Abstract: This study compared the perceptions of a national sample of urban, suburban, and rural administrators (N=891, a 72% response) about minority dropout indicators to what current research literature identifies as highly-ranked causal variables related to minority dropout rates. The literature review identified the following causes of dropping out, specifically related to minority students: (1) no hope of graduating; (2) lack of appropriate role models; (3) personal or cultural dehumanization; (4) feelings of discrimination; (5) peer violence; (6) lack of support for education from the cultural community; (7) no peer support to continue in school; and (8) family problems such as divorce, chemical abuse, poverty, or migrant work. The instrument created by Bull, Salyer and Montgomery, contains 42 causal variables, of which 13 relate strongly to minority students. Randomly selected principals and superintendents rated each variable as a national priority for the prevention of dropouts on a Likert-like 5-option scale ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to examine a composite of the 13 minority items to the remaining 29 nonminority items. Tukey post hocs revealed that nonminority items outweighed minority items and that suburban administrators supported these items more than rural administrators. One-way ANOVAs revealed that pregnancy, no hope for graduation, poverty, and dehumanization were seen as higher priority items by urban administrators than by rural administrators. The causes that administrators view as being priorities are rooted in the home, in the child, or in the community. (43 references) (KS)

Title: Minority Dropouts: Do Rural, Urban, and Suburban Administrators Perceive Causes Affecting Minorities as Priority Items?
Author: Bull, Kay S.; And Others
Note: 16p.; In: Reaching Our Potential: Rural Education in the 90's. Conference Proceedings, Rural Education Symposium (Nashville, TN, March 17-20, 1991); see RC 018 473.
Publication Year: 18 Mar 1991
Document Type: Conference Paper (150); Research Report (143)
Target Audience: Teachers and Practitioners
ERIC Identifier: ED342553
Clearinghouse Identifier: RC018505
This document is available from the ERIC Document Reproduction Service.

Descriptors: * Administrator Attitudes; * Dropout Characteristics; Dropouts; High Schools; Mail Surveys; * Minority Groups; Rural Education; * Rural Urban Differences; * Sociocultural Patterns; * Socioeconomic Influences