Ohio’s Dropout Prevention and Recovery Community Schools: A Cost-Benefit Analysis and Model Policy Recommendation for Stakeholders
High school dropouts are potential high school graduates. This has been proven in the State of Ohio where a subset of community schools (known as charter schools in other states) entitled Dropout Recovery and Prevention schools (DORPs) serve students who have either already dropped out of high school or are credit deficient. This research examined DORPs using Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) methodology and developed model policy recommendations for DORP stakeholders, based on the results of the CBA. |Until 2014, DORPs in Ohio were protected from closure by the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) due to poor performance, i.e., low graduation rates and/or poor academic measures, by a waiver that was codified in state law. That waiver law expired in 2014 and current Ohio law allows ODE to close DORPs after three years of poor academic performance.|The CBA of DORPs resulted in an estimate of the annual and lifetime economic impact of the closure of DORPs in the State of Ohio. The CBA was chosen as the economic measurement model due to its broad historical use in evaluating and justifying government programs.|This research strongly suggests Ohio DORPs have a net positive cost-to-benefit balance and, conversely, the closure of Ohio DORPs is anticipated to have a negative economic impact on governments and communities. This study contributes to the body of knowledge in education economics justification, charter school justifications, and the uses of CBA in evaluating educational programs. No prior research on the net cost-to-benefit analysis of dropout recovery and prevention schools has been found.|Keywords: Dropouts, Dropout Recovery, Dropout Prevention, Charter Schools, Cost-Benefit Analysis
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