Giftedness and High School Dropouts - Neag Center for Gifted ...

Giftedness and High School Dropouts:
Personal, Family, and School-related Factors
Joseph S. Renzulli
Sunghee Park
University of Connecticut
Storrs, Connecticut
CHAPTER 1: Introduction
The problem of high school dropouts has generated increased interest from
researchers, educators, and policymakers. Research studies indicate that high school
attrition rate has remained at a high level or increased for some racial/ethnic groups
although the long-term trend has declined (Lunenburg, 2000; National Center for
Education Statistics, 2001; Naylor, 1989). The recent statistics indicates that the dropout
rates have remained stable during 1990s while those rates have improved during 1970s
and 1980s (National Center for Education Statistics, 2001). According to the National
Center for Education Statistics (NCES) report, each year approximately 347,000 to
544,000 students left high school without completing their program. For example, in
2000 3.8 million youths, who composed 10.9% of the population (16-24 year olds) in the
U.S., were not enrolled in a high school program and had not completed high school.
This report also indicated that dropout rates varied significantly by socioeconomic status
and racial/ethnic background. In 2000, the dropout rates of youths from the lowest
income level were quite high compared to those of youth from the highest income level.
Students from the lowest income families were approximately six times more likely to be
dropouts than those from the highest income families (National Center for Education
Statistics, 2001). Dropout rates also varied by racial/ethnic groups; the gap between the
dropout rates for Blacks and Whites has not narrowed since 1990. Dropout rates for
Hispanics remained higher than those for other ethnic groups. Rumberger (1987)
indicated that the issue of high school dropouts is a great concern to policymakers
because minority students, who had higher dropout rates, constitute a large percentage of
the school population. Also, the performance of schools is sometimes judged by the
dropout rates of these populations. Naylor (1989) indicated that a great amount of money
was spent for these dropouts' welfare and for their potential lost revenue.
Background of the Study
While the issue of high school dropouts has received much attention, the dropout
rate of gifted and talented students has not been studied very often at local or national
levels (Robertson, 1991; Sadowski, 1987; Stephenson, 1985). Because only limited
research has been devoted to gifted or high ability dropouts, little is known about these
students. Robertson (1991) reported that between 18% and 25% of gifted and talented
students drop out of school. Solorzano (1983) reported that up to 18% of all high school