Prediction of Drop-Out Among Students With Minor Disabilities
We all know about the importance of completing at least a high school education about preparing ourselves for financially rewarding jobs in the future. Without the proper educational attainment, it is almost impossible to find a job that will keep a roof over our heads and food in our aching bellies. Television commercials constantly try to remind the school-age viewers of the repercussions of dropping out of school. But somehow, more and more high school age students end up leaving the educational system.
The reason for dropping out of school is as vast and varied as the attitudes of the regular learners, LD, and EBD’s observed for this particular study. It has a personal side that requires one to understand the mental conditioning of the students by their parents and how they view their futures as either a success or failure simply because of their current academic standing as either regular or remedial learners.
Article 2 is all about the current trend of students with learning disabilities or behavioral problems that have ended up as learning when it comes to the power of comprehension. It talks about the reasons as to why these kinds of students drop out of school and what can be one to stop the trend from growing worse in the future. Through the use of comparison testing between the LD and EBD students, researchers Amy L. Reschly and Sandra L. Christenson present their readers with previously neglected statistics regarding the inclusion of Student Engagement Variables in predicting the possibilities and actualities of drop out rates for these particular student bodies when compared to their regular student counterparts.
Through the use of engagement of student comparisons for the LD and EBD learners, we discover that the size of the drop-out difference between them and their regular peers is quite minimal. Research shows that once we take into account the student test scores, grade retention, and socioeconomic status of the regular learners, LD and EBD learners, student engagement variables proved to be much more accurate predictors of school drop-out and completion rates for the student ranks.
Using that particular bit of information which was collated with other data regarding the rate of school dropouts, Reschly and Christenson then proceed to make predictions regarding the future drop out rates using the student engagement variables as the basis. In the end, it is discovered that the regular students, LD, and EBD learners would all stay in school provided that they are made more involved in the whole learning process. By allowing them to participate in school activities that require them to respond to study requirements in an interactive manner and participation in extra curricular activities on campus, the students are better encouraged to stay within the educational system.
Attachment Security and The School Experience For Emotionally Disturbed Adolescents In Special Education
Being a regular student in the school is already a daunting task for an average-achieving school-goer. Imagine what it must be like for a student with disabilities to attend school when their risk for failure due to learning hindrances is greater.
Consider for a minute, how an emotionally disturbed student in special education classes might also fare in such an educational set up. It is almost as if society has set them up to fail from the very start of their educational lives. Looking at the obstacles that these students face daily shows why they are at the highest risk of dropping out of school. Their sense of security amongst their peers, educators, and parents among others, deserve to be scrutinized because it is their support that can mean the difference between completing an education and falling off the radar.
Recent studies conducted by Carolyn Bartick- Erickson of the George Mason University in Virginia indicate that delves deeper into this issue by taking a closer look at the relationship of these special needs students with their parents, peers, classmates, teachers, counselors, and other professionals. How exactly does the relationship between this group affect the sense of security, belonging, and understanding of the student? How do these people manage to influence the student to either stay in school or drop out?
Students with special needs tend to have a higher emotional need to feel secure and supported than their normal counterparts. This is because they can sense that they are different from the others around them, thus, a feeling of insecurity when in a pool of their peers. A sense of confusion that can only be negated by a sense of having “secure bases” in the form of their parents and therapists who provide them with the emotional safety net to survive the academic jungle they face.
This is an attachment theory, first presented by John Bowbly in 1969, begs further study and exploration. The theory is that if an emotionally disturbed child is raised within a circle of love and security, then the child will tend to be more trusting of others in a world that they more often than not deem a safe and non-threatening place. This is a relationship that proves to be of the utmost importance to a school-age child who is at high risk of dropping out.
Using the Rochester Assessment Package for School-Students, the results of this study indicate that the emotionally disturbed students in a safe environment tend to learn more and develop other secure relationships that help them stay in school. It has also been noted that some of these students may not have great relationships with their parents, but because of the existence of a caring therapist in their lives, the student manages to stay within the system and find a surrogate secure person to attach themselves to. Thus allowing them a greater chance of staying within the school system.