Minority High School Graduation Rates: Research Proposal

Introduction and Key Definitions

This study investigates whether certain schools experience higher graduation rates among minorities than other high schools. The key terms used throughout the discussion are defined as follows:

High school dropout: those individuals enrolled in high school in October who, a year later, were not enrolled in school and had not completed high school (Event Dropout Rates by Family Income, 1972–2001, 2004).

High school graduation rate: the percentage of students who graduate from high school each year.

At-risk schools/communities: those schools and communities characterized by high unemployment rates, low income, and a prevalence of crime.

Statement of the Problem

Minorities: those groups that do not make up the majority of the population.

For the purposes of this discussion, only Hispanic and African-American students will be examined, as these are the two largest minority groups in the country. In addition, this study will not contain statistical data concerning high school dropouts who later earned GEDs. The discussion presents a problem statement, literature review, conceptual framework, hypothesis, methodology, and an appendix containing surveys to be used in the study.

This topic is distinct in that it seeks to investigate the factors that contribute to high minority graduation rates in certain states and then attempts to apply those factors to schools that have low minority graduation rates.

The problem addressed by this research is low high school graduation rates among minorities, and how finding a solution will ultimately result in higher graduation rates and lower poverty rates. Low high school graduation rates can lead to a wide range of problems for society. The primary problems created by low graduation rates are unemployment and poverty; a high school graduate earns more than someone without a high school diploma. In addition, graduation rates serve as an indicator of the efficacy of the public school system.

Review of the Literature

In an ideal situation, high school graduation rates would be uniformly high, with no variation between rich and poor students or between White and minority students. Through this research, the goal is to contribute new knowledge to the literature by identifying school systems in the United States with high minority graduation rates and those with low minority graduation rates, comparing and contrasting the data, and making recommendations for improving minority graduation rates based on what has worked in high-performing systems and based on the reasons low-performing systems give for their outcomes.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), high school dropouts are defined as those individuals enrolled in high school in October who, a year later, were not enrolled in school and had not completed high school (Event Dropout Rates by Family Income, 1972–2001, 2004). The NCES clarifies that not completing high school means that neither a high school diploma nor a GED had been earned.

The report entitled "Student Effort and Educational Progress 2000–2004" explains that there are a number of reasons why students decide to drop out of high school, including income, family mobility, and academic performance. The NCES reports that low-income students are six times more likely to drop out of school than their peers (Event Dropout Rates by Family Income, 1972–2001, 2004). Furthermore, since 1972 the dropout rate for White and Black students has decreased, while dropout rates for Hispanics have increased and remain higher than those of other ethnic groups.

According to the Manhattan Institute for Public Research, the state with the highest graduation rate for Black students is West Virginia at 71%, and the state with the lowest percentage of Black graduates is Wisconsin at only 41% (Table 3: Ranking of African-American Graduation Rates by State, 2002). The state with the highest percentage of Latino graduates is Montana at 82%, and the state with the lowest graduation rate for Latinos is Georgia at only 32% (Table 4: Ranking of Latino Graduation Rates by State, 2002).

At the district level, the Boston School District has the highest graduation rates for Black students at 82% (Table 8: Ranking of African-American Graduation Rates by District, 2002). Other districts with high graduation rates among Black students include Fairfax County, VA (77%); Prince George's County, VA (76%); Montgomery County, MD (75%); Baltimore County, MD (67%); and Albuquerque, NM (66%). Districts with the lowest graduation rates for Black students include Cleveland (29%), Milwaukee (34%), Memphis (39%), Gwinnett County (40%), and Pinellas County (41%).

The district with the highest graduation rate for Latino students is Montgomery County at 73% (Table 9: Ranking of Latino Graduation Rates by District, 2002). Other districts with high graduation rates for Latinos include Prince George's County (70%), Albuquerque Public Schools (70%), Boston School District (68%), and El Paso Independent School District (67%). The district with the lowest Latino graduation rate is the Cleveland City School District at 26%. Other districts with low Latino graduation rates include DeKalb County School District (29%), Gwinnett County School District (33%), Cobb County School District (34%), and Clark County School District (34%).

As these statistics illustrate, both Black and Latino students tend to have high graduation rates in certain districts — such as Boston Public Schools, Prince George's County, and Montgomery County — while having low graduation rates in districts such as Cleveland City Schools and Gwinnett County. The discrepancies in minority graduation rates have been recognized by educators and are a cause for alarm. Several studies have attempted to understand why this phenomenon occurs.

An article entitled "High School Graduation Rates in the United States: Implications for the Counseling Profession" presents results from a nationwide study on high school graduation rates. The research found disparities between White and minority graduation rates and noted that many states with high White student graduation rates — Wisconsin, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Iowa — had some of the lowest minority student graduation rates. As Powell (2003) states, "Interestingly, all four of these states are predominantly rural, white states with concentrated, smaller minority and urban populations. This may reveal that the problem of low graduation rates is really an urban problem."

