2011

Reports suggest that every nine seconds, a student makes the life-changing decision to drop out of school (Children‟s Defense Fund, 2002). These students disappear from the educational systems, with the majority never being recovered, which leads to other more serious consequences for that individual as well as society. Dropouts are reported to have higher incarceration rates, higher unemployment, earn less money, and have poorer healthcare, which in turn increases the likelihood for these individuals to remain in poverty (NGA Center for Best Practices, 2009) and increases the likelihood for other problems. These consequences are often major stressors in these individual‟s lives, and in turn have an impact on an individual‟s physical, mental, and emotional well-being.