The Importance of a High School Diploma

Doctors, construction workers, lawyers, NBA players, all of which had to get a high school diploma in order to partake these jobs as a career.0ne does notneed a high school diploma in order to be successful in life, but it opens up doors for many opportuniLies. At this day and age, it pays to be equipped for the challenges of life; this includes getting a high school diploma. A high school diploma shows that one has work ethic and is capable of learning; it also allows people to further their education by going to college There are a few stories of people who have been lucky enough to be successful without a high school diploma. Those people have inspiring stories of how hard work and getting a lucky break helped them Compared to those lucky few, the chances of this happening are slim to none.

A high school diploma will ensure stability. Problem Around 12 million students drop out every yearbecause of reasons such as academic performance, family economic needs, or simply because they do not enjoy school, therefore schools should provide more opportunities to achieve academic success (Powell) Proposal To reduce the number of high school dropout‘s school systems need to provide mentoring programs, multiple pathways to graduation, and give students a positive place to learn.While previous attempts to reduce the number of high school dropouts have some positive outcomes, a new and revised plan could be more fruitful. The number of high school dropouts can never fully be eliminatedbut it can be reduced if the following actions are put in place Plan of Action.

The first opportunity that schools can provide students is byproviding mentoring programs “Oklahoma ranks 49'“ among states in per pupil expenditures Only two other states spend less than Oklahoma on education" (Whiz Kids). With that being said, schools are not properly educating students, One of the main reasons why students‘ dropout is because the lack of family support. If a student is dropping out there is more to the issue than just academics. There is an abundance of programs that are not affiliated with the school but not many provided by the school. The goal of providinga mentoring program would be to give students motivation and achieve academic success. This mentoring program would be offered starting at enrollment At orientation, the principal and or counselor will mention the mentoring program and the benefits of it, as well as hand out a paper with all the information so parents and student can think about it, that way everyone is well informed as to what it is.

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At the time of enrollment parents can check if they think that their students’ needs to be involved in a mentoring program. If they check the box yes than the process will begin, If the parent leaves it blank and teachers realize that the student is a good candidate for this program the administrator will get in contact with the parent and explain why their child is a good candidate for this program. One of the limitations of this program is getting a delinquent student to come to the program Students who do not recognize the importance of school will not want to come to the program. However, the school can at least provide opportunities. When the parent and student agrees to this mentoring program the counselor will meet with them and discuss and evaluate the needs and wants of the student of the parent, as well as set goals for the student.

Students will be held accountable to come to the meetings there will be consequences if the meeting was skipped without notice and there will also be rewards. Research shows that mentoring is impactful for students, A mentoring program called Whiz Kids says that “The Whiz Kidz mentors scored significantly higher on post program ratings on connectedness to school than members of their same age comparison group who had not participated... program participation may have helped prevent the expected declines in connectedness that commonly occur over a school year.” (Whiz Kidz).

The second opportunity that schools can provide for students to achieve academic success is providing teachers and students with information on how to make the best decision for the student, this includes different pathways to graduate Unfortunately, some students have the responsibility of providing for their family Instead of going to school they have to work 7 this makes going to a traditional high school challenging. “Using data from the 2008- 2012 American Community Survey, researchers that the Urban Institute found that nearly third of the 563,000 teenage dropouts left school to work” That is an alarming number, Students sometimes think that school is not an option for them because they have to work, however there is dual enrollment, night school, or even an online education course that students can take.

A teacher‘s goal should be to help students and provide what is best for them to continue school and still be able to take care of their business. Teachers need to be aware of each one of these options, they can learn more about it by attending a workshop over it. The last and one of the hardest ways for teachers to help reduce the number of high school dropouts is by giving students a positive place to learn. School should be somewhere where students are excited to go to. It should be a safe and positive environmenttStudies find that it decreases absenteeism, suspensions, substance abuse, and bullying, and increases students’ academic achievement, motivation to learn, and psychological well—being. The first step in achieving a positive school is to evaluate staff and faculty and what is working and what is not working.

Ask other students and parents for their opinions and what changes they would like to see madet Step two would be to evaluate these ideas and come up with a plan to execute them Step three would be to execute the ideas, Three steps, it seems easy, However, it will take time and persistent in order to change the mood and vibe of a school. Counterarguments Many say that school is just a place to learn, however that is far from the truth It is an opportunity to grow socially as well as academically. Schools need to provide much more than just brain knowledge, they need to mentor and be a prime example of what students should be like, The biggest problem with providing a mentoring program is to get students who could care less come to the program.

While schools cannot force students to do the program they can greatly encourage it A teacher who is the student is close to or respects can talk to the student and motivate them to go to the program, Not only that the program will be as fun as possible and once the student goes they will not want to miss it. Another counterargument is money, If Oklahoma cannot pay for what little they have now how are they going to get the money to hire more faculty and pay for the mentoring program as well as workshops for the teachers to attend to be informed over alternate school optionsrA little help from the government would help but schools would have to fundraise and ask for donations. Hopefully once people recognize the success they will donate to the program.

As for the workshops schools can send only two or three people and have them take notes and come back and share with the rest of the faculty what they learned. Richard Branson, a CEO and billionaire, states that “some of the most successful people in the world never graduated from high school. And for every famous dropout, many other dropouts exist who quietly lead prosperous and fulfilling lives.” This is true to a certain extent with the power of social media, hardwork, and a lucky break people are successfulr However, this is not guaranteed. “Among dropouts between the ages of 16 and 24, incarceration rates were a whopping 63 times higher than among college graduates, according to a_st_udl by researchers at Northeastern University.

To be sure, there is no direct link between prison and the decision to leave high school early. Rather, the data is further evidence that dropouts are exposed to many of the same socioeconomic forces that are often gateways to crime” (Barslow), A high school diploma will open the doors for many opportunities. Schools need to be more active and aware of high school dropouts and provide ways to reduce the number By providing a mentoring program, accommodating to student‘s needs, and creating a positive place to learn school dropouts will decrease. Completely eliminating high school dropouts is impossible but by being proactive and taking partake in actions to provide opportunities will help students.

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