The study also suggests systemic and programmatic interventions to increase graduation rates. Powell (2003) explains that systemic interventions can decrease dropout rates because they improve the environmental factors in schools, families, and communities that contribute to the problem. One example is the Coalition Campus Schools Project (CCSP), which aided in the formation of 11 new high schools from 2 of the highest-dropout, lowest-performing high schools in New York City. Practices that allowed these schools to increase graduation rates included small class sizes, a small overall school size, definitive expectations, staff commitment to the school's ideals and values, and a low student-to-teacher ratio (Powell, 2003).

Because of the differences between White and minority graduation rates, Powell (2003) argues that intervention programs should be designed and implemented from a multicultural perspective. One culturally specific program that offers promise is Achievement for Latinos through Academic Success (ALAS) in Los Angeles (Larson & Rumberger, 1999). ALAS differed from traditional dropout prevention efforts because it focused on at-risk students in middle school — the period during which more than half of Latino boys drop out. ALAS focused not only on the individual adolescent but also on the family, school, and community, developing strategies to increase the effectiveness of individuals within each context and to improve collaboration between them (Rumberger, 2001). ALAS had a significant impact while students were receiving the intervention; however, the effects were not sustained after the program ended, suggesting that dropout prevention efforts need to be ongoing (Powell, 2003).

A study published in the Journal of Educational Research examined academic success among at-risk high school students. The research affirms that Latino and African-American students have historically had lower graduation rates than their White peers and that these two minority groups are less likely to return to school and earn their diplomas within four years (Anderson & Keith, 1997). The authors explain that, although these historical realities exist, many at-risk students do achieve academically. The factors that lead to such success are student ability, quality of instruction, home environment, and student motivation.

Anderson and Keith (1997) found that:

"Ability exerted the most powerful influence of any of the variables in the school learning model. Student ability affected achievement directly and also indirectly through quality of schooling, student motivation, and completion of academic coursework. Academic coursework also exerted a powerful effect on academic achievement. It appears that each additional academic course that an at-risk student completes can be expected to result in an increase of one eighth of a standard deviation in academic achievement test scores. Student motivation exerted moderate direct effects on achievement and moderate indirect effects mediated by academic coursework."

Overall, the study found that ability, quality of schooling, student motivation, and enrollment in academic coursework had the most profound impact on at-risk students. This illustrates the need for schools to ensure that all students have access to programs that develop their abilities, improve motivation, and guarantee a quality education.

The Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk explored cultural differences between Black, Hispanic, and White students. Madhere (1997) examined "how the level of literacy attained by African-American, Latino, and White high school students, respectively, tends to be impacted in very different ways by similar markers in their family background, the academic opportunity structure, and their own subjectivities." One of Madhere's central assertions is that low high school graduation rates among minorities are most often caused by the social distribution of knowledge — that differences in academic achievement between minorities and White students reflect a fundamental difference in how these groups are viewed in society.

Madhere (1997) reports that the social distribution of knowledge is often performed along racial and ethnic lines, a practice so pervasive that Ogbu (1978) characterized the organization of schooling in America as a caste system. As Fine (1989) noted, "a high school diploma brings with it quite discrepant opportunities based on one's social class, race, and gender, and further, the absence of such a diploma ensures quite disparate costs based on the same demographics" (p. 154, as cited in Madhere, 1997). Madhere contends that for school districts to have high-performing students of all races, they must embrace diversity and work to understand other cultures, and that the social ramifications of having only a high school diploma differ significantly depending on a student's race and class — a reality that may contribute to lower graduation rates among minorities.

A high school diploma is widely regarded as a necessity for finding employment or pursuing a college degree. Research has suggested that when students do not graduate from high school, there are serious social consequences. Over half of high school dropouts are unemployed and cannot enroll in college. Students who leave high school early earn less money, have poorer physical and mental health, and experience lower levels of academic achievement. Those without diplomas also impose substantial costs on taxpayers. Powell (2003) explains: "Dropouts constitute 52% of welfare recipients, 82% of the prison population, and 85% of juvenile justice cases, and drug use among 17- to 22-year-olds is highest among high school dropouts."

Conclusion and Survey Instruments

The purpose of this proposal was to present a problem statement, literature review, conceptual framework, hypothesis, methodology, and appendix containing surveys to be used in the study. The literature review revealed statistics related to high school graduation rates among minorities, identifying districts with high graduation rates for both Hispanic and African-American students. Studies examining why some school districts are more successful than others at ensuring minorities graduate were also reviewed, along with the many social and personal ramifications of not receiving a diploma. The conceptual framework presented five interrelated constructs, and the methodology outlined the research design for testing the hypothesis.