PERCENT OF TEENS WHO ARE HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUTS (16-19)

There have been persistent complaints from Capitol Hill regarding the low levels of academic achievement of American students.  While some of those who complain do so in hopes of advancing their political agenda, many have come to see the American educational system as problem ridden and inadequate.  A measure often used to measure the efficacy of the US educational system is the dropout rate amongst American student.  This KIDS COUNT indicator measures the percentage of teenagers ages 16-19 who are either not enrolled in school and do not have a high school diploma.  For the purpose of the indicator those who dropped out of school, but have gone back to earn their GED or an equivalent degree are counted as high school graduates, and are therefore not reflected in the percentage.

The number of high school students who drop out of high school has been on the decline during the last quarter of the twentieth century.  This has been true for both the 1-19 and the larger 16-24 age groups.  According to Census data the percentage of 16-24 year olds who drop out of high school has decreased from 17.3% in 1970 to less then 14% in 1998.  However the decrease has been especially noticeable for female dropouts.  In the early 1970s, still plagued by societal pressures to remain at home and not seek a college education, female dropouts outnumbered males.  By the late 1970s this trend had changed, and females are now less likely to dropout of high school then are males.  Furthermore, there are racial differences in the drop out rate.  Hispanics are most likely to dropout of high school, followed by blacks, non-Hispanic whites, and Asians. 

Data for this indicator was obtained from the Current Population Survey produced by the US Census Bureau.  The data focuses on the 16-19 age group as opposed to the more commonly used 16-24 group because the substantial number of those who migrate among young adults ages 18-24 is liable to create a false impression.  Furthermore, the data that is available is based on sampling conducted by the CPS it suffers from a small chance of sample error that is inherent to any data based on sampling.  For a more detailed description of the data sources please consult the KIDS COUNT web site and visit the "Definitions and Data Sources" page.

Figure 1: Percent of Teens Who are High School Dropouts, 1998.