Newsflash: dropouts were bored in school
A study by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation due out today examines why students drop out of high school by asking the dropouts themselves. An unbelievable stat is that one out of three students entering high school today will not graduate; for minority students, it’s even worse. Even more interesting, however, is the notion that just as many dropouts cited uninteresting/irrelevant/boring classes as a factor in dropping out as those that cited the “daunting” academic requirements. One writer notes observing teenage dropouts in a special program discussing Plato and Malcolm X. Another writes that this boredom is really just another way of saying their “basic skills weren’t up to the task of high school-level work.”
Being in school seems like a big waste of your time because you don’t understand what’s going on. You can’t understand the material that’s being assigned to you.”
I suppose that’s possible, but I also think it’s dangerous to make that assumption without exploring the issue more. A quick and easy way to challenge that is to note that about half the dropouts were earning at least C’s when they dropped out.
The Morning Edition story I listened to this morning used the word irrelevant, a word not mentioned in the above links. Sounds like something we read about in the Saber-tooth Curriculum.
May 4th, 2006 - 12:29 pm
Well we like school, just not going there. We sit in class for about 7 hours doing nothing. I dont do school work and i sleep more than half the time. The rest of the time im bugging kids in class and totaly distracting them from doing their own work. But hey, i love school. Just cant wait till the day when i can be free. Untill thast time comes, i will continue to fake sick and drive home about 3 hours early each day.
May 26th, 2006 - 1:19 pm
I would have to say that dropping out has came to mind a few times because of how hard the cirriculum was and how little i attention i would get in such a large school. They feel the need to push the ones who are already doing well and leave the ones who struggle to themselves. I have about 7 kids in different classes that dropped out, why are they being over looked by the school?