The decision to drop out is complex and relates to the individual student and their family, school and community. The decision is personal, reflects their unique life circumstances, and is part of a slow process of disengagement from school.

There appear to be, however, clusters of reasons or common responses that emerge relating to the academic environment, real life events, and a lack of personal motivation and external sources of motivation and guidance. 

Top Five Reasons Dropouts Identify as Major Factors For Leaving School

47% Classes were not interesting
43% Missed too many days and could not catch up
42% Spent time with people who were not interested in school
38% Had too much freedom and not enough rules in my life
35% Was failing in school

There is no single reason why students drop out of high school. Respondents report different reasons: a lack of connection to the school environment; a perception that school is boring; feeling unmotivated; academic challenges; and the weight of real world events. But indications are strong that these barriers to graduation are not insurmountable.

School is Boring
47 Percent Said Classes Were Not Interesting
Nearly half (47 percent) of former students surveyed said a major factor in their decision to drop out was that classes were not interesting. Spending time with people who were not interest¬ed in school was another major factor in the decision to drop out for 42 percent of our respondents. These were among the top reasons selected by those with high GPAs and by those who said they were motivated to work hard. Still, even this group will need more supports to meet higher standards and to connect what they are learning in the classroom to the skills they will need in the workforce.
When the participants in our focus groups were asked in what areas their high school did not do enough, their highest level of response related to “not making school interesting.” Again and again, participants recounted how high school was “boring, nothing I was interested in,” or “it was boring, …the teacher just stood in front of the room and just talked and didn’t really like involve you.” A female from Baltimore said, “There wasn’t any learning going on,” and another complained, “they make you take classes in school that you’re never going to use in life.” Many felt even their teachers were not engaged in the classes and teachers “only care about getting through their day too.” 

Uninspired Teaching, Unmotivated Students
Low Expectations Held by Adults for the Students Contrast to the High Expectations Students Have for Themselves
Sixty¬nine percent of respondents to our survey also cited not feeling motivated or inspired to work hard, and many indicated they would have liked to have been so inspired. In our focus groups, young adults consistently said that their classes were boring and that their school did not do enough to make them work hard. Students said they went to school because they had to, not because they learned anything. School did not seem relevant and some complained teachers just told them what to do without involving them in the lesson.
 
In our focus groups, one young man from Philadelphia reflected, “The work wasn’t even hard… once I figured I wasn’t going to get any learning done in there, there wasn’t any need to go.” Many high schools use a system of tracking that shunt low¬per forming students to low level classes with unchallenging work. Participants in our focus groups expressed sadness that they were not challenged more and that the classes and teachers were not inspiring. Studies show that the expectations that teachers have for their students has an effect both on student per form¬ance and whether they drop out of school.
Interestingly, our sample indicated that 26 percent did no homework, and, including them, 80 percent of those sur veyed did one hour or less of homework each day. Part of this may have been the result of a lack of student motivation and some of it may have been attributable to low expectations their teachers or schools had for them. In our focus groups, par ticipants shared stories that would indicate both. There have been studies showing that students who do little or no homework each week increase their risk of dropping out.24
The Silent Epidemic 
 

These low expectations for the students were in stark contrast to the high expectations they had for themselves. Seventy percent of our respondents were confident that they would have been able to graduate.
These low expectations for the students were in stark contrast to the high expectations they had for themselves. Seventy percent of our respondents sur veyed were confident that they would have been able to graduate if they had put for th the necessary effor t. While a majority said that their school’s requirements for graduating were difficult, two¬thirds (66 percent) said they would have worked harder if more had been demanded of them – higher academic standards and more studying and homework – to earn a diploma. In the focus groups, students sounded disappointed at the lack of challenge. Even a majority of those with a low grade point average thought they could have graduated. While many of 
 

65% Teachers Are Doing Well, But Could Be Doing More
33%This applied to my high school experience.
56%This did not apply to my high school experience.

   
 43% There was at least one teacher or staff member who personally cared about my success
41%There was at least one teacher or staff member to whom I could talk about my school problems
57% There was at least one teacher or staff member to whom I could talk about my personal problems
   
    
   

these students indicated they would have worked harder if they had been challenged, they also would have needed much more support to meet those higher expectations.
This lack of challenge contributed to stu¬dents’ boredom and problems with attendance. They felt it acceptable to skip class since they could do make¬up work and, in the words of one focus group par ticipant, “They just let you pass, anything you got.”
For Some, Real Life Events Got in the Way of School
32 Percent Left to Get a Job; 26 Percent Became a Parent; and 22 Percent Had to Help Their Family
It may seem natural to assume that high school dropouts are those who are already failing, who leave school so they do not have to admit they cannot do the work. While certainly true of some, the decision to drop out of high school was sometimes affected by a student’s personal circumstances, unrelated to school.
Many students suggested a reason other than school prevented them from graduating. For instance, one¬third (32 percent) said they had to get a job and make money (36 percent of the young men and 28 percent of the young women we sur veyed); 26 percent said they became a parent; and 22 percent said they had to care for a family member.
Twenty¬six percent of all respondents and one¬third of all young women we surveyed said that becoming a parent was a major factor in their decision to leave school. Many young women who became pregnant were unable to juggle the pressures of young motherhood and school, so they dropped out. Others identified personal circumstances in the home – needing to be there to care for siblings or take care of other tasks at home because parents were out working or otherwise unavailable – that had a strong influ¬ence on their ability to attend or focus on school.
Many of these young people reported doing reasonably well in school and had a strong belief that they could have graduated if they had stayed in school. Of all of the students we surveyed, these students were the most likely to say they would have worked harder if their schools had demanded more of them and provided the necessary support.
We did not probe in any considerable depth how the schools offered these participants with special needs additional assistance, but it was clear from the data in the sur vey and the focus groups that students were not aware of such assistance, even if it was present. 
 

