Factors influencing the failure to graduate from the PACE dropout prevention and recovery program as identified by selected students in the Humble Independent School District

Abstract

There has been a lack of information and research as to the reasons students did not graduate from high school with a diploma, or GED certificate, or certificate of completion, even though they were given the opportunity to attend an alternative drop-out or credit recovery program. This study identified the reasons why some students failed to complete an alternative education program in a K-12 school district in Texas. Of the 29 former PACE students failing to graduate with either a diploma or GED certificate that participated in this research, a little less than half either quit the program or were administratively dropped because they felt that earning money from their job was more important than graduating from high school. Each of the others had this excuse as well as many other excuses for not graduating. Three inter-locking conclusions were reached by the researcher after interviewing 29 of the students that did not complete the PACE program. The first conclusion was that students did not understand the value of a high school diploma at the time they were attending PACE. The second was that money, even in the form of a minimum wage job, was more important than an education. The final conclusion was that each student did not have a plan for their life beyond the coming evening or weekend. All students that failed to graduate or earn a GED had at least one of these misconceptions, while most had two, and a few had all three.