave without putting much thought into their choices or actions. Because of this it is important not to make assumptions about people who drop out of school!

Here are just a few reasons why a person might drop out of school:

• Family Crisis
• Pregnancy or parenthood
• Family economic problems forcing kids into the workforce
• Conflicts with teachers and other students
• Bad grades
• Language barrier

What Happens to Dropouts?
Teens who drop out are statistically worse off than those who graduate high school or go on to college. This is because it is harder to find a job if you do not have a high school diploma. It is also harder to get a job that pays well. Because of this many young adults who drop out end up in poverty or on welfare. Crime also appears to be a bigger problem among dropouts: the prison population in the U.S. has a high percentage of inmates who dropped out of school. Fortunately, some teens who drop out eventually DO earn their diploma or a GED (General Education Development) certificate.