Hi Daphne and friends:
 
Here are the names of three dissertations done at the University of
New Orleans in recent years that speak directly or indirectly to the
issue of drop-outs. I believe they should be accessible through
Dissertation Abstracts, or via loan from the UNO Library.
 
Roussel, Danny. (2000). Dropping out and staying out: Experiencing the
lives of male high school drop-outs. 
 
Hall, Renee. (2006). Correctional eduction from the perspective of the
prisoner student.
 
Lafargue, Shannon. (2007). The perspectives of male inmates regarding
their K-12 experiences.
 
Cheers,
 
Jim Killacky

________________________________

From: povertyracewomen-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Daphne Greenberg
Sent: Sun 11/25/2007 8:52 PM
To: povertyracewomen at nifl.gov
Subject: [PovertyRaceWomen 1439] drop-outs



Andrea raises an important point-" we should interview the drop-outs
to see why they have dropped out." Does anyone know of studies which
were conducted with high school drop outs, asking them why they
dropped out of school? Perhaps some of you have asked your learners
this question and want to contribute what you have learned. What I
have heard are issues related to gangs, pregnancy, illness, moving
around a lot. I have never heard anyone specifically state anything
about the educational system, even though most of the learners that I
have interacted with read below a fifth grade level, and therefore did
not benefit from the school system way before they dropped out. It
would be interesting if anyone knows of any studies that focus on this
type of issue.
Daphne


>>> Andrea Wilder <andreawilder at comcast.net> 11/25/07 8:43 PM >>>

Hi Liz,

It is late (for me) Sunday, so I will just say that we should
interview
the drop-outs to see why they have dropped out. Also--kids know school
is important,, it is a cultural norm;  often pleasing the parents is
in
there too.  No one wants to fail.

Andrea

On Nov 25, 2007, at 6:29 PM, Liz Hawkins wrote:


> I think one of the problems with public education is that we often

> assume kids are fundamentally different from adults.  We assume that

> kids should and will go to school and try to succeed because they

are

> required to do so and need to do so in order to get along in life;

> whereas adults presumably seek out education by choice.  However,

> making education compulsory for kids does not change the fact that

> students (of any age) will choose what they want to learn and how

hard

> they will work to learn it based on a variety of factors. 

>

> Andre brought up the cultural/social issues that exist, and I

> certainly agree.  Students who see school as a place which offends

and

> threatens their cultural ideals will struggle there.  When I taught

in

> the public school system in S. Atlanta, I frequently had high school

> students (or even younger) who really needed to work (not in the

> future, but right then) in order to help support their families. 

> Although  I tried to be sensitive to these students' needs, I found

> myself insisting that education should be a priority, and in doing

so

> without offering them any real solutions to their present dilemmas,

> alienating them.  At school, they are told they must succeed in

school

> in order to have a hope for a better, more economically comfortable

> life, but that does not make sense to a child who knows she might

not

> get to eat this weekend, that her little brother may not have shoes

to

> wear this winter, or that her own baby will have no one to look

after

> it if she goes to school every day and does all her homework instead

> of finding ways to make money.  Certainly these situations are not

> fair, but they are real, and if we want to improve education, we

need

> to address these problems in the community as well.

>

> Dana mentioned the focus on testing as a fundamental problem in

school

> systems, and this too is absolutely true, but the testing issue is

> representative of the same underlying issue--students fail to see a

> lack of relevance between what they are being told to learn and what

> they need to survive.  They do not understand (and neither do many

> teachers) why being able to pass a standardized test is important,

and

> yet being able to pass the test is the primary incentive they are

> presented with as motivation to learn the material.  Having taught

9th

> and 10th graders, I know that there are many teachers who strive to

> make these connections and show their students how getting an

> education is truly, really, immediately and in the long-term,

> beneficial.  I was one of them, but honestly, more often than not I

> had a hard time seeing the relevance myself.

>

> So the issue remains that public school at present is not relevant

to

> everyone.  I think that technical education programs,

accelerated/dual

> enrollment programs, and magnet schools are all steps in the right

> direction toward making sure there are different types  of education

> available to meet different people's needs, but we need to do more. 

