Our story begins in Southern California where we meet Juan Alvarez. Juan lives with his single mother in L.A. she works two jobs and has to accept government subsidies. The Alvarez’s are part of the picture of poverty in Los Angeles, California where these “dropout factories” are common, where more than one in 10 high schools fits the description of having over 40% of their student’s not reach graduation. Juan is a not dumb, he is not a bad student, and he is most certainly not a bad kid. He is just a student that is caught within the ruthless cycle of failing public education in America. There are of course success stories, those who have overcome adversity to enjoy a fulfilling and successful life after overcoming the obstacles. Will Juan be able to one of them? (click to start his journey)
<center>[[Continue.|4]]</center>
Every morning it’s the same ritual for students across the country. Shoes, breakfast, backpack, a kiss on the cheek from their mother or father and the farewell of “Have a great day at school” as they walk to their bus stop. But Juan isn’t the picture of a normal student. Juan has breakfast with a side of nervousness, no matter who he is or what neighborhood he lives in he is taking a leap of faith with his school. His mother is only able to see him for a brief moment before she heads to the hospital where she is a nurse. As long as Juan is on time for school he will be able to get breakfast from the discounted meals that are provided for low income students.
<a href="http://www.apa.org/pi/ses/resources/indicator/2013/05/urban-schools.aspx" target="_blank">(More info)</a>
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<img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/ICCE_First_Student_Wallkill_School_Bus.jpg"style="width:304px;height:228px;">
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<center>[[Leave to catch the bus.|5]]</center>
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<img src="https://cs.bloomington.k12.mn.us/sites/default/files/content_images/OLM%20Lunchroom%202.jpg" style="width:304px;height:228px;">
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Juan walks into the lunchroom area to grab his breakfast. After picking up a mini box of cereal and some milk he goes up to pay for his meals when he overhears his friends talking about the math test they have to take second period a test that Juan hasn’t studied for! In a panic Juan rushes to his homeroom whips out his math book and begins to study. His homeroom advisor Miss Stuart comes up to him and asks Juan if he needs any help with his studies. Juan really likes his teacher but he doesn’t want her to see him as a failure. Will Juan accept her help, or will he try and study by himself?
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[[Accept her help.|6]]
[[Study by himself|13]]
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Juan’s teacher sits down and begins to help him with his math, as they are studying Miss Stuart starts to notice that he is outstandingly tired and is having a hard time focusing. She notices the breakfast that he has purchased but that is still uneaten. She asks him if he got any sleep last night and if he has studied for this test at all. Juan wasn’t able to sleep last night due to the police sirens and other disturbances outside his window. Because Juan hasn’t been getting much sleep he is far behind where he needs to be in his math class. Miss Stuart asks Juan if he would like to take his math test after school so that she can help him study more during lunch. Juan had plans with his friend Anthony to play basketball after school and he already believes that he is going to fail it so why waste more time?
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[[Study with Miss. Stuart.|7]]
[[Take the test during the period.|11]]
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Good teachers like Miss Stuart are hard to come by in this type of public school and Juan is very lucky to have a mentor that cares about his success. Students who have high performing teachers perform 3x better than those who don’t. She helps Juan study during her free period as well as his lunch hour where she makes sure he is able to eat. By the end of the day Juan is feeling confident with the material and he heads to go and take his math test. As he is walking to the classroom he hears his friend Anthony call his name from the playground to play some basketball. Juan knows the importance of this test, but something tells him that basketball is the better option.
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[[Go and take the test.|8]]
[[Blow off the test and play some basketball.|9]]
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Juan heads to his first period English class and continues to study for his math test. This however does not make his English teacher happy as they are supposed to be reading a book. Mr. Smith tells Juan to put his math materials away and to pull out How to Kill a Mockingbird. Juan looks in his backpack and notices that he left the book at home. Mr. Smith is not a very patient teacher and his class is overcrowded. He does not have time to deal with Juan and he dismisses him from his classroom. Juan is so upset and has the overwhelming feeling that nobody is there for him and that he is a failure. Juan decides to cut the rest of the school day and go down to the park to play pick up with some of the kids from the local high school.
