Case study of successful high school dropouts

Over the last 30 years, the high school dropout has been thrust into the position of being a deviant member of society; viewed as a drain on our economic prosperity. Educators and politicians have focused their attention on the individual characteristics of students who are 'at-risk' to dropping out, in the hopes of changing individual students to fit the traditional school model. Schools have attempted to address the dropout problem through a plethora of prevention and intervention strategies. These efforts are laudable; however, the results have not made a measurable difference. This year, approximately 25% of high school students will not earn a high school diploma. This paper examines why students are not able to complete high school and how some are able to achieve success without the benefit of a high school diploma. The purpose of the study is to describe and interpret the perspectives of individuals who dropped out of high school and were able to become accomplished professionals, successful high school dropouts. Using an intrinsic case study design, this project was designed to gain access to perspectives of successful high school dropouts. In general, I wanted to understand the meaning behind their decision to dropout of school and their ability to lead successful lives. The participants were identified as successful high school dropouts, because they were able to find and maintain employment for an extended period of time. The results of the study indicated that the participants displayed protective mechanisms that enabled them to overcome the lack of a high school diploma. The participants did not complete high school, because they were bored and did not see the relevance of the curriculum to their lives. Recommendations to alter the perception of high school dropouts and to address the extremely low graduation rates of Black, Hispanic, and Native American students are presented.