We know that schools have had a rough year when all of our August on-site in-service dates are booked by April. We ran out of summer in-service dates this year earlier than ever before. Recent research released in the past few weeks confirms that this was a rough school year. Specifically, the national dropout rate is becoming so egregious that it has become an epidemic, many of the researchers suggest.

For years, in our workshops, we have talked about the national dropout rate running at about 25% on average. The new articles are pegging that rate now at a depressing 30%. An article reprinted by the Public Education Network, observed that we would never tolerate a system where 30% of iPods malfunctioned or 30% of FedX packages never arrive, but that is essentially what has happened with K-12 education. 30% of high schoolers are not graduating.

Years ago, moms and dads reliably conveyed to their offspring the importance of school, and provided assistance with homework, attendance and school performance. That sentence does not fit our contemporary times very well. If significant numbers of families are not gearing their sons and daughters to be motivated, prepared, skilled students, then someone has to take on that task, or many students will continue to flounder, and a whopping one-third will ultimately drop out. If schools would dedicate themselves to providing School Skills Training, they could stop working with untrained, unmotivated kids, and start working with trained, motivated students instead. We are not talking about re-stating expectations and rules. We are talking about literally training kids to be students, just like you train them to learn long division or conjugate a verb.

If schools took 10% of the time and energy that they are compelled to dedicate to high stakes testing and shifted their efforts to School Skills Training, the worsening dropout rate might be reversed. What should School Skills Training include? Any skill, attitude or motivation that students need to succeed. For students at risk of dropping out, motivation might head the list, followed by attendance and punctuality. All students need specific skill training in areas like teacher inter-action skills, homework management skills, class discussion skills, hallway behavior, peer interaction skills, requesting help, and so on. If your school expects these skills from students, but does not teach them, that is unfair. It is not fair to expect skills you have not taught. Here is a sampling of interventions for motivation, but to impact your potential 30% dropouts, don't forget to also cover attendance, punctuality and the other School Skills Training areas listed above. If you need more methods than the small sampling of motivation-makers provided here, follow-up resources are suggested at the bottom of this article, and there are hundreds more interventions throughout our site. Here is a great place to start; it's packed with attention-grabbing motivation-makers-- all free.

Here are School Skills Training methods for motivation that can boost student retention:

Teachers Are Lousy Mind Readers
The newly released studies of dropouts emphasize that there are many reasons that students quit school. The studies also note that if students receive help with their concerns, dropping out may become less necessary. For example, a student may feel the need to stay home to watch younger sibs. If that concern is communicated to a teacher, then the teacher or school may be able to assist. For example, the teacher might locate a social service or church group to help with baby sitting. Since students often do not vocalize the concerns they face that interfere with school, teach students that teachers are lousy mind readers, that they will have to tell the teacher exactly what the problem is so that the teacher can help.

Find Out Now What You'll Know Later
The new studies discuss that some students drop out to earn what seems like a lot of money. Help students understand that what looks like a lot of money now will look like "not enough money" later. There is a long and sad litany of the misery dropouts face. All students should learn about this reality as soon as possible. Here are just a few of the depressing realities of being a dropout in the new millennium; make sure your students know these facts so they don't have to live with them forever:

Dropouts earn less than everybody else
Most jobs require a diploma The jobs open to dropouts are becoming fewer and there may come a time, when there are almost no jobs that will allow dropouts to apply
Dropouts often have to accept jobs that most people consider unpleasant, demeaning and undesirable
Dropouts usually do not earn enough money to pay their housing, food, utility and transportation bills
Dropouts often have to work two jobs just to survive
Dropouts can afford about 2/3 of a house or apartment if they work one job
Dropouts may be only able to afford public transportation or drive cars that are considered to be old and not very desirable
Dropouts are often stuck with the jobs no one else wants
Dropouts are the first fired and last hired
Dropouts can't afford health care and may have to endure physical discomfort, or even suffering

Diplomas Rule
From early on, students need to understand the worth of that magic piece of paper. The California School Board Association web site quotes a dropout named Cheryl, who noted that she didn't think a diploma would matter because she "didn't feel that you had to have a high school diploma to get a job. But now you do. There's been jobs I wanted but they'd say 'high school diploma,' 'high school diploma.'" Teach your students about Cheryl, or ask dropouts in your area to come in and convey their regret to your group. Teach your students that no diploma in the 2000s is like no coat in Minnesota in winter.

Drop Out, Lose Out
Convince students that dropping out is foolish. Stop referring to yourself as a teacher, and switch to banker-- because each high school graduate earns $329,000 more than a dropout. A catch phrase to use: "Your diploma: So valuable, it belongs in your wallet." Another: "You've got a life. A diploma lets you live it."

Speak the Language on High-Tech Planet
The U.S. is becoming a high-tech place. Without education, you can't even keep up with the conversation. Demonstrate that to students by locating job applications posted on the internet, then ask students to complete the applications. Students will have to know terms like "PDF," "Adobe," “Function Key," "Word Doc," "Spam Filters," "URLs" and others. You don't learn these terms by missing school, yet some day most job applications may be online, and include high-tech terms like these. Ask your students if they'll be ready.

Do You Like These Inventive Interventions?

We have hundreds more unusual, dynamic interventions for dropout prevention but we cover every "kid problem" imaginable. Please, feel free to visit our web site.

Ruth Wells
www.youthchg.com