High School Dropout Rates and Curriculum Reform in America

Introduction: The Purpose of American Public High Schools

Although the United States spends more on education than many other countries, the nation has failed to achieve the same positive outcomes that have been accomplished elsewhere — even in countries where per-student spending is far less. Because education in the United States is widely regarded as the key to personal and professional success, it is important to identify current problems and potential opportunities for improvement in the nation's approach to educational funding and delivery. Moreover, the complex manner in which public schools are funded in different parts of the country — indeed, within each state — combined with changing expectations about what curricular offerings are best suited for the 21st-century marketplace has called into question the fundamental purpose of American schools today.

The purpose of this paper is to consider what it means to be an educated person in America and the roles that high schools do, should, and can play in American society. It also examines how current curricular offerings are failing to provide public high school students with the education they will need to succeed in an increasingly globalized and competitive marketplace.

Primary Mission of the Nation's Public High Schools

Given the enormous taxpayer resources devoted to the nation's public high schools, it is important to evaluate their effectiveness in terms of achieving their primary mission (Cornman, Zhou, & Howell, 2017). In the past, this mission focused on promoting education in the so-called "three Rs," but innovations in technology and ubiquitous computing have made many former curricular offerings obsolete or irrelevant. Indeed, an entirely new skill set is needed to compete in the 21st-century marketplace, though some fundamental elements of the public high school mission remain unchanged — including the need to develop good citizens who can contribute meaningfully to American society.

Notwithstanding the educational funding routinely provided to states by the federal government, the primary mission of the nation's public high schools is determined by each of the 50 state governments (except for the District of Columbia, which is overseen by the U.S. Congress) (Parker, 2016). Despite the introduction of Common Core standards adopted by many states and the widespread use of standardized testing regimens, the fact that the primary mission of the nation's public high schools is decided on a state-by-state basis means that the type of education received by students in the Bronx may differ widely from that received by students in Fairbanks, Alaska.

Furthermore, there are also significant within-state differences in views about the primary mission of public high schools, making any across-the-board evaluation of their effectiveness difficult if not impossible. In this regard, Parker, a policy analyst at Education Commission of the States, emphasizes that "State constitutions vary on whether they include language about public school funding, religious restrictions, the education of disabled students, the age of students, the duration of the school year and the establishment of state higher education systems" (p. 1). Nevertheless, in an educational context, improvement requires measurement, and it has become increasingly evident that this patchwork of state-level legal frameworks and differing priorities has contributed to ineffective educational systems that fail to engage high school students — causing far too many to drop out before completing their secondary education.

Current Dropout Rates in the Nation's Public High Schools

While each of the 50 states has its own constitutional language and mission for its public schools, it is reasonable to suggest that these missions are unachievable when students leave the school system altogether before completing their studies. According to researchers with the National Center for Education Statistics, millions of young people are dropping out of American high schools, and far too many fail to secure their general educational equivalency credential, thereby limiting themselves to a lifetime of suboptimal employment opportunities (McFarland & Cui, 2018). For instance, McFarland and Cui (2018) report that "During the period from October 2013 and October 2014, more than 567,000 15- to 24-year-old students dropped out of school without achieving their high school credential. These event dropouts accounted for 5.2 percent of the 10.9 million 15- to 24-year-olds enrolled in grades 10 through 12" (p. 3).

There were also income-based differences in dropout rates across the country, with students from higher-income families experiencing far lower dropout rates compared to their less advantaged counterparts. McFarland and Cui (2018) note that "The event dropout rate for individuals from high-income families in 2014 was 2.6 percent, while the rates for individuals from middle- and low-income families were 5.4 and 9.4 percent, respectively" (p. 3). There were also modest differences with respect to the sex of high school students and whether they had disabilities.

Furthermore, despite sustained increases in funding for the nation's public high schools, the dropout problem has worsened in recent years. McFarland and Cui (2018) conclude that "Over the past 40 years, event dropout rates trended downward, decreasing from 6.7 percent in 1974 to 5.2 percent in 2014, although there has been fluctuation in the rate. In recent years, the event dropout rate increased from 3.0 percent in 2010 to 5.2 percent in 2014" (p. 8). Taken together, these trends should serve as a wake-up call for educators that current strategies are failing to keep public high school students sufficiently engaged, thereby preventing schools from achieving the fundamental missions set forth in their respective state constitutions.

