What factors predict the engagement of dropouts in alternative secondary schools in Chile?

Abstract

Improvement in education has been one of the strategies of the government of Chile to reduce economic inequality. To that end, it recently established a system of Second Opportunity Centers that enroll out-of-school youth who have not completed high school. The system is modeled on so-called alternative schools operating in Europe and the United States. This study reports results on the first survey of students. Questionnaires were completed by a representative sample of 1112 students, drawn from 18 of the Ministry of Education’s 134 Centers. Most of the respondents expressed satisfaction with their program, but there were significant differences between boys and girls, and across centers. Differences are explained by program activities in which students are engaged. Male students were more likely to have dropped out of regular high school because of academic difficulties; they are more likely to be engaged in the centers’ sports activities. Girls were more likely to have left their school because of a family situation. They are more engaged in the centers’ academic activities. The findings suggest how the centers’ program could be made more effective in retaining students to graduation.

Alternative Education Programs for High School Age Students in Chile

“…Scholarships and family subsidies were offered to low-income families (Espinoza et al, 2012(Espinoza et al, , 2018, and subsidies were offered to (public and private) schools for remedial programs for at-risk students. Special efforts were made to reduce high school dropouts (Cox, 2012;Donoso & Donoso, 2009;Espinoza et al, 2019). Over time, significant improvements were made in increasing secondary school attendance and completion, but still a sizable proportion of youth aged 18 and under were not in school (Espinoza et al, 2016;Osorio, 2013).…”

Typologies of Early School Leavers from Secondary Education: A Review Study

“…The search for relevant texts showed their narrow geographical scope. Almost all the studies came from the North American and European regions, although the dropout phenomenon (especially the research of its predictors) is of scientific interest in other parts of the world as well (e.g., Adelman et al, 2018;Espinoza et al, 2020;Shi et al, 2015). The question therefore remains whether ESL typology research is such a specific topic that it has not yet received global attention, or whether it is difficult to find quality English-language studies from non-Euro-American regions.…”

Factores determinantes de la deserción escolar y expectativas de estudiantes que asisten a escuelas alternativas

“…De manera general, los gatillantes del abandono escolar usualmente se han agrupado en dos grandes categorías. Por una parte, variables extraescolares, tales como la pobreza y la vulnerabilidad (Peña y Toledo, 2017), la situación socioeconómica (De Witte y Rogge, 2013; Ingrum, 2007;Rumberger y Lim, 2008), la búsqueda de trabajo, el origen étnico, la desintegración familiar y las limitadas expectativas de la familia con respecto a la educación (Castillo, 2003;Espinoza et al, 2014Espinoza et al, , 2016Espinoza et al, , 2020aFoley, Gallipoli y Green, 2014;Hawkins et al, 2013). Por ejemplo, algunas investigaciones han puesto en evidencia cómo la deserción escolar se vincula con razones económicas, dado el vínculo entre el abandono de la escuela y la necesidad de ingresar tempranamente al mundo laboral para satisfacer requerimientos familiares (Perreira, Harris y Lee, 2006).…”

“…Ahora bien, no fue sino hasta tiempos más bien recientes cuando el gobierno incluyó a adolescentes fuera de la escuela (menores de 18 años) en programas de preparación de adultos para el empleo. Más allá de estos esfuerzos, aquellos que se beneficiaron de dichos programas fueron solo una parte de esta población, con más del 50% de los ingresantes sin haber logrado concluir el año escolar (Espinoza et al, 2018(Espinoza et al, , 2020aMIDE-UC y Sename, 2016;Mineduc, 2015).…”