Research suggests that problems are more likely to occur during a transitional year, such as moving from elementary to middle school, or middle school to high school.

Some adolescents are able to get through this time with minimal assistance from their parents or teachers.  It may be enough for a parent to be available simply to listen and suggest coping strategies, provide a supportive home environment, and encourage the child’s participation in school activities. 

However, when the difficulties last longer than a single grading period, or are linked to a long-term pattern of poor school performance or behavior problems, parents and teachers need to intervene.

Identifying Adolescents Who Are At Risk for Failure

Some “at-risk” indicators, such as those listed here, may represent persistent problems from the early elementary school years for some children.  Other students may overcome early difficulties but begin to experience related problems during middle school or high school.  For others, some of these indicators may become noticeable only in early adolescence.

To intervene effectively, parents and teachers can be aware of some common indicators of an adolescent at risk for school failure, including:

• Attention problems as a young child – the student has a school history of attention issues or disruptive behavior.

• Multiple retentions in grade – the student has been retained one or more years.

• Poor grades – the student consistently performs at barely average or below average levels.

• Absenteeism – the student is absent five or more days per term.

• Lack of connection with the school – the student is not involved in sports, music, or other school-related extracurricular activities.

• Behavior problems – the student may be frequently disciplined or show a sudden change in school behavior, such as withdrawing from class discussions.

• Lack of confidence – the student believes that success is linked to native intelligence rather than hard work, and believes that his or her own ability is insufficient, and nothing can be done to change the situation.

• Limited goals for the future – the student seems unaware of available career options or how to attain those goals.

When more than one of these attributes characterizes an adolescent, the student will likely need assistance from both parents and teachers to complete his or her educational experience successfully.  Girls, and students from culturally or linguistically diverse groups, may be especially at risk for academic failure if they exhibit these behaviors.  Stepping back and letting these students “figure it out” or “take responsibility for their own learning” may lead to a deeper cycle of failure within the school environment.

Teens Want To Feel Connected to Their Family and Their School

In a recent survey, when students were asked to evaluate their transitional years, they indicated interest in connecting to their new school and requested more information about extracurricular activities, careers, class schedules, and study skills.  Schools that develop programs that ease transitions for students and increase communication between schools may be able to reduce student failure rates.

The Role of Parenting Style

Parenting style may have an impact on the child’s school behavior.  Many experts distinguish among permissive, authoritarian, and authoritative parenting styles.  These parenting styles are associated with different combinations of warmth, support, and limit-setting and supervision for children.

The permissive style tends to emphasize warmth and neglect limit-setting and supervision; the authoritarian style tends to emphasize the latter and not the former; while the authoritative style is one in which parents offer warmth and support, and limit-setting and supervision.  When the authoritative parenting style is used, the adolescent may be more likely to experience academic success.

It is important to remember that adolescents need their parents not only to set appropriate expectations and boundaries, but also to advocate for them.

Parents — and teachers — can assist teens by:

• Making the time to listen to and try to understand the teen’s fears or concerns

• Setting appropriate boundaries for behavior that are consistently enforced

• Encouraging the teen to participate in one or more school activities

• Attending school functions, such as sports, and plays

• Meeting as a team, including parents, teachers, and school counselor, asking how they can support the teen’s learning environment, and sharing their expectations for the child’s future

• Arranging tutoring or study group support for the teen from the school or the community through organizations such as the local YMCA or a local college or university

• Providing a supportive home and school environment that clearly values education

• Helping the teen think about career options by arranging for visits to local companies and colleges, picking up information on careers and courses, and encouraging an internship or career-oriented part-time job

• Encouraging the teen to volunteer in the community or to participate in community groups such as the YMCA, Scouting, 4-H, religious organizations, or other service-oriented groups to provide an out-of-school support system

• Emphasizing the importance of study skills, hard work, and follow-through

Don’t Give Up on Your Child

Understanding the factors that may put an adolescent at-risk for academic failure will help parents determine if their teen is in need of extra support.  Above all, parents need to persevere.  The teen years do pass, and most adolescents survive them, in spite of bumps along the way.

Being aware of common problems can help parents know when it is important to reach out and ask for help before a difficult time develops into a more serious situation.

Young people who don’t complete high school face many more problems in later life than do people who graduate. While national leaders have demanded that schools, communities, and families make a major effort to retain students, the dropout rate remains high. A report from the Educational Testing Service, One-Third of a Nation: Rising Dropout Rates and Declining Opportunities, warns little is being done to stem rising dropout rates and their economic costs. This report also found:

From 1990 to 2000, the high school completion rate declined in all but seven states. In 10 states, it declined by 8 percentage points or more.

In high school completion rates, the United States has now slipped to 10th place in the world.

On average, only one certified counselor is available for each 500 students in all schools, and one counselor to 285 students in high schools. And they have many assignments that leave little time to spend with students at risk of dropping out.

A “bulge” in enrollments in Grade 9 indicates more students nationally are being flunked to repeat Grade 9. This may be reflected in the significant shift toward younger, less educated dropouts than in the past, that face more difficulty in getting jobs.

In 1971, male dropouts, working full time, earned $35,087 (in 2002 dollars), falling to $23,903 in 2002, a decline in earnings of 35 percent. Earnings for female dropouts fell from $19,888 to $17,114.

There has been a shift in the awarding of GED credentials to younger individuals, and the program has been revised to make it more rigorous.

Franklin P. Schargel, Tony Thacker, and John S. Bell, authors of From At Risk to Academic Excellence: What Successful Leaders Do, believe that America’s schools can improve and present examples of excellence — educational leaders who firmly believe that all children can succeed, schools that effectively meet the needs of nontraditional learners, and educational communities that don’t give up on students who are at risk of dropping out. In their book, the authors identify individual risk factors — personal characteristics, habits, and experience; family situations; and peer and community relationships — and then address the factors over which school leaders can more directly influence — school climate and culture, school connectedness, school safety, attendance, and school achievement.

Risk Factors of Dropping Out

Previous School Experience

Absent 20 or more times during the previous school year

Retained in at least one grade

Low grades (Cs and Ds or below)

Disciplinary problems or disruptive behavior

Has attended five or more schools during a lifetime

Personal or Psychological Characteristics

External locus of control (i.e., being in agreement with others’ perceptions — believed or actual — of their individual ability, worth, or value)

Low self-esteem

At least one disability (e.g., ADHD, learning disabilities)

Poor peer support

Depression or other emotional problems

Early sexual activity or promiscuity

Substance abuse

Adult and Family Responsibilities of Student

Has a child

Must work to help support the family

Family Background and Cohesion

Single-parent home

Permissive parenting

Poor parent-child relationships

Family receives public assistance

Neither parent nor guardian is employed

Primary language of the family is not English

A sibling has dropped out of school

Parent(s) did not graduate from high school

Parental discipline, monitoring, concern, encouragement, and consistency have also be linked to academic achievement. Children whose parents consistently set high standards work harder and do better in school. Additionally, an authoritative parenting style, characterized by warmth and concern coupled with boundaries (i.e., clear rules and limits), has been shown to have a positive effect on academic achievement.

School-Caused Risk Factors

Ineffective discipline system

Overburdened school counselors

Negative school climate

Retention and/or suspensions used to control discipline, rather than addressing causes

Disregarding student learning styles

Passive instructional strategies

Lack of relevant curriculum

Low expectations of student achievement

Fear of school violence

Excerpted from From At Risk to Academic Excellence: What Successful Leaders Do by Franklin P. Schargel, Tony Thacker, and John S. Bell.