Hispanic DropoutsWhite, Black, Mexican, Asian; regardless of their ethnic origin, students drop out of school. Yet, when the term “school dropout” is mentioned, Hispanic often comes to mind. Why is this? Schools across the United States are affected by Hispanic dropout rates. Many questions deserve answers on this subject: What is a dropout? What pushes these students to drop out? How many actually give up? What future for dropouts? And what can we do to help reduce the school dropout rate? What exactly is dropping out of school? Although difficult to define, a dropout is considered a student who leaves school for any reason and does not pursue any other type of education (United States Department of Education Consumer Guide [USDE], 1996). Unfortunately, a dropout could certainly be considered a quitter, which in the United States is not a term one wants to inherit. To not be considered a dropout, you must obtain a diploma. There are several pathways to high school completion (USDE, 1996). Regularly, a student receives a diploma after completing a certain required course load. On the other hand, some students can complete their secondary education using an equivalency test and thus receive a diploma. Unfortunately, each state, district, and even school uses the term dropout differently (USDE, 1996). The U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics reported three distinct methods used to calculate the dropout rate. The first is when the percentage of students who drop out in a single year is reflected by event prices. The second is when status rates reflect a percentage of students who, in a certain age range, have not completed high school...... middle of paper ...... from World Wide Web: http://www.ed.gov/pubs/OR/ConsumerGuides/dropout.html. United States Department of Labor. (2003). Summary of employment situation. Retrieved November 12, 2003, from the World Wide Web: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm.Valladares, MR (2002). Dropouts. Hispanic, 15(12), pp.36-40. Retrieved November 9, 2003 from the EBSCO database (Masterfile) on the World Wide Web: http://www.ebsco.com. Viadero, D. (1997) Hispanic dropouts face greater obstacles, study finds. Education Week,16(41), pp. 3. Retrieved November 12, 2003 from the EBSCO database (Masterfile) on the World Wide Web: http://www.ebsco.com.Zehr, MA (2003). Spotlight Reports Latino Dropout Rates, College Attendance. Education Week, 22 (41) p.12. Retrieved September 28, 2003 from the EBSCO database (Masterfile) on the World Wide Web: http://www.ebsco.com.