Caring for Kids. a Critical Study of Urban School Leavers. REPORT NO ISBN-0-7507-0193-5 PUB DATE 95 NOTE 222P
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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 388 735 UD 030 660 AUTHOR Altenbaugh, Richard J.; And Others TITLE Caring for Kids. A Critical Study of Urban School Leavers. REPORT NO ISBN-0-7507-0193-5 PUB DATE 95 NOTE 222p. AVAILABLE FROMThe Falmer Press, Taylor & Francis Inc., 1900 Frost Road, Suite 101, Bristol, PA 19007 (paperback: ISBN-0-7507 0193-5, $24.95; casebound: ISBN-0-7507-0192-7). PUB TYPE Books (010) Reports Research/Technical (143) Tests/Evaluation Instruments (160) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC09 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Academic Achievement; Class Size; Dropout Prevention; Dropout Research; *Dropouts; Educational Policy; High Schools; Intervention; Interviews; *Job Training; Nontraditional Education; *Reentry Students; Stopouts; *Student Attitudes; Urban Schools; *Urban Youth IDENTIFIERS *Caring; Job Corps; *Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh); Pittsbu....-gh School Distr.ict PA ABSTRACT The study reported concentrated on school leavers in Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania) who returned (dropbacs) to Job Corps Programs over an 8-year period. Interviews with 100 dropbacks explored who left schoo, why they left school, what caused them to come back, and the kinds of interventions that might succeed with other students. Part1 provides a contextual framework for the dropout problem in Pittsburgh, other large cities, and the nation. Part 2 concentrates on student perspectives of schooling, focusing on student decisions about continuing in school. Part 3 analyzes the findings of the interviews and offers policy recommendations. Absenteeism, low achievement, feelings of alienation, school suspension, and early parenthood preceded dropping out for many students. These findings point to areas that reform efforts must address. Systemic change, altered school climate, smaller class size and better access to counselors, greater flexibility, and programs that reflect more caring, such as child care, are all needed to reduce the dropout problem. An appendix contains the interview protocol. (Contains 1 table and 210 references.) (SLD) **********************************A*k*********;,;.M.************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * from the original document. ********************************************************************)...... Caring for Kids. A Critical Study of Urban School Leavers. Richard J. Altenbaugh U.S. DEPARTMENT Of EDUCATION THIS Ofbc. o Educahonal Research and I,srmement PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE D BY EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANT CENTER (ERIC) 0 This document has been reproduce4 as Sezza4 received from the person or oconizabon orKunahnp )SLIAnor changes have been made to unprove P.14.6 reproducbon quality Pcants of op..ens stated in lbS docir menu do not necesSarily represent official TO THE EDUCATIONALRESOURCES OERI Oorotbon or pohby INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) BEST COPY AVAILABLE e Caring for Kids 1 DEDICATION To Louis A. Petrone (1927-1991) we dedicate this book. Friend, col- league and mentor, Lou helped us formulate this research and gave us good humored encouragement long before any of us cduld adequately convey our appreciation of him or fully understand what he meant to us. We hope some of his warmth, insight, and sensitivity shows through our words. UK [he Fa lrner Press, 4 John Street. London WC IN 2ET USA The [almer Press, Taylor & Francis Inc ,1900 Frost Road, Suite 1(11, Bristol, PA 19007 Q.) RJ. Altenbaugh. D.E. Engel and D.T Martin, 1995 All rights rt saved. No part o.1 this publication may be reproduced, stoted in a ri trieral system, or tiansnUtted in any .form or by any maim, electronic, mechanical, phmocopyiv, lecordini; or othet woe, without permission in writ- ing.hom the Publish0 Firq published in 19'); A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data are available on request ISBN I7507 0192 7 cased ISBN -507 01,i3 =, paper Jacket design by Caroline Archer Cier phot,igraph supplied courtesy of the Pittsburgh Public Sclwols. ypeset inI I/13pt Betnbo by. Giaphicraft irypesetters I td.,I long Kong. Punted in GItaI Britain by Hutp., Siirthi lhomsz,toke on pap,: whi,h ha, a ye, d plrain, liaal paper manuta,mie ot not h than and 1, h Io: i 1th Contents .