Majority Are Confident That They Could Have Graduated
How confident are you that you would have been able to meet your school’s requirements for graduation if you had put in the necessary effort?
Not
Not at all sure Very
confident

confident
7% 1%

30%
 
Not that 22% confident 66% of dropouts say they would have worked harder if their high school had
 
40%
demanded more. Somewhat confident
It is clear that some who do not graduate, but not the majority, leave school because of significant academic challenges.
Struggling in School and Needing More Help
A Third (35 percent) Said They Were Failing In School
“Failing in school” was one of the top five reasons sur vey respondents identified for leaving school, chosen by 35 percent of poll respondents. This reason is often more highly ranked by stu¬dents in national sur veys.25 Three in ten said that they could not keep up with their schoolwork and 43 percent said they missed too many days of school and could not catch up. Many of these students likely fell behind in elementar y and middle school and were not able to make up the necessary ground; almost half of dropouts polled (45 percent) said their previous schooling had not prepared them for high school.
The majority of sur vey respondents (57 percent) reported that it was difficult to pass from one grade to the next and that the high school requirements for graduating were too difficult. When asked how the high school made it too difficult to pass from one grade to the next, par ticipants indicated that in addition to the tests
The Silent Epidemic
being too difficult, teachers were not available to give them extra help, classes were uninteresting, and many of them simply missed too many days to catch up with their schoolwork. In our focus groups, two former students summed up these views – “They [the teachers] don’t put for th that effor t to give us the help that we need” and “You see like when I was in 11th grade, ever ybody in my school, by 11th grade was getting out by...
1:00 p.m. because you didn’t need that manycredits. So they [the teachers] were throwing more at us and faster, so we had like a pile of homework that would just stack up…”
Thirty¬two percent of respondents were required to repeat a grade before dropping out and 29 percent expressed significant doubts that they could have met their high school’s require¬ment for graduation, even if they had put forth the necessary effor t. The most academically challenged students were the most likely to report that their schools did not do enough to help students when they had trouble learning or understanding the material they were being taught. These students were also the most likely to express doubt about whether they would have worked harder if more had been expected of them.
As complex as these individual circumstances may be, for almost all young people, dropping out 
 
 

Attendance Is Strong Predictor of Dropping Out
Missed class often year before dropping out Missed class often year dropped out
65%
63%
61%
59%
45% 36%
33%
9th grade 10th grade 11th grade 12th grade dropouts dropouts dropouts dropouts
of high school is not a sudden act, but a gradual process of disengagement; attendance patterns are a clear early sign.
Slow Process of Disengagement
Attendance Patterns are a Key Warning Sign
As complex as these individual circumstances may be, what is clear is that dropping out of high school is not a sudden act, but a slow process of disengagement, often both academically and socially, and is often influenced by a student’s perception of the high school’s expectations of him or her and his or her early school experi¬ences.26 Dropping out is not a decision that is made on a single morning. The sur vey probed students’ experiences before dropping out of high school and found that there are clear warning signs for at least one to three years before they drop out that these students are losing interest in school. National studies show that such warning signs appear and can be predictive of dropping out as early as elementary school.27
Students described a pattern of refusing to wake up, missing school, skipping class, and taking three hour lunches – and each absence made them less willing to go back. These stu¬dents had long periods of absences and were sometimes referred to the truant officer, only to be brought back to the same environment that led them to become disengaged. In our sur vey, 59 to 65 percent of respondents missed class often the year they dropped out and 33 to 45 percent missed class often the year before they dropped out. Consistent with national data, absenteeism is the most common indicator of overall student engagement and a significant predictor of dropping out.28
Other warning signs include: low grades, discipline and behavioral problems, lack of involvement in class and in school activities, pregnancy, being held back a grade or more, students who transfer from another school, and those who experience difficulty with the transition year of 9th grade itself.
Respondents report that they star ted to lose interest in school well before dropping out, with 71 percent saying they lost interest in school in the 9th and 10th grades. Fifty¬eight percent of our sur vey respondents indicated that they dropped out in the 11th and 12th grades. Nationally, much of the dropping out of school has shifted from the last two years of high school (typical three decades ago) to between 9th and 10th grades today.29 Still, a plurality of students drop out with less than two years to go in their high school education.30 