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[[Continue.|12]]
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Juan decided to head on home and to finish his homework. As he is working on it he realizes that it is mostly review and that the assignments are easy to finish as well as really helpful study tools. The assignments aren’t worth a lot of points but because Juan is forming these good study habits it will help in on the tests and for the finals later on when the material gets harder and more complicated. Juan finishes his homework early and goes downstairs for dinner with his mom. As they are eating Juan’s mother brings up the topic of where Anthony is going to go to high school.
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[[Continue.|26]]
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Juan heads into the classroom to go and take his test. He is not as prepared as he should be but he is much better off than if he hadn’t studied at all. His teacher grades the test right as he hands it in. He receives a little below a 70%. Not a bad grade but Juan is slowly starting to fall behind the proficiency that is needed for his grade along with over 71% of his eighth grade class. Juan walks outside after his test and can either go home and start his homework or head to the park to play some basketball.
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[[Go home and start homework.|13]]
[[Head to the park and play some basketball.|12]]
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<img src="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRZHjrRUEzfLg8FA8G7PXUnWoqiPLg3iRW9HzB1OkwQBShD_BUI" style="width:304px;height:228px;">
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Juan decides to go and play a quick game of basketball with his best friend Anthony. Anthony is from the same neighborhood as Juan and has dreams of becoming an NBA star, the kind of career that he doesn’t think he needs to go to school for. The game was quick and Juan still has time to go and take his test, he tries to tell Anthony that he has to go but Anthony stops him by saying how hard the test was and that he would fail no matter what so why even try? Should Juan listen to Anthony and keep playing or hurry up and go take the test?
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[[Stay and hang out with Anthony.|10]]
[[Hurry and take the test.|8]]
Juan and Anthony grab the bus to head to the park downtown. As they are riding along Juan has a very uneasy feeling about things. It’ll be dark by the time they head back and he doesn’t want to get into trouble with the wrong crowd or worse, get into trouble from his mother. As they are arriving at their stop Juan asks Anthony if this is such a good idea. Anthony is annoyed and angry at Juan for trying to skip out on him and he storms off towards the courts. Juan doesn’t want Anthony to be alone but he knows that Anthony isn’t going back home with him anytime soon. Juan can either stay with his friend or he can go home to start his homework.
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[[Stay with Anthony.|14]]
[[Head home and start homework.|13]]
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Juan decides to skip his math test. Why should he take something that he might fail? Anthony suggests that they go downtown to a park where a bunch of cool older guys are playing a pickup game. Anthony wants to try and show off what a big shot he is, but you know that your mother has warned you against going to there. They would have to take the bus by themselves to get downtown and it’s a hotspot for drug deals, violence, and other things that an eighth grade boy should stay away from. Juan can either go home to start his homework, or go downtown with Anthony.
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[[Go home and begin homework.|13]]
[[Go downtown with Anthony|12]]
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Juan decided to stay with Anthony and he runs to catch up with his friend over at the basketball courts. There are already eight guys there who look like they could give a good beating to Anthony and Juan, during the game as well as after it. Juan and Anthony join a group to play a small scrimmage. As they are playing Juan notices how rough the older people play. Once the game is up Juan and Anthony try to leave but the older kids stop them and ask if they want to go somewhere else to have some real fun. They both know that they should be heading home but they also don’t want to look like losers in front of this new group, besides these guys seem to have a lot more fun than they do at school. Juan can either decide to go home or to go with his new friends to have some real fun.
