A report out recently from The Education Trust follows the true story of a student named Cornelius, from the day he started kindergarten to the day he dropped out of school. He went from learning to love reading as a child to feeling alienated in high school, struggling to complete his work and receiving out-of-school suspensions. Teachers called him “emotionally disturbed.” The report attempts to show why low-income male students and male students of color drop out of school at disproportionately high rates. Accompanying the report is a discussion and resource guide for educators to help marginalized students stay in school.
Following is an excerpt from the article, written by playwright-researcher Brooke Haycock:
The story that follows is true, based entirely on interviews with a young man I started getting to know five years ago, along with notes from his school file. His name is Cornelius. And while this young man you are about to meet is a unique and very special person to me, the truth is that Cornelius’ story is all too common, versions of it echoing from the national statistics and the experiences of young people I talk with all the time.
The sad moral of the story is that too many students are lost in the shuffle, but the article also points out various changes that can be made to help these marginalized students.
For more information, please visit:
http://echoesfromthegap.edtrust.org/butterfliesinthehallway.html