Too Much Freedom
38 Percent Say Too Much Freedom and Not Enough Rules
As young adults grew older, they had more freedom and more options, which led some away from class or the school building. It was too easy to skip class or join in activities outside of school. Nearly two¬fifths (38 percent) of respon¬dents to the sur vey cited this as a factor in their decision to drop out of high school. In our focus groups, a young man from Philadelphia told us, “Once you get in high school, it’s more like you have more freedom. In middle school, you have to go to your next class or they are going to get you. In high school, if you don’t go to class, there isn’t anybody who is going to get you. You just do your own thing.”
“Too much freedom” seemed to relate to the most basic conditions in the school – lack of order, discipline and rules, making sure students attended class, and even limiting chaos that made students feel unsafe. Many par ticipants in our focus groups felt that there were many things in their lives that pulled them away from school and the new found freedom of high school made it more compelling to leave than to stay.
In our Philadelphia focus groups, one boy who had just told us that his best days in school were when he worked hard and could talk about what he learned at home, lamented the fact that he only went to school once a week, and highlighted the consequences of too much freedom in the school environment. He said, in response to a question about why he only came to school once a week, the “streets would call you. Being there listening to somebody talking to you all day, writ¬ing on the board, and then you start looking outside at the streets…..We got to leave for lunch in my school. And then once we got out there, smelled that fresh air…..”
In our focus groups, par ticipants talked again and again about waking up late for school, skip¬ping classes, hanging out in the hallways with no consequences, and the lack of order and rules for them. For a young man in Baltimore, school became an after thought and the school let it be so, “Like in the middle of the year, I just star ted going out with my friends, and I never went to school. It’s like I forgot about it.”
When asked what their high schools could have done to help more students stay in school, three out of the six leading answers related to too much freedom and not enough order and safety – 68 percent cited “keeping students from skipping classes,” 62 percent “maintaining classroom discipline,” and 57 percent “helping students feel safe from violence.”
Some respondents even noted their ability, under state law, to drop out of school either because they reached an age to do so or their parents signed them out. One young man from our Baltimore focus groups told us how he felt right
The Silent Epidemic
before he turned 16 – “I can’t wait until my 16th birthday so I didn’t have to come back here no more. I mean, I can’t wait to drop out kind of thing.” A female from Baltimore said, when asked about her decision to drop out, “you couldn’t drop out until like, my parents had to sign me out because it was before I was the age of 16. And there was like a day when we went up to the school and they just signed me out.” We note that in the majority of states, students are only required to stay in school until they are 16 or 17 and many states permit multiple exemptions.
For those students who dropped out, the level of proactive parental involvement in their educa¬tion was low. 
 

Parents Engaged Too Late
Often the Impetus for Parental Involvement is Related to Discipline
Former students describe differing levels of parental involvement, different reasons for their involvement, and different levels of awareness that their child was about to drop out of school. Fifty¬nine percent of parents or guardians were 
 

Parental Awareness
My parents’ awareness of my school My parents’ awareness that I was on the attendance and grades verge of leaving school
Very aware Fairly aware Not at all aware Just somewhat aware
 51%
50%
48%
48%
 
involved in their children’s schooling, with only one¬fifth “ver y” involved. More than half of those who were involved at all were involved “mainly for discipline reasons.”
The majority of parents were “not aware” or just “somewhat aware” of their child’s grades or that they were about to leave school. Nearly half of the respondents said their parents’ work sched¬ules kept them from knowing more about what was happening at school and 68 percent said their parents got more involved when they became aware their child was on the verge of dropping out.
Respondents who said that their parents were not involved in school were more likely to drop out in the first two years of high school than those who said their parents were involved even when they were not in trouble. Students said their parents were much more involved in middle school but gave them more responsibility and freedom in high school.
Students also needed more super vision at home and in school; only 47 percent of the former students we sur veyed said they or their parents would even be contacted by the school if they were absent. This pattern continues after partici¬pants drop out, with 48 percent of dropouts saying their school contacted them or their parents to find out why they left school or to encourage them to return. But this means that in the majority of cases, such contact may not even occur.
In hindsight, young people who dropped out of school almost universally expressed great remorse for having left school and expressed strong interest in re¬entering school with students their age. 

Their Regrets
One 17¬year¬old male in our focus groups put it simply, “It’s impor tant to get an education to do well in life.” A 19¬year¬old female said of drop¬ping out, “I wouldn’t make the same decision. I would stay in school.” A female from Baltimore put it succinctly, “I think it’s one of the worst regrets of my life.”
They said they did not think of their future
“… I would tell him like, I haven't finished high school. I don't have a diploma. I don't have a job. I am broke …. You can't make it without that. You can't go anywhere, for real, on the legal side…. If you go to school, get your diploma, you can do more things the right way. You might succeed.”
when deciding to drop out but wanted freedom or money right then, or gave up on their dreams because graduation seemed far away. This con¬forms to models of adolescent psychology that have found adolescents have difficulty with long¬term planning and delayed gratification.31
But as adults, four out of five poll participants said that graduating from high school is very (60 percent) or fairly (21 percent) impor tant to suc¬cess in life. Seventy¬four percent of our survey respondents said they would have stayed in school, knowing what they know today about the expectations of the world, and 76 percent said they would definitely or probably re¬enroll in a high school for people their age if they could. At the time of their decision to leave high school, fifty¬three percent had planned to go back and graduate. Since that time, however, only 11 percent have actually gone back and graduated.
In the survey, 47 percent said that not having a diploma makes it hard to find a good job. Participants in our focus groups counseled others to stay in school for this reason. For instance, a male from Philadelphia said, “… I would tell him like, I haven’t finished high school. I don’t have a diploma. I don’t have a job. I am broke …. You can’t make it without that. You can’t go any¬where, for real, on the legal side…. If you go to school, get your diploma, you can do more things the right way. You might succeed.”
Participants in the focus groups wished they had listened to those who warned them of the problems associated with dropping out or that such voices had been more persistent.
While there are no simple solutions to the dropout crisis, there are clearly “supports” that could be provided to improve students’ chances of staying in school. While most dropouts blame themselves for failing to graduate, there are things they say schools can do to help them finish. 
 