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[[Head home.|13]]
[[Go have some real fun!|15]]
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Juan’s school is one that that feeds into two of the worst high schools in the state as well as in the country. He is in the middle of his 8th grade year, on track to attend Locke High School in Los Angeles with a 27-percent graduation rate. It is one of the two dropout factory high schools reporting 100-percent student poverty. Or he can attend a school that government money is funneled into. Maybe California’s education establishment sees increased spending as the answer to every problem. Juan could attend San Pasqual Valley High School, which at a whopping $16,000 per student per year, outspends every other California dropout factory school. Which will he choose to attend? San Pasqual a largely funded school (slide 29) or Locke High School (slide 30). Or he can be entered into a lottery for a successful charter school with over 90% graduation rates (slide 27)
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[[San Pasqual!|29]]
[[Enter the lottery!|27]]
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Juan decides to go and have some real fun. Him and Anthony follow the group down the street and towards a back alley. They arrive at a door in the basement of an old abandoned building. They are ushered in and see in front of them an illegal gambling. There’s a heavy smell of marijuana and alcohol in the air and as Juan is looking around he realizes that he has lost track of Anthony, he has no idea where his best friend went. He can either go now and hope Anthony is okay or he can search for his friend.
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[[Leave and make sure Anthony is okay.|13]]
[[Search for Juan's friend.|16]]
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Juan is looking around for his friend and is about to give up hope and leave when he finds him in the midst of a small circle where he clearly looks uncomfortable. Juan has no desire to be here anymore and he wants to grab Anthony and head back home. As he makes his way over to his friend he tries to convince him to head home. Anthony slowly agrees and as they try to leave they are stopped at the door by a two very large and threatening men saying that they can’t leave unless they know they won’t tell the cops or anyone about this place and the only way they can do that is if they become a part of the official club or gang. The boys can either choose to make a run for it or join this exclusive club.
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[[Run for it!|24]]
[[Join the club!|17]]
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They decide to make a run for it, they wait for a distraction and quickly slip out of the basement and run on to the street to the bus stop. It’s dark out and they are both way past their curfews. As they ride home Juan thinks about how extremely lucky they were to get out of that situation. He knows about boys in his class who have gotten mixed up with the wrong crowd and instead of going to high school they end up in prison. Juan gets off the bus and heads home. As he walks through the front door he is greeted with a “Thank goodness you’re ok” hug and then a very loud and a very scary speech that ended with no T.V. and no videogames for 2 weeks. Juan heads upstairs very tired from today’s events and just wants to go to sleep, but he still has science homework to do and a book reading that needs to be finished. Should Juan go to bed or stay up to finish his homework.
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[[Go to bed.|20]]
[[Stay up and finish the homework.|25]]
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They decide to be a part of this new club. It doesn’t seem too dangerous. A little alcohol and gambling never hurt anybody right and it doesn’t look like the gangs that you see on T.V? They stay for a little while longer and get a good buzz going. They’re allowed to leave but they have to promise to come back every week and to stay loyal to their new “crew” and of course to be initiated properly. They catch the bus going home Juan gets off the bus and heads home. And he realizes he has to face his mother! Juan with his head hung low walks inside to confront his mother.
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[[Continue.|18]]
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After deciding to man up and face his mother Juan walks through the front door. As soon as he crosses the threshold his mother notices the smell of smoke and alcohol coming off of him. She proceeds to yell at the top of her lungs for what seems like hours. She knows that this is exactly how many of her friends in high school got involved with drugs, forcing them to dropout. She is trying her best to make life for her and Juan one worth living but she can’t always control Juan’s actions since she is at work so often to put food on the table and to pay the bills on time. Juan is old enough to be responsible for his own actions whether he makes the effort to succeed or fail is largely based on his own actions. She sends Juan upstairs for the night.
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[[Continue.|19]]
[[|]]
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Juan heads upstairs very tired from today’s events and from his mothers’ vicious tongue lashing, he feels extremely guilty and just wants to go to sleep to forget everything that has happened. His eyes feel extremely heavy as he changes and gets ready for bed, when he suddenly realizes that he has assignments due tomorrow! It’s already past midnight but he still has a lot of science and social studies homework along with a book that needs to be finished and he is far behind on. Should Juan skip his homework and just go to bed or stay up to finish his class assignments? (Slide_)
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[[Go to bed.|20]]
[[Stay up and finish his assignments.|]]
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Juan decides to go to bed and skip his homework, besides his grades in writing and science are pretty average and he believes that a small homework assignment isn’t going to make that big of an impact on his overall grade. Juan doesn’t realize that these are the study habits that he needs to form in order to be a successful student. All he is thinking about is how cool his new group of friends are and how much fun he is going to have with them. He wakes up well rested and ready to go to school, but he receives a text message from Anthony saying that they should skip school and go hang out downtown. Should he go to hang out with his new gang or head downstairs for breakfast with his mother.