Conclusion

In an educational context, it is important for teachers to remember that if students are not learning the way they are being taught, they must be taught the way they learn. Certainly, some public high school students manage to overcome seemingly impossible odds to persevere and succeed in their academic pursuits, going on to receive a higher education and realize their full personal and professional potential — but these students are the exception rather than the rule. Although there is little that public school districts can do to help lower-income families overcome their financial challenges, they are in a good position to identify alternative approaches to curriculum delivery that are more aligned with the needs and expectations of today's high school students, irrespective of their family's income level. The Innovations approach described above represents one such novel strategy that can be readily applied by public high school districts across the country to stem the steady increase in high school dropout rates.

Annotated Bibliography

Barth, J. R., Cebula, R. J., & Shen, I. L. (2016). Is the high school dropout rate an increasing function of the proportion of the population in the US cities that is Hispanic? Exploratory evidence. Applied Economics Letters, 23(15), 1099–1103.

The authors provide an empirical analysis of the key variables most responsible for increasing high school dropout rates in American cities in recent years. Based on their analysis of data from more than 300 U.S. cities, the authors found that the dropout rate is due to a combination of inadequate spending at the primary educational level and the percentage of low-income families with children attending public schools.

Cornman, S. Q., Zhou, L., Howell, M. R., & Young, J. (2017). Revenues and expenditures for public elementary and secondary education: School year 2014–15 (Fiscal Year 2015): First look (NCES 2018-301). U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics.

The authors draw on primary U.S. Census data and National Center for Education Statistics data to describe state-by-state funding levels for primary and secondary public schools, as well as a breakdown of current expenditures on a per-student basis for various recent fiscal years. An analysis of Title I expenditures and educator salary levels on a state-by-state basis is also provided. In sum, the authors offer a valuable snapshot of current state-level priorities for each of the 50 states along with a summary of key findings.

Gorlitz, K., & Gravert, C. (2016). The effects of the high school curriculum on school dropout. Applied Economics, 48(54), 45–53.

Based on the diminished employment opportunities available to high school dropouts compared to those who secure their credential, the authors examine the impact that different curricular offerings have on the decision of high school students to drop out. Many school districts have implemented curriculum reform initiatives to improve academic outcomes, but some of these initiatives — such as increasing curriculum requirements and reducing student choice in course selection — have exacerbated the dropout rate rather than improving academic outcomes.

Jacobs, J. (2016, December). High school of the future. Education Digest, 82(4), 37–42.

The author describes the challenging circumstances involving an inordinately high dropout rate that compelled the Salt Lake City, Utah school board to reexamine their curricular offerings and classroom strategies. The Innovations design was specifically developed to attract and retain at-risk high school students by making them accountable for their progress in ways that resemble how college students are treated. One of the more interesting aspects of the Innovations approach concerns allowing students to progress at their own pace. One of the major problems identified with the conventional approach in this school district was the rigid class periods — 90 minutes — in which students who already knew the material became bored and frustrated. The self-paced model allows all students to spend as little or as much time as they need to achieve mastery of a subject, which has motivated them to excel.

Koenig, J. A., & Hauser, R. M. (2010). High school dropout, graduation, and completion rates: Better data, better measures, better decisions. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

The authors make the point that there remains a dearth of timely and relevant research on how best to measure public high school dropout rates, and follow with an analysis of how this gap has adversely affected decision-makers' ability to formulate appropriate and effective strategies to reduce those rates. The authors make a case for a reevaluation of the current metrics used to assess the effectiveness of high schools in graduating students.

McFarland, J., & Cui, J. (2018, March). Trends in high school dropout and completion rates in the United States. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education.

The authors provide a comprehensive analysis of the characteristics of high school dropouts and those who achieved their credential. They present five different types of rates to offer a general overview of high school dropouts in the United States, including: (a) the event dropout rate, (b) the status dropout rate, (c) the status completion rate, (d) the adjusted cohort graduation rate, and (e) the averaged freshman graduation rate. In addition, the authors present data on students who succeeded in securing their GED credential. The case is made that the current dropout rate is attributable to several factors and that school districts must identify opportunities to reduce these levels in order to fulfill their formal missions.

Parker, E. (2016, March). Constitutional obligations for public education. Education Commission of the States, 1–23.

The author provides an analysis of the types of educational mandates contained in the 50 states' constitutions and examines the implications of differences in language on their missions, school funding, and the inclusion of marginalized populations. In addition, the author reviews several precedential cases on a state-by-state basis to describe the evolution of current constitutional language concerning educational priorities. The analysis finds that different states place varying levels of priority on public school funding, and that some states rely exclusively on their constitutions to provide the foundation for their educational systems while others rely on their legislatures for this purpose.