One-third of a nation: rising dropout rates and declining opportunities

This report documents high and rising high school dropout rates, declining investments in second-chance programs, and deteriorating opportunities for dropouts in the job market. About a third of students in the US do not graduate after four years of high school. The report highlights that this situation has worsened in most parts of the country over the last decade, and examines the factors in students’ lives that are closely associated with dropping out of school. The author identifies several approaches to increasing student retention that have proven successful. Opportunities for dropouts once leaving school are shown to be steadily decreasing in terms of shrinking public investment in ‘second-chance’ programs and declining earnings in the job market. Second-chance efforts that have been successful are described. The author argues that higher expectations for student achievement need to be partnered by greater efforts and success in retaining students until graduation, so that they have access to more educational opportunities or decent paying jobs. When students do drop out, there needs to be a larger system of second-chance opportunities for them to access. Show less