Breaking Down the Dropout Statistics

John McLaughlin, Ph.D. joined me for coffee to discuss recent news and research pertaining to the ever-challenging dropout issue facing public education in the U.S. McLaughlin breaks down his interpretations of the findings and sheds light on the issue of suspensions and the role they place in disengaging students from the school community. We also learn more about John’s affinity for tea as opposed to coffee too!

For additional context on the dropout issue check out our CoffeED episodes with Bill Milliken of Communities in Schools and a follow-up conversation with Milliken, Dan Domenech of the AASA and Mark Claypool of ChanceLight Behavioral Health and Education and McLaughlin’s co-author of We’re In This Together: Public-Private Partnerships in Special and At-Risk Education

Interview

John M. McLaughlin, Ph.D., directs the Research & Analytics unit of ChanceLight Behavioral Health and Education

Dr. McLaughlin holds a BA, MA and Ph.D. from Peabody College of Vanderbilt University, the University of Chicago and the University of Minnesota respectively.

He was a certified geography teacher and secondary school administrator in Tennessee where he served as a teacher. He then spent the last ten years of his work in that state as principal in an alternative high school.In 1977, he founded Benton Hall Academy, a school in the Nashville area for students in need of a small and caring environment.From 1993 to 2000 he published The Education Industry Report, a monthly summary of investment activity in the education arena.

He has been interviewed by virtually every major newspaper, magazine and broadcast media in the U.S. for his insights on the interface of public education and free enterprise. He has been published several times throughout his career. His most recent writing includes an article, Alternative Education’s Impact on Office Disciplinary Referrals (with Eva Gillham) in The Clearing House, September 2012; a book of fiction, The Last Year of the Season, 2014, North Star Press; and We’re In This Together: Public-Private Partnerships in Special and At-Risk Education (with Mark K. Claypool), 2015, Rowman & Littlefield Education.