What Might Help Students Stay in School
In order to look more closely at what might be done to address the dropout epidemic, one natural question is “who or what is responsible for their dropping out and how can we fix it?” While there are no simple solutions to the dropout crisis, there are clearly “suppor ts” that could be provided within the school and the home that would improve students’ chances of graduating. While most of the dropouts in our sur vey blamed themselves for failing to graduate and some focus group participants said there was nothing their school could have done to convince them to stay,
The Silent Epidemic
others pointed out things schools could have done to help them finish.
Students who are at risk of dropping out can and must be reached, and in order to effectively reach at risk students, we first need to listen to the views, experiences, concerns, life circum¬stances and ideas for reform of these young people so we can help others in the future. The following recommendations are based on what dropouts themselves told us in focus groups and the sur vey. 

Improve Teaching and Curricula to Make School More Relevant and Engaging and Enhance the Connection between School and Work
Our respondents had many thoughtful ideas about the specific actions schools could take to improve the chances that a student would stay in high school. Their most common answers related to classroom instruction – making what is learned in classes more relevant to their lives, having bet¬ter teachers who keep classes interesting, and having smaller classes with more one¬on¬one instruction, involvement and feedback. 
 

Young People Accept Responsibility For Not Graduating
Who was responsible for your leaving school: mostly the school, mostly you, or both?*
* Ratings on ten¬point scale: 10 = I did everything I could to stay in school/the school failed me; 1 = I alone was responsible/school did everything it could to keep me there
 
The class work in high school needs to make some connection to students’ interests and what they find relevant, especially as seven in ten said their school did not do enough to make learning interesting. One bright young woman who was a leader in her focus group said: “If they related to me more and understand that at that point in time, my life was…what I was going through, where I lived, where I came from. Who knows? That book might have been in my book bag. I might have bought a book bag and done some work.”
Eighty¬one percent of sur vey respondents said that if schools provided opportunities for real¬world learning (internships, service learning projects, and other oppor tunities), it would have improved the students’ chances of graduating from high school. Outside studies have noted that clarifying the links between school and get¬ting a job may convince more students to stay in school.32
Improve Instruction and Access to Supports for Struggling Students
Four out of five participating dropouts (81 percent) wanted better teachers and three¬four ths wanted smaller classes with more individualized instruction. Over half (55 percent) felt that more needed to be done to help students with problems learning. Seventy percent of survey participants believed that more after¬school tutoring, Saturday school, summer school and extra help from teach¬ers would have enhanced their chances of staying in school.
While some of the students’ best days in school were when teachers paid attention to them, many others had classes that were so big that teachers did not know their names. In our focus groups, participants repeated again and again that they believed smaller class sizes would have helped ensure that teachers maintained order in the classroom and would have provided more individual attention. The problem of large schools and the need for smaller class sizes and more personal instruction emerged more than 12 separate times from the par ticipants in our four focus groups in Philadelphia and Baltimore. Seventy¬five percent of sur vey participants 

“If they related to me more and
understand that at that point in time,
my life was…what I was going
through, where I lived, where I came
from. Who knows? That book might
have been in my book bag. I might
have bought a book bag and done
some work.”

agreed that smaller classes with more one on one teaching would have improved students’ chances of graduating.
There are studies suggesting that small schools are more likely to promote the engage¬ment of both students and staff that is so critical to reducing the number of dropouts, and that the largest direct effect appears to be in low socioe¬conomic status schools,33 although there is debate about the appropriate size of such smaller schools.34 There is also a body of literature that reveals that small learning communities and interdisciplinary teaming are associated with lower dropout rates.35 And there is some evidence that alternative schools serving students at risk of dropping out can also reduce dropout rates.36 

Build a School Climate that Fosters Academics
Seven in ten surveyed favored increasing super vision in school and more than three in five (62 percent) felt more classroom discipline was necessary. More than half (57 percent) believed their high schools did not do enough to help students feel safe from violence. Students in the focus groups talked about how they could not do homework or pay attention in class because of the many disruptions, including the fear of violence. Seven in ten (71 percent) said their schools did not do enough to make school interesting. 

Ensure Strong Adult¬Student Relationships within the School
While two¬thirds (65 percent) said there was a staff member or teacher who cared about their success, only 56 percent said they could go to a staff person for school problems and just two¬fifths (41 percent) had someone in school with whom to talk about personal problems. More than three out of five (62 percent) said their school needed to do more to help students with prob¬lems outside of class. Seven out of ten favored more parental involvement.
These young people craved one¬on¬one atten¬tion from their teachers, and when they received it, they remembered it making a difference. Participants in the focus groups recounted that some of their best days were when their teachers noticed them, got them involved in class, and told them they were doing well. Studies have shown that if students perceive their teachers to be of a higher quality, there is a lower likelihood that the students will drop out.37 In our sur vey, four out of five agreed that better, more qualified teachers who could keep class interesting would improve students’ chances for graduating.
The Silent Epidemic 
 

Improve the Communication between Parents and Schools
Seventy¬one percent of young people sur veyed felt that one of the keys to keeping students in school was to have better communication between the parents and the school, and increas¬ing parental or guardian involvement in their child’s education. Less than half said their school contacted their parents or themselves when they were absent (47 percent) or when they dropped out (48 percent). Respondents suggest¬ed that increased parental involvement could influence ver y basic things – such as ensuring students came to school ever y day and attended their classes.
Studies have shown that students with parents who are engaged in their lives – by moni¬toring and regulating their activities, talking with them about their problems, encouraging individual decision¬making and being more involved in the school – are less likely to drop out of school.38 The communication links between parents and schools are critical if such involvement is to work effectively to monitor such activities, exchange information about school per formance and prob¬lems, and ensure that such problems are addressed early and quickly. 
 

