Behind the Statistics : Urban Dropouts and the GED
1999; SAGE Publishing; Volume: 81; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
1940-6487
Autores Tópico(s)School Choice and Performance
Resumoperceived need to earn the GED diploma motivated the students that Ms. Brouillette describes here to enroll in a program that gave them access to multiple forms of assistance and provided an important starting point for turning their lives around. SOME ENTERED THE room with a defiant stride, looking around boldly; others kept their gaze fixed on the floor in front of them, as if they weren't sure they really wanted to be interviewed. All were high school dropouts. Most were between the ages of 18 and 22. As they told their stories, some looked down at their hands and pulled at their sleeves to hide gang tattoos; a few stared off into space, describing scenes of terror as if they had happened to someone else. Yet most plunged in determinedly, registering strong opinions about their experiences in inner-city high schools. In all, 40 students from an inner-city high school equivalency program participated in interviews with me and two research assistants, Khadijah Jannah and Karen Snead. In the stories they told, teachers played only peripheral roles. protagonists were students who attempted, with varying degrees of success, to cope with the chaotic, sometimes explosive atmospheres at schools outsiders seldom chose to visit. Approximately two-thirds of the interviewees were Latino; one-third were African American. Yet their stories were strikingly similar, as were their depictions of the gang activity at the schools from which they had dropped out: I think it is a lot of pressure on kids. 'Cause even if you didn't want to join the gangs, they'll, like, actually force you. You know, they'll beat you up and get you in the gang. I think it's a lot of pressure . . . You're all scared if you think someone's gonna shoot you. You're not gonna be able to study. Especially when they're in the other room or something like that. interviewees were enrolled in an intensive 10-week program to prepare them to take the General Education Development (GED) test. So the conversation, which initially centered on why they had dropped out of school, inevitably turned to what getting the GED diploma meant to them. Their comments focused on issues seldom mentioned in research literature regarding the GED. Traditional Perspectives on the GED In his article The Street Value of the GED Diploma in the September 1998 issue of the Kappan, David Boesel of the U.S. Department of Education used 50 years of research on GED outcomes to analyze the value of acquiring a GED diploma. Looking at postsecondary outcomes, Boesel noted that students with GED diplomas and those with high school diplomas received about the same grades in vocational programs, and students with high school diplomas had only slightly better first-year averages in four-year colleges than those with GED diplomas. However, those with GED diplomas were much less likely to complete their postsecondary education. With regard to military service, holders of GED diplomas had much higher rates of attrition than high school graduates; the attrition rates of GED holders were close to those of high school dropouts. On the other hand, although they were somewhat less likely to be employed and earned less than persons with high school diplomas, holders of GED diplomas were more likely to be employed and earned more than dropouts. Human Reality Behind the Statistics At the time of the interviews, many of the GED students had part-time jobs, but few had a steady employment history. many, enrollment in this GED program & known for the dedication of its staff in helping students find jobs and continue their education & was a belated stab at getting the kind of job that would pay a living wage. However, the odds facing these students were steep. As one staff member explained, For many of these kids, the 10 weeks this program takes seems like an eternity! Moreover, some were still struggling to break their ties with the youth gangs of which they had formerly been members. …
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