Reasons For Dropping Out
The reason for leaving school, as identified by the district, was reported
on 58 percent of all dropouts. Of the 17,218 students who had a reason listed
for leaving school, 58.6 percent listed a school-related concern, such as
poor attendance or failing grades; 11.0 percent listed a job-related concern,
such as found a job or joined the military; 9.2 percent listed a family-related
concern, such as pregnancy or marriage; and 21.2 percent listed other concerns,
such as drug or alcohol abuse problems, homelessness, or enrollment in a
non-state-approved alternative program. As Table 5 shows, 46.3 percent
withdrew from school because of poor attendance. Although poor attendance
was related to the student dropping out, it is not possible to determine
what reasons were related to a student's poor attendance.
Districts were more likely to report job-related concerns for males than
females. More than twice as many males than females were reported as leaving
school to pursue a job. Females were more likely than males to leave for
family-related concerns. Almost 10 percent of females were reported as leaving
school to get married, compared to less than 2 percent of males.
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