Do Children Drop Out of School in Kindergarten?

by Hickman, Gregory P.; Heinrich, Randy S.

• ISBN13: 9781610485760
• ISBN10: 1610485769
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-09-08
• Publisher: R&L Education

Summary

For years, we have considered school dropout rates as a problem occurring at the high-school level. However, this is actually an issue that originates and develops in elementary school. In Do Children Drop Out of School in Kindergarten? Gregory Hickman and Randy Heinrich show how high school dropouts in many ways drop out of school long before they reach high school. Using a comprehensive systems approach, Hickman and Heinrich argue that our policy makers, educators, parents, and community members need to scrutinize our education system, moving past fixing short-term symptoms to engaging core, long-term problems for deep, effective change. For real change to take place, our national agenda needs to address the dropout problem at the elementary level, long before kids enter high school.

Author Biography

Gregory P. Hickman, Ph.D., is professor of human services at Walden University and former director of the Arizona Dropout Initiative. Randy S. Heinrich, D.M., served for over a decade as an educator in a rural Arizona "school district and is currently on the faculty for Argosy University Online.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. vii
Prologue	p. ix
The Usual Suspects: What Do We Know Regarding Why Children Drop Out of School?	p. 1
Methodology	p. 7
Background and Demographics	p. 13
Does the Pathway to Dropping Out of School Really Start in Kindergarten?	p. 21
Absenteeism	p. 39
Middle School	p. 45
Core Courses	p. 55
Standardized Tests vs. Classroom Performance	p. 61
Are Educational Pathways Set in Stone from Kindergarten?	p. 67
Understanding Human Ecology: A Systems Approach in Understanding Why Children Drop Out of School	p. 71
Epilogue	p. 111
Index	p. 115
About the Authors	p. 121
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.