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Why High School Graduates Become College Dropouts
April 25, 2006
Melissa Roderick codirector, Chicago School Research
Bridget Terry Long professor, education, economics, HGSE
Ronald Ferguson faculty director, Achievement Gap Initiative, Harvard

Melissa Roderick discusses the last several decades she has spent conducting research and talking to students in Chicago's public high schools.

In the course of three longitudinal studies, she has witnessed firsthand the rise in educational aspirations of students at virtually all achievement levels. Almost without exception, Chicago students today say they want "to graduate and go to college." There is, however, a gap between students' rising aspirations and their educational attainment. Closing this gap requires both reducing drop out rates and building qualifications for college.

Drawing from a wide range of past and current research that Professor Roderick has undertaken, this forum uses Chicago as a case study for discussing what it will take to reduce dropout rates and make post-secondary success the norm, instead of the exception, for urban students. This lecture is offered in collaboration with the Achievement Gap Initiative.

Education
Achievement Gap | Chicago | College | High School | Urban Schools | Economics | Education Reform | Primary Education | Race
WGBH
Harvard Graduate School of Education
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Image of The Path to Dropping Out: Evidence for Intervention
Author: Melissa Roderick
Publisher: Auburn House (1993)
Binding: Hardcover, 240 pages
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