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[[Chill with the gang.|21]]
[[Head downstairs.|26]]
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Juan decides to skip school for that day and hang out with his crew. Anthony and him head downtown for a day of basketball and booze. They pay no attention to time as they shoot baskets, slam beers, and pop pills. Juan wakes up in the basement of their gambling ring. He looks at his phone and realizes that he has been out for a whole day and he doesn’t really see the point in returning home. Juan has found a better way to spend his time. So he decides not to even enroll in any high school since he knows his chances of success are painfully low.
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[[Continue.|22]]
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Juan has since moved out of his house and is now living on the streets. About a month into his new life his gang gets busted for a drug deal gone wrong where Anthony got killed from a shooter and Juan is “luckily” thrown into jail. The money being spent for him to stay in prison would have been enough to send him to a private school from k-12. While in prison Juan stays out of trouble and gets his sentenced reduced for good behavior. This incident will still affect him for the rest of his life and he now realizes that he is not on a good path for success.
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[[Continue.|23]]
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However, nearly two-thirds of the inmates released every year return to prison. Those that manage to remain outside of it are often far worse off than before they were incarcerated, as they endure discrimination in housing, employment and political participation. The future is looking bleak for Juan because as soon as he gets released instead of looking for a new job he rejoins his gang and less than a year later passes away from substance abuse. Perhaps if more money were spent on creating and sustaining an education system that met all of its students' needs the story would have turned out better for Juan.
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[[Continue.|24]]
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Juan decided to stay up and to finish his homework. As he is working on it he realizes that it is mostly review and that the assignments are easy to finish as well as really helpful study tools. The assignments aren’t worth a lot of points but because Juan is forming these good study habits he should be able to study better for his tests and finals now and for when he enters high school. He goes to bed a little later than normal, but he is still able to get plenty of sleep before he smells breakfast being prepared downstairs. Surprisingly, his mom doesn’t have to work today and so she has made him breakfast. She sits him down to a feast of Eggo Waffles and scrambled eggs. As they are eating she brings up the topic of where Juan is going to go for high school next year.
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[[Continue.|23]]
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Twenty other schools on the list had higher student poverty rates. They exceeded San Pasqual Valley High’s 51-percent graduation rate while spending up to $7,000 less. Higher spending, however, doesn’t necessarily translate into higher graduation rates, so money is not the answer. Juan will go through the system that spends more on their students but produces the same amount of dropouts as Locke High School. As the summer passes and school begins to start up Juan along with the majority of his class realize how far behind they are. Just 24% of eighth graders are proficient in math in California 21% for reading by the time they are ready for high school. There is an overall sense of hopelessness and an overwhelming lack of resources at these schools Juan is going to have to step up and work harder if he doesn’t want to become another statistic. To start his high school journey article on graduation rates before he starts his journey.
<a href="http://www.gradnation.org/report/2015-building-grad-nation-report" target="_blank">Learn more</a>
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[[Continue.|31]]
[[|]]
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Juan has been entered into the KIPP LA Prep lottery. KIPP LA Prep has double the math and reading scores of the average student as well as 3 times more classroom time. The lottery that Juan is entered into has 135 applicants for 10 spaces, less than 8%. The day of the lottery arrives and Juan is assigned a number as he waits in an auditorium with over 100 students just like him crossing their fingers hoping to get into a successful school and not a dropout factory. As the numbers are being called Juan’s heart keeps beating faster and faster, his success will be largely determined by luck.
Pick one!
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[[A|30]]
[[B|28]]
[[C|30]]
[[D|30]]
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Juan decides to attend Locke high school which spends less money on their students but still has one of the lowest graduation rates in the country. As the summer passes and school begins to start up, Juan along with the majority of his class realize how far behind they are. Just 24% of eighth graders are proficient in math in California 21% for reading by the time they are ready for high school. There is an overall sense of hopelessness and an overwhelming lack of resources at these schools Juan is going to have to step up and work harder if he doesn’t want to become another statistic.
