Perceptions of Returning Adult Education Students Regarding Dropping Out of High School in One Virginia School Division

Annually in the United States, over one million students do not complete high school. Furthermore, more than 80% of those students fall behind at the beginning of Grade 9, leaving behind costs for society, including relying upon public assistance (Hughes et al., 2018; Letgers and Balfanz, 2010). Gaining a proper education is essential for children, determining a child's adult life, including higher earning potential, improved health, and a longer lifespan (Hahn and Truman, 2015; McKee and Caldarella, 2016). To conduct this study, the researcher used a qualitative methodology exploring the perceptions of eight returning adult education students between the ages of 18 and 24 in one Virginia school division. The researcher conducted one-on-one interviews to determine the participants' perceptions of why they dropped out of high school and the rationale, and why they returned to an adult education program to continue their education. Findings from this study showed that returning adult education students experience a variety of life experiences and rationale when making the decision to drop out of school prior to earning a high school diploma or GED credential. The findings identified from the collected data in this study resulted in five implications for school personnel. School personnel must equip the parent(s) and the student(s) with strategies and resources that will help high school students maintain overall school success, both now and in the future. Those strategies and resources should be geared towards helping identifying students who are at risk of becoming high school dropouts.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Education

Level thesis:degree_level

doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Educational Leadership and Policy Studies

Department dc:contributor.department

Educational Leadership and Policy Studies

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

2023

Author dc:creator

• Graham, Alice

Chair dc:contributor.committeechair

• Brinkmann, Jodie Lynn

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Price, Ted S.
• Ferebee-Johns, Fontaine Monique
• Cash, Carol S.

• Keywords: high school dropout
• family background
• school environments

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language.iso

en

Dc Identifier Other

vt_gsexam:38584

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/116483