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About CSCAE
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Drop In Day Media Fact Sheet When: Thursday, January 20, 2005 - 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. (20th annual Where: At Generic Adult School. California adult schools are a part of K-12 high school districts throughout the state. Who: Adults who have not completed high school. What: A one day, high visibility outreach project. Adults without diplomas can visit any adult school for free on-the-spot, no-appointment diploma counseling. They will be given specific, personalized recommendations as to how best to proceed to earn a diploma. Questions & Answers About Drop-In-Day Q. What is the purpose of Drop-In Day? A. To make the hundreds of thousands of California adults who do not have a high school diploma aware that our California adult schools may have an answer to their problem. Q. What about kids still in school? A. Adult educators recognize the ultimate solution to the dropout problem lies in finding a way to keep kids in school. However, Drop-In Day is designed to help those who have already dropped out and for whom going back to a regular high school is no longer an option. Q. What are some of the effects on society of a high dropout rate? A. Approximately 70% of the state's prison population and 50% of those on welfare did not finish high school. It is estimated that 60% of all high school dropouts are functionally illiterate. University of California researchers found that dropouts from just one graduating class in a large urban school district will contribute $60 million less in tax revenues over their lifetimes than those who graduate from high school. According to researchers, dropouts are also twice as likely as high school graduates to become unemployed and four times more likely than college graduates. In addition, each additional year of secondary school reduces by 35% the chance of being on welfare; plus, dropouts are three times more likely to go on food stamps than graduates; and earning a high school diploma reduces the likelihood of arrest by 90%. Q. How many California kids don't make it through high school? A. Though the actual dropout rate is a matter
of some dispute, there is general agreement that between 20% and
33% of those who enroll as 9th graders are not around four years
later at graduation time. For blacks and Hispanics it's nearly 50%.
This means that each year, tens of thousands of young adults seek
entry into the workforce without benefit of a high school diploma.
For more info see: Q. What does this mean in total numbers? A. Each June more than 100,000 students who started high school as 9th graders fail to graduate. Most seek jobs, but without a diploma they are difficult to employ. The Armed Services, for example, does not accept volunteers without a high school diploma. Over the past five years it is estimated that more than three quarters of a million young California adults ages 19 to 26 failed to graduate with their high school class. According to a report by the Adult Education Unit, California State Department of Education, approximately 21 % of the total state population over age 25 has not completed high school, and 12% have completed no more than an 8th grade education. In absolute numbers, this translates to 3.5 million California adults without a high school diploma and 2.0 million with no more than eight years of schooling. Q. Do dropouts have a higher rate of unemployment than graduates? A. Yes. A number of studies have shown that dropouts, particularly those from minority populations, have significantly higher rates of unemployment than high school graduates. Q. What about literacy? A. It is estimated by California educators that perhaps as many as 60% of our state's high school dropouts read below the fifth grade level. Q. What alternatives are there for adults who dropped out? A. Nearly all of the 400-plus California adult schools offer basic literacy and math instruction and programs and courses of study that lead to a high school diploma. There is an K-12 school district adult education program near virtually every California resident. Q. What about adults who work? A. Most schools have day and evening classes. In addition there are independent study and distance learning programs where students, under the supervision of a counselor, work at their own pace and on their own time schedule. Progress is ensured and monitored by regular meetings with the adult school counselor. Q. Does an adult who dropped out have to complete every high school course just as though he or she were a beginning 9th grader? A. No. Previously completed courses count toward the adult school diploma. It should also be noted that work experience and certain other "life experiences" can earn diploma credit. Contact Name |