The Regional Educational Laboratory West at WestEd has published a study prepared for the Institute of Education Sciences. The study, Characteristics and education outcomes of Utah high school dropouts who re-enrolled, examines diploma attainment by youth who drop out of high school. The researchers Vanessa Barrat and BethAnn Berliner presented a RAPSA webinar on January 27.
Among their provocative findings:
- About one in five students in Utah’s 2011 graduating cohort dropped out of high school, and about one in five of those dropouts re-enrolled;
- An emerging body of research has shown that dropping out does not have to be a permanent high school outcome— students do return and go on to graduate;
- More than 1 in 10 re-enrollees dropped out and returned to school multiple times;
- Even after returning to school, re-enrollees did not accumulate enough credits to graduate on time;
- Among students who had dropped out and re-enrolled by 2011, 26 percent graduated on time (within four years of entering high school), and by including those who re-enrolled within an additional 2 years, the graduation rate increased an additional 4 percentage points;
- Of the students who had dropped out and re-enrolled within four years of starting high school, two-thirds dropped out again;
- To help stakeholders better understand these outcomes, school, state, and national data systems could identify re-enrollees and report the number of diplomas they earn to help raise the graduation rates of dropouts who return to school;
- More research is needed on what effective strategies support dropout recovery.
BethAnn Berliner was one of the co-authors of Policy Forum Proceedings, Alternative Accountability Policy Forum 2014, Read More. Vanessa Barrat was one of the authors of an early study of dropout recovery at San Bernardino Unified School District, Read More.
By focusing on reengaged dropouts, the Characteristics and Education Outcomes study provides policymakers and educators with new information about the prevalence, characteristics, and high school outcomes of a vulnerable student group and demonstrates that, if identified and successfully supported in school, recovered dropouts could have a greater chance of graduating from high school. The Webinar will also explore the findings and back story of California’s San Bernardino Unified School District study which was one of the first studies using data-based research to focus in on reengagement strategies and outcomes.
View Recording (password: pP2E5mp5) – Presentation Slides – WestEd Study