At an early age - - it's a race against time. Expert, Jill Isbell Rhodes, with Reading Recovery at the Long Beach Unified School District, says: "Every day that they fall behind, their peers are moving ahead and so it's like chasing a moving target."
Many kids never catch up. A study in the Journal 'Education Research' reports that you can predict - - with accuracy - - who will drop out in high school by looking at how well kids perform in kindergarten. Danny Darby, Education Specialist says: "If you start school with a negative experience, that's an experience that's going to last for the rest of their educational career."
The research suggests that dropping out is not an impulsive decision - - but an outcome set in motion years earlier. Dr. Nathaniel Donson, a Child Psychiatrist says: "As these problems go on and on, and as they are overlooked, children's personality organization, their character formation begins to be settled. The longer you wait, the harder it gets to make change, and the costs are much, much higher."
Experts say early intervention is crucial. Robert J. Aloia, Superintendent at Bergen Country Technical Schools says: "If you identify it and address it now at the preschool level, it does not exist then at the middle school or at the high school level. It won't exist anymore"