-Icknowledgmcnts vi Prefice viii Part IIntroduction 1 The Social Terrain 3 School Leavers in American Society 19 3 The Problem: Context and Approach 44 Part IIThe Pittsburgh Study 4 The School Setting 61 5 School Personnel 79 6 School Knowledge 97 7 Why School LeaveN Left and Why They Returned 112 Part IIIConclusions, Analyses, and Policy Implications 8 The Social Context 139 9 Caring 156 10 Policy Recommendations 168 Appendix: Early School Leavers Protocol 187 References 195 Index 209 Acknowledgments This project has incurred many debts and involved many people. Richard Wallace, former Pittsburgh School Superintendent, and Louise Brennan, current Superintendent, supplied an open and candid atmos- phere to conduct research in the district. Paul LeMahieu, formerly with the district, helped us design.our interview instrument and gain permis6on from the school district to proceed with this study, and John Barry provided valuable information and services. The good folks at the Pittsburgh Job Corps Center proved to be courteous and hospi- table. Vince Moran, the former Director, and Andrea Drozic, the cur- rent Director, ensured our access to students and staff cooperation. Job Corps staff included David Bush, Richard Morris and Mardi Amsler, who always were amiable, competent and flexible. We want to thank innumerable counselors for the use of their offices for interview ses- sions over the years. We too appreciated the opportunity to present our early findings at a regular meeting of the Pittsburgh Job Corps Center's Community Service Group in November 1992. The school leavers we interviewed at Pittsburgh's Job Corps Center taught us a great deal about schooling. Many of them volunteered because, as iley articulated it, they wanted to improve the lives of others. We must acknowledge the program committees for the American Educational Research Association (1993), American Educational Studies Association (1992 and 1993), Association of Teacher Educators (1993), National Dropout Prevention Conference (1992 and 1994), and the Pennsylvania Educational Research Association (1990) for providing us with forums where we could present the products of our research, and receive criticisms and suggestions: this intellectual exchange greatly aided the refinement process. Without subsidies and other support, we could not have com- pleted this study. We owe a debt to the University of Pittsburgh's School of Fducation for a Buhl Foundation grant. which subsidized a research assistant, Robert Tazza. Robert's contributions of many inter- views, during a nine-month period, helped us to maintain the momen- tum of this long-range project. Reni Pitts, in the Administrative and Acknowledgments Policy Studies Department, School of Education, at Pitt, spent thou- sands of hours over an eight-year period transcribing the tape record- ings of our interviews; we always treasured her patience and good humor. Debbie Rousseau, a Pitt student, provided valuable research assistance during the early stages of this project. Dean Catherine Morsink, College of Education, Slippery Rock University, provided important grants to subsidize travel expenses for two of Richard J. Altenbaugh's presentations. Her moral support through the latter stages of this project provided additional motivation. Patti Pink, in Slippery Rock's Word Processing Center, spent hundreds of hours typing this manuscript. Her geniality endured through hours of rewrites, revi- sions, additions and deletions, and impending deadlines. Finally, Jane Flanders, University of Pittsburgh, and Bruce Nelson, Northwestern University, kindly read the entire manuscript, offering many stylistic suggestions. They are in no way responsible for any shortcomings in this study. We are extremely grateful to Malcolm Clarkson and Ivor Goodson, as well as the staff, at Falmer Press for their persistent supportof this study. Without their faith in us, it would not have become a reality. Finally, our families had to patiently endure our physical and mental absences as we conducted our interviews, traveled to conferences, endlessly discussed our findings, and ultimately wrote this manuscript: their support was most precious and invaluable. Richard J. Altenbaugh David E. Engel Don T. Martin vii Preface We began this research because we were impressed, like so many pro- lessionals in the l980s, that school leavers represented a major social and eLlucational problem. The high school completion rate had not substantially increased since the mid-1960s. In some areas, mostly ur- ban centers, the school leaver rate was growing worse. Students had seemingly not improved in national reports of Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) performance. Business leaders in the United States bemoaned the linguistic and computational skills of the typical public high school graduate entering the workforce. It all seemed to be pretty grim. How was the nation going to compete internationally if our high school graduates could not perform up to standard with their Japanese and European counterparts? If 25 to 30 per cent of high school students were early school lea\ ers, did this not create a growing number of unemployable youth? I was especially concerned because, in the early eighties.I was a member, and for two vears President, of the Board of Education of the Pittsburgh public schools.