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[[Continue.|31]]
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Juan has gotten into KIPP LA Prep Academy! This is a charter school with over a 97% graduation rate. Juan is behind by two or three years but charter schools are run much differently than the public schools. The parents do not have to pay for the education but they are receiving so much more. This charter school provides schools on Saturday and days in the summer as well as teachers who ensure the success of their students. After having to do tons of catchup work Juan is on track to graduate and attend a four-year college where he will eventually obtain a career and a life that will earn him over the course of a career, a college grad will make nearly $1 million more than a high school graduate. Juan is now in a fulfilling career and is married with one daughter. As the time comes to enroll his daughter in school he has to choose between a public or a private education. But is there really a choice to be made? (Slide__)
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[[|]]
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As Juan begins his freshman year of high school he soon realizes that he is going to have to balance a job along with his studies in order to help his mother pay the rent and to help keep food on the table. The only jobs available for students are ones in the fast food industry where Juan will have to work long hours and late nights. This could be an issue with Juan’s schooling but in order for him and his mother to make it thy need another source of income. As just a freshmen Juan is now working over 20 hours a week along with his schooling.
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[[Continue.|32]]
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The high school that Juan attends is riddled with teachers who couldn’t care less whether or not these hoodlums fail. Many of the teachers are there with tenure granted, no matter the success of their students they will receive their paycheck without any real danger of consequences. However, Juan has heard about a new teacher who he can try to work his schedule around. Juan has a choice of not working to get a good teacher and just settling on getting a bad teacher, or working extremely hard with his guidance counselor to get a good teacher.
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[[Settle for a bad teacher.|34]]
[[Work for the good one.|33]]
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Juan decides to just accept the fact that he has one of the worst teachers in the school. He already knows he is behind and sees no real point in trying to catch up. Juan’s teacher Mr. Clark shows up late every day to class, writes the reading assignment on the board, sits down to read his paper. The class is tested every Friday and not a single student in Mr. Clark's class is proficient in math or in reading. Mr. Clark doesn’t care if Juan does anything in class or not. To kill time in class Juan usually just passes notes to his friends.
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[[Continue.|35]]
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After meeting with his guidance counselor several times Juan is able to secure a great teacher for his schedule. A great teacher will cover about 150% of the curriculum. His teacher Mrs. Bradley has been at the school for over ten years and is known for her teaching methods, she pushes her students to be their best, she stays late after school for tutoring and she refuses to let her students fail. Due to his great teacher Mrs. Bradley, Juan is slowly catching up to his peers and has already started some in class prep for the ACT test coming up soon.
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[[Continue.|36]]
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Juan has been working hard and due to encouragement from Mrs. Bradley he has been getting better grades. Juan has been doing so well that Mrs.Bradley suggested he try to enroll in AP Bio. Juan has been showing an interest and science and she thinks it would be a good challenge for him. Juan is up for the challenge even if he is not sure that he can handle it. No one has ever suggested to him that he could take challenging classes so this amount of belief in him is something new for Juan. If Juan continues to stay on this good path it could even give him some credits for when he goes to college.
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[[Continue.|37]]
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While trying to send a note to his friend about his crush Jenny. Jenny has a boyfriend Jake who just happened to grab the note Juan was trying to get across the classroom. Juan and Jake get into a argument over Jake and Mr. Clark does nothing about it. The argument turns into a fight eventually and both boys gets suspended for a week from school. Juan returns to school a week later and gossip is starting to spread all over the school about the fight. To add to Juan’s stress he also has a meeting with his counselor and talks with his counselor.
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[[Continue.|33]]
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In the winter of Juan's sophomore year his mother gets injured in a serious head on car accident. She was hospitalized for nearly 2 weeks until both of her collapsed lungs were strong enough again to function on their own without an oxygen tank. Due to the low income they didn’t have much medical insurance. As a result of the medical bills Juan needs to get a job. He found a job at a local diner as a dishwasher and occasionally a hostess. He works nearly 30 hours a week after school usually from the four to close shift.
