| Henry Anaya
Stanford University
Emerging crisis: The effects of residential and educational segregation on minority dropout
FINAL REPORT: The determinants of school discontinuation in the United States.
This paper examined dropout characteristics and differences within the United States, using the United States Department of Education NELS:88 (National Education Longitudinal Survey) dataset. The principal objective was to determine how the dynamics of school dropout vary among U. S. students, and to what extent these variations show up at different stages (i.e., early vs. late dropout) in the educational attainment process. Results for early dropout determined that African American students dropped out in significantly higher numbers when compared to the four other racial/ethnic student groups studied (whites, Hispanics, Asian and Native Americans). Language minority status was also shown to have a significant impact on dropout. Those students who were from language minority backgrounds were significantly more likely to drop out early on than students who weren't from language minority backgrounds. Problems with teacher motivation of students was significantly related to higher rates of dropout. Student grades were also a significant factor related to early dropout. Statistical results which held true for both early and late dropout found that higher rates of educational attainment among parents were significantly related to lower levels of student dropout. Family stability (as measured by the number of times a student changed schools), as well as the presence or absence of vocational education was also significantly related to both early and late dropout rates. Parental involvement in school activities was also related to lower rates of early and late dropout. No significant behavioral or environmental differences related to either early or late dropout were found in regard to gender.
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