Book Description

Education is seen as one of the several critical factors in promoting the healthy development of youth as they transition to adulthood. In the current era, a high school diploma is considered a minimum requirement for employment in most sectors of the economy (Barton, 2006). The job prospects for youth who have not completed high school often are bleak, unstable, and relatively undesirable. Among youth living in disadvantaged urban communities, the rates of high school drop-out are highest among African American and Latino males. Although considerable efforts and resources have been devoted to preventing vulnerable youth from dropping out of high school, it is a persistent problem in many of our large urban school districts around the country. Part of the reason for this impasse is the gap between what is known about why and how vulnerable youth leave school or what helps them to succeed. Recognizing the effects of dropping out of high school on society, the question is why do urban, African American male students drop out of high school? What makes these students more prone to dropping out than their counterparts who remain in school? In an effort to better understand the lives and circumstances of these student groups, this research investigation uses a comparative case method to examine similarities and differences in the life histories of a matched sample of high school graduates and dropouts. This study investigates how the developmental systems of family, neighborhood, peers and education shape the youth's perspective on school. Findings reveal that while both groups experience high levels of risk factors high school drop-outs had significantly more risk experiences in the family, community, and criminal justice domains. Dropouts also had fewer protective factors in the school, peers, community, and family domains. Individuals experience educational obstacles in multiple domains and as such schools are not likely to promote educational resiliency without additional supports operating in the community to assist disadvantaged families.