COEDU and I CAN! Team to Help Minority Adolescents Find Purpose after Dropping out of School

TAMPA, Fla. (March 23, 2009) - Two doctoral students in the USF College of Education -- Jenna Pollard-Sage and Stephanie Martinez -- are working on a project for high school dropouts with Patty Alvarez McHatton, Ph.D., Assistant Professor in the Department of Special Education, and the I CAN! Community Education Coalition, Inc. exploring sense of purpose in adolescents who are pursuing their GED. I CAN! is a community organization that works with youth and adults who have dropped out of school, and thus is a perfect partner for this project.

Last month, a panel of students presented a workshop to the College's Suncoast Area Teacher Training Honors (SCATT) Program pre-service teachers about their school experiences and what teachers could do to keep students in school. Because of the excellent feedback from teacher candidates in the College of Education, an encore presentation will take place on Tuesday, March 24th in the TECO room from 4:45 to 7:45 p.m. The presentation is relevant for elementary and secondary education candidates and is open to all who are interested. Many of the teacher education candidates commented that they find it important for educators to understand why students drop out, to put faces to the numbers, and to learn ways to motivate the students to stay in school.

"As a high school dropout, I hold this topic near and dear to my heart as, many times, it is more a case of being pushed out rather than dropping out," said McHatton. Pollar-Sage is also a high school dropout. This work is made possible through a COEDU mini-grant exploring "Minority Adolescents' Sense of Purpose After Dropping Out of School."