DROPOUT PREVENTION

WHEREAS, although the number of students completing high school increased from 20 percent in the 1920s to 76 percent in the 1970s, almost 25 percent of our students have failed to graduate over the last decade; and

WHEREAS, it is in the nation's interest to have all students receive a high school diploma; and

WHEREAS, Students leave school due to poor academic performance, teenage pregnancy and marital obligations, or work demands; drug and alcohol abuse; and are affected by negative parental attitudes; and

WHEREAS, increased standards and requirements within the core curriculum, increased demands on student time, and higher achievement expectations are an outgrowth of the education reform movement; and

WHEREAS, studies show that these efforts aimed at increasing excellence in the schools will result in improved performance among some potential dropouts and are likely to have negative consequences for others; and

WHEREAS, one out of four American children is now born into poverty, maintaining the number of potentially at-risk youth:

RESOLVED, that preschool programs, proven to significantly reduce dropout rates, be made available through the public schools on a universal, voluntary basis; and

RESOLVED, that readiness screening should be used to determine placement of students in preschool programs and primary grades; and

RESOLVED, that staffing be increased to allow teachers the opportunity to assess student progress frequently over shod intervals so that learning deficiencies can be immediately detected and mediate; and

RESOLVED, that program evaluation be conducted on a regular basis and well-thought-out alternatives employed with students who are not succeeding; and

RESOLVED, that federal and state governments fully fund compensatory programs that equalize educational opportunities for at-risk youth; and

RESOLVED, that educators and communities initiate programs that demonstrate the connection between parental attitudes and student performance; and

RESOLVED, that communities and educators make students more aware of their own responsibility for learning and the consequences of this decision; and

RESOLVED, that communities assume responsibility for funding and implementing programs found successful in reducing the teenage pregnancy rate and drug and alcohol abuse, a major contributor to school dropouts; and

RESOLVED, that schools should maintain high expectations and standards but at the same time provide students deprived of equal educational opportunity with the assistance necessary to meet them; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT continue to monitor and promote application of successful dropout prevention programs and to develop collaborative programs for school improvement designed to assure success for larger numbers of at-risk youth.