Award Date

1-1-2001

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Educational Leadership

First Committee Member

Gerald C. Kops

Number of Pages

211

Abstract

As the United States embarks on the twenty-first century, anxiety continues about the American educational system. The dropout crisis in the United States and particularly among the Hispanic students is a matter of serious concern for parents, educators, politicians, and the general public. Due to the rapid technological advances, staying in school and graduating is crucial for preparing a skilled, knowledgeable, and flexible work force needed by America to compete in the global economy. Hispanic students are the largest-growing sector of the population and have the highest dropout rate of any major segment of the U.S. population (Hispanic Dropout Project, 1996); While the nation's high school dropout rates have improved among White and African American students, Hispanic students' dropout rates are still at alarming levels. Hispanic students are dropping out of school at a rate that does not show signs of diminishing---with ultimate perilous costs to society. In 1994, the number of Hispanic students aged 16--24, who had not completed high school and were not enrolled, was 30 percent---as compared to 8 percent for White students and 13 percent for African American students (Hispanic Dropout Project, 1996); In order to devise genuine strategies that will reduce the Hispanic students' high dropout rates, educational policy-makers and educational analysts must first abandon the prevalent popular conceptions that place blame on the individual, indicting the student or family for laziness, lack of willingness to be assimilated into American culture, and reluctance to learn English. A common and pernicious belief condemns Hispanic students for their alienation from school without taking into account the power of contextual factors that influence their school experiences; This study offers a broad investigation into the factors that may be associated with Hispanic students' high dropout rates. It considers not only the demographic factors but also investigates the roles of family background, early school experiences, and social influences in the high Hispanic students' dropout rates; The analysis was based on demographic factors, academic ability, family background, school experiences, and social influence factors taken from a national sample of high school sophomores twelve years after high school; In order to develop a predictable model, Academic Ability, Family Socioeconomic Status, Sex, Employment Status, Sibling Academic Status, Repeated a Grade, Citizenship Status/English Proficiency, Pregnancy/Fatherhood, Alcohol and Drug Use, Friends' Interest in School, Cut Classes, and High School Location were used as the independent variables while Dropout was used as the dependent variable.

Keywords

Analysis; Complete; Differences; Diploma; Dropout; High School Completion; Hispanic; Investigation; Nationwide; Rates; Schools; Students

Controlled Subject

Education, Secondary; Ethnology--Study and teaching

File Format

pdf

File Size

5232.64 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

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