What Dropouts Believe Would Improve Students’ Chances
This would improve students’ chances of staying in school
Opportunities for real¬world learning (internships, service learning, etc.) to 81% make classroom more relevant
Better teachers who keep 81% classes interesting
Smaller classes with more 75%individual instruction
Better communication between parents
& school, get parents more involved 71%

Parents make sure their kids go to school every day 71%
Increase supervision at school:
ensure students attend classes 70%
 

Policy Pathways
We believe the stories, insights and reflec¬tions from our student sur vey and focus groups can add a new, personal, and urgently needed dimension to a discussion of the dropout epidem¬ic. We offer ideas for reform that relate to what students believe would have helped them. We also offer observations, par ticularly in the sec¬tions “In States” and “In the Nation” below, about various policies, laws and additional work that might be done. We hope that this report will fur¬ther inform a national conversation on the dropout epidemic in America, and that it will help galva¬nize policymakers, educators, local and national media, non¬profit and foundation leaders, business executives, and concerned citizens to take com¬prehensive action to address this national crisis.
In Schools and Communities
Different Schools for Different Students
Students in our sur vey wanted classes to be more relevant to their interests and lives and longed for smaller learning communities with more individualized attention. Great schools learn to treat each student differently, rather than demanding that all students fit into the “one size fits all” format of schooling that is widely used today. In light of the fact that our current educa¬tional system produces about one¬third of kids who do not graduate, and another one¬third who are not sufficiently prepared by the education they have received to be college ready, it is cr ystal clear that some structural reforms are necessary.39
Options offered to students, and suppor ted by the research, can include alternative high schools that offer individualized plans for each student.40 This model can be an effective way to address the varied needs of potential dropouts. Options can include schools with traditional structures, but with a commitment to providing all students with a rigorous curriculum which prepares them for college or a family¬wage job. Theme¬based schools, such as ones that focus on science and technology or the arts, are another way to pre¬pare students for their future.
Small learning communities with one¬on¬one instruction that engage students in their studies and relate the material to their lives and goals, and interdisciplinar y teaming of teachers and students have each shown promise in lowering school¬wide dropout rates.41
What seems clear is that a multitude of choices must be made available, par ticularly in those school districts that have the highest dropout rates, in an effort to make school more relevant to the lives and goals of the students, to give them the individual attention they need, to have high expectations for them, and to address promptly their special needs and circumstances to keep them on track for graduating.
Parent Engagement Strategies & Individualized Graduation Plans
The young people we sur veyed believe the communication between schools and parents needs to be greatly strengthened – that schools need to do more to invite parents in and be part of the solutions, and that parents need to do more themselves to be involved. One of the ways this deficit of parent involvement shows up is in truancy, where parents can be more involved by simply making sure their child shows up each day at school. When we asked focus group par tici¬pants about their school’s follow¬up policy for truancy and other acts of student disengagement, more often than not the respondents perceived that the schools did too little, or perhaps were over whelmed with the numbers of such cases.42
Simple things such as teacher feedback to parents about class participation, missed assign¬ments, grades and other issues can be critical to helping keep students on track. Although schools cannot be expected to address and solve weak¬nesses in the family structure, which our sur vey shows is a common factor for students who drop out, they need to recognize and develop ways to address different types of family circumstances. This includes ways to bridge other school¬family differences, such as in language, culture, educa¬tional attainment or reaching a single working parent. When additional educational choices are offered to students, which can include the restructuring of existing schools or the creation of new ones, these schools can incorporate into
The Silent Epidemic
their new structure ways to improve parent involvement and school¬home communication.
Another way to fur ther strengthen the linkage between school and home is for the schools to develop individualized graduation plans for each student, particularly for those at risk of dropping out. This additional step would help the parents become more aware of the specific requirements for their high school student so they can take the steps necessar y to help ensure they are carried out to completion. This knowledge would also help empower the parent fur ther to advocate for their child.
Research from the U.S. Department of Education and others shows that the involvement of family members can have a positive influence on their child’s school achievement.43 It can help improve their student’s grades and test scores, as well as help make sure they actually attend school, complete their homework, and have a bet¬ter attitude overall.
Early Warning Systems
Our student survey and national studies show that dropping out is a slow process of disengage¬ment and that problems predictive of dropping out often emerge early in a student’s life. Many of these problems appear to go unnoticed.
Schools need to develop district¬wide (or even state¬wide) early warning systems to help them identify students who they anticipate are less likely to succeed in the school where they are. This will not only ser ve those who stay in one school, but will help those students who transfer from school to school to make sure they do not get lost in the various systems in which they are enrolled. Mechanisms need to be developed to ensure such warning systems trigger the appropri¬ate suppor t and provide follow through until the student is back on track. One clear step relates to absenteeism. Ever y day, schools should have a reliable list of the students who failed to attend school and should notify parents or guardians immediately and take appropriate action to ensure students attend school and have the support they need to remain in school. It is critical that schools address the circumstances that drove students away from the school in the first place.
Additional Supports and Adult Advocates
There are a wide range of supplemental ser vices or intensive assistance strategies for struggling students in schools – attendance monitoring, school and peer counseling, mentor¬ing, tutoring, double class periods, internships, ser vice¬learning, summer school programs, and more – that have their strong advocates (and usually some research to back it up) that can make a difference in the lives of students who are at risk of dropping out. Such services, together with intensive, best¬practices literacy programs, should be made accessible to low¬per forming stu¬dents to ensure they learn to read at grade level and stay on the graduation track. Schools need to enhance their coordination with community¬based institutions and government agencies to ensure that students receive the proper suppor t. Schools also need to consider the impor tance of suppor ts for students with special needs, such as pregnant women and students with disabilities.
The range of programs and supports can be over whelming and finding the right supports a challenge. Since research shows the value of having an adult at the school who is involved with and familiar with the student, we believe more schools should consider developing adult advocacy programs within the school environ¬ment.44 This could involve teachers or other school staff, including administrative and support staff, coaches, and counselors. Ensuring that there is an adult advocate is par ticularly impor¬tant in large schools in districts in which the dropout epidemic is most severe. The National Middle School Association suppor ts such an idea, stating that the system works when “the concept of advocacy is fundamental to the school’s cul¬ture, embedded in its ever y aspect. Advocacy is not a singular event or a regularly scheduled time; it is an attitude of caring that translates into action when adults are responsive to the needs of each and ever y young adolescent in their charge.”45 The National Association of Secondar y School Principals recommends that every high school student have a mentor, or “Personal Adult Advocate,” to help personalize the education experience.46 This would help identify academic and personal crises earlier, and to head off those things that this sur vey shows might lead to the student being inclined to drop out. 
 