> If we can figure out what people really need and try to give it to

> them, perhaps parents and communities will again rally behind the

> educational system, providing local support and encouraging

political

> changes at the state and national levels as well.  Rather than

> continuing to treat the symptoms of a poor educational system by

> prescribing medications (such as No Child Left Behind), many of

which

> themselves have heinous side effects, we need to pull out the

scalpel

> and operate on the core issues.

>

> -Liz

>

>

> Dana Donohue <dana.donohue at gmail.com> wrote:Hi Andre and Andrea.

>> Although I have never been a school teacher, I currently work on a

>> reading research project in several elementary schools in Atlanta.

I

>> was curious about your statement, Andrea, that we still need to

come

>> to an agreement about what the problems in the schools are. Excuse

my

>> naivety, but is there still no consensus? Here are some of the

major

>> problems that I have seen and have discussed with teachers. First

>> (and probably foremost), the focus on testing creates a lot of

>> apprehension and fear that if they (the classes and/or schools)

>> perform poorly, more of their funding will be taken away. Second,

>> there appears to be a lot of variability in the skills and

expertise

>> between both schools and teachers. I'm guessing that this, too, may

>> stem from the funding issue. Lastly, I think that especially in the

>> poorer areas, there lacks that important bond between the schools

and

>> the parents. These bonds may encourage children to stay engaged in

>> the learning process. I suppose that a good place to start to fix

>> these problems would be a push by educators to overhaul or do away

>> with No Child Left Behind. Of course, I'm not a teacher and so I am

>> curious about what teachers think about how to fix the myriad of

>> issues that hinder children's education.

>> 

>> Dana

>>

>> 

>> On 11/24/07, Andrea Wilder <andreawilder at comcast.net> wrote:

Andre--

>>>

>>> I understand what you are saying.  I wrote what I did because I

think

>>> there is enough experience and brain power on this list serv and

>>> others

>>> to light up a good-sized city.  Where I live, school boards get

>>> elected. They are supposed to be the link between the school and

us,

>>> and they are answerable to us--us meaning the people who elected

>>> them.

>>> Here, the "us" are the extremely knowledgeable members of this

list

>>> serv.  We know the consequences of school failure.  This is useful

>>> knowledge, not only for the dropouts, but what may be behind the

drop

>>> outs.  I am convinced that groups of people with this knowledge,

in

>>> our

>>>  communities, can make a difference.   I used to be a school

teacher,

>>> too.  We first must come to some agreements as to what the

problems

>>> are, then prioritize and find out where to start.

>>>

>>> Andrea

>>>

>>> On Nov 24, 2007, at 12:25 PM, Andre Whitmore wrote:

>>>

>>> > Andrea

>>> > I am a former school teacher and I believe that the school

system

>>> > in and of itself is the reason why so many students fail. The

>>> > schooling process is designed to ensure that students are

>>> socialized

>>> > to acquire an American cultural identity, which for many of the

>>> > students is an unrealistic goal for them. It has become

increasing

>>> > difficult for students to envisionhow they can actively

participate

>>> > and succeed in this culture. Jobs, occupations, and success are

no

>>> > longer consistent with education. The educational requirements

have

>>> > become too demanding and do not offer any guarantee for a job.

Many

>>> > minority students have observed how their family members and

>>> people in

>>> > the community have sought education that leads to poverty still.

>>> The

>>> > schooling process should offer students the opportunity ability

to

>>> > become socialized in their culture so that they can associate

real

>>> > significance to their education. furthermore, American culture

>>> > singifies free market and free enterprise opportunities, but the

>>>  > schooling process does not place emphasis on this aspect. Most

>>> public

>>> > schools teach students to become apoorly trained labor force

that

>>> > remains dependent on the corporate structure. Simply put,

students

>>> > will continue to resist public education until education in this

>>> > country receives a make-over.

>>> > Andre

>>> > ----- Original Message ----

>>> > From: Andrea Wilder < andreawilder at comcast.net>

>>> > To: Women and Literacy Discussion List The Poverty Race

>>> > <povertyracewomen at nifl.gov>

>>> > Sent: Friday, November 23, 2007 10:29:06 PM

>>> > Subject: [PovertyRaceWomen 1429] Changing schools

>>> >

>>> > Hi everyone,

>>> >

>>> > I think it is really important to find out which types of

students

>>> in

>>> > our local schools aren't doing well and to change local school

>>> behavior

>>> > so all students can succeed.

>>> >

>>> > Andrea

>>> >

>>> > ----------------------------------------------------

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