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The Study Why do we have an unacceptable high school dropout rate, school bullying, teen suicide and teen pregnancy? Do we really think if we keep doing the same thing that the results will be any different. In 2004, Dr. O'Sullivan conducted a study of Middle School and High School. The purpose of the study was to determine what occurs between middle school and high school in the change of behavior and staying in school. Dr. O'Sullivan approached the study from a much different angle than most studies of this type. She wanted to hear what the youth had to say and not have their answers restricted by providing limited multiple choices. The survey consisted of 27 open-ended questions. This, of course, required greater effort in the compilation and analysis. The results paint a clear picture of the changes the youth experience as they progress through school. The survey shows that middle school students have big dreams, which include staying in school and the high school students didn't. Their answers for the possibilities in their life are either unclear or to just get a job. What is left is the defeating cycle of low self-esteem, low academic achievement and no clear vision for the future. Presented below are the results from eight of the questions given by the students. Because the study was open-ended only the top individual responses are shown.
1. Most pressing issue for both middle and high school students - School
2. Who do they trust in times of trouble? Middle School - family High School - peers then family
3. What do you think your family expects from you? For both middle and high school the responses were: To succeed, To be the best. To be a good person, To graduate high school
4. What do you expect from yourself? For both middle and high school the responses were: To succeed. to be the best, To be a good person,To graduate from high school.
At this point, the middle school and high school students' responses began to show a greater divergence.
5. What do you think school expects from you? Middle School - To do my best, To be a good person High School - Graduating from high school, Grades
6. What do you think the community expects from you? Middle School - To be the best I can be, To be a good person High School - Nothing, No answer, Don?t know
7. What are the possibilities you see for your life? Middle School - College, Professional, Success High School - No answer Job, Success
8. What is your vision for the future? Middle School - Professional, College High School - No answer, Job, Success
General Summary: Middle School students have aspirations to succeed, go on to college and have a professional career. They have a strong family reliance. High School students, many of the 10th to 12th graders, were basically non-responsive. Their biggest aspiration was to get a job. The survey showed a marked drifting away from family reliance.
Nearly 1 in 3 public school students won't graduate, Time Magazine, April  17, 2006. The article stated that the majority of analysts and lawmakers have come to the consensus that the high school dropout rate is about 30%. The Center of Social Organization of Schools, Johns Hopkins University, 2004, showed that in many schools the dropout rate from 9th and 10th grade to the successful completing of the 12th grade can be as high as 50%. Studies show that larger high school dropout rates are generally found in areas of poverty and larger populations of minority students, which include Black, Hispanic and Native American. Robert Balfanz, a research scientist at Johns Hopkins University, has shown that students? dropout risk can be traced to as early as 6th grade by their attendance, behavior, and course-failure patterns. Our work has shown that the 6th grade is a critical and transitional year for youth; and it is for this reason, where possible, we recommend implementing EYF for 6th graders.
Truancy, school bullying, gangs, drugs, crime, teen pregnancy and teen suicide are not limited to areas of poverty and are a growing problem throughout our nation. While we do need to make changes in our education system, our youth cannot wait for these reforms. They need a strong inner foundation to work through the challenges they face on a daily basis and the confidence to explore their dreams. This includes having a strong desire and commitment to improving areas of academic weakness (literacy, math), which will lead to high school graduation, college or technical training.
It is easier to build strong children then repair broken adults. Frederick Douglass 1818-1895
Results from 2006/2007
Seven classes were set up to receive Envision Your Future and seven classes were designated as control groups within two Northern New Mexico school districts. An open-ended survey was designed, as the end of the year evaluation, to provide the students the opportunity to express their understanding of themselves, expectation, choices, changes and the importance of dreams. The results showed decisively the marked differences in written expression and working with abstractions between the Treatment Groups (those receiving Envision Your Future) and the Comparison Groups.
Conclusions
Reveiewing the work of Dr. Ruby K. Payne on generational poverty provided additional verification on the positive effect Envision Your Future has with youth. The Treatment Groups were able to express themselves more clearly and had a better grasp of the abstract than the Comparison Groups, including a Control Group which was middle class. All the Envision Your Future student?s schools are rated by New Mexico?s Public Schools and Districts as economic disadvantaged.
To quote Dr. Payne, ?In school and work, which are middle class institutions, you have to be very verbal. You have to use words: you can?t use fists to settle your disagreements. You have to be abstract, which means you can handle the paper world. And you have to be proactive; you?ve got to be able to plan. But in poverty you don?t plan ? you survive the moment. When you can plan, you can predict. When you predict, you know cause and effect. When you know cause and effect, you know consequence.?
The results show that students experiencing Envision Your Future developed in nine classroom hours the ability to use words, abstraction, planning and being responsible for their behavior and actions. Teachers and Principals from the Treatment Groups report an improvement in behavior, an increase in classroom safety and improved academic achievement.
Envision Your Future, a strength-based, positive youth development program, guides youth in getting in touch with their personal assets, building a strong inner foundation, understanding their commitment to hard work with the support and blueprint to boldly live their dreams.
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The Study 
