The past decade has seen an impressive commitment to helping students graduate from high school and work toward breaking down constructed barriers. But there have always been a lack of portraits, deeper examinations and thorough investigations into the reasoning behind failure or withdrawal. A new report from the America's Promise Alliance and its Center for Promise at Tufts University, "Don't Call Them Dropouts: Understanding the Experiences of Young People Who Leave High School before Graduation," paints a detailed portrait of this demographic.

The report is an investigation into the lives and decisions of young non-graduates, highlighting the terms of their exits from school. The report purposely avoids terminology such as "dropout," acknowledging that many respondents and participants themselves didn't use the word. Also, many respondents returned to school or entered re-engagement programs to acquire degrees in their own time. The report, which draws from the systematic analysis of 3,000 survey responses and more than 200 interviews across sixteen cities, revealed four central findings: more than 25 factors hinder graduation rates; respondents live in toxic environments; they yearn for connectedness; and they are resilient but lack support and guidance. Those factors often include violence in the home, negative peer influence, and a sense of responsibility for others.

In addition, a large number of these students and former students are Latino. According to the survey, more than 15 percent of Latinos have their school enrollment interrupted. "In Arizona, we know that a disproportionate number of students stopping school are low-income and Latino. Even more troubling is that the existing Latino academic achievement gap could be exacerbating the problem, leading to increased numbers of low-income and Latino students dropping out," said Paul Luna, president and CEO of the Helios Education Foundation, in the report.

Gang life, sexual violence, incarceration, and health challenges are very real for many of these former students, who felt compelled to leave school for one reason or another. Sara, a young survey participant, revealed that she'd be abused, raped, and saw a "homeboy stabbed to death" right in front of her prior to leaving school. Another participant, Thomas, remarked that his father beat him, his mother was on drugs, and he and his brothers "grew up too quick, took responsibility ... it was too late to go back to school." Lance shared that people often waited outside for him with guns, which forced him to bring his own gun to school.

"On the one hand, their stories revealed a downright ugly underbelly of our society and the experiences of these young people," said Craig McClay, Program Coordinator at The Center for Teen Empowerment. "Tales of physical, emotional, psychological abuse were shared; things that should not happen to people ever, let alone in the 21st century. On the other hand, the focus group participants' stories inspired. Either way, the real tragedy is that these stories are usually not heard or listened to. Further, not enough of us are effectively intervening or acting toward changing the circumstances that push or pull young people out of school and down riskier pathways, just to meet their individual and family needs. It's as if they're living on Neptune."

The prevalence of violence and trauma prompted disengagement from school for survey respondents who left school as juveniles. Abuse (30 percent), homelessness (22 percent) and time spent in juvenile detention centers (18 percent) deeply correlate with resisting high school enrollment; non-graduates experience these events with significantly greater frequency than high school students who remained continuously enrolled in school.

According to the report, a young person who had been homeless is 87 percent more likely to stop attending school, and those with an incarcerated parent are 79 percent more likely to have interrupted school enrollment. Parental illness or inheriting the role of caregiver, a well as a lack of connection with parents, administrators, professionals, and peers all heavily influenced whether students chose not to attend or complete school. Often, young people who seek out strong connections from wherever they are offered end up with many bonds that have negative impacts on their lives.

Members of the non-graduate population are strong and often struggle with leaving school before overwhelming lives officially draw them away from it. In order to meet long-term goals, these individuals need to understand life beyond their own perseverance and other's opinion, and they need the support of adults and neighborhood institutions in order to see the value in better jobs and contributions to the community.

More "on-ramps" to education and fewer easy exits from the classrooms need to be instituted, according to the report. Policies should be corrected to make re-engagement easier. Beyond procedures, everyone in a young person's community can deter the likelihood of them dropping out by engaging them at and outside of school and showing consistent support. A "whatever it takes" effort should be taken to help identify and assist students who are at risk. And, students who are at risk should play a role in designing and implementing formal and informal solutions to help keep students like themselves in school.

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