ESL DROPOUT - THE MYTH OF EDUCATIONAL EQUITY

Research into the educational equity afforded students in Canadian sch ools has often masked the case of ESL high school students in larger s tatistical samples. This article reports the findings of a unique trac king study aimed directly at ESL high school students. The study track ed the educational progress of 232 ESL high school students and found an alarming blended dropout rate of 74%. It also calculated specific d ropout rates according to the one consistently predictive variable tha t emerged from the study: English language ability at entry to high sc hool. Apparent differences in the patterns of dropout are further char acterized under the labels fall-out, push-out, and dropout. The articl e concludes with some recommendations to address the myth of education al equity for ESL students in high school.