Dropouts cost state billions
| Thursday, Sep 24 2009 07:17 PM
Last Updated Thursday, Sep 24 2009 07:19 PM
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CALIFORNIA DROPOUT RESEARCH PROJECT FINDINGS
* Juvenile crime in California amounts to $8.9 billion per year.
* High school dropouts are twice as likely to commit crimes as high school graduates.
* One group of 12th-grade dropouts will generate $1.1 billion in economic losses from juvenile crime and $10.5 billion in economic losses from adult crime over their lifetimes.
Where some costs hit:
* Policing and criminal justice: $2.6 billion; incarceration: $500 million.
* Costs to victims - pain, suffering and income losses: $5.3 billion.
* School disruption: $500 million
LOCAL DROPOUT RATES
Kern High School District / Kern County
2003-04: 12.5 percent / 12.6 percent
2004-05: 14.7 percent / 14.2 percent
2005-06: 15.7 percent / 16.7 percent
2006-07: 21.9 percent/ 25.2 percent
2007-08: 21.0 percent / 26.9 percent
Take note: The system for collecting data on dropouts has long been called into question. This year the California Department of Education is implementing a new student data collection system to better track achievement and attendance.
Source: California Department of Education
Juvenile crime costs California at lot: an estimated $8.9 billion every year.
The cure is complicated, but the formula is straightforward: reducing the dropout rate, which reduces economic loss due to crimes committed by kids, according to a study released Thursday by the California Dropout Research Project.
The study also finds that juveniles commit one in six violent crimes; high school dropouts are twice as likely as graduates to commit crimes; and cutting juvenile crime by 30,000 cases would save the state another $550 million per year.
The biggest finding? Savings realized by reducing juvenile crimes would pay for the programs to reduce dropouts.
Kern County's dropout rate is 26.9 percent, compared to the state average of 18.9 percent.
The Kern High School District's rate is 21 percent.
WHAT ARE WE DOING ABOUT IT?
Reducing the dropout rate is a high priority at KHSD and it's using a multi-pronged approach, said Chris Persons, director of the district's School Attendance Review Board.
Juniors and seniors get lots of attention, and remediation programs give them ample opportunity to graduate, Persons said.
Freshman retention is equally important and is a focus, from an anti-social promotion policy to LINK Crew, in which upperclassmen help freshman assimilate to high school, Persons said.
Last year the district was recognized as one of the best in the state for its SARB program, and the graduation rate climbed and dropouts declined, Persons noted.
There is room for improvement, he said.
Keeping students connected to the social aspects of school, such as participating in extracurricular activities, is another way to prevent dropouts, according to Dropout Project recommendations.
Many districts in the county are adopting the concept of professional learning communities where teachers collaborate more to support the academic and social issues for students, said Daryl G. Thiesen, prevention programs coordinator for Kern County Superintendent of Schools.
"PLCs help them look at how to keep school connectedness, and the sense that all students can contribute," Thiesen said.
Thiesen noted a Johns Hopkins University study suggesting that schools focus on grades five to eight as the launching pad for academic success in high school and post-secondary education.
The junior high schools in Panama-Buena Vista Union School District hold twice-a-week academic intervention "safety nets" for slipping students.
The attitude is, "we're not going to let you fail," said Gerrie Kincaid, assistant superintendent.
"We know that kids are more inclined to be connected to school as they move along, through involvement in student activities, and we know those are the kids that are going to make it through."
The Dropout Project also recommends high schools add vocational programs and incorporate them into graduation requirements.
On this, KHSD is right on target. The district's career pathways program is starting this year.
GETTING THE NUMBERS RIGHT
How dropouts are counted is a controversial issue in California; the Dropout Project recommends better accountability.
Panama-Buena Vista is a case in point. The state database classifies 299 students who left the district in 2008 as dropouts.
That's not even close to correct, said Kincaid.
After seven years of development, the state is beginning the implementation of CalPads, an improved student database system.
The new system is also expected to help assess learning, because it will be better at tracking student testing and scores.