In States
Compulsory School Age Requirements under State Laws
Respondents in the survey and focus groups identified “too much freedom” as a key factor that enabled them to drop out of school. Even some recommended that schools and parents do far more to keep them in school – from getting up on time and ensuring they go to school every day to monitoring their attendance at classes and not letting them roam the hallways or leave the schools. Respondents also noted the impor tance of the school following up with the students and parents when school was chronically missed. Some par ticipants in our focus groups understood the legal age after which they could drop out of school and talked about how that gave them new found freedom to make choices – choices they would later regret.
We found that no state has a legal dropout age below 16, and that almost nobody drops out of school before entering high school. We also note that in places like Philadelphia and other extreme drop out districts, the process of drop¬ping out does not seem to be remedied by anti¬truancy programs, many of which are well designed and well¬meaning but are shor t¬staffed and under¬funded. We wonder whether anemic state maximum compulsory school age require¬ments, hollow anti¬truancy programs, and the failure to address the underlying conditions that caused students to leave school in the first place are complicit in the fact that so many low¬income and minority youth cannot read well and do not graduate. To us, this is not only what common sense would predict, but also what common decency should prohibit.
States set minimum and maximum compulso¬r y age requirements to be in school. While no state has a legal dropout age below 16, the majority of states permit a student to drop out of high school when they turn 16. A list of state compulsor y school attendance laws is found in Appendix II. Typically in 10th grade, a 16¬year¬old student has new found authority under law to make a choice. We question the soundness of this policy, par ticularly since our nation guarantees, and provides substantial resources for, a public education through 12th grade. We believe state law should be consistent with this commitment.
Many states already require students to remain in school until age 18. Necessary exemptions from maximum compulsor y age requirements are nearly universal for such reasons as physical or mental disabilities, suspension, expulsion, criminal adjudication, and home¬schooling and religious education. But so, too, are less desirable exemptions with the school district’s permission related to “parental consent” or employment.
We believe these inter¬state differences in school age requirements might embody a natural experiment enabling us to decipher whether high¬er maximum compulsory school age requirements are associated with lower dropout rates. We rec¬ognize that inter¬state differences are loaded with other demographic and socioeconomic differences that might confound simple cross¬state analyses, and we do not know how states compare in terms of their fidelity to enforcing requirements, the effectiveness of their anti¬truancy programs, or conversely, how states compare when it comes to granting waivers or approving exemptions.
Notwithstanding these challenges, we believe our nation should have the conversation about the soundness of having a moral and financial commit¬ment to seeing our students through at least the 12th grade and at the same time not having state laws that reflect student use of that commitment. Our educated guess (and hope) is that raising maximum compulsor y school age requirements – specifically raising the legal dropout age to 18 – would, when coupled with well¬trained staffs, more manageable caseloads, working partner¬ships with other government agencies to support parents and guardians who struggle to keep their children in school, and effor ts to address the issues that caused students to leave school, have a significant effect on reducing the dropout rate.47 And we think that, at present, the laws and associated policies may have per verse and unintended consequences of facilitating students dropping out of school even when they have only a year or two before they graduate.
The Silent Epidemic
Accurate Data at the State Level
Schools and communities cannot adequately address the dropout problem without an accurate account of it. Forty¬five years ago, a social com¬mentator called the dropout problem “social dynamite.”48 Oddly, the public is almost entirely unaware of how power ful that dynamite has become because of inaccurate and rose¬colored glass reporting of both graduation and dropout rates. Even though there is nearly universal recognition that graduating from high school is a key milestone in a young person’s life and that it has a power ful impact on a person’s economic and social health, obtaining accurate statistical reporting on graduation and dropout rates has not been a national priority, until ver y recently.
There are many sophisticated ways to estimate the number of students who drop out of high school and some excellent work has been done on this.49 One sophisticated commentator recently summed up the landscape this way:
[N]o one knows exactly how many students drop out of American high schools because the vast majority of states do not follow indi¬vidual students over time, but merely report annual enrollments….There are often a num¬ber of categories in which students are not counted as dropouts, even if they never gradu¬ated. One state counts students who go to jail as transfer students, for example. More commonly, students receiving or studying for a GED are not counted as dropouts, though they have left school and are pursuing a dif¬ferent and much less valuable credential. Schools often have little or no information about what has happened to a student who disappears, and they tend to make optimistic guesses…. Under these circumstances, under¬reporting is extremely common. It’s not unusual for a school to report a 10 percent dropout rate when the number of graduates is 70 percent lower than the number of ninth graders who enrolled four years earlier.50
We also note that there are significant differences in repor ting graduation rates between the government and other sources, with the government often repor ting much higher graduation rates.51
Policymakers at the federal and state levels recognize the information gap and are tr ying to do something about it. The passage of the No Child Left Behind law (NCLB) demanded a new focus on graduation rates, although the graduation rate accountability provisions need to be monitored and enforced to fulfill their promise.
In July 2005, the National Governors Association (NGA) announced that 47 Governors from 46 states and one territor y and 12 national organizations had reached a common definition to calculate high school graduation rates.52 By the end of 2005, the NGA had indicated that Governors from all 50 states had adopted that common definition.
Recognizing that the quality of high school graduation and dropout data was insufficient to account for students as they progressed through high school, and that states had wide variations in how they proposed to measure graduation rates under NCLB, the NGA developed five recommenda¬tions to develop an accurate, comparable high school graduation measure, together with other indicators of student progress and outcomes from preschool through postsecondar y education.53 The Governors recognize that much more work still needs to be done in the states to implement these recommendations. States also need to do fur ther work to make dropout rates more accu¬rate, tracking students within states and across state lines. And more work needs to be done to build the data systems that will allow states to collect and publish graduation and dropout rates and to monitor progress state by state over time. 
 

