When a student tells me he is going to drop out of class, it is usually due to family or personal issues. Most of the time, there is nothing I can do about this. But when a student suddenly and without warning stops coming, the first thing I look at are his grades. If he has good grades, I can only assume he had a sudden emergency. But if he has had poor grades, I always try to get the student to come in for tutoring, before it gets out of hand. But sometimes he is just overwhelmed, and stops coming.
well there is may.1 reason is personal problems,home,parents,girlfreind,boyfreind,ect.finances play a very big role.missing home,i more less let them know that this is only for a short time and they can tough it out.i give them support when the circiumstance is right,they came here for a reason,hopfully theres,and they will leave with what they put into there stay.
Quitting is usually related to financial issues. Many of my students are directly out of high school and may not be ready to be out on their own. I usually start every class day by speaking to each student asking about how their day has gone so far. Over the course, students become more comfortable in telling me their frustrations and successes. If I sense a student is struggling, I will find a moment to speak with them one-on-one to see if they need any kind of assistance
As an insructor it has been my experience that I ussually don't find out why someone quits coming to class. On those occasions that I do find out it is usually some serious medical problem with a close family member. For these situations about all I can do is wish for the best and tell them to remain in contact with the school.
Errol, do find students who seem to fear success and find ways to self-destruct when they near the end of their training?
There are numerous reasons students quit coming to class. Many are do to factors not related to school. That is not to say we cannot help. As been already mentioned, much of the time there are no advance warning signs. We only have our students for 3 weeks. It does not give much time to get to know our students. By trying to communicate with each student on a daily basis it may be easier to observe warning signs or students even mentioning any problems or stresses they may be having. Comments relating to dissatisfaction with their job, housing arrangements, homesickness, and others can lead to an opening to intercede. A real red flag is if the student mentions no job or friends and sits home by himself all the time. When I am teaching a course that is in the beginning of their time here the reasons are more do to with adjustment of first time away from home, finding a job, coming from a small town to a large city, and homesickness. If students know you care they are more likely to mention issues that you can then help them with.
During my years of teaching experience I find that there are many reason a student uses to justify his or her choice to quit. Because I am near the end of their training now and have been for the past 7 years I find that most students who leave school now are experiencing a major concern away from school, usually at home or from poor choices that they had made a long time before and the consequences are finally catching up with them. Sometimes there are warning signs and with a caring attitude to-wards the student and their success and can direct them in the proper direction to receive the assistance they need. We work as a team here and when a person just doesn't show up for any reason we try calling the person and we try making contact through his or her friends. We also inform our manager that the student has just dropped off the planet. We do care and try to show it every day through our interaction with the students.
Pain vs. gain. Do you have your career services people or recent grads come to your class to help the students understand the rewards ahead?
It seems that most of the students that attend my classes have made significant sacrifices to attempt to work and finish their school training. The most common reason I find students quitting is a lack of committment. What I mean by this is that most of them have good intentions and want to finish but the work load is significant and some decide it's not worth it. These students seem to have a hard time setting goals and/or a vision for their future career. (or life in general).
I attempt to encourage the student to think and plan for the furture and try to show them that this training is a stepping stone to their future. I also am a good listener and encourage the students to come to our team (BMW Staff) with school problems as they feel comfortable.
A thoughtful financial plan outlining sources of funds, developed before a student starts classes, should avoid problems later on. Does your school require students to have such a plan?
The most common reason I see for students quiting is due to lack of finances. I try to incourage them to hang in there and seek other alternatives to just quiting. I also will send them to student services for help.
What sort of warning signs do you look for, Steven?
Homesickness certainly is one of the reasons it is so important for entering students to make early connections with the institution and people within the institution. Does your orientation program include activities to help students identify others with similar interests and give them an opportunity to make connections?
How do you find out that a student is planning to drop out? How often does this happen? How successful have you been in helping them overcome their problems?
As an instructor, I find that there are two main reasons for students to stop coming to class. The first is usually personal. The student has a problem at home or with work and either they do not want to share or ask for help or believe that they can fix the problem themself. This type of student may return the next time the class is offered or after a time out and taking care of his/her problem. If this type of problem shows, it will be a drop in the students work or they are not joining in with the others. Sometimes we can help and other times the student does not want our help. The second is when the student does not understand and does not want to say anything in front of the others. As an instructor we must be aware of the class performance as a whole and each student as they perform. This requires getting the student to sit down and going over where they are having problems. Either before or after class so the student does not have othere looking on. It could be one simple partthey do not understand and with help they can get back on track.
Because the courses I teach are at the end of the students program and they are close to graduating few quit coming to class unless there is a personal problem outside of school that overwhelms them. Sometimes these are life problems that are beyond their control or just poor choices with bad consequences.
If there are warning signs I try to find out what the concern is and if it is anything I can assist with I will. Problems range from transportation issues, burglary of apartment or vehicle, family problems, accidents or illness, financial problems where the student feels he needs or wants to quit school so they can work full time to make more money. If it is beyond my ability to help I will try to direct the student to support staff that can help. I always keep my manager informed as situations arise.
When a student stops coming to class without any warning I notify my manager and we attempt to contact the student and find out what happened and offer solutions to get the student back in school.
After 20+ years here, the reasons for quiting have run the gauntlet. The most common one seems to be homesick. Our school is located miles away from home for many of our students and with this beiing the first time away from home its hard for them to relax and leaarn to be independent.
When I run into this I try to introduce the student to recreational ideas that put him/her in contact with peer groups. A few questions will generally provide an insite to their likes. Some times its as simple as arranging a way for them to call home and talk to Mom or Dad once a week or so. I have gone so far as to buy a phone card for them. Yet there is a small number who have other reasons but blame being home sick. With this student the underlying cause must be found for a successful intervention
If I can find out that a student wants to leave I try to find out why. If I can identify with the problem, I try to relate my own personnal challenges with the same issue & how I overcame that challenge. If I can't identify with the challenge, then I will find someone more equipped to deal the challenge.
As Instructors we do not have the responsibility to contact students, and yes we do have a complete support staff for the students and they will contact them and try to help them where they can.
Do you have a responsibility to contact these students? Are there other people on staff who focus on non-academic problems? If so, do they do any follow up?
