Portraits of high school dropouts: lessons for school administrators

Young, Christine

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/45364 Copy

Description

Title

Portraits of high school dropouts: lessons for school administrators

Author(s)

Young, Christine

Issue Date

2013-08-22T16:37:56Z

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Hunter, Richard C.

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Hunter, Richard C.

Committee Member(s)

• Span, Christopher M.
• Witz, Klaus
• Alexander, S. Kern

Department of Study

Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp

Discipline

Ed Organization and Leadership

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

Ed.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

• Portraits
• High School dropouts

Abstract

High school dropouts lose economically and personally as a result of not completing high school. Lost income in thousands of dollars each year and the human cost of not fulfilling their educational and personal potential exemplify the cost to dropouts and society. Many programs are designed and evaluated by school administrators to assist students to stay in school and complete their graduation. This study was designed to explore life stories of high school dropouts through developing detailed portraits of the students. The research studied eight high school dropouts who were currently students in a community college GED program. The eight student participants were each asked to participate in two in-depth interviews that resulted in the researcher’s creation of a portrait of each participant. Results from the two sessions provided emergent themes revealed through students’ stories about their lives and their school experience. The themes that emerge are: (a) living a satisfactory life for nearly 20 years yet having to obtain a GED; (b) extremely disturbing conditions at home, occurring even during elementary school years; (c) being sustained by religion; (d) parenthood causing a life change; (e) a talent or special interest that brightened the overall picture; (f) “I wish there would have been a Dr. Help,” and (g) resilience and hope through life.

Graduation Semester

2013-08

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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/45364

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2013 Christine Young

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