In the Nation
Accurate Data at the Federal Level
The longest running study of graduation rates (and most widely reported national data in the United States), however, has been done at the federal level through the Bureau of the Census’ Current Population Sur vey. The literature high¬lights the benefits and limitations of this national sur vey. This sur vey uses a sample of 60,000 households and sur veys the civilian non¬institu¬tionalized population 16 years and older, and has good response rates.54 Concerns have been raised, however, about the exclusion of cer tain populations (militar y and institutionalized), the accuracy of counting young minority males, and the inclusion of individuals who may have received a General Educational Development (GED) cer tificate instead of a regular diploma.55
The nation’s Governors have convened to move toward more accurate reporting systems and to ensure a cer tain level of uniformity, accu¬racy, transparency and accountability in their data collection and repor ting. We believe such an effor t is merited as it relates to the Current Population Sur vey, the Common Core of Data compiled by the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), and data from the NCES Longitudinal Studies Program.56 We also believe it would make sense, in light of the renewed efforts of the Governors, to more carefully determine what the federal role should be in data collection and repor ting on these subjects, and how any federal effort could compliment the strengthened state effor ts. Does the state by state data collection, with compara¬ble data sets, render the Current Population Sur vey (CPS) in this regard unnecessary or con¬fusing in any ways? In light of the fact that the CPS is the only source of long¬term trends in dropout and completion rates, is there still a role for the Census to play that is complimentar y of the new state effor ts? Should the Common Core of Data be adjusted in any way? We also note that while the federal government spends $40 million on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), it is estimated to spend less than $1 million on dropout statistics.57 This may be an appropriate breakdown of the federal invest¬ment, given the primar y role of the states in such effor ts, but we would encourage further discus¬sion of what the federal role should be in data collection in these areas since accurate data is so critical to char ting progress in addressing the dropout epidemic.
Better Incentives Under Federal Law
The passage of the No Child Left Behind law prompts public schools all across the countr y to be increasingly concerned about graduation rates.
For the first time under federal law, schools must demonstrate that they are making “adequate yearly progress” on both academic per formance and graduation rates. Including a focus in the law on graduation rates was important as a compan¬ion to testing, so that the schools would have incentives to ensure that ever y child, including those in danger of not graduating, were given the help they needed to succeed. Having additional data to determine if there were dispropor tionate effects on minority or other groups was impor tant for tracking both annual progress on test scores and annual progress on graduation rates.
There is substantial concern that the regula¬tions implementing the No Child Left Behind law are not fulfilling the promise of graduation rate accountability. Some express concerns that schools and states can set whatever goals they wish for making progress on graduation rates and that there is no requirement to provide graduation data for racial and ethnic subgroups, even though such accountability was central to the law.58 The overarching concern is that, if this system of fed¬eral incentives is not brought in line with the original intent of the law, the law will have the unintended effect of giving schools an incentive to “push out” low¬per forming students whose test scores would bring down school averages, threat¬ening their demonstration of adequate yearly progress, which eventually carries tough sanc¬tions for failure. If schools are only rewarded for raising their test scores, and the federal rules have no teeth with respect to graduation rates, schools would be expected to focus far more attention on test scores and far less attention on graduation rates. Per verse incentives to “push out” (or rather, we think, not make the necessary effor t to suppor t) low¬per forming students would be created with bad effects. There is always a natural tension between ensuring accountability and providing sufficient flexibility to make pro¬grams work. Correcting perverse incentives such as these, however, should be a priority to ensure the schools have the right incentives to close the achievement gap and strengthen student per form¬ance, while at the same time raising the graduation rate.
The Silent Epidemic
Focusing the Research & Disseminating Best Practices
After reviewing dozens of studies, repor ts and ar ticles highlighting promising practices, pro¬grams, and policies relating to ensuring that more students graduate from high school and are ready for college, we discovered that federal evaluations (of which there have been ver y few) that studied more than 100 dropout prevention programs showed that most programs did not reduce dropout rates by statistically significant amounts.59 We also note that, while the literature recognizes that dropping out of school is a long process of disengagement, there are relatively few longitudinal studies, that is those which fol¬low students over time, or retrospective studies, which look back on the past experiences of stu¬dents. This concern over the lack of necessar y studies was expressed as far back as 1969 and ver y little has been done about it since that time.60 The General Accounting Office has said, “while states and school districts have imple¬mented numerous inter ventions designed to increase high school graduation rates, few of these programs have been rigorously evaluated, and [the Depar tment of] Education has done little to evaluate and disseminate existing research.”61
Having said this, there were some programs that did improve some outcomes and a lot of out¬standing work has been done to identify some of the essential components of high school reforms that relate to keeping more students in school. We also were encouraged to see effor ts that urged a clear focus on the few hundred public high schools in which the problem is severe, and to design comprehensive approaches that address illiteracy and focus on college readiness.
Acknowledging effor ts that exist, the amount of sophisticated research on key reforms appears surprisingly thin, given the serious and longstand¬ing nature of the problem. We believe that this has largely been the result of the chronic underre¬por ting of the dropout problem and the fact that alarm bells were not adequately sounded earlier. We also believe that more research should be conducted in carefully tailored areas that strike us as more “policy¬relevant” to addressing the problem in a realistic fashion. For example, since 50 percent of the students from low¬income, extreme dropout districts are graduating from high school and the other 50 percent with much the same demographic profile are not graduating, what are the differences in the schools that could suggest some meaningful reforms?62 How, if at all, might relevant policies and programs be changed so as to induce more young people who are at risk of dropping out and often within a year or two of graduating, to stay in school? If some similarly situated students can do it, why not all?
We understand the highly individualistic nature of these cases, which was reinforced by our focus groups and survey work, but we believe that more work could be done to test some of the intragroup differences that might shed further light on the problems and the school reforms that could address them. We also understand that dropout prevention strategies that may emerge must be tailored to the individual needs of the students at risk; be comprehensive in addressing individual, family, peer, school and community dimensions; and should begin as early in a stu¬dent’s educational life as there are warning signs of trouble. Effective solutions must not be based on unique situations but be broadly applicable. This is a daunting but doable task. 
 
