Don't let our girls be dropouts l Miss Rae's Room Teaching Blog
About 4 percent of girls in the U.S. dropped out of school in 2016. While this number may not seem alarming, its repercussions are! Educated women increase a country’s economy. Research has proven that by failing to educate girls, some countries lose more than $1 billion annually. Research has also proven why students dropout of school. Many of their reasons are factors located within our schools But what we don’t know is specifically why our girls are dropping out of school. And why don’t we know this? Because what there hasn’t been much research on is why our GIRLS are dropping out of school! They say girls run the world so let’s tell them what we need to keep our girls from becoming dropouts! Most schools have comprehensive plans to address crisis behaviors and bullying, but do these plans even consider that female students have different needs? Do these plans include targeted interventions for our girls? Do these plans address sexual harassment and rape? Kudos to those who do! Equal opportunity is a right for ALL, and ALL should be included in our schools! And like ALL students... Our girls need to feel safe in school. Girl bullying has its own rules. Exclusion, rumors, gossip, verbal and written harassment, and rallying others to participate in the exclusion are just a few of the tactics that girls possess. Boys tend to be bullied physically while our girls are excluded differently. Girls will share their friends secrets to purposely embarrass her. The next step in hurting another girl is to get others to join in your jealousy of your former friend and begin making mean comments about her clothes or looks. Finally, the former friend is ostracized into isolation. Boys tend to mostly by only other boys while girls are bullied by other girls and boys. And research has shown that girls are more likely than boys to be bullied on school property. So our schools are in need of some anti-discrimination and social emotional learning policies and curriculums. Policies and student and staff learning should include an understanding around students who become pregnant. Schools can include Title IX coordinators in their budgets to help adopt, teach, and enforce these procedures and teachings. Girls tend to bully as a means to gain attention or control due to feelings of jealousy or a lack of importance or self-esteem. By fostering meaningful relationships with others, including peers, mentoring adults, and advisory, our girls can improve their self-confidence and empathy. Our girls need these relationships to become stronger women! “If you educate a man, you educate an individual. But if you educate a woman, you educate a nation.” Empower our girls, giving them a voice to use to change the world! By supporting our girls’ success in typically male dominated career and technical education courses, we are engaging them in an education and providing them with a future! The girls who are successful in these programs will have gained a stronger self-image as a result! But how do we empower the rest of our girls? Our girls need strong female role models! And our strong female teaching staff are the perfect solution! So, model and mentor away, ladies! But let’s make sure our ladies have the support for this too. Schools should train their staff on modeling and mentoring students. Our curriculum should include strong female characters from present-day, history, and our best fictional works! Schools can create teams to ensure a strong female presence curriculum (vertically aligned ofcourse). By giving our girls a voice, we help them stand up for themselves, give them confidence, and teach them to ask questions to grow and learn! A voice also helps them say, “no” when they need to! Schools need to teach our girls how to prevent teen pregnancy! Pregnancy is the major reason for our girl dropouts. Thirty percent of girls who dropout cite pregnancy as the reason. But research has proven that the higher the level of education a girl has, the less likely they are to get pregnant at a young age. Therefore, schools must have comprehensive and quality sex ed programs and keep our girls in school! Let’s face a reality, though, for a moment - despite our best efforts, there are many things that are out of our control so a student may become pregnant. And we still need to support our pregnant girls. Schools can assist students with social service engagement, provide child care (add an early childhood curriculum that doubles as daycare), and offer alternative schooling options and individualized graduation plans. Schools can partner with social service agencies as well to offer classes in parenting skills, prenatal care, and child development. Teen pregnancies can also result from social issues. Address our girls’ silent behaviors! Since our boys tend to be our ACTING OUT behavior problems, their problems get noticed. Our girls, on the other hand, exhibit silent behaviors. Girls tend to express themselves through absenteeism. Schools can utilize data tracking systems to track attendance and address it early. Students at-risk for dropping out can be identified sooner and interventions can be implemented sooner! Absenteeism can lead to academic problems and academic problems can lead to absenteeism. Much like the chicken or the egg debate, the point is moot. But the solution is simple - we need to engage our girls in school! Personalize the environment and instructional process for our girls. This can be done through accommodations, academic support, and enrichment. Tutoring is one method of providing academic support or enrichment. And get more bang for your buck - tutors can be mentors too! Mentors (peer or staff) act as advocates and targeted interventions for your at-risk female dropouts. Staff mentors should focus on engaging parents, advocating for students, and addressing academic and social barriers for students. Mentors can also ensure that girls have equal opportunities to participate in sports and girl teams are treated equitably. And sports keep kids in school! Alternative schooling options keep our girls in school! -Career and technical education -Night schools -Shortened days -Online courses A girl with an extra year of education earns 20 percent more! So stay in school and let’s go takeover the world, girls! #girlboss By: Miss Rae Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Current Population Survey (CPS), 2016 Unesco, UN 
Women's History Month Reading Comprehension Passages & Response Forms l Miss Rae's Room
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AuthorHi! I'm Miss Rae! I'm a Special Education Coordinator with a passion for creating research-based resources for DiVeRSe learners and helping teachers make their lives easier! #teacherrealtalk #missraesroom 
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