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[[Continue.|38]]
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While on his shift he SUnday night his boss asked him if he wants to pick up a shift monday night. Juan knows that he has a AP Bio exam on Tuesday and he hasn’t studied much for the exam so he decided to tell his boss that he can’t cover the shift or Juan knows that he could really use the extra money. Juan health has taken a hit lately from malnutrition and it is affecting more than how he feels. There wasn’t enough money for lots groceries this weekand he didn’t have breakfast this morning so he decides to pick up the shift and work overtime to get more money.
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[[Tell your boss you can't cover the shift.|39]]
[[Go ahead and get some overtime.|40]]
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As a result of working overtime Juan received a F on his Bio exam. Due to the AP standards Juan must maintain above a C- overall grade in the class or else he will be kicked out of the class. After failing the last test his teacher tells him that he better pick it up because his overall grade is now a C and he has little wiggle room. The pressure and stress is starting to get to Juan and he is close to having an emotional breakdown in class but he keeps it together and avoids a big scene in front of his classmates.
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[[Continue.|41]]
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Juan's sophomore year comes to an end. He is still struggling to find out a way to balance work and school. His mom has finally fully recovered from the car accident and she is back to working full time but his GPA has dropped to 2.3 because he worked so much. Now that his mom is working full time again he doesn’t have to work as many hours but he still feels that he needs to work a lot to make life easier for his mom. The extra income Juan will be able to provide will ensure that food is always on the table now and they won’t go hungry.
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[[Continue.|42]]
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As a result of studying hard Juan receives an B+ on his exam. His teacher is proud of him but Juan has a terrible headache from barely eating any food. He didn't have breakfast again this morning and he knows that there won’t be any food for dinner tonight so he asked a friend if he had any extra food and luckily his friend had a granola bar so Juan can at least eat a few calories today. He contemplates stealing some from the school cafeteria but he decides that it isn't worth the risk of getting caught and in trouble with the school or possibly the law.
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[[Continue.|41]]
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At the start of Juan’s Junior year he is stressed because the school only provides one ACT test for him and he financially can not afford to take another test if he does poorly. This ACT will really dictate his future college choices if he decides to go to college because his GPA is so low. If Juan does well it can really open a lot of doors but a combination of a low GPA along with a low ACT score will give Juan very few college options. He isnt really considering college and is just hoping to drop out but he knows that it is best if he can keep his options open.
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[[Continue.|43]]
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A month passes and Juan receives his ACT scores in the mail. He didn’t really have any idea how well he did and he was just hoping for a score above 20. After opening up the envelope and looking at a sheet his scores show that he really struggled in the Math section and English section. He did alright on the science section of the test most likely due to AP bio last year but he still overall received a 18. This low grade was obviously not what he wanted but there is nothing he can do. His only hope is to get his GPA up.
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[[Continue.|44]]
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Juan’s old guidance counselor has left for a new job in a school system that offered her a much better job with better pay and benefits. It is required that Juan meets with his new guidance counselor to help form a relationship so that Juan feels safe to ask for help if he needs it. Juans new guidance counselor is grossly under qualified for the types of problems these children are going through and Juan is not very confident in her ability to help him out. She has told him that he must either attend summer school or he can choose to work and not attend summer school.
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[[Attend.|45]]
[[Don't attend.|46]]
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Juan has decided to attend summer school but that only lasts for about 2 weeks. The opportunity to work and make a lot of money was an opportunity that Juan couldn't pass up. Juan likes the idea of working and he figures that both school and work are hard but at least he can make money while working. After a short thought Juan decides that it is best to drop out of High School. It’s not rare for him to drop out of school considering most of the people he knows have not graduated college and almost no one has finished college.
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[[Continue|47]]
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Juan feels the choice to not attend summer school was a great decision. He really hates school and at least while working he makes money unlike school. Slowly Juan has been leaning towards dropping out of high school. Most of the kids Juan knows have already dropped out of high school and he feels that it would be the easier route. While this is the easier route it will not be the good route for Juan. The problem for Juan is that he has no guidance from counselors, friends or parents to help him make the correct decision. For Juan he is making the decision that will affect him greatly in the future but he doesn’t realize it at this point.
