High school dropout education levels and adult education grade equivalents scores on school re-entry

Abstract

While dropping out of high school is a choice that has serious social and economic repercussions, it does not have to be a permanent situation or the end of the person's education. Learning is generally considered to be a continuous process over a lifespan. This study looks at more than 300 students who dropped out of school in their teen years and returned to school to earn a General Education Diploma (GED). Data were collected from program records for three consecutive years. The information included: gender, race, age, last grade completed in high school, as well as reading, writing, and math assessment scores done at program entry. Correlation and regression techniques were employed to analyze relationships between variables. Results show certain correlations between age and program-entry reading scores, gender and program-entry reading scores, race and program-entry reading scores, and age and program- entry math scores. Results also show that race had significant effect on the program-entry reading scores, the last high school grade completed, and program-entry writing scores.