The increasing rate of dropout in high school is one of the major problems that the Department of Education is facing now a days. It has been said in many studies that nearly one-third of all high school students leave the public school before graduation and the problem is severe among students who are with disabilities and difficulties both in studies and living condition. Educators, together with researchers and policy makers, continue working in order to identify effective dropout prevention measures.

Identifying students who are potential dropouts will help the school to do some interventions before it is too late. An early warning system can be implemented by the school to identify the potential dropouts and prevent it.

Why is an early warning system important?

1. Early warning systems use routinely available data housed at the school that are                  good predictors of whether a student is likely to drop out of high school.
2. The on-track indicator is a better predictor of likelihood to graduate than are                                   background characteristics or previous achievement test scores.
3. First month, first quarter, and first semester absences are additional strong                                       predictors of drop out; those data are available early in the school.
4. Districts and schools can use the information to look for patterns and identify                                 school climate issues that may contribute to disproportionate dropout rates at a                  subset of high schools or within subpopulations of students.
5. A teacher can conduct a home visitation to students who are not attending his                                 classes.
6. If the students’ reason for dropping out is a failing grade, then conduct a remedial              class.
7. Conduct Homeroom Parents-Teachers meeting.

Advisers who are with direct contact to students must identify students who are likely to  drop out from school. Keeping records of their attendance will also help them in tracking students performance. Students who attended 80% or less of the time during 6^th grade, failing grades in Math and English are can be considered potential drop outs.

What are the measures that a teacher can do to prevent his students from dropping out?

Students will value their education even in hardship if they can see their teachers are caring for their welfare.

References: www.betterhighschools.org , ernweb.com , Developing Early warning system to Identify Potential high school Dropouts by Jessica B. Heppen et. al.

By: Jennifer T. Gemzon | T – I | Bonifacio Camacho National High School