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[[Continue.|47]]
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Juan chose to drop out and has become part of the 60% of his class to drop out before graduation, he is now working full time, even though it is at a minimum wage paying job. While at work he met a girl and they have now been dating for some a few months and things are starting to get serious. At the end of the summer Juan proposes to her and she accepted. Juan is not too sure about this girl, but he likes the idea of having a wife and someone that he can do stuff with. He isn’t too worried about divorce since he has grown up without a dad and in his opinion he is doing fine.
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[[Continue.|48]]
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Juan and his wife are now starting to think about the possibility of starting a family. Juan personally likes the idea of having a kid but his wife is unsure. Juan feels that having a kid would bring him and his wife closer together but his wife sees the kid as an extra cost. While Juan notices that the kid is an extra cost he knows that he has dealt with financial stress his entire life and they will be able to get through it. Together they make the decision to start trying to have a baby and they successfully have a baby boy on the way or to try and not have a baby.
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[[Decide to have a baby.|50]]
[[Decide not to have a baby.|49]]
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After the birth a few years ago nearly five years have passed and Juan and his wife now have to enroll their kid in elementary school. The public school choices are not great and they are skeptical of the private school prices but they know it is a high quality education. Both Juan and his wife want their son to have a better life than they had but they feel that their son can have a great life if he attends either school. They chose to look at the option of a private school, or they chose to just have their child attend the public elementary school nearby.
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[[Attend a private school.|51]]
[[Attend a public school.|52]]
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They tried to not have a baby but it somehow happened. After going to the hospital it appears they have a baby boy on the way. Juan is really unsure and after testing is done they confirm that it is his son and the doctors feel that maybe his condom broke. Juan is relieved to know that it is really his baby and Juan is secretly happy that it happened because he is really looking forward to becoming a father. He wants to be a father figure for his son that he never had. He plans on playing football and basketball with his son and help develop him into a good kid.
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[[Continue.|50]]
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They take a quick tour of the private school and they are really impressed with what the school has to offer. The teachers and entire staff apears to be well educated and able to teach their son. The technology at the school is state of the art with state of the art computers and virtual white boards. At the end of the tour they receive a brochure with prices and even with a scholarship they are not financially stable enough to afford the private school and they are forced to enroll their kid into a public elementary school instead of the outstanding performing private school. (Slide 52)
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[[Continue.|52]]
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This public elementary school feeds into a local middle school, which then will feed into one of the lowest performing high schools in the area, one that is worse than the one Juan attended. Juan's kid skims through elementary school not receiving stellar grades but he didn't fail any classes so Juan is happy about that. Up to this point Juan's son seems to be on a good track for success. Juan is somewhat worried about his son going to a bad high school but not really because Juan doesn’t find a high school education to be that important at this point in time.
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[[Continue.|53]]
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The chance of a lottery arrives for Juan's kid to attend a high school charter school. Juan is skeptical about entering it because due to his own experience he knows that it is not likely to work out for his child. Juan has to decide if the the fact of going to a super high quality charter school is greater than the demoralizing possible denial from a great school where it will seem like he is only left with a bad option. He doesn't want his kid to have to deal with the denial he had to so Juan has to choose whether to enter his son into the lottery (Slide 54) or to take his chances with the public school system (Slide 56)
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[[Enter son into the lottery.|54]]
[[Take chances with public schooling.|56]]
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The day of the lottery arrives and Juan's child against the odds gets his number called and is now attending one of the best charter schools in the nations with over a 90% graduation rate. While Juan is severely far behind from his previous schooling this charter school will catch him up and possibly This great news has really gave the entire family a boost and it has motivated Juan to focus on finally getting his GED. He wants to be someone that his son can look up to and he feels by getting his GED that would really help.
