High school reentry

American Education, Dec, 1984 by Richard E. Whalen

Although many high school dropouts leave school permanently, some droptouts later reenter school. Approximately 10 percent of the sophomores who dropped out between 1980 and 1982 returned to school by the fall of 1982. Generally, high school reentrants differ from typical dropouts in several school and student characteristics. Background attributes and testscore performance associated with low dropout rates tend to be related to higher-than-average reentry rates. For example, reentry rates among 1980 sophomore dropouts were about one-fifth higher in the Northeast and North Central regions than in the South or West. Among whites, reentry rates in the West were one-third lower than in other regions. Among blacks, reentry rates in the Northeast (14 percent) were substantially higher than those in the South (6 percent). Hispanic dropouts in the North Central region were three times as likely to return to school as those in the Northeast or West. Hispanics in the South were twice as likely to reenter as those in the Northwest or West.

Reentry rates among dropouts in suburban and rural communities were at least one-third higher than among those in urban settings. Females in rural communities were three times more likely to reenter than females from urban settings. Likewise, females from suburban communities were twice as likely to return to school as those from urban communities. Reentry rates among whites in rural communities (15 percent) were higher than among whites in urban communities (9 percent). For blacks, this trend was reversed; 10 percent of black dropouts in urban communities returned to school, compared to 5 percent of black dropouts in rural communities.

The overall rates at which dropouts returned to school increased as a function of increasing socioeconomic status (SES). This trend, however, was apparent only for whites; no discernible pattern could be identified for blacks or Hispanics. In general, students with higher test scores tended to reenter school more often than those with lower scores. As with SES, the relationship between test scores and school reentry was not as strong for blacks and Hispanics as it was for whites.

In all subgroup observed, dropouts from academic programs were much more likely to reenter school than those in general or vocational programs. This occurrence was mot dramatic for blacks, where dropouts from academic programs were more than three and one-half times as likely to return to school as those in general or vocational programs.

Generally, dropouts whose fathers were college graduates were more than twice as likely to return to school as those whose fathers received a high school diploma or less. Except for blacks, dropouts with fathers in a professional/technical occupation reentered school at almost twice the rate of those whose fathers' occupations were at the middle or low level. Students employed while in high school were more likely to return to school after dropping out.

These data were derived from the "High School and Beyond?" survey conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics.