A comparative study of selected characteristics of samples of Black students in a "regular" high school and Black students in a "dropout" high school in the District of Columbia

Numerous studies have documented that Black students from low socioeconomic backgrounds are particularly affected by the high school dropout phenomenon. This fact is vividly demonstrated in the District of Columbia, where an estimated 44 percent of public high school students leave before graduating. The present research addressed this problem by comparing Black youth in the District of Columbia who decided to return to school and enrolled in a program especially designed for former dropouts (termed a "dropout" high school) and those who continued their education uninterrupted in a "regular" high school. The purpose was to provide further insight into why some Black students first leave school and then return to complete their education. The site selected was a one-building high school, located in a low socioeconomic Black neighborhood, with accommodations and equipment for both the "regular" high school student and the returning dropout. The instrument used for the investigation was a self-report type descriptive High School Student Questionnaire (HSSQ), devised by the researcher and designed to address the question: How did a selected sample of Black students in a "regular" high school differ, if at all, from Black students in a "dropout" high school regarding responses to a number of carefully selected categories of variables?; The participants, who were assured of anonymity, consisted of two groups of Black high school seniors, ages 16-24, divided equally by gender: 70 students in the "dropout" program and 70 students attending the "regular" program during the school year 1988-89. The questionnaire took about 15 minutes to complete and was administered in March 1989. The completed HSSQs were then computerized for analysis, tabulated, and percentages were calculated. Data are reported through a series of tables. The results of the HSSQ showed that former dropouts and "regular" students displayed more similarities than differences in the characteristics studied. Seven significant differences were found when forty-seven comparisons were made. They pertain to age, parenthood, living on his/her own, having a special place to study, computer in the home, repeating a grade more frequently, and sports participation.