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[[Continue.|55]]
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Because Juan did not enter his child into the lottery he is forced to go into the public school system. The teachers are not helping his child with the subjects that he is struggling to get good grades. Both Juan and his wife always at work, and if they are both home at night (which is rare) they are both too tired to help out their son. Juan would help like to help but between trying to obtain his GED and work he is too tired. His son is now on the same path of drop out that Juan was on.
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[[Continue.|57]]
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Things are looking up for their family as Juan's wife gets a promotion at work including benefits along with more pay and Juan finally obtained his GED. While it was hard work Juan is really happy with his accomplishment considering 60% of people don’t graduate from his high school. With his wife receiving the promotion at work and Juan now having a GED it has opened the door for a lot more opportunities for more jobs resulting in more pay and a better life for Juan and his family. The financial opportunities should help Juan and his family to maybe eventually move to a safer area with less crime and a more safe environment.
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[[Continue.|57]]
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Due to the changing requirements of our global economy Juan sees no promotions within his current occupation unless he obtains an Associate's or Bachelor's degree. The education gap between him and his college colleagues at work makes him feel insecure about his abilities. Because of his current single income he is struggling to make ends meet and has to start accepting government aid. The government aid is helping to keep food on the table but Juan doesn’t like the fact that he needs to accept government aid. It hurts his self pride but he knows that he must either accept government aid or get a college education.
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[[Continue.|59]]
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Juan decides he must apply for government student loans along with scholarships in order to further his education. It was hard to get a loan due to his poor credit and with the high interest rates he will probably be paying off these loans liong into his 60’s. It is a long difficult road ahead that Juan will have to struggle to finish but he is no stranger to adversity and knows this will make him much happier. The biggest struggle for Juan will be to finish the extra two or four years. College is much more challenging than high school and he was once a high school dropout.
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[[Works Cited|60]]
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<b>
Thanks for playing!
</b>
</center>
Balfanz, Robert, and Nettie Letgers. LOCATING THE DROPOUT CRISIS(2004): n. pag. The Johns Hopkins University. Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed At Risk, Sept. 2004. Web. 5 Feb. 2016.
Chappell, Bill. "U.S. Students Slide In Global Ranking On Math, Reading, Science." NPR. NPR, n.d. Web. 5 Feb. 2016.
Darling-Hammond, L., (2010). The flat world and education: How America's commitment to equity will determine our future. New York: Teachers College Press.
Hudley, Cynthia, Phd. "Education and Urban Schools." American Psychologial Association. American Psychologial Association, May 2013. Web. 23 Feb. 2016.
Gayathri, Amrutha. "US 17th In Global Education Ranking; Finland, South Korea Claim Top Spots." International Business Times. N.p., 27 Nov. 2012. Web. 5 Feb. 2016.
Jefferson-Jenkins, Carolyn, and Margaret Hawkins Hill. "Role Of Federal Government In Public Education: Historical Perspectives." LWV. League of Women's Voters, n.d. Web. 5 Feb. 2016
"International Student Opinion." Personal interview. 2016.
Waiting for Superman - Trailer. Dir. Davis Guggenheim. Perf. Geoffrey Canada. Walden Media, 2010. DVD
"2015 Building a Grad Nation Report." GradNation. Everyone Graduates Center at Johns Hopkins University, 12 May 2015. Web. 5 Feb. 2016.
<center><b><i>Dropout Factories</i></b></center>
<center>An interactive text adventure based on the research of Nicole Swartz.</center>
<center>A Scrolldiers Game
Alexander Perschke (Code Speciaist)
Ryan Gibson (Guild Leader)
Nicole Swartz (Lead Writer)
Jamie RIttenhouse (Brainstormer)
[[Start|Introduction]]</center>
The goal of our text adventure is to show you the issues that lie within our country's public education system by placing you in the position of a high schooler. The story remains largely in your control and your decisions will determine your outcome. However, before we can begin we must ask you to make your first decision; your character.
While some of the story is exclusive to the character you select, we recommend that you play throught both stories to recieve the full experience. Thank you for playing our game and we hope you enjoy!
Sincerely,
The Scrolldiers
<center>[[Begin|3]]</center>