Solutions and strategies for reducing high school
dropout rates due to mathematics.
Overview
 Many people do not understand how crucial
mathematics is to our future, especially students, so we
will explain.
 High school students are the first to ask teachers
“When will I need to know this?” While there are
many jobs where you won’t necessarily need to know
how to perform complex algebraic equations, we later
find out it’s the logical thought process we develop
over many years of math that help us become critical
thinkers for everyday problems.
Mathematics’ effect on dropouts
 Statistics show that many high school student
dropouts are related to mathematics.
 The fact that there are too many math requirements in
high school has become a burden for some students.
 The same statistics show that increasing the
mathematics workload without an opt-out can
increase the dropout rate as well.
 There's an obvious relationship between lower budget
school and lower performing students.
Encouraging Math
 Encouraging math comes mainly from teachers and
parents.
 Parents teach the basics like counting on their fingers,
while teachers take the baton at
preschool/kindergarten where they will start
developing their math career.
 It’s essential to start at an early age where students are
most retentive.
Parental Encouragement
 Early motivation is key and always has been.
 It’s the responsibility of the parents to keep the child
interested early in his or her development to stay on
track.
 This type of encouragement is possibly the most
difficult to make improvements in considering the vast
childhood upbringings each child could be facing.
 There is no way to regulate early childhood
mathematics skills like there is The Texas School
Board.
Teacher Encouragement
 The next step in keeping a student inspired is to have a
caring and skilled teacher.
 Just because one is a teacher does not mean they are a
great teacher. The teacher needs to be well versed in
aspects of learning strategies.
 A good teacher can make or break a students
mathematical development.
 Just as their the students who experience their first“ahhah!” moments in their math classes there are
students who hit rock bottom where nothing makes
sense.
Early Age Encouragement
 Kids at an early age are more absorbent to information
from all sources.
 Instead of having one teacher teach all the subjects in
elementary school they should have another teacher
teach them only math.
 This teacher will be knowledgeable in all strategies
and for early childhood mathematics techniques,
instead of having a jack-of-all-trades teacher.
 This would give them a more core understanding of
the basics so when they reach high school they don’t
feel so behind and compelled to dropout.
High school mathematics reform
 We must think of the other side of the spectrum.
Undoubtedly there are others not mathematically inclined.
 There are some students whose literary or artistic skills far
exceed their mathematical skills and these students
shouldn’t have to feel the pressure of dropping out because
of the intense math requirement most high schools have.
 Accelerating mathematics at an early age where they are
more absorbent to new ideas to where they take algebra by
the 8th grade could mean a lower drop out rate.
Conclusion
 Lowering the dropout rate among high school students starts
and ends with the parents, but ultimately it lies with the teachers
whose primary responsibility is to introduce new concepts in fun
and interesting ways to keep the student inspired.
 A skilled dedicated teacher in early childhood would help many
students struggling. It may even lead to more accelerated math
being introduced at younger ages.
 Mathematics is a core skill that everyone should have regardless
of their profession however towards high school they should be
given the option to pursue advanced mathematics according to
their chosen field of study.
 However accelerating mathematics at an early age may even
capture the not-so mathematically inclined to the point where
they continue to pursue advanced mathematics.