Policy Development in Criminal Justice

Policy Development in Criminal Justice

Extent of the Problem:

According to official published statistics, the U.S. federal government estimates that the national high school dropout rate is approximately 10%. However, educational experts and sociological researchers criticize those estimates as under-representing the extent of the problem by as much as a factor of three (JOEA, 2009; Lau Whelan, 2007). That discrepancy is a function of the fact that as many as 14 states do not report dropout rates accurately, the 50 individual states do not employ any uniform set of criteria for defining or quantifying the problem, and the federal government includes students who receive a general educational development (GED) certificates among high school graduates despite the fact that GED recipients are dropouts (JOEA, 2009).

Using more accurate criteria (such as the number of high school diplomas awarded by high schools annually in relation to the number of 17 and 18-year-olds in the population), educational experts suggest that only approximately 70% of American high school students graduate each year (JOEA, 2009; Lau Whelan, 2007).

Significant discrepancies also exist between Caucasian, African-American, and Latino students, with national graduation rates of 78%, 56%, and 54%, respectively (Greene, 2002). In recent years, the state of Georgia has had the lowest graduation rate (54%), followed by Nevada, Florida, and Washington, DC. The state of Iowa (93%) had the highest graduation rate, followed by North Dakota, Wisconsin, and Nebraska. The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) overestimates state graduation rates by its reliance on flawed methodology for calculating dropout rates as well as by the inclusion of GED recipients as graduates (Greene, 2002).

Behavioral Indicators:

Social and economic factors have long been known to influence high school graduation and dropout rates, but recent evidence reported in empirical studies has revealed the specific importance of family stability in that regard (Gerein, 2009). Over the course of long-term monitoring of thousands f students, researchers determined that children of divorce, and those from families experiencing long-term disabilities and loss of life are approximately twice as likely as other students to dropout prior to graduation In general, delinquency (including truancy) is also directly associated with increased dropout rates as well (Gerein, 2009).

Specific factors identified in relation to high school dropout rates include: socioeconomic background, disabilities, minority race or ethnicity, low grades, repeated grades, absenteeism, behaviour problems, family disruptions, perception of economic and vocational opportunities available upon graduation, and the belief that educational institutions are not concerned with the success of students (Greene, 2002). In many cases, the individual factors also increase the likelihood that students will develop other factors associated with dropping out. For example, students who miss classes typically fall behind their classmates and experience difficulty catching up without specific assistance of teachers. Their retarded academic progress in turn often results in low self-esteem and increased absenteeism and loss of interest in schoolwork in a cycle that is readily susceptible to spiralling downward (Greene, 2002). As suggested by the study into the effects of divorce and other emotional losses in the home, negative experiences outside of the educational environment have a profound influence on the risk of dropout as well (Gerein, 2009).

Counselling Strategies:

Appropriate counselling strategies would be those that directly address the factors identified in increasing the risk of dropping out of high school. In that regard, different factors are addressable by different strategies appropriate to those specific factors. Unfortunately, some of the larger prevailing social issues implicated in increasing dropout risks are not readily capable of resolution by individual schools. Those factors would include the general effect of racial and ethnic minority status and economic status of the community or of individual students' families.

However, some of the factors most readily and directly amenable to improvement on a small scale include the effects of absenteeism, emotional loss outside of school, and the perceptions of students with respect to the economic and vocational opportunities available to them, as well as their beliefs about the concern of teachers and school administrators about their welfare. For example, the detrimental effects of absenteeism can be addressed by increasing the effort of teachers to provide necessary assistance to minimize the problems known to be associated directly and indirectly with missing class.