Educators worried about dropout rates

HELENA — Forty-two of every 1,000 Montana high school students, and five of every 1,000 junior high students, dropped out of school dur ing the
2000-2001 school year, a new report from the Office of Public Instruction says.

By Ericka Schenck Smith, of The Standard State Bureau

Although most dropouts are white — 70.6 percent — American Indian students continue to have the highest dropout rate of any ethnic group in
Montana, the report said.
“ For immediate needs for kids in high school, we need to look at some brand new ways of keeping them in school,” said Rep. Carol Juneau,
D-Browning. Juneau is chairwoman of the Montana-Wyoming Indian Education Association.

During the four school years end ing in 2001, the average dropout rate for Indian high school students was 11 percent, compared with 3.6 percent
for white students. For Indian students in junior high, the dropout rate was 2.4 percent, com pared with 0.2 percent for white stu dents.

Hispanic and black high-school students were more than twice as likely to drop out than white stu dents, while Hispanic and black junior high
students were about four times as likely to drop out than white students.
Hispanic and black students make up only 2.3 percent of Montana school enrollment, while 10.5 percent of Montana school chil dren are American
Indian. Eightysix percent of the students are white, while another 0.9 percent are Asian, Hawaiian or Pacific Islander.

Juneau said the 11 percent dropout rate for Indian high school students is deceptively low, because it looks only at the percentage of students who
dropped out in a single year.
She said she has examined six years’ of information from schools on or near the state’s seven reservations and found that only 48 percent of the
Indian students who enrolled as fresh men went on to graduate.

For all students statewide, the com pletion rate is 81.8 percent, the OPI report said.
The primary reason many students drop out is economics, Juneau said.
Butte High School interim principal Jim Hope agreed. Since he took over the helm at the school in January, he has been trying to meet with
students before they drop out to see if there is anything the school can do to help.

“ I think economics certainly has to play a role in dropping out,” Hope said. “ They might be the breadwinners, and, you know, maybe work comes
before education.”
Dropping out to work isn’t likely to help a student’s finances in the long run: The OPI report said recent dropouts were about twice as likely to be
unem ployed, and dropouts who do have jobs make about 35 percent less than people with high school degrees.

Students who regularly skip school are also more likely to eventually drop out, Hope said. When kids aren’t in school, their grades suffer, their
selfesteem drops, they often have other dis cipline problems, and it gets to the point where they just don’t want to show up any more, he said.
But Juneau and Hope said it isn’t fair to the students to simply blame econom ics or other problems at home without looking at what schools can do
to help.

“ In my heart, I really think it’s work ing,” Hope said of his schools’ meetings with at-risk students. “ I think it is a lit tle bit better ’85 But I think that in
edu cation, we have a long ways to go, and we should never quit trying.”
Juneau said she would like to see bet ter connections between schools and families and more innovative programs for kids who need extra help or
who have to work or take care of a child dur ing school hours.

“ Often we try to look at the student or their family as being the ones who don’t fit the system,” she said. “ I do think it’s time that we look into our sys
tems as well and see what changes can be made.”
One of Juneau’s suggestions is to cre ate alternative schools within schools, where students could get a general equivalency diploma or GED without
having to drop out first.
“ It opens the same doors,” Juneau said. “ Many people kind of think a GED is less important. I think we know lots of people with GEDs and high
school equivalencies who have done very well.”

Juneau said the alternative schools wouldn’t solve the problem but might address the immediate situation.
The report said recent research shows that intervention needs to happen before high school, and each community will have to work to keep kids in
school in ways that address local problems.

“ I do think that we need to really be willing to take this challenge and accept it, accept that what we’ve been doing hasn’t worked for many
students,” Juneau said.

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