 

A National Conversation and Response
Educators, policymakers and leaders from var¬ious sectors should make addressing the high school dropout epidemic a top national priority. All avenues to invest leaders in a better understand¬ing of the problem and common solutions should be undertaken – including congressional hearings, White House conferences, summits of state and local officials, and public forums in schools and communities. In all cases, the voices of young people who dropped out of high school should be heard. These public forums should seek input from policymakers at all levels of government and leaders in local communities who are struggling with high dropout rates and are proposing innova¬tive ways to keep students in high school. This Silent Epidemic report, together with its policy pathways, and other recent repor ts highlighting the problem and possible solutions, could provide a foundation for discussion at these public forums. We hope that upon conclusion of these public forums, plans of action will be put in place summarizing the concrete steps that leaders in communities, educators, policymakers and others will take to ensure more students graduate from high school. 

Conclusion
The dropout epidemic in the United States merits immediate, large¬scale attention from poli¬cymakers, educators, the non¬profit and business communities and the public. We hope that this report, which brings for ward the significant per¬spectives of high school dropouts themselves, will fur ther catalyze efforts to educate the public about how bad this problem is, and what its nega¬tive effects are, for the young people who fail to graduate, the schools in which they are failing to learn, the job markets they cannot enter, and the diminished communities in which they live.
We believe policymakers at all levels should use whatever means they have to keep the dropout problem front and center on the national agenda until dramatic progress is made in increasing the percentages of students who graduate from high school ready for college and the workforce.
We also hope that new effor ts will be born, and existing efforts given new life, that can help address this problem urgently and over the long term. And we hope that the reflections, insights, and stories shared in this report will help transform how we view these young people – not as problems to be solved, but as potential to be fulfilled.
The dropout epidemic in the United States merits immediate attention from policymakers, educators, the non¬profit and business communities, and the public… And we hope that the reflec¬tions, insights, and stories shared in this report will help transform how we view these children ¬ not as problems to be solved, but as potential to be fulfilled. 
 

Acknowledgements and Note
The authors would like to give special thanks to Geoffrey Garin and Sarah Streicker of Peter D. Hart Research Associates, and Eugene Hickok, Mark Alan Hughes, Tiffany Happel and Justin Libaw of Civic Enterprises for the creative and cooperative effort that led to this report. Civic Enterprises is a public policy development firm dedicated to informing discussions on issues of impor tance to the nation. The authors also would like to thank Chaves Design for designing this report.
The authors, together with Peter D. Hart Research Associates, would like to give thanks to the more than 500 former students who par ticipated in the sur vey and focus groups and shared their thoughts and reflections with courage and honesty.
The views reflected in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.