An investigation of the risk and protective factors associated with Research Proposal

An investigation of the risk and protective factors associated with high school graduation in the United States - Research Proposal Example Experts have estimated between 3.5 million and 6 million American students between ages 16 and 24 dropped out of schools for the last two years (Haskins, 2010). About 50 percent of minors fail to graduate with their class. African Americans tend to drop out higher than other minorities, which creates significant problems for them (Kogan et.al, 2005). For the class of 2013 84.1% of African Americans graduated, American Indian graduated 85.8%, Asian graduated at 93.8%, Hispanic at 85.1% and white at 93% according to Texas Education Agency 2012-2013. African Americans had the highest longitudinal dropout rate across racial/ethnic groups (9.9%), followed by Hispanics (8.2%). Asians had the lowest longitudinal dropout rate (3.0%), followed by White (3.5%) and multiracial students (4.4%). In the class of 2013, a total of 21,634 students dropped out in Texas. Females had a higher graduation rate of 90.3% compared to males with 85.9% (Texas Education Agency, 2013). Each state is experiencing the same trouble with a large percentage of students not graduating, so as a nation we are losing. In Texas, a total of 3,187 students dropped out of Grades 7-8, and 31,509 dropped out of Grades 9-12. The Grade 7-8 and Grade 9-12 dropout rates were 0.4 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively. The Grade 7-8 rate increased 0.1 percentage points from the 2011-12 school year, and the Grade 9-12 decreased 0.2 percentage points (TEA, 2013). In the school district that I work in which is Klein ISD, in 2010 Klein saw an increase in graduation rate. In May of 2010, 84.3% of the students statewide graduated while Klein ISD had a 92.6% completion rate. The student dropout rate has been an area of concern for many years in the United States. Programs are being implemented to help improve our nation’s battle with graduation. In 1984 House Bill 72 was passed to implement a system for collecting data on student dropouts. In 2009 House Bill 3 was passed to add postsecondary