Advertisement

Dropout Rate Rises at City Schools Despite New Prevention Effort

Share
Times Staff Writer

Members of the San Diego Board of Education expressed frustration Tuesday as they learned that the number of students dropping out of city schools increased during the 1987-88 school year despite increased money and attention for programs to fight the trend.

The board’s chagrin at the numbers--7.5% of students in grades 9 through 12, contrasted with about 7% the year before--was more than matched by the anger of representatives from the city’s black community over the 8.7% dropout rate for those students and a 12.3% rate for Latinos. The black rate showed an increase of 20.9% over the 1986-87 figure.

The dropout report raises fears that the San Diego Unified School District--the nation’s eighth-largest, with 117,000 students--will be unable to meet its goal of reducing the dropout rate by 50% by the end of the 1989-90 school year. The 7.5% one-year rate announced Tuesday represents about a 6% jump over the previous year.

Advertisement

Schools Supt. Tom Payzant called the news discouraging, but tried to soften the impact by pointing out that at least four major dropout prevention and recovery programs began only last fall, and thus their impact--if any--will not be seen until figures for the present academic year are collected and reported next year.

He also said there is no evidence that tougher academic standards put into effect by the district over the past two years have had a substantial impact on increasing the number of students leaving school.

But both board members and black community speakers took little solace from Payzant’s remarks, and the subsequent two-hour discussion showed how the dropout problem relates to almost every substantive issue that has been before trustees during the past year.

For example:

- Curriculum. Trustee Shirley Weber said that too few blacks and Latinos are being adequately prepared in reading and other subjects at the elementary level, meaning high schools have the Herculean job of trying to “turn around” students at the ninth-grade level and teach them basic skills. And, while the dropout rate historically has remained about the same, the number of blue-collar career jobs available for failed students has dropped.

- Teacher attitudes and willingness to consider different learning styles of children. Weber and Urban League President Herb Cawthorne said that too many teachers look on black students with fear or skepticism, believing they come with too many social problems to be able to learn at high levels. Weber said black students receive a disproportionate number of referrals, or problem slips, from teachers, and are double other ethnic groups in being placed in special education programs.

Smaller Classes Urged

- Class size. Several board members suggested that smaller class size would allow teachers to give more attention to students needing help or special encouragement. National research shows that students who drop out often cite a lack of a teacher or other adult who cared whether they did well. Weber said the district might pilot smaller elementary school class sizes, which now average 33 students.

Advertisement

- Middle schools. The district report says that ninth-graders attending a four-year high school drop out at twice the rate of ninth-graders at a junior high school. Board President Susan Davis said the data points toward changing the way ninth-grade instruction is handled at high schools to encourage more individual attention.

- Parent involvement. While the district has stressed parent involvement as a critical component of learning, the Urban League’s Cawthorne said that too many parents in Southeast San Diego themselves had poor experiences with school. Administrators cannot expect parents to turn the situation around in a major way, he said, and the schools must therefore reach out to other community groups as well.

- Preschool education. Payzant said that more money for Head Start and other preschool programs would be the best way to stem the number of dropouts over the long haul. Data shows that educational and other nurturing during a child’s first five years of life can have a profound impact, he said. However, such programs cost money, and the district is facing budget cuts to existing programs for next year.

Advertisement