To Wear a Cap and Gown: A Mixed-Methods Analysis of Urban Youth Who Drop Out and Return

• In Event: Coconstructing Positive Educational Outcomes for Youth

Abstract

Nationally, a growing percentage of urban students of color leave school without a diploma. However, for many students the decision to dropout is not permanent as many return to the public school system to obtain a diploma. This study presents a mixed method analysis of urban students of color who dropped out of high school and returned. Phase I includes sixteen student interviews using a case study design. Phase II uses cross classified hierarchical generalized linear modeling to examine student, school, and neighborhood factors that predict who dropouts and if they return. The results provide insight to how students of color perceive of dropping out how and policy shapes whether they come back to school.

Author

• Dorothy E. Hines, University of Kansas