RaisingtheCompulsoryDropoutAgeinSouthDakota.docVIP

Raising the Compulsory Dropout Age in South Dakota Introduction As dropout rates increase and graduation rates decrease across the country, the issue of compulsory education has come to the forefront of national and state educational policy. Graduation rates, set by each individual state, in addition to English language arts, math and science test scores, are used to determine a school’s annual yearly progress (AYP) under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (ECS, 2007). In an attempt to curtail high school students from dropping out of school, consequently increasing the graduation rate, legislation has passed in South Dakota which will increase compulsory dropout age from 16 to 18. The purpose of this study will be to determine whether raising the compulsory age from 16 to 18 will have a positive affect on the dropout rate in South Dakota. South Dakota is not the first state to raise the compulsory age in recent years; eighteen other states have placed laws like these on their books (ECS, 2007). The notion of compulsory attendance laws is not a new concept. Every state in the United States has a compulsory age law on the books, all set at 16 years of age or older. Most of the laws concerning compulsory attendance were passed around 1870-1910 when the economy of the United States was mostly agrarian, and high school education was not valued as much as it is today. Since then, there has been a shift to a more technologically based economy where a high school education is needed at a bare minimum. (Bridgeland, Dilulio Morison 2006). Review of Literature Numerous studies have been conducted on varying aspects of the problems and benefits of raising the compulsory dropout age related to this issue. Joshua Angrist and Alan Krueger conducted a study concerning the time of the year a student is born in relation to compulsory attendance. They found children born earlier in the year are generally older when they start school, therefore will reach the com