REL West Reenrolling Dropouts Study Garners Media Coverage

Media attention paid to a recent REL West study illustrates the relevance and timeliness of REL's research agenda. "Reenrollment of High School Dropouts in a Large, Urban School District" (REL 2008 – No. 056) garnered in-depth coverage in Education Week and Education Daily, as well as several stories in a local San Bernardino, California newspaper, the Press-Enterprise. The REL West study followed a cohort of first-time ninth graders in California's seventh largest school district, the San Bernardino City Unified School District (SBCUSD), to answer the question, what happens to high school dropouts who reenroll?

REL West researchers found that both reenrolling students and district staff face significant obstacles in getting dropouts back in school and on track for graduation. The study also reported what the district's students and staff say about policies and practices that could improve their graduation outcomes.

REL West conducted the study in response to requests from policymakers and education administrators, who identified an information gap in the dropout literature. While the spotlight has focused on calculating dropout rates and identifying predictors, no attention had been paid to the numbers and graduation outcomes of dropouts who returned to school, and to the effects this "revolving door" of students has on district resources.

WestEd's BethAnn Berliner, the study's principal author, said, "The field needs longitudinal studies to document dropout and reenrollment patterns, and SBCUSD provided a unique opportunity to, for the first time, track the high school trajectories of dropouts over the four or five year conventional time frame for completing a high school diploma."

The study findings will also be presented at the upcoming California Education Research Association Annual Meeting, the Alternatives to Expulsion, Suspension, & Dropping Out of School Conference, and several other conferences in 2009.