Using Participatory Research Principles to Rethink Dropout Prevention Planning in Urban Communities

• In Event: Roundtable Session 124
  In Roundtable Session: Supporting Youth Through Family, School, and Community Involvement

Abstract

This paper explores the concept of what a community-based participatory dropout prevention planning process might entail. Specifically, it looks at a year-long research project that brought together formerly incarcerated school non-completers, researchers, and local policy makers to address low high school completion rates in the community. Using our own project as a case study, we concern our inquiry with the challenges and promises that emerge when the knowledge of adults in urban communities, who themselves often did not complete school, become central to dropout prevention idea generation, strategy development, and decision-making processes. Moreover, we examine the ‘participatory’ process with a focus on three central participatory research concepts: control, collaboration, and commitment.

Authors

• Lynnette K. Mawhinney, The College of New Jersey

• Decoteau J. Irby, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee

• Kristopher Thomas, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee